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Prisoner’s Experience in Solitary Wins PEN America Writing Award

Loaded on May 1, 2023 by Jacob Barrett published in Prison Legal News May, 2023, page 27
Filed under: Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Prisoner Media. Location: Oregon.

by Jacob Barrett

Former prisoner Alex Tretbar won PEN America’s first-place award for poetry in September 2022 for his poem “Variations on an Undisclosed Location.” Tretbar, 33, penned the poem during his five-year incarceration with the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution.

While incarcerated, Tretbar worked ...

 

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  1. L.A. County Jails: Leading in All the Wrong Ways, by Benjamin Tschirhart
  2. Predatory Probation Still Alive in Georgia, Other States, by David Reutter
  3. From the Editor, by Paul Wright
  4. Prisoner Health Update: K2, by Eike Blohm, MD
  5. Warden Ousted from Troubled Alabama Prison After DUI Arrest, by Edward Lyon
  6. Fifth Circuit Reinstates Lawsuit Over Texas Detainee’s Asphyxiation by Jail Guards, by Matthew Clarke
  7. Detainee Allegedly “Eaten Alive” by Vermin in Overcrowded Atlanta Jail, by Jacob Barrett
  8. Fifth Circuit Reinstates Claim That LaSalle Guards Fatally Beat Louisiana Pre-Trial Detainee, by Matthew Clarke
  9. Ninth Circuit: Grievance Policy May Excuse Oregon Prisoner’s Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies, by Jacob Barrett
  10. “Slap On the Wrist” for California Bail Agents Who Hired Bounty Hunter Who Killed Their Client, by Jayson Hawkins
  11. Dogged by Racist Comments, North Carolina Sheriff Resigns – Again, by Jo Ellen Nott
  12. MTC Accused of Parole Programming Scam at Texas Prisons, by Kevin Bliss
  13. Fourth Circuit Rejects Appeal of $700,000 Award to Maryland Prisoner Assaulted by Guards, by David Reutter
  14. Fifth Circuit Again Revives Muslim Texas Prisoner’s Suit Over Halal Meals Denied During Hurricane Evacuation, by Matthew Clarke
  15. Nevada Pays Over $568,000 for Denying Prisoner Cataract Surgery, Ends “One Good Eye” Policy, by Jacob Barrett
  16. Prisoner’s Experience in Solitary Wins PEN America Writing Award, by Jacob Barrett
  17. Condemned Tennessee Prisoner Wins Fight Against Autopsy, by Harold Hempstead
  18. Maine’s Jails and Prisons Record 39 Deaths in 34 Months, by Jo Ellen Nott
  19. Fifth Circuit Upholds Qualified Immunity for Texas Prison Guard Who Beat Prisoner’s Arm With Baton Until It Broke, by Matthew Clarke
  20. $1.3 Million Paid to Transgender Woman Held Five Months in Atlanta Jail on Bogus Charges, by Chuck Sharman
  21. Nebraska Pays $479,000 for Restrictive Housing Prisoner’s Murder While Double-Celled, by Mark Wilson
  22. Shielded From Public View, Misconduct by Corrections Staff in Illinois Prisons Received Scant Discipline, by Shannon Heffernan
  23. $20,000 Settlement for Ohio Prisoner’s Slip-and-Fall Injury, by Edward Lyon
  24. $2.4 Million Judgment Against Michigan Jail Doctor Convicted of Sexually Abusing Three Prisoners, by Mark Wilson
  25. ACLU Report Details Exploitation of Prisoners for Forced Labor, by Matthew Clarke
  26. MTV Documentary Shines Light on Art Behind Bars, by Jayson Hawkins
  27. Fifth Circuit Finds “Opaque” Mississippi Prison Grievance System “Incapable of Use”, by Matthew Clarke
  28. Overdose Rate in New York Jails and State Prisons Double U.S. Average, by Jacob Barrett
  29. College Education Disrupted for Washington Prisoners, by Kevin Bliss
  30. $32,500 Medical Malpractice Award to Ohio Prisoner for Ripped-Out Catheter, by Edward Lyon
  31. Oklahoma County Pays $1.1 Million After Jail Guards Fatally Beat Detainee, by Jacob Barrett
  32. Louisiana High Court Abandons Ab Initio Precedent in Favor of “Victim’s Rights”, by David Reutter
  33. California Appellate Court: State Prisoners Held in Jail and Those Held in Prisons Not Alike for Sentence Credits, by Jacob Barrett
  34. Telecoms Exploiting Legal Loopholes to Price Gouge Prisoners and Their Families, by Jacob Barrett
  35. Fifth Circuit Revives Suit by Nation of Gods and Earth Prisoner Demanding Religious Recognition by Texas Prison Officials, by Matthew Clarke
  36. Iowa Teen Who Killed Her Alleged Rapist Recaptured After Halfway House Escape, by Kevin Bliss
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  38. $4.25 Million Paid by King County for Two Jail Beatings By Improperly Housed Mentally Ill Detainees, by Mark Wilson
  39. Arizona Prisoner Condemned Again for Cellmate’s Murder, by Jayson Hawkins
  40. Ninth Circuit Upholds Order Vacating Conviction in Oregon Prison Director’s 1989 Murder; SCOTUS Declines Review, by Mark Wilson
  41. Montana Becomes 13th State to End Prison Gerrymandering, by Chuck Sharman
  42. Fourth Circuit: No Civil Commitment at Release for Federal Prisoner in North Carolina Without Considering Conditions, by Casey Bastian
  43. Montana Pays $2,500 to Settle Prisoner’s Failure-to-Protect Claim, by Mark Wilson
  44. Eighth Circuit Affirms Over $278,000 Awarded to Minnesota Jail Detainee Held on Bad ICE Referral Policy, by David Reutter
  45. Alaska Supreme Court Says Parole Challenge Must Be Sought via Post-Conviction Relief, Not Lawsuit, by Mark Wilson
  46. News in Brief

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