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Colorado Using SWIFT but Cheap Wildlands Firefighters
by Ed Lyon
For many years PLN has reported on prison systems across the nation like those in Arkansas and Texas that pay prisoners nothing for the work they are required to perform. Others, like Louisiana, pay only pennies per hour, which is legal because the Constitution’s 13th …
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More from this issue:
- Criminal Sheriffs, by Anthony Accurso
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- $150,000 Paid to Family of California Pretrial Detainee Who Died from Valley Fever, by David Reutter
- $650,000 Jury Verdict Upheld in NY Prisoner’s Excessive-Force Claim; Motion for Fees Denied Due to Contingency Agreement, by David Reutter
- St. Louis Jail Guard Charged with Allowing Brutal Beating of Prisoner, by Jayson Hawkins
- How Corrupt is Too Corrupt for Atlanta Federal Prison?, by Casey Bastian
- Do County Jails Treat Black Women Worse Than Other Prisoners?, by Kevin Bliss
- Former AZ Assistant AG Disciplined for Misconduct in Muslim Prisoner’s Lawsuit, by Douglas Ankney
- Washington Federal Court Grants Preliminary Injunction Halting Release of Transgender Prisoners’ Personal Information; Class Certified, by Jayson Hawkins
- USDA Gives $1,000,000 Grant to Corizon to Treat More Sick Prisoners Remotely, by Chuck Sharman
- Covid-19 Pandemic Bumps Still Anemic Clemency Numbers, by Edward Lyon
- Montana Renews CoreCivic Contract; Major Water and Sewage Problems Persist, by Jayson Hawkins
- California Federal Prison Warden Charged with Sexually Abusing Prisoner
- Should Sentencing Juries Consider Imprisonment Costs?, by Edward Lyon
- California Town Fighting to Keep Prison Open, by Keith Sanders
- Prosecutors Move to Close Case Against BOP Guards in Jeffrey Epstein Suicide, by Edward Lyon
- HRDC Advances in Suit Against Centurion to Obtain New Mexico Prisoner Medical Litigation Records, by David Reutter
- $281,000 Awarded to Colorado Prisoner Retaliated Against for Grievances, by David Reutter
- Indiana Supreme Court Denies Relief to Prisoner Whose Commissary Account Was Garnished, by Casey Bastian
- Colorado Using SWIFT but Cheap Wildlands Firefighters, by Edward Lyon
- Michigan Supreme Court Holds Convicted Prisoner Entitled to Pre-Trial Jail Time Credit
- Feds Declare Long COVID a Disability Under ADA, RA and ACA, by Edward Lyon
- Second Circuit Reverses Dismissal of NY Prisoner’s Due Process Claim on Grounds It Was Abandoned on Appeal, by David Reutter
- Corporations Using Prisoners to Fight Phantom Labor Shortage, by Matthew Clarke
- $500 Default Judgement in Female Michigan Prisoner’s Pro Se Excessive-Force Claim
- Federal Judge Springs Former PLN Editor from “Iron Man” Pretrial Detention Cell, by Casey Bastian
- Four Female Prisoners Seek Damages Over Abuses at Oregon Prison Called A “Cesspool” of Staff Sexual Abuse, Latest in Abuse Saga, by Mark Wilson
- Second Circuit: Supervisor Must Have Subjective Knowledge of Sexual Abuse by Guards to Be Liable
- Colorado Supreme Court Holds Governor Is Appropriate Defendant in Cases Involving State Constitutional Responsibility
- California Supreme Court: CDCR Cannot Exclude Nonviolent Sex Offenders From Proposition 57 Parole Consideration
- Fifth Circuit Dismisses Appeal by Mississippi Prisoner It Calls “Vexatious Litigant”
- Fifth Circuit Refuses to Issue Injunction After Mississippi Psychiatric Prison Improves Conditions, by Matthew Clarke
- Texas Agrees to Settlement Providing Prisoners Hep C Treatment, Will Pay $950,000 in Attorney Fees, by Matthew Clarke
- New Illinois Law Allows Early Release for a Few Eligible Offenders, by Casey Bastian
- $2 Million Paid by North Carolina Jail for Prisoner’s Wrongful Death; Undisclosed Amount Paid by Southeastern Medical Services, by Jacob Barrett
