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Fifth Circuit Overturns Permanent Injunction Requiring Texas Prison to Observe COVID-19 Precautions
by Matt Clarke
On March 26, 2021, the Fifth Circuit court of appeals overturned a permanent injunction that required a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison to observe certain precautions against the spread of COVID-19.
Laddie Valentine and Richard King are state prisoners incarcerated at a …
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More from this issue:
- Wrongfully Convicted Man Freed for Murder of Oregon DOC Director, But State Wants Him Back In Prison, by Mark Wilson
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Indiana DOC Settles HRDC Mail Censorship Suit, by Chuck Sharman
- HRDC Represents Wrongfully Convicted Florida Man Who Spent 37 Years in Prison for a Rape Murder He Did Not Commit, by Chuck Sharman
- Fifth Circuit Overturns Permanent Injunction Requiring Texas Prison to Observe COVID-19 Precautions, by Matthew Clarke
- Arizona Auditor’s Report Finds Underfunding of DOC’s Capital Funding Requests and Unreconciled Prisoner Trust Fund Accounts, by Matthew Clarke
- $750,000 Settlement in South Carolina Pretrial Detainee’s Suicide by Southern Health Partners, by David Reutter
- Preliminary Injunction Bars Arkansas from Confiscating Prisoners’ COVID Stimulus Money, by David Reutter
- Washington State Prison Chief Secretly Forced to Retire, But Why?
- Benevolent or Predatory?, by Casey Bastian
- Georgia Sheriff Suspended After Indictment on Federal Civil Rights Charges, by David Reutter
- Language Matters: Why We Use the Words We Do, by Paul Wright
- What’s in a Name?, by Jeffrey Ross
- Louisiana Prisoners Used as Slave Labor During Hurricane Ida, Families Left in the Dark for Weeks, by Brian Dolinar
- Will Federal Prisoners on Home Confinement Have to Return to Prison?, by Dale Chappell
- Seven Guards Fired Over Collins County Texas Jail Death, by Jayson Hawkins
- Kentucky’s Prison HCV Policy of Monitoring Without Treatment Constitutional, by David Reutter
- All Massachusetts Jails to Provide Prisoners Ten Free Minutes of Phone Calls Per Week and Cap Charges on Additional Minutes at 14 Cents
- Federal District Court Orders All CDCR Employees be Vaccinated, by Douglas Ankney
- Company Surveils Activists Opposing Construction of Prisons and Jails, by Keith Sanders
- Louisville Jail Moves to Have Free Phone Calls for Prisoners by First of the Year, by Kevin Bliss
- Hackers Breach Thousands of Security Cameras, by David Reutter
- First Prisoner Elected to Hold Public Office in Washington DC, by Kevin Bliss
- Wisconsin Feels Effects of Staffing Shortage in State Prisons, by Kevin Bliss
- $72,000 Settlement Over Corizon’s Lack of Medical Treatment to Injured Arizona Prisoner, by Matthew Clarke
- Eleventh Circuit Upholds Immunity of Federal Prison Guards Under FTCA, Even for Blatant Unconstitutional Acts, by Dale Chappell
- Weeks Without a Shower: Neglect Defines COVID-19 Containment in California Jails, by Brian Osgood
- Audit Reveals Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Chaplaincy Services Branch Critically Depleted, by Casey Bastian
- To End Mass Incarceration, We Need to Bust the Myths That Prop It Up, by James Kilgore
- CFPB Hits JPay with $6 Million in Fines and Restitution Over Fee-Heavy “Debit Release Cards”, by Chuck Sharman
- HRDC Prevails Over Wellpath as Vermont Supreme Court Rules Private Contractor Must Release Public Records, by David Reutter
- Eleven Guards Fired after Death at Houston Jail, by Brian Dolinar
- Indiana Prisoner Entitled to Credit Time During Period of Erroneous Liberty, by David Reutter
- Second Circuit Reversed Dismissal of Former BOP Prisoner’s FTCA Claim Against Dentist, by David Reutter
- $731,000 Jury Award to Illinois DOC Prisoner Held 23 Months Beyond Release Date, Over $210k in Fees Awarded As Well, by David Reutter
- Eighth Circuit Clarifies Legal Standards for Conditions-of-Confinement Lawsuits Brought by Civilly-Committed Sex Offenders, by Matthew Clarke
- Prisoner Voting Population Grows as Illinois Bill Extends Polling Sites to County Jails
- Massachusetts Department of Corrections Sued Over Use of “Fake” Drug Tests on Legal Mail, by Casey Bastian
- Seventh Circuit: Local Rules Requiring Specific Filings to Summary Judgments Should Not be Used as a Sanction, by Dale Chappell
- Michigan DOC Eases Up on Pregnant Prisoners, Limits Shackles and Solitary Confinement, by Chuck Sharman
- D.C. Federal Court Rules District Providing Unlawfully Inadequate Education to Incarcerated Youth with Disabilities, Grants Preliminary Injunction, by Matthew Clarke
- Prison Officials Actions to Correct Inhumane Cell Conditions Merit Judgement in Their Favor
- $129,000 Bench Verdict for BOP Prisoner in Failure to Warn of Valley Fever
