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Archive: 2021

April

• Jail Suicides in Massachusetts Point to National Crisis: Challenging Legislatures to Say Not One More by Jennifer Honig (p 1)
• From the Editor by Paul Wright (p 16)
• Government Refuses to Follow Federal Court’s Discovery Order After Being Caught Recording Attorney Meetings with Prisoners at Leavenworth by Dale Chappell (p 16)
• Mississippi Joins Illinois and Few Other States Prioritizing Vaccination of State Prisoners to Slow Spread of COVID-19 by Derek Gilna (p 18)
• Pandemic Medical Update: “Herd Immunity” at Prisons? by Michael D. Cohen, MD (p 20)
• Texas Winter Storm Freezes Plumbing, Power and Prisoners by Matthew Clarke (p 22)
• Massachusetts Governor Ends Good Time Offer for Prisoners Taking COVID-19 Vaccine by David Reutter (p 23)
• Confidential Settlement in Case Involving Alleged Pattern of Racist Misconduct in Michigan Prisons by Casey Bastian (p 24)
• Connecticut Lawmakers Refuse to Address Corrections Issues During Pandemic by Anthony Accurso (p 24)
• California Trans Women Struggle For Protection Under Prison Rape Elimination Act by Edward Lyon (p 26)
• Oklahoma Prisoners Call for Better Nutrition by Kevin Bliss (p 27)
• Florida Jail Administrators Fired After Woman Gives Birth in Cell by Daniel A. Rosen (p 28)
• COVID-19 Inspired Ban on Prison Visits in Texas Ends by Chad Marks (p 30)
• Virginia Settles Two Lawsuits Over Misuse of Solitary Confinement by Daniel A. Rosen (p 30)

March

• Eighth Circuit Dismisses Hormone Therapy Suit as Moot When Arkansas Prison Officials
• Inside Trump and Barr’s Last-Minute Killing Spree by Isaac Arnsdorf (p 1)
• Sequel: Three Additional Federal Executions Before Trump Left Office by Chad Marks (p 8)
• Analysis: Federal Executions in Indiana Became ‘Super-Spreader’ Events by Derek Gilna (p 10)
• From the Editor by Paul Wright (p 12)
• California Prison System Fined $400,000 For Prisoner Transfers That Sparked Surge in COVID-19, Also Faulted For Easing Restrictions by Edward Lyon (p 12)
• COVID Pandemic: Medical Update by Michael D. Cohen, MD (p 14)
• Biden to Phase Out Privately-Run Federal Prisons; Critics Say Plan Too Timid by Kevin Bliss (p 16)
• Reuters Investigation: Lamentable Medical Care in Jails and Prisons Exposed During Pandemic by Casey Bastian (p 18)
• $300,000 Award for Illinois Prisoner in Sexual Assault Claim by David Reutter (p 19)
• Last-Minute DOJ Order Clears Way for Possible Return of Home Confinees to Prison by Derek Gilna (p 20)
• Second Circuit Upholds New York Prison Guards’ Federal Criminal Convictions for Assaulting Prisoner by Matthew Clarke (p 20)
• Centurion Opts Out of Mississippi Prison Medical Contract by David Reutter (p 21)
• A Guide To Finding Housing After Incarceration (p 22)
• New Surge of COVID Is Spreading “Like Wildfire” in Illinois Prisons by Brian Dolinar (p 26)
• Arizona Grandmother Sues After Being Jailed and Forced to Drink From Toilet by Matthew Clarke (p 28)
• Lawsuit Against Pennsylvania County Over Prisoner’s Death in Restraint Chair Settled for $3 Million by Matthew Clarke (p 28)
• Audits Reveals Problems With Privatized Food Service at Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County Jail by Jayson Hawkins (p 30)
• Essay: What Spurred the Rise in Mass Solitary Confinement by David Reutter (p 30)
• Report: Video Courtroom Proceedings Have Negative Impact on Fairness and Access to Justice by Matthew Clarke (p 32)
• No Sentence Reduction for Former Pennsylvania Judge Who Was Caging Kids for Kickback Cash by Matthew Clarke (p 32)
• Federal Court Orders Body Cams Be Worn by Guards in Effort to Stop Abuse of Disabled at California Prison by Douglas Ankney (p 34)
