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BOP Closes Deadliest Unit
by Chuck Sharman
On February 14, 2023, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) announced it was closing Special Management Unit (SMU) at the U.S. Penitentiary (USP) in Thomson, Illinois, where seven deaths have been recorded since it opened in 2019, the highest death toll in any BOP facility.
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More from this issue:
- Soaring Number of Detainee Deaths Spotlights Ongoing Crisis at Harris County Jail, by Douglas Ankney
- Alabama Guards Still Harming Prisoners, Overcrowding Set to Increase as Governor Slashes “Good Time”, by Jo Ellen Nott, Chuck Sharman
- Prolonged COVID-19 Visitation Restrictions Net Georgia Jails Over $1.5 Million in Telecom Kickbacks, by Jordan Arizmendi
- Atlanta Federal Prison Gets Another Reboot, by Chuck Sharman
- Protest Damages Massachusetts Jail that Sheriff Wants to Update, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Third Circuit Revives Forced-Labor Claims of Jailed Pennsylvania Child Support Debtors, by Matthew Clarke
- BOP Closes Deadliest Unit, by Chuck Sharman
- Biden Commutes 31 Federal Drug Sentences, by Jordan Arizmendi
- Fourth Circuit Revives Virginia Prisoner’s Challenge to DOC Policy Restricting His Religious Headwear, by Douglas Ankney
- Ohio Governor Reprieves Three Condemned Prisoners, by Chuck Sharman
- Flooding Causes Evacuation of 1,075 Detainees from California Jail, by Jordan Arizmendi
- Connecticut GOP Lawmakers Force Governor to Replace Pardon Board Chair, Stopping All Commutation Hearings, by Jordan Arizmendi
- California College Offers Housing, Services to Formally Incarcerated Students, by Keith Sanders
- SCOTUS Orders Last-Minute Stay of Execution for Oklahoma Death Row Prisoner Richard Glossip
- Prison Looks Different for Two Celebrity Women, by Jordan Arizmendi
- Alabama Prisoner’s Family Sues Over Allegedly Botched Execution, by Chuck Sharman
- Vermont Sheriff Locked Out of National Crime Database, Facing Impeachment, by Chuck Sharman
- Arizona Prisoner Released from Death Row, by Chuck Sharman
- Executive Inaction: States and Federal Government Fail to Use Commutations as a Release Mechanism, by Naila Awan, Katie Rose Quandt
- Senators Spank DOJ for Failure to Implement Death-in-Custody Reporting Act
- Former Prisoner Uses “Look Back” Window to Sue for Sexual Abuse at Shuttered New York Prison, by David Reutter
- Corizon Executes “Texas Two-Step,” Spinning Off Debt Into Bankrupt New Firm to Avoid Paying Creditors and Lawsuit Winners, by Matthew Clarke
- Third Circuit Reinstates Claim by Federal Prisoner in Pennsylvania that Guards Prevented Daily Muslim Prayers, by Matthew Clarke
- Missouri Legalizes Marijuana and Expunges Criminal Records, by David Reutter
- Life Sentence for Alabama Jail Escapee After Suicide of Guard Lover Who Helped Him, by Chuck Sharman
- Washington State Initiative to Expand Jail Ballot Access Faces Local Pushback, by David Reutter
- Cuyahoga County Sheriff Stripped of Jail Commissary Control After $500,000 in Inventory Goes Missing, by David Reutter
- Prison Profiteer Who Chairs Christian Seminary Board Called Not Very ‘Christlike’, by Kevin Bliss
- Corizon Bankruptcy Stalls Suit By Alleged Rape Victims of Rikers Island Guard, by Chuck Sharman
- Menstruation Weaponized Against Women in Prison, by Kevin Bliss
- DOJ Finds Louisiana ‘Deliberately Indifferent’ to Prisoners Incarcerated Long Past Their Release Dates, by Matthew Clarke
- Seventh Circuit: Cook County Jail Grievance Procedure An “Incomprehensible Trap”, by Douglas Ankney
- Prisoner Health Update: HIV, by Eike Blohm, MD
- Ninth Circuit Affirms Expanded Relief for Disabled California Prisoners in Long-Running Class Action, by David Reutter
- $82 Million For Detainee Death in Oklahoma Jail is “Largest Civil Rights Death Claim in U.S. History”, by Matthew Clarke
- Idaho Revives Firing Squads, by Kevin Bliss
- SCOTUS Overrules Arizona Supreme Court, Allows Death Row Prisoner to Proceed With State Habeas Action, by Matthew Clarke
- $30,000 Paid by Michigan to Prisoner Wrongfully Classified as Sex Offender, by David Reutter
- Fifth Circuit Kills Suit by Louisiana Prisoners Whose Release Dates Were Incorrectly Calculated, by David M. Reutter
