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Archive: 2023

March

• With “Fox in Charge of the Henhouse,” Almost All Misconduct Accusations Against BOP Staff Result in No Discipline by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 1)
• Tenth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Utah Jailers After Detainee’s Withdrawal Death by David Reutter (p 10)
• Riot and Escape at Nevada Prison Lead to Charges Against Four Guards, Firings or Resignations of Top Officials by David Reutter (p 12)
• From the Editor by Paul Wright (p 12)
• In an Ominous Pattern, People Are Dying Once Transferred to Louisiana Prison by Victoria Law (p 14)
• Alabama County Ends Controversial Policy Using Women’s Pregnancies to Jail Them by Ashleigh Dye (p 17)
• Former California Prison Warden and Guard Accused of Sexual Misconduct with Two Dozen Prisoners and Coworkers by Jo Ellen Nott (p 18)
• California Governor Vetoes State’s Humane Solitary Confinement Bill by Kevin Bliss (p 18)
• Fifth Circuit: Texas Prison Property Rules Withstand Scrutiny Under Religious Free-Exercise Clause by David Reutter (p 20)
• Seventh Circuit Revives Indiana Prisoner’s Claim He Was Wrongfully Fired From Prison Commissary for Attending Religious Service by David Reutter (p 21)
• “Acres of Skin” – Redux by Gregory J. Dober (p 22)
• Illinois Supreme Court Orders State DOC to Fund Required Treatment and Housing for Sex Offender’s Conditional Release by David Reutter (p 22)
• SCOTUS Helps Revive Malicious Prosecution Claim Against Chicago Police Officers by David Reutter, Kevin Bliss (p 24)
• Fourth Circuit Reinstates North Carolina Prisoner’s Suit Over Flesh-Eating Infection by David Reutter (p 24)
• Eighth Circuit Affirms Conviction and Sentencing of Former Arkansas Sheriff for Assaulting Detainees by Harold Hempstead (p 26)
• $1.455 Million Settlement for Discrimination Against Black Minnesota Jail Guards Barred from Watching Floyd Killer by David Reutter (p 26)
• Pennsylvania Guards and Their Attorneys Spanked for Discovery Abuse in Prisoner’s Excessive-Force Suit by David Reutter (p 28)
• Pennsylvania County Commissioner Barred from DA’s Email After Own Prison Record Is Purged and Jail Key Copied by Kevin Bliss (p 28)
• Seventh Circuit Says Fourth Amendment Does Not Require Bail Hearing Within 48 Hours of Arrest by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 30)
• Fifth Circuit Greenlights Suit by Louisiana Prisoners Held in Local Jails Beyond Release Date by Matthew Clarke (p 30)
• More Drugs Seized by Florida DOC During COVID-19 Lockdowns Than Before by David Reutter (p 32)
• Fifth Circuit: No Liability for Texas County that Improperly Relied on Polygraph to Imprison Released Sex Offender Additional 13 Years by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 32)
• Second Circuit Reinstates N.Y. Prisoner’s Excessive Force Claim, Finding Grievance Procedure ‘Unavailable’ in Mental Health Unit by David Reutter (p 34)
• Federal Court Holds Illinois DOC in Contempt for Failing to Remediate Substandard Healthcare by Douglas Ankney (p 34)
• After 13 Jail Deaths in Eight Months of 2022, California Sheriff Finally Reveals How They Happened by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 36)
• $175,000 Paid by California County to Escaped Prisoner Mauled By K-9 During Recapture by Keith Sanders (p 36)
• Tenth Circuit Revives Kansas Prisoner’s Claim That He Was Denied Access to Court by Anthony Accurso (p 38)
• $87,000 Paid to Virginia Prisoner Kicked in Testicles by Guard by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 38)
• Alabama Supreme Court Says Prisoner Who Didn’t Return From Work Release Punishable Under Felony Escape Statute by David Reutter (p 39)
• Ex-Felon “Dirtbags” Accused of Ordering Hit on Detainee at Florida Jail, But Questions Linger by Jo Ellen Nott (p 40)
• Third Former Guard at Troubled Federal Prison in Brooklyn Sentenced After Retrial and Conviction for Raping Prisoner by Chuck Sharman (p 40)
• Hospitalized California IST Defendants Entitled to Jail Conduct Credits by Mark Wilson (p 42)
• Seventh Circuit Sides With Muslim Prisoner, Bars Strip Search by Transgender Wisconsin Guard by David Reutter (p 42)
• Florida DA Reopens Cold Murder Case, Exonerates Wrongly Imprisoned Man, Finds Real Killers – and Gets Axed by Governor by David Reutter (p 44)
• Judge Dismisses Suit Filed by California Town to Keep State Prison Open by Keith Sanders (p 44)
• 18 Stabbings in Less Than Nine Months at Oklahoma CoreCivic Prison by Keith Sanders (p 45)
• $14,000 Paid by California to Mentally Ill Prisoner Who Alleged Repeated Maulings by Guards by Douglas Ankney (p 46)
• Hypothermia Kills Prisoner in Cold Pennsylvania Jail Cell, One of 17 Deaths Since 2019 by Jo Ellen Nott (p 46)
• North Dakota Guard Fired After Suicide of Convicted Quadruple Murderer by Justin McFatridge (p 48)
• Smuggling Ring Busted in Georgia Jail, 11 Arrested Including Four Guards and Former Nurse by Jo Ellen Nott (p 48)
• After Botched Lethal Injection, Alabama Will Execute Prisoner by Nitrogen Hypoxia by David Reutter (p 50)
• Massachusetts High Court: Lawmakers Haven’t Stopped Sheriffs From Taking Kickbacks from Jail Phone Calls, and Neither Will We by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 50)
• Elderly Prisoners Catch a Break on Medicare Part B by Eike Blohm, MD (p 51)
• Another Prisoner Dies in Another Fire at Indiana Prison by Jo Ellen Nott (p 52)
• Second Hunger Strike Met With Pepper Spray at Washington GEO Group Lockup Where ICE Detainees Allege Widespread Sexual Abuse by Keith Sanders (p 52)
• $350,000 Settlement Reached in Florida Prisoner’s Murder by David Reutter (p 54)
• Alabama Prisoner’s Deliberate Indifference Claim Dies for Lack of Proper Affidavits by David Reutter (p 54)
• Colorado’s Halfway Houses Returning Half of Residents to Prison by Keith Sanders (p 56)
• Transgender Idaho Prisoner Who Won Gender Conforming Surgery Awarded Over $2.6 Million in Legal Fees by Eike Blohm, MD (p 56)
• Parents Losing Children Because They Can’t Repay Foster Care Costs Incurred During Incarceration by Jo Ellen Nott (p 57)
• CoreCivic Still Accruing Fines for Short-Staffing Florida Jail Where Developmentally Disabled Teen Was Raped by Ashleigh Dye (p 58)
• Second Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity for Connecticut Cops who Sicced K-9 on Suspect in His Holding Cell by Casey Bastian (p 58)
• $857,500 Paid by California County for Jail Detainee’s Death, While Cellmate Who Beat Him Is Now in State Prison by David Reutter (p 60)
• Over $298,000 Awarded to Alabama Jail Detainee with Heart Disease After Guards, Nurses Ignored Firing Defibrillator by David Reutter (p 60)
• Nebraska Assistant Warden Avoids Prosecution for Sexually Abusing Prisoner, Pleads Guilty to Lesser Charge and Gets a Year in Jail by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 61)
• Former PLN Editor Settles Suit Over Detention in Tennessee ‘Iron Man’ Cell, Gets 40-Year Prison Term for Vandalizing Nashville Jail by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 62)
• After Eleventh Circuit Says ICE Detainee Is Not “Prisoner” Subject to PLRA, He Goes Missing from Georgia by David Reutter (p 62)
• News in Brief (p 63)
• GTL Ordered to Pay $18.675 Million in Attorney Fees and Costs in Prison Phone Class Action by Anthony Accurso (p 63)

