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Federal Watchdog, SCOTUS Fail to Limit Solitary Confinement Abuses
Loaded on Oct. 15, 2024
by Douglas Ankney, Anthony Accurso
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2024, page 22
Filed under:
Jail Misconduct,
Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement,
Abuse of Discretion Standard.
Location:
United States of America.
by Douglas Ankney and Anthony W. Accurso
Prisoners have lost two chances to rein in abuses of solitary confinement in the past year, most recently with a toothless advisory from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). That followed a refusal …
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More from this issue:
- FCC Slashes Prison and Jail Phone Rates, Caps Video Call Cost, Eliminates “Site Commission” Kickbacks
- From the Editor
- Missouri Prisoner Executed After Making—and Losing—New Plea Deal
- Three BOP Prisoners Sentenced for Murder of “Whitey” Bulger at West Virginia Lockup
- At Oklahoma Lockup: Deputy Warden Fired and Arrested in Smuggling Scheme, Guards Charged in Prisoner’s Assault
- Alabama Prisoner Disciplined for Lying When Guard Cleared of Sexual Assault Allegation
- DOJ Opens Investigation Into Sex Abuse at Two California Women’s Prisons
- Three Former Rikers Island Guards Among Five Ex-Employees Charged in Massive Smuggling Scheme
- Crucial Surveillance Video Missing in Nevada Prisoner’s Homicide Caused by Guards
- Advanced Correctional Healthcare Ends Two Suits Over Deaths at Ohio Jail
- Texas Holds 1 in 41 Prisoners in Solitary Confinement
- Maine State Prison Warden Replaced As Misconduct Allegations Investigated
- Second Circuit: New York Prisoner’s Religious Discrimination Need Not Show a “Substantial” Burden of Beliefs, by Douglas Ankney
- Missouri Prisoners Losing Reentry Money to “Incarceration Reimbursement”
- Mistrial for Vermont Sheriff Who Kicked Shackled Detainee
- Georgia Guard Gets 15 Years for Using One Prisoner to Assault Another
- $1.8 Million Jury Award for San Diego Jail Overdose Death, by Matthew Clarke
- More Alabama Prisoners Murdered in Overcrowded Lockups
- Paternity Questions Dog Miami Jail Birth
- Federal Watchdog, SCOTUS Fail to Limit Solitary Confinement Abuses, by Douglas Ankney, Anthony Accurso
- America’s Prison Profiteers from Colonial Times Until Now, by Douglas Ankney
- Unequal Before the Law, by Stephanie Woodard
- North Carolina Expands Supervision for Mentally Ill Probationers, by Anthony Accurso
- South Carolina Prison Guard Supervisor Charged With Taking Over $219,000 in Bribes to Smuggle Cellphones
- New TV Show Dramatizes Prisoner’s Re-entry
- Alaska Supreme Court: DOC Can’t Unilaterally Redefine ‘Parole Release Date’, by Douglas Ankney
- Sixth Circuit Sets Up Circuit Split with Ruling on Michigan Prisoner’s PLRA Exhaustion Dispute
- Mentally Ill Detainee Allegedly “Stomped” In the Head By South Carolina Jailer, by Anthony Accurso
- Watchdog Calls for Hawaii Prisons, Jails to Stop Using Restraint Chairs
- Seventh Circuit Avoids Deciding Whether Wisconsin Statute of Limitations Tolls from Prisoner’s Incident or Grievances, by David Reutter
- Parole Denied for Indigenous Activist Leonard Peltier
- Florida Reentry “Success” Story: Convicted Embezzler Promoted to Oversee Miami-Dade County Contracts
- Ohio Pays $725,000 to Survivors of Two Prisoners Beaten to Death by Lying Guards
- Rural Washington County Shutters Its Jail
- Two Wrongful Tennessee Convictions Result in Payouts Over $1 Million
- Massachusetts Appeals Court Revives Prisoners’ Challenge to DOC Trust Account Policy Change, by Douglas Ankney
