More from this issue:

1. Overcrowded and Understaffed, Oklahoma County Jail Remains “Deplorable”, by David Reutter
2. From the Editor, by Paul Wright
3. Lawsuit Claims Seattle’s King County Jail Shows Little Improvement in Quarter Century Since “Hammer Agreement”
4. No Jail Time for Former Arizona Prisons Director After Armed Standoff With Cops
5. Pennsylvania County Found Skimming Prisoner-Designated Funds from ViaPath Kickbacks
6. With Guard Arrests at Georgia Jail, Sheriff Asks, “What Are We Doing Wrong?”
7. Colorado Sheriff Resigns After Deputies Fatally Shoot Motorist
8. U.S. Sentencing Commission Greenlights Retroactive Sentence Reductions
9. Redemption Songs: The Forgotten History of American Prison Music, by Maurice Chammah
10. Nearly $11 Million Settlement Reached in Suit by BOP Prisoners Held Without Heat, Electricity During New York Winter Storm, by Douglas Ankney
11. Federal Prisoner in Virginia Convicted on Fresh Kiddie Porn Charges After Drawing His Own
12. Massachusetts Becomes the Fifth State to Make Prison Phone Calls Free
13. California Slowed, But Not Barred from “Dumping” Sick, Indigent Parolees on Public Hospitals
14. Rikers Island Detainees Given Pricey Weight-Loss Surgery but Little Follow-Up Care
15. Illinois Eases Restrictions on Prisoners Released Under Supervision
16. Moms Released from Massachusetts Prison Decry Dearth of Help
17. Eighth Circuit Issues Primer on Informal Due Process Procedures to Missouri Prisoner, by David Reutter
18. DOJ Finds ADA Violations in Arizona Prisons, Demands Improvements
19. Sick Georgia Prisoners Forced to Choose Between Treatment and Early Release
20. Unsealed Settlement Reveals PrimeCare Medical Paid $337,500 After Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Suicide, by David Reutter
21. Eighth Circuit Remands ADA Claims—But Not Constitutional Claims—of Paralyzed Arkansas Jail Detainee, by David Reutter
22. “Unethical At Best”: Hawaii Budget Director Charged With Financing New Prison is Former CoreCivic Lobbyist
23. Alabama Conducts First Nitrogen Hypoxia Execution
24. “More jobs than people”: Prisoners Training to Work on Ohio Infrastructure Projects after Release
25. HRDC Wins $14 Million Settlement for Exonerated Florida Prisoner
26. Escape from Oregon State Hospital Results in Changes to Detainee Transports
27. Four Dead in One Month in San Bernardino County Jails, $3,232,500 in Settlements Paid So Far, by Casey Bastian, Douglas Ankney
28. Seventh Circuit Revives Prisoner’s Challenge to Seized $10,000, by David Reutter
29. Alabama Prisons Facing Third Class-Action Lawsuit
30. Muslim Florida Prisoner Awarded Permanent Injunction to Grow Untrimmed Beard, by David Reutter
31. South Carolina Sheriff Ordered to Pay $37,500 in Fees and Costs in Jail FOIA Case, by Matthew Clarke
32. North Carolina Prison Official Pleads Guilty to COVID-19 Program Fraud
33. Guard and Four Summit Food Service Employees Arrested for Smuggling at Troubled Atlanta Jail
34. New York Prisoners with Chronic Pain Win Injunction to Receive Denied Medication, by Matthew Clarke
35. Ninth Circuit Shuts Down Settlement Agreement in Long-Running California Prisoners’ Gang Affiliation Suit, by David Reutter
36. $470,000 Settlement After Texas Jail Nurses Fabricate Vital Signs for Detainee Who Died, by Douglas Ankney
37. New Jersey Supreme Court Revives Parolee’s Challenge to Administratively Imposed Treatment Program, by Matthew Clarke
38. BOP Pays $40,000 to Prisoner Sexually Assaulted at Florida Lockup by Guard, Who Must Pay Her $1 Million, by David Reutter
39. Serial Killer Murdered by Cellmate at Texas Lockup
40. California Felony-Murder Reform Shaves 11,000 Years Off 600 Prisoner Sentences, by Douglas Ankney
41. Seventh Circuit Says Lack of Expert Testimony Dooms Illinois Prisoner’s Medical Neglect Claim, by Douglas Ankney
42. Texas Fights Fetal Rights After Forcing Prison Guard to Stay At Work Until She Delivered Stillborn Baby
43. Suit Filed After Mentally Ill Detainee Starves to Death in Miami Jail, by David Reutter
44. Senators Grill BOP Chief—Then Say They’ll Toss Her More Money
45. Nevada Prisoner Strikes Out in Access-to-Courts Claim, by David Reutter
46. New Jersey Private Prison Ban Voided
47. New Minnesota Justice Center Aims to be More ‘Humane’
48. Eighth Circuit Affirms $800,000 Award After Arkansas Jail Detainee’s Fatal Appendix Rupture, by Matthew Clarke
49. Wellpath Held in Contempt in Suit at California Jail
50. Minnesota Prison on Lockdown After Protest Over Dirty Water, Lack of Phone Use and Out-of-Cell Time
51. California Prison Fined $1.7 Million for Stormwater Discharges, Environmental Violations
52. Seventh Circuit Reinstates Wisconsin Prisoner’s ADA Claim for Untreated Knee Injury, by Matthew Clarke
53. Eleventh Circuit Revives Claim Against Florida Jail That Forced Detainee to Scan Legal Mail Into Computer with Memory Chip, by David Reutter
54. Louisiana Fugitive Recaptured After 32 Years
55. Illinois Failing to Grant Dying Prisoners Medical Releases
56. Florida Pastor Accused of Running Shoplifting Ring With DUI Diversion Program Participants
57. MTC Returns $5.125 Million to Mississippi for “Ghost Workers” at Private Prisons
58. $900,000 Settlement Reached With Ohio Jail in Detainee’s Fatal Seizure, by David Reutter
59. Tribal Courts Expand ‘Healing to Wellness’ Rehabilitation Programs
60. Four TDCJ Guards Resign, Seven Suspended for Beating Handcuffed Prisoner Into Coma
61. Michigan Reaches $1.03 Million Settlement with Exonerated Prisoner
62. Oklahoma Parole Board Resignations Threaten Prisoner Clemencies
63. News in Brief
64. After Eight Deaths in Eight Years, Virginia Jail Introduces—Pickleball?

