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Shadow Prisons: How Civil Commitment Leads to Longer Confinement

Loaded on Jan. 1, 2026 by Chuck Sharman published in Prison Legal News January, 2026, page 0
Filed under: Sex Offender Treatment, Involuntary Treatment/Drugging, Civil Commitment, Sexually Dangerous Persons/Sexual Violent Predators, Sex Offense Registration Act (SORNA). Location: United States of America.

by Chuck Sharman

At the center of mass incarceration in the United States is a deeply troubling fact: More than two of every five people locked up have been diagnosed with a mental disorder. With nearly two million people caged in U.S. prisons and jails, that means the …

 

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More from this issue:

  1. Shadow Prisons: How Civil Commitment Leads to Longer Confinement, by Chuck Sharman
  2. From the Editor, by Paul Wright
  3. Ninth Circuit Hands Partial Victory to NaphCare, Remanding Much of $27 Million Jury Verdict in Washington Jail Death Case, by Chuck Sharman
  4. The DOJ Orders Prison Inspectors to Drop LGBTQ+ Protections
  5. Class Certified in Challenge to Mailed Book Ban at Indianapolis Jail, by Chuck Sharman
  6. $450,000 Paid by Missouri County for Jail Detainee’s Death After 11 Days Without Medical Attention, by Chuck Sharman
  7. Study Finds Parole Hearings and Grants Continue to Fall, by Chuck Sharman
  8. HRDC Sues New Mexico County for Violating 10-­Year-­Old Settlement of Censorship Suit, by Chuck Sharman
  9. 2025 Was a Deadly Year for Veterans Behind Bars
  10. Fifth Circuit Rules Against Louisiana Prisoner Seeking to Recoup Money Made at Angola Prison Rodeo, by Douglas Ankney
  11. Massive $112 Million Jury Verdict for Detainees Held in New York Jail Past Release Date on ICE Detainers, by Chuck Sharman
  12. New York City Mayor’s Order Opening Rikers Island to ICE Declared Illegal, by Chuck Sharman
  13. $404,000 Verdict for Ohio Prisoner Brutalized by Trio of Guards, Kept in Solitary for Two Years, by Chuck Sharman
  14. Slender Man Stabber’s Escape Prompts “Serious Questions” for Wisconsin DOC
  15. Report on “Pay-­to-­Stay” Fees Makes Strong Case for Their Repeal, by Douglas Ankney
  16. Exonerated Former Prisoner Wins Election for Chief Record Keeper in New Orleans
  17. HRDC Sues Washington Jail for Rejecting PLN and Other Publications, by Chuck Sharman
  18. Maryland Agrees to Pay $30,000 to Prisoner Who Was Beaten by Guards While Handcuffed, by Douglas Ankney
  19. Eleventh Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Six Female Alabama Jail Detainees’ Sexual Assault Suit, by Matthew Clarke
  20. Sixth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity for Michigan Jailer Accused of Retaliatory Assault, by Chuck Sharman
  21. Almost $28.3 Million Awarded from NaphCare for Washington Jail Detainee Who Lost Leg to Untreated Gangrene, by Chuck Sharman
  22. Last of 16 Sentenced in California Prison Aryan Brotherhood Case, As Lawyer Learns He Was Targeted in Murder Plot, by Chuck Sharman
  23. New York City Jails Face Mounting Death Toll Ahead of Likely Receivership
  24. $2.75 Million Paid by Washington County and NaphCare for Death of “Floridly Psychotic” Detainee Left Untreated in Jail for Months, by Chuck Sharman
  25. New Jail in Oklahoma Is Costing More than Triple the Amount Voters Approved
  26. $200,000 for Detainee Thrown in “Rollover” Solitary Without Food or Water at Minnesota Jail, by Chuck Sharman
  27. Alabama Supreme Court Denies DOC’s Improper Venue Objection, by Douglas Ankney
  28. $4,652 for Jewish Nevada Prisoner Denied Passover Meal, by Chuck Sharman
  29. Oklahoma DOC Refuses to Publicly Release Body Camera Footage
  30. Georgia Bristles at Federal Law that Prohibits Drone Interceptions
  31. BOP Announces New Conditional Placement Date Calculation, by Chuck Sharman
  32. Arkansas Guards Can Now Work as Immigration Enforcers
  33. Chicago Pays Exonerated Prisoners $7.5 Million, Bringing Total to $33.75 Million for Wrongful Convictions, by Chuck Sharman
  34. Pennsylvania County and Wellpath Pay Over $1.4 Million to Settle Claims of Four Former Jail Detainees, Including Three Who Died by Suicide, by Chuck Sharman
  35. Guards in Los Angeles County Now Wearing Body Cameras
  36. Third Circuit Rules Awarding BOP Prisoners 54 Days of Good Time Per Year Is Pro-­Rated, by Douglas Ankney
  37. Report Shows How Prison Gerrymanders Distort Democracy Across U.S., by Chuck Sharman
  38. $3.3 Million Verdict for Detainee’s Fatal Fentanyl Overdose in Southern California Jail, by Chuck Sharman
  39. Report Slams South Carolina Jail for Violating State Rules
  40. $939,000 for Nevada Prisoner Left in Wheelchair by Delayed Back Pain Treatment, by Anthony Accurso
  41. SCOTUS Hears Oral Arguments on Rastafarian Hair-­Cutting Case, by Michael Thompson
  42. Wisconsin DOC Is Not Tracking Work Release Data
  43. $4 Million Paid to Former Rikers Island Detainee Whose Reports of Repeated Rapes Were Ignored, by Chuck Sharman
  44. U.S. District Court in Arizona Grants Summary Judgment in Favor of Prisoner Denial of Forms for Challenging 455 Days of Solitary, by Douglas Ankney
  45. Wisconsin Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal of Detainee’s Jail Food Lawsuit, by Michael Thompson
  46. Amnesty International Report Claims Torture and Enforced Disappearances at “Alligator Alcatraz”
  47. California Funds $38 Million Pilot Program to Investigate Methods for Cooling Three Prisons, by Matthew Clarke
  48. “We’re Broken”: As Federal Prisons Run Low on Food and Toilet Paper, Corrections Officers Are Leaving in Droves for ICE, by Keri Blakinger
  49. Labor Coalition in Minnesota Demands Disney Contractor Pay Prisoners Minimum Wage
  50. As California Limits Water Use, People in Prison Face Punishment for Showering, by Steve Brooks, Olivia Hefferman
  51. $600,000 Awarded So Far in Disgraced Georgia Sheriff’s Trial for Abusing Detainee in Restraint Chair, by Chuck Sharman
  52. Soaring Medical Costs in Washington Jails, by Michael Thompson
  53. How I Learned to Transcribe Braille in Prison, by Nathan Gray
  54. News in Brief

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