- Rural Areas Increasingly Reliant on Imprisoned Emergency Responders
- Houston Detainees Shipped to Private Jails in Mississippi and Louisiana, by Anthony Accurso
- California Bar Accuses L.A. Lawyer of Deceiving Prisoners Seeking Resentencing
- Alabama Warden and Wife Busted for Making “Magic” Mushrooms
- Illinois Pays $3 Million for Subjecting Prisoners to Degrading Mass Strip Search, by Anthony Accurso
- Transgender BOP Prisoner in Arizona Wins $10,243 for Guard’s Negligence
- Former California Jail Guards Plead Guilty to Fatal Beating of Mentally Ill Detainee
- Minnesota’s $100 Million-Per-Year Civil Commitment Program Has No “Discernible Impact” on Sex Crimes
- Federal Prisoner Will Appear on Alaska Congressional Ballot
- $7.25 Million Paid for Psychotic Detainee’s Suicide After 20 Days in Solitary at Indiana Jail
- Iowa Qualified Immunity Law Lets County Off the Hook for Guard’s Sex Abuse of Jail Detainee
- Impoverished Ohio County Gets New Jail Space After Settling Suit for Bloody Detainee Assault
- Indiana Sheriff Pleads Guilty to Corruption, County Pays $328,000 to Jail Detainees for “Night of Terror”, by Douglas Ankney
- Third Circuit Finds Relation-Back Rule Misapplied to Philadelphia Prisoner’s “Crappy” Ordeal Lawsuit, by David Reutter
- Florida Court of Appeals Reinstates Voter Fraud Charges Against Ex-Felons
- Colorado Prisoner Forces Correctional Health Partners to Treat His Colon Disease, by Douglas Ankney
- Ninth Circuit Provides Cover to Oregon Governor for Prioritizing Guards Over Prisoners for COVID-19 Vaccine, by Douglas Ankney
- Suspended South Carolina Sheriff Acquitted of Using Excessive Force on Jail Detainee
- Nailing Down “Top Cop” Kamala Harris on Criminal Justice Reform
- Prisoners Reportedly Locked in Showers in Oklahoma, Florida, by David Reutter
- CDCR Slammed for Reclassifying Staff Misconduct Allegations as Routine Grievances, by Anthony Accurso
- Maryland Extends Contract with YesCare Despite Bankruptcy of Predecessor Corizon Health
- After Positive Drug Test, Kentucky Prisoners Allegedly Forced to Choose Between Tasing or Drinking Urine, by David Reutter
- News in Brief
More from Douglas Ankney:
- Second Circuit Vacates Above-Guidelines Firearm-Trafficking Sentence Based on Failure to Assist Law Enforcement and Unexplained Reliance on Factors Already Included in Guidelines Range, Sept. 1, 2026
- Ninth Circuit Reverses Convictions, Holding Requirement That Defendant Testify Before Displaying Hand Tattoos Violates Fifth Amendment, Sept. 1, 2026
- Ohio Supreme Court Announces Postconviction DNA-Testing Orders Need Only Identify Statutory Reason to Satisfy R.C. 2953.73(D) “Reasons” Requirement, Sept. 1, 2026
- Idaho Legislature Moves to Hide Execution Protocol from Judicial Scrutiny, Sept. 1, 2026
- New Jersey Court Rules That Denial of Transgender Prisoner’s Transfer Request Violates Neither Discrimination Law nor Equal Protection Clause, Sept. 1, 2026
- Federal Court Upholds Consultants’ Finding that Oklahoma Is Not Honoring Its Consent Decree to Provide Mental Health Treatment, Sept. 1, 2026
- BOP Denies Providing Substandard Dialysis Treatment Despite Prisoners’ Deaths, Court Filings, Understaffing and Lack of Oversight, Sept. 1, 2026
- New Jersey Supreme Court Orders Plenary Hearing Before Special Adjudicator on Reliability of Fingerprint Evidence, Holding Century of Judicial Acceptance Did Not Satisfy Trial Court’s Gatekeeping Obligation Under N.J.R.E. 702, Aug. 1, 2026