- Former Illinois Guards Sentenced for Prisoner’s Fatal Beating, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- New Report Pats BOP on the Back for Addressing Problems With Restrictive Housing, PREA, by Keith Sanders
- Fourth Circuit: Federal Prisoner in North Carolina Making Rehabilitation Act Claim Must Exhaust Both BOP Grievance Process and Justice Department’s EEO Complaint Process, by David Reutter
- Missouri Prisoner Illegally Condemned by Illiterate Juror Executed Anyway, by Chuck Sharman
- Ohio Supreme Court Grants State Prisoner Another $1,000 for Denied Records, by Keith Sanders
- Four Month Prison Term for BOP Compliance Monitor in Miami Who Sexually Abused Prisoner on His Case Load, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Wellpath Sanctioned for Discovery Violations After Stonewalling in Prisoner Lawsuits, by Douglas Ankney
- Second Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to N.Y. Prison Official Who Imposed Post-Release Supervision on Prisoner – But Reverses Damages Award, by David Reutter
- News in Brief
More from Chuck Sharman:
- $3.25 Million Verdict in New York Against Jail Medical Profiteer Armor Health, July 1, 2026
- After Spoliation Sanction, CoreCivic Settles Suit Over Suicide in New Mexico ICE Lockup, July 1, 2026
- Conviction Tossed for Former Alabama Prisoner Paroled After 42 Years, July 1, 2026
- SCOTUS Continues to Hack Away At First Step Act, July 1, 2026
- California Supreme Court Limits Money Bail for Nonviolent Charges, July 1, 2026
- Alabama Barred from Executing Prisoner by Nitrogen Hypoxia, July 1, 2026
- Fifth Circuit Kills Louisiana Prison Medical and Mental Health Care Reform, July 1, 2026
- SCOTUS Shuts Down GEO Group Bid for Immunity in Suit by Colorado ICE Detainees, July 1, 2026
- $25,000 Paid to Former New York Jail Detainee Subjected to Delayed Healthcare and Denied Mental Healthcare— Despite Seven Suicide Attempts, July 1, 2026
- Prisoners’ Risk of Death In Custody More than Doubles in Solitary Confinement, July 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- Prisoners’ Risk of Death In Custody More than Doubles in Solitary Confinement, July 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Confinement in Segregated Housing, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- Ohio Jail Leaders Knew Cameras Were Broken for Four Years Before Fixing Them, July 1, 2026. Jail Misconduct, Security Systems, Disclosure of Records, Wrongful Death, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of.
- Ombuds Report Doesn’t Rule Out Racism or Retaliation at Red Onion State Prison, June 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Racial Discrimination, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Failure to Treat, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
- $250,000 Paid by Maine to Former Prisoner Held in Solitary Confinement—Which the State DOC Says Doesn’t Exist, June 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Americans with Disabilities Act, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- New York Juvenile Detention Officials Sued for Abusing Adolescents with Solitary Confinement, May 1, 2026. Sanitation, Lockdowns, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Juvenile Prisons, Confinement in Segregated Housing.
- Class Certification Granted to Suit Challenging Suspension of HALT Act in New York Prisons, April 1, 2026. Injunctions, Class Certification, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Guard Unions, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- D.C. Judge Blocks Transfer of Biden-Commuted Federal Death Row Prisoners to “Supermax,” Citing Lack of Meaningful Due Process, April 1, 2026. Transfers, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Fifth Amendment, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Prison Classification.
- Tulsa Jail Withholds Records Related to Detainee Deaths, April 1, 2026. Private Prisons, Wrongful Death, Suicides, Access to Media, Public Records Act.
- New York City Mayor Appoints Ex-Rikers Prisoner as Corrections Commissioner, March 1, 2026. Prison Reform, Staffing, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Guard Unions, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- After Exposing Prison Horrors, Incarcerated Whistleblowers Are Moved to Solitary, Feb. 1, 2026. Whistleblowing, Retaliatory Segregation, Work Strikes, Totality of Conditions, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.

