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California Approves Higher Wage for Prisoner Firefighters (But Still Underpays)

Loaded on Nov. 1, 2025 published in Prison Legal News November, 2025, page 57
Filed under: Work Release, Prison Labor, Injury -- Misc., Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Good Time. Location: California.

On October 13, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed off on a raise for incarcerated firefighters, bringing their pay rate up to $7.25 an hour, the federal minimum wage. Before the bill (AB 247) became law, the firefighters only earned between $5.80 and $10.24 per day, Cal Matters …

 

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  1. America’s Deadliest Jails: Tarrant County Edition, by Anthony Accurso
  2. Washington Prisoners Gain Access to Crisis Hotline
  3. From the Editor, by Paul Wright
  4. HRDC’s Washington Jail Debit-Release Card Suit Survives Summary Judgment, by Chuck Sharman
  5. $11 Million Paid to Estate of Mentally Ill Illinois Jail Detainee Who Lost 60 Pounds During 85-Day Incarceration, by Chuck Sharman
  6. Missouri Blocks Spiritual Advisors from Prison Pastor’s Execution, by Jo Ellen Nott
  7. Dying Mississippi Prisoner Wins Preservation Testimony in Suit Blaming Terminal Cancer on Exposure to Janitorial Chemicals, by Chuck Sharman
  8. Ninth Circuit Finds No Bivens Extension Needed for Federal Prisoner Prescribed Water and Exercise for Thyroid Storms, by Chuck Sharman
  9. Trans Kentucky Prisoner Loses Bid to Block State’s New Ban on Hormone Replacement Therapy, by Chuck Sharman
  10. Enormous $14 Million Settlement Reached by Los Angeles County with Former Prisoner Exonerated After 20 Years, by Chuck Sharman
  11. San Diego County Files Unusual Suit Against NaphCare Over Jail Detainee’s Murder, by Chuck Sharman
  12. For Delay in Summoning Medical Care for Detainees, Alabama Jailers Granted Immunity But California Trooper Headed to Trial, by Chuck Sharman
  13. Seventh Circuit Rules Against Prisoner’s Deliberate Indifference Claim Over Wexford Health’s Poor Psychiatric Care, by Michael Thompson
  14. Sixth Circuit Clarifies What Constitutes PLRA “Strike” and Reinstates Michigan Prisoner’s Lawsuit, by Matthew Clarke
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  16. CoreCivic Pays $82,500 for First COVID-19 Death at San Diego ICE Lockup, by Chuck Sharman
  17. Body-Worn Camera Program for Guards Expands to all Maryland Prisons, by Chuck Sharman
  18. Wisconsin DOC Ordered to Provide Programming for Pregnant Prisoners—34 Years After Law Was Passed, by Chuck Sharman
  19. Securus Loses Bid to Dismiss HRDC Price-Fixing Suit, by Chuck Sharman
  20. $150,000 Paid by Jacksonville for Mother of Five’s Jail Suicide, by Chuck Sharman
  21. Federal Injunction Bars ICE from Crowding Detainees in Unsanitary “Hold” Rooms in New York City Office, by Chuck Sharman
  22. While Mentally Ill Rikers Island Detainee Lay Dying, Staff Sprayed Air Freshener, Fudged Cell Checks, by Chuck Sharman
  23. SCOTUS Overturns Oklahoma Prisoner’s Death Sentence After More than 25 Years on Death Row, by Douglas Ankney
  24. $1.8 Million Settlement Reached Following CDCR Data Breach, by Chuck Sharman
  25. North Carolina Prison Officials Run Out the Clock On Trans Prisoner’s Vulvoplasty, by Chuck Sharman
  26. Seventh Circuit Dismisses Jail Detainee Suicide Case for Lack of Showing Deliberate Indifference, by Anthony Accurso
  27. Jailhouse Lawyer Gets 16-1/2-Year Sentence for Defrauding Prisoner “Clients”, by Chuck Sharman
  28. Fourth Circuit Rules in Favor of Prisoner’s Eligibility for Time Credits, by Douglas Ankney
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  31. Ohio Appoints Special Prosecutor to Investigate Double Amputee’s Restraint and Death
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  44. Eleventh Circuit Declines to Extend to Summary Judgment Proceedings a Rule Requiring District Courts to Notify Pro Se Litigants, by Douglas Ankney
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