• New Mexico Lawyer Fights to End Solitary Confinement by Daniel A. Rosen (p 34)
• Arizona Supreme Court Overturns Decision Allowing Special Master to Review Recordings of Jail Phone Calls to Attorney Alleged to be Privileged by Matthew Clarke (p 36)
• COVID-19 Pandemic Leads to Founding of Congressional BOP Reform Caucus by Anthony Accurso (p 36)
• Greedo Still Influencing From Texas Prison by Jayson Hawkins (p 38)
• Federal Judge Dismisses Arizona Woman’s Wrongful Conviction Suit by Daniel A. Rosen (p 38)
• Victim Compensation and Restorative Justice as Alternatives to Sentencing Enhancements for Hate Crimes by Douglas Ankney (p 40)
• Private Medical Contractor Wellpath Pays $4.5 Million in Death of Mentally Ill Jail Detainee After Judge Finds It Destroyed Evidence by Douglas Ankney (p 40)
• Nearly Killed by Dehumanizing Culture of Indifference, Oregon Prisoner Sues for $975,000 by Mark Wilson (p 42)
• Prosecutors Drop Charges Against Florida Prisoner Accused of Assaulting Guard After Video Surfaces by Kevin Bliss (p 42)
• ICE Detention Facility Deaths Now Highest Since 2005 by Kevin Bliss (p 44)
• Pay-to-Stay Fees Impoverish Prisoners, Increase Recidivism by Kevin Bliss (p 44)
• Prisoner Art on Display in New York City Exhibition by Edward Lyon (p 46)
• Pardoned Nevada Bank Robber’s Story Creates Hope for Prisoners by Casey Bastian (p 46)
• CoreCivic Faces Liability for Wiretap Act Violations in Nevada Case by David Reutter (p 47)
• Mentally Ill Oregon Prisoner’s “Needless & Preventable” Death From Flu Complications Nets Record $3 Million Settlement by Mark Wilson (p 48)
• Sixth Circuit Orders Michigan District Court to Review Prisoner’s Plea for Compassionate Release by David Reutter (p 49)
• Mass Incarceration Fueling Spread of COVID-19 in Local Communities by Keith Sanders (p 50)
• California Starts Phase-Out of Most State Juvenile Prisons, but Loophole Allows Two to Remain Open by Douglas Ankney (p 50)
• Nevada Reduces Share of Prisoners’ Money That Can be Taken for Restitution by Daniel A. Rosen (p 52)
• Ohio Supreme Court Orders Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to Revise Calculation of Prisoner’s Sentence by Matthew Clarke (p 52)
• California Sheriff Hid Number of Deaths in Sacramento County Jails by Kevin Bliss (p 53)
• As Prisoners Die, Washington Officials Resist Reform by Mark Wilson (p 54)
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules Prisoners Can Challenge Deductions Taken From Their Accounts by David Reutter (p 56)
• California’s San Quentin and Folsom Prisons Hardest-Hit by COVID-19 by Edward Lyon (p 56)
• Mississippi Department of Corrections Lifts Smoking Ban at its Prisons by Keith Sanders (p 57)
• Second Circuit Court of Appeals Partly Overturns New York District Court, Allows Prisoner’s PREA Violations Claims to Proceed by David Reutter (p 58)
• Minnesota Counties Pay Out More Than $10 Million For Prison and Jail Settlements by Kevin Bliss (p 58)
• Data: Families of Arizona Prison Guards Suffer High Rates of Domestic Violence by Edward Lyon (p 59)
• Federal Court Finds Missouri Parole System Unconstitutional by Dale Chappell (p 60)
• New Allegations of Abuse and Sexual Assault at Edna Mahan Women’s Prison in New Jersey by Kevin Bliss (p 60)
• News in Brief (p 62)
• Successive Corruption Scandal Rocks Mississippi Prison System by Edward Lyon (p 62)

February

• Virginia Court of Appeals Upholds Lifetime Probation With Bar on Personal Internet Use in Response to Sex Offender’s Probation Violation
• The Way Prisoners Flag Guard Abuse, Inadequate Health Care and Unsanitary Conditions Is Broken by Shannon Heffernan (p 1)
