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Unequal Before the Law
by Stephanie Woodard
Native Americans serve astoundingly longer prison sentences—because they are Native.
Federal charges ordinarily cover matters of national reach: immigration, voting rights, racketeering. Not in Indian Country. Tribal members frequently find themselves in federal court for all sorts of allegations— not just serious crimes, such as murder, but ...
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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
- Advanced Correctional Healthcare Ends Two Suits Over Deaths at Ohio Jail
- Crucial Surveillance Video Missing in Nevada Prisoner’s Homicide Caused by Guards
- Maine State Prison Warden Replaced As Misconduct Allegations Investigated
- Texas Holds 1 in 41 Prisoners in Solitary Confinement
- Second Circuit: New York Prisoner’s Religious Discrimination Need Not Show a “Substantial” Burden of Beliefs, by Douglas Ankney
- Mistrial for Vermont Sheriff Who Kicked Shackled Detainee
- Missouri Prisoners Losing Reentry Money to “Incarceration Reimbursement”
- 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
- Paternity Questions Dog Miami Jail Birth
- More Alabama Prisoners Murdered in Overcrowded Lockups
- Federal Watchdog, SCOTUS Fail to Limit Solitary Confinement Abuses, by Anthony Accurso, Douglas Ankney
- America’s Prison Profiteers from Colonial Times Until Now, by Douglas Ankney
- Unequal Before the Law, by Stephanie Woodard
- South Carolina Prison Guard Supervisor Charged With Taking Over $219,000 in Bribes to Smuggle Cellphones
- North Carolina Expands Supervision for Mentally Ill Probationers, by Anthony Accurso
- 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
- Watchdog Calls for Hawaii Prisons, Jails to Stop Using Restraint Chairs
- Mentally Ill Detainee Allegedly “Stomped” In the Head By South Carolina Jailer, by Anthony Accurso
- Parole Denied for Indigenous Activist Leonard Peltier
- Seventh Circuit Avoids Deciding Whether Wisconsin Statute of Limitations Tolls from Prisoner’s Incident or Grievances, by David Reutter
- 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
- Houston Detainees Shipped to Private Jails in Mississippi and Louisiana, by Anthony Accurso
- Rural Areas Increasingly Reliant on Imprisoned Emergency Responders
- 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
- Impoverished Ohio County Gets New Jail Space After Settling Suit for Bloody Detainee Assault
- Iowa Qualified Immunity Law Lets County Off the Hook for Guard’s Sex Abuse of Jail Detainee
- 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
- Colorado Prisoner Forces Correctional Health Partners to Treat His Colon Disease, by Douglas Ankney
- Florida Court of Appeals Reinstates Voter Fraud Charges Against Ex-Felons
- 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 Stephanie Woodard:
- Unequal Before the Law, Oct. 15, 2024
More from these topics:
- U.S. Sentencing Commission Adopts 2025 Amendments to Resolve Circuit Conflicts, Aug. 1, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Criminal History, Arrest/Arraignment, Sentence Enhancements/Departures.
- Summary of the 2025 Drug Offenses Amendment by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, Aug. 1, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Methamphetamine, Drug Mule, Machine Guns, Safety Valve.
- Third Circuit Rejects U.S. Sentencing Commission Amended Compassionate Release Policy, July 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Compassionate Release.
- $1.6 Million Class-Action Settlement for Virginia Prisoners Subjected to Delayed Release, July 15, 2025. Release and Reentry, Overdetention.
- Fourth Circuit: A Finding of Offering Money to Minor for Videos Depicting Specific Conduct Without Establishing Order of Events Insufficient to Establish Offer ‘Caused’ Minor to Produce Explicit Material Within Meaning of Guidelines § 2G2.2(c)(1) Cros, July 1, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Applicable Guidelines Issues.
- First Circuit Announces What Constitutes ‘Otherwise Using’ a Dangerous Weapon for Purposes of the Four-Level Enhancement Under Guidelines § 2B3.1(a), May 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Probation, Sentence Enhancements/Departures.
- ACLU Sues BOP Over Failure to Implement First Step Act Release Credits, May 1, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, First Step Act, Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
- Arkansas Supreme Court Rules § 16-93-609(b)(2)(B), Relating to Parole Eligibility for Residential Burglary Conviction, Applies Retroactively to Defendant, April 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Resentencing, Bank Fraud/Robbery/Theft, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release, Eligibility for Parole.
- Virginia Parole Board Skirts New Transparency Rules, Governor Walks Back Expanded Sentence Credits—Again, March 1, 2025. Local Rules, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release, Credits.
- Legal Gaffe Prolongs Case of Former St. Louis Detainee Held Eight Months After Dismissal of Charges, Feb. 15, 2025. Overdetention, Search and Seizure, Pending Appeal/Sentencing, Dismissal.