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Dark, Smoky Cells: As Wildfires Threaten More Prisons, the Incarcerated Ask Who Will Save Their Lives
by Alleen Brown
With flames bearing down on the remote California town of Susanville in August 2021, residents were getting ready to evacuate. The Dixie Fire, the state’s second-largest blaze ever, had already been wreaking havoc on the main business in town: the two state prisons, each with …
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More from this issue:
- Looking Deep Inside America’s Legalized Torture Chambers, by Mark Wilson
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Federal Prisoners Finally Receiving Benefits 42 Months After First Step Act Became Law, by Casey Bastian
- SCOTUS Sides With Condemned Georgia Prisoner Who Wants To Be Executed by Firing Squad, by David Reutter
- New York Prisoner’s Suit Over Thirteen-Year Solitary Stint Survives, by David Reutter
- Alabama Prisoners Continue to Die at Alarming Rate, More Than One Every Week in 2022, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Death and Inhumane Living Conditions Persist in Nation’s Worst Jail, by Kevin Bliss
- Third Circuit Holds Consent of All Parties to Magistrate Judge Jurisdiction Required Before Judgment Against Pennsylvania Prisoners, by Mark Wilson
- SCOTUS Lets “State Secrets” Privilege Bar CIA Contractor Testimony About Torture Already Publicly Known, by Mark Wilson
- New Florida Law Shrouds Executions in Secrecy, by Kevin Bliss
- SCOTUS Kills Condemned Ohio Prisoner’s Effort to Secure Evidence of Mental Impairment to Bolster Habeas Petition, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- ACLU Pries Loose Employment Record of New Hampshire Trooper Who Detained Woman on Falsified Evidence, Leading to $237,500 Settlement, by Matthew Clarke
- Prison Profiteer Is Using Sandra Bland’s Death to Sell Surveillance Technology, by Brian Dolinar
- $3.75 Million Settlement for Estate of Washington Prisoner Who Died From Untreated Breast Cancer, by David Reutter
- Idaho Provides Nation’s Second Gender Confirmation Surgery for Transgender Prisoner, by Mark Wilson
- After $90,000 Settlement for Sexual Abuse of Oregon Juvenile Detainee, Second Suit Filed Against Now-Imprisoned Former Youth Counselor, by Chuck Sharman
- $2.45 Million Paid by Wellpath and Macomb County, Michigan, After Detainee’s Withdrawal Death in Jail, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- Dark, Smoky Cells: As Wildfires Threaten More Prisons, the Incarcerated Ask Who Will Save Their Lives, by Alleen Brown
- Nebraska Crime Commission Says Dodge County Jail Noncompliant With Reporting Requirements, by Harold Hempstead
- SCOTUS Kneecaps Condemned Prisoners Claiming Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- New York Closes Moriah ‘Shock Camp’, by Kevin Bliss
- After Summary Judgment Denied, California Jail Officials Pay $55,000 for Breaking Detainee’s Arm, by Mark Wilson
- Two Attorneys, Three Employees Sentenced in Bribery Scandal at MTC Texas Prisons, by Keith Sanders
- Third Illinois Guard Found Guilty In Fatal Beating of Handcuffed State Prisoner, but Attorney General Refuses To Settle With Family, by Matthew Clarke
- Class Certification Maintained in New York Prisoners’ Suit for Damages Due to Illegally Imposed Post-Release Supervision, by David Reutter
- Wisconsin Supreme Court Guts State’s Fair Employment Act Protection for Returning Prisoners With Domestic Violence Convictions, by Jacob Barrett
- California Appeals Court Lets CDCR Define Term Adopted From Legislation, by Kevin Bliss
- Sixth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Ohio Prison Doctor After Prisoner Blinded by Stroke, by David Reutter
- New Jersey Supreme Court Forces County to Cough up Settlement Documents With Prisoner Raped By Jail Guard Who Snitched on Fellow Guards, by David Reutter
- Ninth Circuit Terminates Idaho Prison Conditions Lawsuit After 40 Years of Litigation, by David Reutter
- $1,050,000 Settlement Reached in Disabled Illinois Prisoner’s ADA Lawsuit, by David Reutter
- Idaho Joins Missouri in Banning Incarceration for Inability To Pay Court Fines, Fees, by Jayson Hawkins
- Ninth Circuit Sends PLN’s Arizona Censorship Lawsuit Back to District Court, by David Reutter
- Census Bureau Report Finds Risk of Death Nearly Triples for Prisoners After Release, by Matthew Clarke
- Ohio County Pays $4 Million To Settle Claim Over Death of Jail Detainee, by Matthew Clarke
- $7 Million Paid to California Detainee Left Quadriplegic Due to Jail Guards’ Alleged Negligence, by Matthew Clarke
- Ninth Circuit Vacates California’s COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate for Prison Employees, by Mark Wilson
- $2.5 Million in Confiscated COVID-19 Relief Funds Returned to Arkansas Prisoners After Court Issues Injunction, by David Reutter
- News in Brief
More from Alleen Brown:
- Burning Tires Left Louisiana Prisoners With Migraines, Breathing Problems, and Minimal Medical Care As black smoke poured out of a burning tire dump in Louisiana, people inside the prison next door struggled to keep the fumes out., Feb. 1, 2023
- Dark, Smoky Cells: As Wildfires Threaten More Prisons, the Incarcerated Ask Who Will Save Their Lives, Sept. 30, 2022
- Boiling Behind Bars In Sweltering Texas, Prisons Without Air Conditioning Are About to Get a Lot Hotter, July 14, 2022
- Trapped in The Floods: With Floodwaters Rising, Prisoners Wait for Help in Floating Feces, May 1, 2022
More from these topics:
- Fourth Circuit Revives North Carolina Prisoner’s Suit Blaming Lazy Guards for Assault by Detainee, May 1, 2026. Failure to Protect (General), Qualified Immunity, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Deliberate Indifference.
- $1.25 Million Paid for Special Needs Teen’s Fatal Beating in Houston Jail, May 1, 2026. Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- Seventh Circuit Upholds Liability but Reverses Damages in Lawsuit Over Illinois Warden and Investigator Using Prisoner as Bait to Catch Staff Member Raping Her, May 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Damages, Evidentiary Ruling, Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- “Large Fight” Broke Out at Alaska Prison After Downsizing Effort, April 1, 2026. Transfers, Cost of Prison Systems, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding.
- Five Prisoners in Georgia Injured in Fight, Two Months After Three Prisoners Were Killed, April 1, 2026. Prison/Jail Murders, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing.
- Eighth Circuit Revives Case Against Guards Who Failed to Intervene As Chaplain Sexually Assaulted Arkansas Prisoner, March 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Prison Rape Elimination Act, Qualified Immunity, Failure to Train/Supervise.
- Georgia Grand Jury Scolds Augusta Jail for Overcrowding Days Before Violent Detainee Assault, March 1, 2026. Private Contractors, Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding, Staffing, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Maryland Prisons Reel from Growing Number of Prisoner Deaths, March 1, 2026. Prison/Jail Murders, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, Deliberate Indifference.
- Southern Poverty Law Center Report Shows Culture of Abuse at Florida Prison, March 1, 2026. Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding, Staffing, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- Three Prisoners Killed in Fight at Georgia Prison, Feb. 1, 2026. Prison/Jail Murders, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Eighth Amendment, Staffing.

