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Four Dead in One Month in San Bernardino County Jails, $3,232,500 in Settlements Paid So Far
Loaded on March 1, 2024
by Douglas Ankney, Casey Bastian
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2024, page 28
by Douglas Ankney and Casey J. Bastian
A spate of jail deaths in California’s San Bernardino County dating back to 2017 has led to at least four legal settlements totaling $3,232,500. Two additional settlements netted another $35,000 for detainees allegedly beaten by guards. Meanwhile one of the most …
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More from this issue:
- Overcrowded and Understaffed, Oklahoma County Jail Remains “Deplorable”, by David Reutter
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Lawsuit Claims Seattle’s King County Jail Shows Little Improvement in Quarter Century Since “Hammer Agreement”
- No Jail Time for Former Arizona Prisons Director After Armed Standoff With Cops
- Pennsylvania County Found Skimming Prisoner-Designated Funds from ViaPath Kickbacks
- Colorado Sheriff Resigns After Deputies Fatally Shoot Motorist
- With Guard Arrests at Georgia Jail, Sheriff Asks, “What Are We Doing Wrong?”
- U.S. Sentencing Commission Greenlights Retroactive Sentence Reductions
- Redemption Songs: The Forgotten History of American Prison Music, by Maurice Chammah
- Nearly $11 Million Settlement Reached in Suit by BOP Prisoners Held Without Heat, Electricity During New York Winter Storm, by Douglas Ankney
- Massachusetts Becomes the Fifth State to Make Prison Phone Calls Free
- Federal Prisoner in Virginia Convicted on Fresh Kiddie Porn Charges After Drawing His Own
- California Slowed, But Not Barred from “Dumping” Sick, Indigent Parolees on Public Hospitals
- Rikers Island Detainees Given Pricey Weight-Loss Surgery but Little Follow-Up Care
- Illinois Eases Restrictions on Prisoners Released Under Supervision
- Moms Released from Massachusetts Prison Decry Dearth of Help
- Eighth Circuit Issues Primer on Informal Due Process Procedures to Missouri Prisoner, by David Reutter
- DOJ Finds ADA Violations in Arizona Prisons, Demands Improvements
- Sick Georgia Prisoners Forced to Choose Between Treatment and Early Release
- Unsealed Settlement Reveals PrimeCare Medical Paid $337,500 After Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Suicide, by David Reutter
- Eighth Circuit Remands ADA Claims—But Not Constitutional Claims—of Paralyzed Arkansas Jail Detainee, by David Reutter
- “Unethical At Best”: Hawaii Budget Director Charged With Financing New Prison is Former CoreCivic Lobbyist
- Alabama Conducts First Nitrogen Hypoxia Execution
- “More jobs than people”: Prisoners Training to Work on Ohio Infrastructure Projects after Release
- Escape from Oregon State Hospital Results in Changes to Detainee Transports
- HRDC Wins $14 Million Settlement for Exonerated Florida Prisoner
- Four Dead in One Month in San Bernardino County Jails, $3,232,500 in Settlements Paid So Far, by Douglas Ankney, Casey Bastian
- Seventh Circuit Revives Prisoner’s Challenge to Seized $10,000, by David Reutter
- Alabama Prisons Facing Third Class-Action Lawsuit
- Muslim Florida Prisoner Awarded Permanent Injunction to Grow Untrimmed Beard, by David Reutter
- North Carolina Prison Official Pleads Guilty to COVID-19 Program Fraud
- South Carolina Sheriff Ordered to Pay $37,500 in Fees and Costs in Jail FOIA Case, by Matthew Clarke
- Guard and Four Summit Food Service Employees Arrested for Smuggling at Troubled Atlanta Jail
- New York Prisoners with Chronic Pain Win Injunction to Receive Denied Medication, by Matthew Clarke
- Ninth Circuit Shuts Down Settlement Agreement in Long-Running California Prisoners’ Gang Affiliation Suit, by David Reutter
- $470,000 Settlement After Texas Jail Nurses Fabricate Vital Signs for Detainee Who Died, by Douglas Ankney
- New Jersey Supreme Court Revives Parolee’s Challenge to Administratively Imposed Treatment Program, by Matthew Clarke
- BOP Pays $40,000 to Prisoner Sexually Assaulted at Florida Lockup by Guard, Who Must Pay Her $1 Million, by David Reutter
- Serial Killer Murdered by Cellmate at Texas Lockup
- California Felony-Murder Reform Shaves 11,000 Years Off 600 Prisoner Sentences, by Douglas Ankney
- Seventh Circuit Says Lack of Expert Testimony Dooms Illinois Prisoner’s Medical Neglect Claim, by Douglas Ankney
- Texas Fights Fetal Rights After Forcing Prison Guard to Stay At Work Until She Delivered Stillborn Baby
- Suit Filed After Mentally Ill Detainee Starves to Death in Miami Jail, by David Reutter
- Senators Grill BOP Chief—Then Say They’ll Toss Her More Money
- Nevada Prisoner Strikes Out in Access-to-Courts Claim, by David Reutter
- New Jersey Private Prison Ban Voided
- Eighth Circuit Affirms $800,000 Award After Arkansas Jail Detainee’s Fatal Appendix Rupture, by Matthew Clarke
- New Minnesota Justice Center Aims to be More ‘Humane’
- Wellpath Held in Contempt in Suit at California Jail
- Minnesota Prison on Lockdown After Protest Over Dirty Water, Lack of Phone Use and Out-of-Cell Time
- California Prison Fined $1.7 Million for Stormwater Discharges, Environmental Violations
- Seventh Circuit Reinstates Wisconsin Prisoner’s ADA Claim for Untreated Knee Injury, by Matthew Clarke
- Eleventh Circuit Revives Claim Against Florida Jail That Forced Detainee to Scan Legal Mail Into Computer with Memory Chip, by David Reutter
- Louisiana Fugitive Recaptured After 32 Years
- Illinois Failing to Grant Dying Prisoners Medical Releases
- MTC Returns $5.125 Million to Mississippi for “Ghost Workers” at Private Prisons
- Florida Pastor Accused of Running Shoplifting Ring With DUI Diversion Program Participants
- $900,000 Settlement Reached With Ohio Jail in Detainee’s Fatal Seizure, by David Reutter
- Tribal Courts Expand ‘Healing to Wellness’ Rehabilitation Programs
- Four TDCJ Guards Resign, Seven Suspended for Beating Handcuffed Prisoner Into Coma
- Michigan Reaches $1.03 Million Settlement with Exonerated Prisoner
- Oklahoma Parole Board Resignations Threaten Prisoner Clemencies
- After Eight Deaths in Eight Years, Virginia Jail Introduces—Pickleball?