• Collateral Consequences of Mass Incarceration by Edward Lyon (p 8)
• New York Parole System Badly in Need of Repair by Kevin Bliss (p 10)
• From the Editor by Paul Wright (p 10)
• Pandemic Update: News on Vaccines and Prison and Jail Staffing by Michael D. Cohen, MD (p 12)
• Urgent Need for Vaccine Administration in Prisons, Jails and Detention Centers by Maya Chaudhuri, Aaron Littman, Sharon Dolovich (p 14)
• Almost 300,000 Fell Ill and 2,000 Died from COVID-19 in U.S. Jails, Prisons by Derek Gilna (p 18)
• California Loses Round in Legal Fight to Deny Parole Based on Gang Affiliation by David Reutter (p 20)
• Was Indiana Women’s Prison Willfully Ignorant About COVID-19 Numbers? by Matthew Clarke (p 21)
• How a Private Prison Company’s Defamation Suit Against One of Its Critics Backfired by Madison Pauley (p 22)
• After $625,000 Settlement, Oregon Deputy Charged in Assault of Prisoner by Mark Wilson (p 24)
• Pinellas County, Florida Sheriff’s Office Sued in Federal Court for Treatment of Transgender Prisoner by Derek Gilna (p 25)
• Federal Judge Slaps ICE, GEO Group Over “Abominable Performance” and Officials Who Lied During Testimony by David Reutter (p 26)
• No Summary Judgment on Oregon Prisoner’s Retaliatory Termination Claim by Mark Wilson (p 27)
• Missouri Prisoner Pleaded for Release Before Dying of COVID-19 by Daniel A. Rosen (p 28)
• Minnesota State and Federal Prisoners COVID Case Surge Sparks ACLU Lawsuit by Derek Gilna (p 28)
• Ninth Circuit Finds California Prisoner’s Administrative Remedies Effectively Unavailable by Mark Wilson (p 29)
• Fourth Circuit Holds Prisoner’s Indefinite Period of Solitary Confinement at Virginia Supermax May Amount to Atypical and Significant Hardship by Matthew Clarke (p 30)
• Federal Educational Aid Restored for State and Federal Prisoners by Dale Chappell (p 30)
• COVID-19: What Texas Must Do to Save Prisoners’ Lives by Edward Lyon (p 32)
• Progress Made in Fight Against Prison Gerrymandering But Battle Continues by Douglas Ankney (p 32)
• Ninth Circuit Reverses Lower Court’s Dismissal of California Prisoner’s Religious Freedom Lawsuit by Mark Wilson (p 33)
• New Details Emerge on Senseless Death in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin Jail by Jayson Hawkins (p 34)
• Minnesota Prison Guard Fired for Excessive Force After Brawl Linked to Floyd Protests by Anthony Accurso (p 34)
• Justice Department Report Documents Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center’s Poor Response to COVID-19 Crisis by Kevin Bliss (p 36)
• $1.1 Million Settlement in Kentucky Jail Sex Abuse Suit by David Reutter (p 36)
• Global Tel*Link Hit with Sanctions For Discovery Violations in Georgia Prison Call Class Action by Derek Gilna (p 38)
• Federal Judge in Georgia Grants Class Action Status to Prisoners’ Suit Against Global Tel*Link (p 38)
• Private Prison Companies Face Stock Crash, Credit Crunch by Matthew Clarke (p 40)
• Fourth Circuit: ADA Relief Claims Improperly Dismissed in Virginia by Mark Wilson (p 40)
• Former BOP Director Norman Carlson, Who Developed Supermax Model, Dies at 86 by Kevin Bliss (p 42)
• Arizona Pays Prisoners Pennies on the Dollar to Fight Fires, All in the Name of Saving Money by Dale Chappell (p 42)
• Mellon Foundation to Provide $5.25 Million in Program to Distribute Books to Prisoners by Douglas Ankney (p 43)
• ICE Refused Help in Containing Coronavirus in New Mexico Detention Centers by Kevin Bliss (p 44)
• Experts Find “Deplorable” Conditions at Mississippi’s Parchman Prison by David Reutter (p 44)
• Pennsylvania Correctional Emergency Response Teams Face New Scrutiny in “Noose” Controversy by Derek Gilna (p 46)