- $175,000 Awarded to New York Prisoner’s 686 Days Unconstitutional Post Release Supervision, by David Reutter
- Third Circuit Revives Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Lawsuit Over Censorship of Incoming Mail Containing Key Evidence, by Matthew Clarke, Dale Chappell
- Washington Can’t Cheat Prisoner of Time Held Out of State on Washington Charges, by Jacob Barrett
- NJ Supreme Court: Excess Time in Prison Must Be Used to Reduce Parole Period, by Matthew Clarke
- She Tried to Report Sexual Harassment in Jail. After Her Suicide, the Guard Was Convicted of Assaulting Four Other Women, by C.J. Ciaramella
- Seventh Circuit Holds Dismissal of Lawsuit Removed to Federal Court Cannot Count as PLRA “Strike”
- News in Brief
More from Edward Lyon:
- “There you go, Agent Orange!” Former South Carolina Sheriff Federally Indicted for Assaulting Jail Detainee, May 1, 2024
- Texas Prisons are Fire Traps, July 15, 2023
- The World’s Biggest Prison, July 15, 2023
- U.S. Prisoner Numbers Slowly Declining, June 15, 2023
- Civilian Police With Military Equipment, June 15, 2023
- California Easing Housing Hurdles for Released Prisoners, June 1, 2023
- Warden Ousted from Troubled Alabama Prison After DUI Arrest, May 1, 2023
- $20,000 Settlement for Ohio Prisoner’s Slip-and-Fall Injury, May 1, 2023
- $32,500 Medical Malpractice Award to Ohio Prisoner for Ripped-Out Catheter, May 1, 2023
- New York State’s Veterans Treatment Courts, April 15, 2023
More from these topics:
- Overtime Cuts Lead to Reduced Programming in California Prisons, Aug. 1, 2026. Cost of Prison Systems, Education, Rehabilitation/Recidivism.
- Seventh Circuit Holds Federal Law Prohibits County Jail from Forcing Immigration Detainees to Perform Custodial Labor by Threatening Solitary Confinement, Aug. 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Immigration Detention, Monell Liability.
- Free Phone Calls Saved Prisoners and Their Families More than $600 Million, Report Finds, July 1, 2026. Conditions of Confinement, PLRA, Prisoner Privileges, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Telephones.
- California Gave Every Student in Prison a Laptop. How Community Colleges Are Using Them, July 1, 2026. Education, Computers, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Post-release, ex-offender, re-entry, Access to Computers.
- SCOTUS Shuts Down GEO Group Bid for Immunity in Suit by Colorado ICE Detainees, July 1, 2026. GEO Group/Wackenhut, Prison Labor, Sovereign Immunity, Interlocutory Appeals, Immigration Detention.
- Colorado Ordered to Stop Tossing Prisoners in Solitary for Refusing to Work, July 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Injunctions, Good Time, Constitution, state, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- Wisconsin Governor Issues Executive Order to Restore Commutations, June 1, 2026. Prison Reform, Criminal justice system reform, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Pardons/Clemency, Reduction of Prison Population.
- Colorado DOC Allows Some Prisoners Convicted of Sex Crimes to be Released While Delaying Parole Consideration for Others, June 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Overcrowding, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Sex Offender Treatment, De Facto Life Sentence.
- Federal Judge Upholds Infamously Brutal Farm Labor at Angola Prison, June 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Prison Labor, Exposure to Heat, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Deliberate Indifference.
- Prisons in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula “in a Death Spiral” Due to Under-Staffing, May 1, 2026. Staffing, Lockdowns, Rural Prisons, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Assaults on Staff.