- News in Brief
More from Douglas Ankney:
- Barbaric and Deadly Conditions Continue to Plague Los Angeles County Jails, Feb. 1, 2026
- Killings Inside Mississippi’s Prisons Continue Unabated But Report Prompts DOC to Reopen Investigations, Feb. 1, 2026
- Competency Crisis in Missouri’s Jails, Feb. 1, 2026
- Ninth Circuit: Notice of Appeal of Order Denying Qualified Immunity Must Be Filed Within 30 Days of Entry, Feb. 1, 2026
- Fifth Circuit Rules Against Louisiana Prisoner Seeking to Recoup Money Made at Angola Prison Rodeo, Jan. 1, 2026
- Report on “Pay-to-Stay” Fees Makes Strong Case for Their Repeal, Jan. 1, 2026
- Maryland Agrees to Pay $30,000 to Prisoner Who Was Beaten by Guards While Handcuffed, Jan. 1, 2026
- Alabama Supreme Court Denies DOC’s Improper Venue Objection, Jan. 1, 2026
- Third Circuit Rules Awarding BOP Prisoners 54 Days of Good Time Per Year Is Pro-Rated, Jan. 1, 2026
- Utah Supreme Court Announces Framework for Analyzing Combined Brady and Napue Violations, Affirms Postconviction Relief in Capital Murder Case, Jan. 1, 2026
More from Casey Bastian:
- California Prisoners Sue Gynecologist for Sexual Abuse, Aug. 1, 2025
- Policing the Vulnerable: The Criminalization of Disability, May 15, 2025
- Examining Pro-Prosecution Bias in the Judiciary: Unconscious Biases of a Prosecutorial Background, Feb. 15, 2025
- The Rise of Mass Supervision: From Rehabilitative Alternative to Shadow Carceral State, Oct. 1, 2024
- Demonstrable Remorse, Psychiatric Diagnoses, and Alternatives to Incarceration, Aug. 1, 2024
- Minnesota Sex Offender Program: The Indefinite Detention of the Reviled, Aug. 1, 2024
- The 153 Exonerations in 2023 Include 19 Resulting From Threats or Sentences of Death, July 15, 2024
- Four Dead in One Month in San Bernardino County Jails, $3,232,500 in Settlements Paid So Far, March 1, 2024
- Dangerous Encounters: Interactions Between Autistic Individuals and Law Enforcement, Dec. 15, 2023
- U.S. Sentencing Commission Publishes Compassionate Release Datafile for Fiscal Years 2020-2022, Oct. 1, 2023
More from these topics:
- Barbaric and Deadly Conditions Continue to Plague Los Angeles County Jails, Feb. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Totality of Conditions, Overcrowding, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Deliberate Indifference.
- Escape from Georgia Jail Ends in Florida after Lyft Hijacking, Feb. 1, 2026. Escapes, Jail Specific, Security Systems, Kidnapping, Abduction or Unlawful Restraint.
- The St. Louis Jails Are Running Out of Guards, Feb. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, Hygiene Supplies, Suicides.
- Los Angeles County Restricts Opioid Treatment, Feb. 1, 2026. Medication, Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Treat, Drug Overdose, Drug Treatment/Rehab.
- Alaska Deaths in Custody Tie Record High, Feb. 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Deliberate Indifference, Compassionate Release.
- Washington County Pays $300,000 to Jail Detainee Denied Treatment for Kidney Stone, Feb. 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Fourteenth Amendment, rights, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Pretrial Detention and Detainees, Deliberate Indifference.
- $450,000 Paid for Michigan Jail Detainee’s Fentanyl Death, Incarcerated Husband Prevails in Claim for Part of Payout, Feb. 1, 2026. Drug Overdose, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Deliberate Indifference.
- Eleventh Circuit Holds Estate Cannot Sue Jailers Who Followed Medical Personnel Advice That Led to Detainee’s Death, Feb. 1, 2026. Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Private Contractors, Failure to Treat, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Deliberate Indifference.
- Competency Crisis in Missouri’s Jails, Feb. 1, 2026. Jail Specific, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Pretrial Detention and Detainees, Competency, Competency Hearing.
- Eleventh Circuit Holds Alabama County May Be Liable for Policy of Providing Inadequate Jail Medical Care, Feb. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Private Contractors, Failure to Treat, Monell Liability, Deliberate Indifference.