- En Banc Eleventh Circuit Announces All Parents, Including Those Convicted of Child-Sex Offenses, Enjoy Fundamental Right to Live With Their Children, Holding Alabama Residency Prohibition Subject to Strict Scrutiny, Aug. 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Announces Courts May Examine Individual Officer’s Subjective Purpose When Assessing Whether Warrantless Administrative Inspection Was Pretextual, Holding Suppression Required Where Trooper’s Sole Motive for Stop Was Criminal Investigati, Aug. 1, 2026
More from Anthony Accurso:
- The Systematic Terror of Rankin County’s “Goon Squad”, May 1, 2026
- Virginia Prisoners Stuck Waiting for Education Programs, Feb. 1, 2026
- $939,000 for Nevada Prisoner Left in Wheelchair by Delayed Back Pain Treatment, Jan. 1, 2026
- Ninth Circuit Affirms Exclusion of Plea Agreement’s Factual Basis, Holding Unaccepted “Type A” Plea Agreement Unenforceable to Trigger Waiver of Rule 410 Protections, Dec. 15, 2025
- America’s Deadliest Jails: Tarrant County Edition, Nov. 1, 2025
- Seventh Circuit Dismisses Jail Detainee Suicide Case for Lack of Showing Deliberate Indifference, Nov. 1, 2025
- Protecting Your Digital Privacy, Oct. 15, 2025
- Idaho Supreme Court Announces Warrantless Search of Civilly Committed Individual Violates Fourth Amendment, Oct. 15, 2025
- Michigan Supreme Court Announces Guidance on Standards for Search Warrants of Cellphones to Satisfy Particularity Requirement of Fourth Amendment That “Reasonably Direct” Search to Uncovering Evidence of Criminal Activity Identified in Warrant, Oct. 15, 2025
- Sixth Circuit: Erlinger Error Requires Resentencing Where Government Cannot Prove Beyond Reasonable Doubt That Jury Would Find Prior Offenses Committed on Different “Occasions”, Oct. 15, 2025
More from these topics:
- L.A. County Begins Making Nearly $5 Billion in Payouts to Survivors of Sex Abuse in Juvenile Detention, Sept. 1, 2026. Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Settlements, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders.
- Wave of Staff Arrests Exposes Persistent Misconduct at South Carolina Jail, Sept. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Obstruction of Justice.
- Mississippi DOC Held Mentally Unwell Prisoners in Solitary, Many Died Because of It, Sept. 1, 2026. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Staff Training, Deliberate Indifference.
- Fourth Circuit: Error in Granting Judgment Prior to Adjudging Spoliation Motion, Sept. 1, 2026. Summary Judgment, Discovery, Abuse of Discretion Standard.
- Report Highlights Repeated Overdoses at Florida County Jail, Sept. 1, 2026. Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Contractor Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Drug Overdose.
- Isolation and Medical Neglect at Illinois’ Joliet Treatment Center Drive Prisoners to Set Fatal Fires, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Security Systems, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Court Shuts Down Arizona Attempt to Fill Medical Staff Vacancies with Under-Qualified Providers, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Staffing, Injunctions, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- California Grand Jury Report on Deaths at Riverside County Jails, Sept. 1, 2026. Jail Misconduct, Corrections Audits, Prison Reform, Statistics/Trends, Public Records.
- Ohio Supreme Court Announces Postconviction DNA-Testing Orders Need Only Identify Statutory Reason to Satisfy R.C. 2953.73(D) “Reasons” Requirement, Sept. 1, 2026. DNA Testing/Samples, Abuse of Discretion Standard, Statutory Construction/Interpretation.
- Three Detainees Die in Four Days at the Tarrant County Jail, Aug. 1, 2026. Jail Misconduct, Statistics/Trends, Wrongful Death, Compassionate Release.