• Troubled Ohio Jail Faces Two More Lawsuits by Matthew Clarke (p 46)
• New Mexico Corrections Pays $1.4 Million to Settle Whistleblower Complaint Alleging Retaliation for Exposing Deficiencies in Corizon Medical Care by Douglas Ankney (p 48)
• Child Sexual Abuse: It’s Never Too Late to Speak Out by Darrell Cochran (p 48)
• No-Show Prison Workers Cost Mississippi Taxpayers Millions by Alysia Santo, Joseph Neff (p 50)
• Ninth Circuit Holds Intermediate Scrutiny Applies in Challenges to Facially Discriminatory Prison Regulations by Matthew Clarke (p 52)
• Overtime Payouts in California Prison System Approach $500 Million by Daniel A. Rosen (p 53)
• Florida State Prisons Scrub Key COVID Data From Website, Obscuring Magnitude of Inmate Deaths and Infections by Laura Cassels (p 54)
• Idaho Supreme Court Holds Prisoners Have No Right to Paid or Unpaid Employment by Matthew Clarke (p 54)
• Legislative Exemption Let Fired Alaska Cop Be Rehired as Jailer by Edward Lyon (p 55)
• NY Federal Court Denies Summary Judgment on Claims of Improper Medication Seizure, Evidence Fabrication, Improper Frisk During Prison Visit by Matthew Clarke (p 56)
• Prisoners Paid $2 Per Hour to Move COVID-19 Corpses in El Paso, Texas by Matthew Clarke (p 56)
• Minnesota Man Out of Prison After Being Exonerated of Murder by Edward Lyon (p 57)
• $4.65 Million Settlement for Florida Female Prisoner Left Quadriplegic After Brutal Beating by Guards by David Reutter (p 58)
• Federal Court Again Orders California DOC to Remedy Continuing ADA Violations by Derek Gilna (p 58)
• Decline in South Dakota State Prisoners Not Due to COVID by Edward Lyon (p 59)
• DOJ Report: Carceral Population Falls, 2017-2018 by Matthew Clarke (p 60)
• COVID-19: The Politics of Prisoner Vaccination by Kevin Bliss (p 60)
• Sixth Circuit Affirms Tennessee DOC’s Hepatitis C Treatment Due to Lack of Funds by David Reutter (p 62)
• News in Brief (p 62)

January

• Kentucky Consolidated Local Government Entitled to Sovereign Immunity by David M. Reutter
• Fifth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Lawsuit Over Texas Jail Prisoner’s Suicide
• Tougher Than the Rest: No Criminal Justice Reform “Miracle” in Texas by Marie Gottschalk (p 1)
• From the Editor by Paul Wright (p 20)
• North Carolina Prisoners at Deadliest Federal Prison File Suit on COVID-19 Response by Matthew Clarke (p 20)
• Preliminary Studies: Black/Latino Populations Disproportionately Affected by COVID-19 by Douglas Ankney (p 22)
• Sixth Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Sheriff in Tennessee Prisoner’s Assault Case by David Reutter (p 22)
• North Carolina Cancer Patient Dies From COVID-19 After BOP Denies Compassionate Release and Sentencing Judge Rejects Appeal by Derek Gilna (p 24)
• Federal Lawsuit Claims Texas Jail Released Man When Medical Problems Became Too Much Trouble, Resulting in Coma by Dale Chappell (p 24)
• Pandemic Medical Update: The Latest on Vaccines and Prisoners by Michael D. Cohen, MD (p 26)
• Magic as Rehabilitation by Jayson Hawkins (p 28)
• CoreCivic Sued Over Prisoner Who Committed Suicide in Tennessee Prison by Matthew Clarke (p 28)
• California: Prisoner-Run Journalism Thrives with San Quentin News, Ear Hustle by David Reutter (p 30)
• In Prisons, the Press Also Yearns to Be Free by Casey Bastian (p 30)
• My Ankle Monitor Won’t Let Me Take Out The Garbage by Eleanor Bader (p 32)
• Tennessee Juvenile Murderer’s Sentence Commuted by Edward Lyon (p 33)
• How Jails Became a Breeding Ground for the Coronavirus by Keith Sanders (p 34)
• Charges Finally Announced 32 Months After South Carolina Prison Riot by David Reutter (p 36)
