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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
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  7. Missouri Blocks Spiritual Advisors from Prison Pastor’s Execution, by Jo Ellen Nott
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  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. Body-Worn Camera Program for Guards Expands to all Maryland Prisons, by Chuck Sharman
  17. CoreCivic Pays $82,500 for First COVID-19 Death at San Diego ICE Lockup, 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
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  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. Fourth Circuit Rules in Favor of Prisoner’s Eligibility for Time Credits, by Douglas Ankney
  28. Jailhouse Lawyer Gets 16-1/2-Year Sentence for Defrauding Prisoner “Clients”, by Chuck Sharman
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