More from David Reutter:

• Philadelphia Agrees to $9.1 Million Settlement for Wrongful Murder Conviction, Feb. 15, 2025
• ‘Fictional Pleas’ and ‘Hidden Departures’: Failure to Collect Data on Binding Federal Plea Bargains Hinders Researchers, Feb. 15, 2025
• First Circuit: Two-Level Enhancement Under § 3B1.1(c) for Leadership or Managerial Role Vacated Because Government Failed to Prove Defendant’s Order Was Actually ‘Obeyed’ by Fellow Criminal Participant, Feb. 15, 2025
• Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Holds Witness Wearing Surgical Mask During Pandemic Is Denial of Sixth Amendment Right to Face-to-Face Confrontation and No General Exception to This Right for Pandemic or ‘Other Global Events’ Such as Wars and Natural, Feb. 15, 2025
• The Murky Waters of Parole, Feb. 1, 2025
• California Prisoner Awarded Over $1.26 Million in Suit Challenging Withheld Legal Mail Which Resulted in Habeas Loss, Jan. 15, 2025
• Muslim New York Prisoner’s Free Exercise of Religion Claim Reinstated, Jan. 15, 2025
• Fourth Circuit: Baltimore County Prisoners May Qualify as Employees under FLSA, Jan. 15, 2025
• In Failure-to-Treat Claims, Wellpath Denied Dismissal in Virginia, Settles in Pennsylvania, Dec. 15, 2024
• Trends Show Mortality Risks Increase with Higher Jail Turnover Rates, Dec. 15, 2024

More from these topics:

• Fourth Circuit Revives West Virginia Prisoner’s RLUIPA Claim Over Religious Diet with Soy He Can’t Digest, Jan. 15, 2025. State Law Claims, RLUIPA, Religious Diet.
• Sixth Circuit Sets Up Circuit Split with Ruling on Michigan Prisoner’s PLRA Exhaustion Dispute, Oct. 15, 2024. Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA).
• Washington Court of Appeals: PLRA Dismissal of Prisoner’s Federal Suit Is Not Res Judicata Barring State Tort Claims, Sept. 15, 2024. Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Res Judicata, Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA).
• Eighth Circuit: Perfect Adherence to Burdened Beliefs Not Required to Demonstrate Sincerity under RLUIPA, Aug. 15, 2024. Religion Defined, Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).
• Idaho Stopped From Repeatedly Scheduling Executions That It Cannot Carry Out, July 1, 2024. Injunctions, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty, Death Row, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Punishment, Method of Execution, Lethal Injection, Lethal Injection Method of Execution.
• Sixth Circuit Revives Ohio Prisoner’s Retaliation Claim That Guards Got Him Kicked Out of Religious Group, July 1, 2024. Religious Discrimination, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, RLUIPA.
• Fifth Circuit: Texas Prisoner’s Declaration Alone Sufficient to Send PLRA Exhaustion Dispute to Trial, July 1, 2024. Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Summary Judgment, Summary Judgment/Judgment N.O.V., Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA).
• Fourth Circuit Moves North Carolina Prisons Closer to Recognizing Nation of Gods and Earths, May 1, 2024. Religious Discrimination, RLUIPA, Religion Defined, Religious Freedom/Worship, Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), Free Exercise Clause.
• Eleventh Circuit Calls Georgia Prisoner’s Dismissed Suit Outside PLRA “Strike Zone”, April 1, 2024. Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Three Strike Litigants.
• Finding Indiana Grievance Process “Unavailable,” Federal Judge Grants Summary Judgment to 22 Prisoners on Same Day, April 1, 2024. PLRA, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA).