×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
Dying Mississippi Prisoner Wins Preservation Testimony in Suit Blaming Terminal Cancer on Exposure to Janitorial Chemicals
Loaded on Nov. 1, 2025
by Chuck Sharman
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2025, page 11
Filed under:
Wexford Health Services,
Work Conditions/Safety,
Toxic Fumes/Chemicals,
Depositions,
Immunity - Absolute and Qualified.
Location:
Mississippi.
by Chuck Sharman
Susie Annie Balfour, who spent 33 years incarcerated at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF) before her 2021 release, died on August 5, 2025, the victim of metastatic breast cancer that she blamed on exposure to toxic chemicals in cleaning agents she was forced to use …
Full article and associated cases available to subscribers.
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
More from this issue:
- America’s Deadliest Jails: Tarrant County Edition, by Anthony Accurso
- Washington Prisoners Gain Access to Crisis Hotline
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- HRDC’s Washington Jail Debit-Release Card Suit Survives Summary Judgment, by Chuck Sharman
- $11 Million Paid to Estate of Mentally Ill Illinois Jail Detainee Who Lost 60 Pounds During 85-Day Incarceration, by Chuck Sharman
- Missouri Blocks Spiritual Advisors from Prison Pastor’s Execution, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Dying Mississippi Prisoner Wins Preservation Testimony in Suit Blaming Terminal Cancer on Exposure to Janitorial Chemicals, by Chuck Sharman
- Ninth Circuit Finds No Bivens Extension Needed for Federal Prisoner Prescribed Water and Exercise for Thyroid Storms, by Chuck Sharman
- Trans Kentucky Prisoner Loses Bid to Block State’s New Ban on Hormone Replacement Therapy, by Chuck Sharman
- Enormous $14 Million Settlement Reached by Los Angeles County with Former Prisoner Exonerated After 20 Years, by Chuck Sharman
- San Diego County Files Unusual Suit Against NaphCare Over Jail Detainee’s Murder, by Chuck Sharman
- For Delay in Summoning Medical Care for Detainees, Alabama Jailers Granted Immunity But California Trooper Headed to Trial, by Chuck Sharman
- Seventh Circuit Rules Against Prisoner’s Deliberate Indifference Claim Over Wexford Health’s Poor Psychiatric Care, by Michael Thompson
- Sixth Circuit Clarifies What Constitutes PLRA “Strike” and Reinstates Michigan Prisoner’s Lawsuit, by Matthew Clarke
- $2.4 Million Paid to Indiana Prisoners Sickened With Legionnaire’s Disease by Contaminated Water, by Chuck Sharman
- CoreCivic Pays $82,500 for First COVID-19 Death at San Diego ICE Lockup, by Chuck Sharman
- Body-Worn Camera Program for Guards Expands to all Maryland Prisons, by Chuck Sharman
- Wisconsin DOC Ordered to Provide Programming for Pregnant Prisoners—34 Years After Law Was Passed, by Chuck Sharman
- Securus Loses Bid to Dismiss HRDC Price-Fixing Suit, by Chuck Sharman
- $150,000 Paid by Jacksonville for Mother of Five’s Jail Suicide, by Chuck Sharman
- Federal Injunction Bars ICE from Crowding Detainees in Unsanitary “Hold” Rooms in New York City Office, by Chuck Sharman
- While Mentally Ill Rikers Island Detainee Lay Dying, Staff Sprayed Air Freshener, Fudged Cell Checks, by Chuck Sharman
- SCOTUS Overturns Oklahoma Prisoner’s Death Sentence After More than 25 Years on Death Row, by Douglas Ankney
- $1.8 Million Settlement Reached Following CDCR Data Breach, by Chuck Sharman
- North Carolina Prison Officials Run Out the Clock On Trans Prisoner’s Vulvoplasty, by Chuck Sharman
- Seventh Circuit Dismisses Jail Detainee Suicide Case for Lack of Showing Deliberate Indifference, by Anthony Accurso
- Jailhouse Lawyer Gets 16-1/2-Year Sentence for Defrauding Prisoner “Clients”, by Chuck Sharman
- Fourth Circuit Rules in Favor of Prisoner’s Eligibility for Time Credits, by Douglas Ankney
- Federal Government, CoreCivic Slow-Walk Class-Action Challenges to Forced Labor of ICE Detainees, by Chuck Sharman
- Oklahoma County Jailers Lose Bids to Derail Three Suits Over Detainee Murders, by Chuck Sharman
- Ohio Appoints Special Prosecutor to Investigate Double Amputee’s Restraint and Death
- South Dakota Approves $650 Million New Prison Construction
- Fifth Circuit Remands Louisiana Detainee’s Medical Grievance Case, by Michael Thompson
- Eighth Circuit Orders Preliminary Injunction Requiring Minnesota to Reinstate Program Teaching Biblical “Authentic Manhood”, by Matthew Clarke
- Appeals Court Rules Michigan’s Tolling Provision Is Not Inconsistent with the PLRA, by Douglas Ankney
- California’s Attorney General Is Suing Los Angeles County Jails Over “Inhumane Conditions”, by Michael Thompson
- FCC Issues Proposed Rule Permitting Cellphone Jammers in Prisons and Jails, by Chuck Sharman
- Preliminary Injunction Halts Solitary Confinement of Mentally Ill Prisoners at New York Lockup Where Wildcat Guard Strike Began, by Chuck Sharman
- Florida Sheriff Fires Five Guards for Two Cases of Detainee Abuse