- Lawsuit Over Denial of Medical Treatment for Painful Erection Causing Impotence in Oklahoma County Jail Reinstated by Tenth Circuit, by Matthew Clarke
- CoreCivic Prison at Center of Georgia Drug Trafficking Investigation
- Fifth Circuit Holds Defendants Entitled to Sovereign Immunity For Denial of Sex-Reassignment Surgery to Texas Prisoner, by Matthew Clarke
- Sixth Circuit Holds Court Lacked Jurisdiction to Rule on Summary Judgment in Retaliation Suit by BOP Prisoner
- California Fire Crew Prisoner’s Escape Attempt Leaves Trail of Destruction
- $5,000 Award for Pro Se Florida DOC Prisoner in Unjustified Pepper Spraying
- Oregon Suspends Outside Prisoner Work Crews After Prisoner Escape Sparks International Incident, by Mark Wilson
- Forced Shaving of Muslim Colorado Prisoner’s Beard Unconstitutional, by David Reutter
- Broward County Florida Sheriff Rejects Independent Reviews of Detainee’s Death
- $8.6 Million Award Against Wexford for Deliberate Indifference to Prisoner’s Kidney Cancer
- $170,000 Settlement By New Jersey DOC in Transgender Lawsuit With New Policy, by Jayson Hawkins
- Arizona Federal Court Dismisses NAACP’s Challenge to Private Prisons as Violating Thirteenth Amendment by Commodifying Prisoners for Profit
- Fifth Circuit Holds Confessed Medical Malpractice Does Not Insulate Prison Medical Providers From Finding of Deliberate Indifference, by Matthew Clarke
- $23,000 Settlement Against Pennsylvania Dental Healthcare Company for Inadequate Dental Care
- News in Brief
More from Matthew Clarke:
- Seventh Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Detectives Who Revealed Prisoner Was Informant, Denies Him Anonymity, Aug. 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Holds Federal Law Prohibits County Jail from Forcing Immigration Detainees to Perform Custodial Labor by Threatening Solitary Confinement, Aug. 1, 2026
- New Mexico Supreme Court Holds Corrections Department Regulations Do Not Exempt Use-Of-Force Documents from Public Records Disclosure, Aug. 1, 2026
- DOJ Issues Memorandum Over BOP Employees Abusing Their Law Enforcement Credentials to Illegally Purchase Personal Firearms, Aug. 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment Against Former Illinois Prison Guards Challenging Termination for Violating Use of Force Policy, Aug. 1, 2026
- Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Barring Enforcement of Executive Order to Transfer Trans Women Prisoners to Men’s Prisons, Aug. 1, 2026
- Idaho Supreme Court Holds Indigent Parents Have Constitutional Right to Counsel at Public Expense, July 1, 2026
- Free Phone Calls Saved Prisoners and Their Families More than $600 Million, Report Finds, July 1, 2026
- California Appeals Court Holds Defendant Cannot Be Penalized for Failing to Appear at Sentencing When He Was Being Held in Another County’s Jail on Preexisting Charges, July 1, 2026
- SCOTUS Reverses Mississippi Capital Conviction, July 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- Oregon Reaches $49 Million Settlement with State Prisoners in COVID-19 Class-Action, Aug. 1, 2026. COVID-19, Eighth Amendment, Settlements, Class Certification, Qualified Immunity.
- Uncounted COVID Deaths Reveal a Troubling Truth About Official Death Records, May 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Medical Records, COVID-19, Statistics/Trends, Databases.
- CoreCivic Pays $82,500 for First COVID-19 Death at San Diego ICE Lockup, Nov. 1, 2025. Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, COVID-19, Federal Tort Claims Act, Failure to Train/Supervise, Detention - Generally.
- Virtual Injustice: How Remote Hearings Harm Incarcerated Defendants, March 15, 2025. COVID-19, Cause and Prejudice, Video-Conferencing.
- Failures Brought to Light in Arizona Prison System’s COVID-19 Response, March 1, 2025. Centurion, Systemic Medical Neglect, COVID-19.
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Holds Witness Wearing Surgical Mask During Pandemic Is Denial of Sixth Amendment Right to Face-to-Face Confrontation and No General Exception to This Right for Pandemic or ‘Other Global Events’ Such as Wars and Natural, Feb. 15, 2025. COVID-19, Confrontation Clause/Rights, Practitioner Exception.
- Identities Stolen From Virginia Jail Detainees For $341,205 COVID-19 Fraud, Nov. 15, 2024. COVID-19, Financial Institution - Definition, Identity Theft.
- Ninth Circuit Provides Cover to Oregon Governor for Prioritizing Guards Over Prisoners for COVID-19 Vaccine, Oct. 15, 2024. Systemic Medical Neglect, COVID-19, Guards/Staff.
- U.S. Sentencing Commission Publishes Data Report on Compassionate Release in FY 2023, Oct. 1, 2024. COVID-19, Statistics/Trends, Compassionate Release, Official Report.
- Legal Noose Tightens Around Necks of CDCR Officials Whose Botched Transfer Sparked San Quentin COVID-19 Outbreak, May 1, 2024. Transfers, COVID-19.