• Alabama Court Allows Lawsuit Over Indigent Traffic Offenders Jailed for Not Paying Fines by David Reutter (p 38)
• Salt Lake County, Utah, Settles Federal Civil Rights Wrongful Death Claim for $950,000 by Derek Gilna (p 38)
• Urban Redo: Lorton, Virginia Prison Recreated as Liberty Village by Kevin Bliss (p 40)
• Court Rejects Class Status for Nebraska Prisoners Facing Substandard Health Care by David Reutter (p 40)
• Seventh Circuit: Nurse’s Deliberate Indifference to Prisoner’s Pain Negates Summary Judgment Grant by David Reutter (p 42)
• Second Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment in New York Prisoner’s Due Process Lawsuit by David Reutter (p 42)
• St. Louis, Missouri Guard Has History of Taser Abuse by Daniel A. Rosen (p 43)
• South Florida: Jail Hotline Releases Report on Inadequate Health Care During Pandemic by Saraana Jamraj (p 44)
• Former Prisoners Making Less Than Minimum Wage Working for Nonprofit Doe Fund by Dale Chappell (p 44)
• Rapper Sues BOP Alleging Torture by David Reutter (p 45)
• As Prison COVID-19 Cases and Deaths Rise, Washington State Supreme Court Looks Away by Mark Wilson (p 46)
• Montana Supreme Court: Jail’s Blanket Strip Search Policy Violates Law by Matthew Clarke (p 46)
• Over Half the Prisoners Test Positive for COVID-19 at Arizona Prison by Matthew Clarke (p 48)
• Some Prisons Bear Names of Enslavers, Oppressors, Racists and Segregationists by Matthew Clarke (p 48)
• New Book on Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration by Edward Lyon (p 50)
• Louisiana’s COVID-19 Prisoner Furlough Panel Next to Useless by Edward Lyon (p 50)
• COVID-19 Hits Fairfax, Virginia Juvenile Detention Center by Kevin Bliss (p 51)
• Federal Class Action Settlement Aims to Eliminate Horrific Conditions at Santa Barbara, California Jails in Three Years by Derek Gilna (p 52)
• Seventh Circuit Holds Illinois Prisoners Retain Fourth Amendment Rights to Bodily Privacy, Overruling Circuit Precedents by Matthew Clarke (p 52)
• Almost Half of North Dakota Jail Tests Positive for COVID-19 by David Reutter (p 53)
• U.S. Prisons Originally Designed to Prevent Spread of Disease Become Breeding Ground During Pandemic by Edward Lyon (p 54)
• Former Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Complaint Cures Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies by David Reutter (p 54)
• Opioid Crisis in Canadian Prisons Needs to be Addressed by Kevin Bliss (p 55)
• Georgia Prisoners Lacked Food, Water, Leading to Melee by Jayson Hawkins (p 55)
• CoreCivic and Securus Technologies Agree to Pay $3.7 Million to Settle Suit for Illegally Recording Attorney-Client Conversations by Douglas Ankney (p 56)
• $2 Million Settlement in Lawsuit Over N.Y. Prisoner Denied Emergency Eye Surgery Until She Went Blind by Matthew Clarke (p 56)
• Scottish Prisoners Issued Mobile Phones During Pandemic by Kevin Bliss (p 57)
• Private Health Care Services in County Jails Comes at High Price by Kevin Bliss (p 58)
• Sixth Circuit Holds Ohio Prisoner Can Be Executed Despite Previous Botched Attempt by Matthew Clarke (p 59)
• Second Circuit: No Error in Blocking New York Parolee from Attending His Own Civil Rights Trial Against Prison Officials by Matthew Clarke (p 60)
• First Former Felon Elected to Washington State Legislature by Daniel A. Rosen (p 60)
• Tennessee Prisons “Naughty” List Shows Prison Staff Often Bring in Contraband by Edward Lyon (p 61)
• As Millions Suffer, Congress Awards BOP $356 Million for New Kansas Prison by Mark Wilson (p 61)
• News in Brief (p 62)
• Alabama Guards Accused of Excessive Use of Force, Hospitalizing One Prisoner and Injuring Another by Kevin Bliss (p 62)