- $5.5 Million Paid for Two Withdrawal Deaths at Washington Jail, by Chuck Sharman
- $950,000 Awarded to Trans Maryland Prisoner Dropped on Her Face by Guards, by Douglas Ankney
- Seventh Circuit Affirms Liberty Interest in Harsh Solitary Confinement Case, by Michael Thompson
- Eleventh Circuit Overturns 1990 Alabama Death Sentence Over Racially Biased Jury Selection; ACLU Report Shows It Is Still Happening, by Matthew Clarke
- Eleventh Circuit Declines to Extend to Summary Judgment Proceedings a Rule Requiring District Courts to Notify Pro Se Litigants, by Douglas Ankney
- BOP Cancels Union Rights for Prison Guards
- $4 Million Verdict Returned in Colorado Jail Suicide Case, by Chuck Sharman
- $100,000 Settlement Reached Between Imprisoned BOP Guard and Prisoners He Raped, by Chuck Sharman
- Fifth Circuit Dismisses Sex Abuse Claims Filed by Three Texas Prisoners Against Guard, by Chuck Sharman
- Nearly $528,000 Paid by Kansas Jail to Detainees Raped by Guards, by Chuck Sharman
- New York Jury Convicts Former Guard for Robert Brooks’ Taped Killing
- Two Re-Entry Non-Profit Leaders in Tennessee and Massachusetts Accused of Criminal Charges
- The Last Escaped Detainee from the New Orleans Jail Was Arrested in an Atlanta Crawlspace
- California Approves Higher Wage for Prisoner Firefighters (But Still Underpays)
- Former Prisoners’ Challenge to Virginia Constitution’s Felony Disenfranchisement Clause Allowed to Proceed, by Douglas Ankney
- $3.6 Million Paid by Minnesota County After Hemophiliac Jail Detainee Died from Brain Bleed, by Chuck Sharman
- Appeals Court Allows Illinois Prisoner’s Suit for Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies, by Douglas Ankney
- FCC Votes For Dramatic Hike to Prison Phone Call Rates, by Chuck Sharman
- News in Brief
More from Chuck Sharman:
- L.A. County Begins Making Nearly $5 Billion in Payouts to Survivors of Sex Abuse in Juvenile Detention, Sept. 1, 2026
- Washington DOC Barred from Putting Prisoners on Lockdown and Calling It “Programming”, Sept. 1, 2026
- Florida DOC Rebuked for Seizing Prisoner’s Excessive Force Settlement to Cover Incarceration Liens, Sept. 1, 2026
- $100,000 Paid to Five Prisoners Assaulted by Centurion Gynecologist at Florida Lockup, Sept. 1, 2026
- “Nothing Short of Disgraceful”: New York Prisoner Wins Injunction Ordering Cancer Treatment Delayed Seven Years, Sept. 1, 2026
- HRDC Wins Injunction Against Minnesota DOC Policy Banning Its Publications, Sept. 1, 2026
- $280,000 Paid for South Carolina Detainee’s Death in Charleston Jail, Sept. 1, 2026
- $800,000 Settlement Reached in Hawai‘i Jail Suicide Case, Sept. 1, 2026
- $5.4 Million Jury Verdict Against Riverside County in Suit Over Jail Fentanyl Death, Sept. 1, 2026
- Atlanta Jail Begins Turning Away Misdemeanor Arrestees, Sept. 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- The GEO Group Pays California $104,510 to Settle Workplace Safety Charges at ICE Detention Facility—Where Local Cops Won’t Investigate Crimes, Sept. 1, 2026. GEO Group/Wackenhut, Contractor Misconduct, Prison Labor, Work Conditions/Safety, Police/Govt Misconduct.
- Illinois Prisons Have Gone a Year Without Long-term Healthcare Contract, Sept. 1, 2026. Wexford Health Services, Centurion, Systemic Medical Neglect, Private Contractors, Staffing.
- Oklahoma Prisoners Made Political Calls for Conservative Super PAC, Sept. 1, 2026. Prison Industries, Prison Labor, Work Conditions/Safety, Elections.
- “Safe Inside” Review Paid for by DOJ Found Prisons Grew Much Deadlier in Five Year-Period, Aug. 1, 2026. Work Conditions/Safety, Statistics/Trends, Cost of Prison Systems, Staffing, Assaults on Staff.
- Colorado Pays $245,000 to Muslim Former Prisoner Shaved by Same Guard Who Cost DOC Earlier Settlement with Jewish Prisoner Denied Kosher Meals, Aug. 1, 2026. Religious Discrimination, Overdetention, Religious Diet, Religious Practices, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified.
- Fourth Circuit Affirms Damages Class Certification in Opioid Treatment Denial, Aug. 1, 2026. Wexford Health Services, Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Failure to Treat, Class Certification, Deliberate Indifference.
- BOP Orders Prison Closures Amid Infrastructure Decay and Staff Shortages, Aug. 1, 2026. Transfers, Toxic Fumes/Chemicals, Staffing, Guard Unions.
- North Texas Prison Evacuated After Carbon Monoxide Leak, July 1, 2026. Toxic Fumes/Chemicals, Eighth Amendment, Exposure to Cold, Water, Exposure to Heat.
- Sixth Circuit Upholds $10 Million Wrongful Conviction Verdict for Exonerated Michigan Prisoner, June 1, 2026. Wrongful Conviction, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified, Damages - Compensatory, Failure to Disclose.
- Internal Assessment Contradicts Public Claims About Women’s Prisons, April 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Failure to Treat, Totality of Conditions, Toxic Fumes/Chemicals, Deliberate Indifference.