February

• Convictions at Any Cost: DOJ Report Slams Three Decades of Snitches and Due Process Violations in California’s Orange County by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 1)
• New BOP Director Clears Up First Step Act Implementation by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 10)
• From the Editor by Paul Wright (p 10)
• Incarcerated People Have Few Ways to Fight Back Against Censorship in Prisons by Tamar Sarai (p 12)
• Burning Tires Left Louisiana Prisoners With Migraines, Breathing Problems, and Minimal Medical Care As black smoke poured out of a burning tire dump in Louisiana, people inside the prison next door struggled to keep the fumes out. by Alleen Brown (p 16)
• Ninth Circuit Says Statements Relayed at Criminal Trial By Nurse and Doctor Are Admissible, Not Hearsay by David Reutter (p 18)
• $959,000 Paid by Pennsylvania County in Deaths of Two Detainees, Plus at Least $750,000 from PrimeCare by Ashleigh Dye (p 20)
• Fourth Circuit Reinstates Virginia Prisoner’s Spoliation Motion for Lost Video of His Alleged Assault by Guards by David Reutter (p 22)
• Federal Judge in Pennsylvania Rules BOP Must Honor Transgender Prisoner’s Legal Name Change by Casey Bastian (p 22)
• Seventh Circuit: Indiana Prisoner Who Failed to Formalize Grievance Also Failed to Exhaust Remedies by David Reutter (p 24)
• Tenth Circuit Says Prison Work Assignment Covered Under ADA Protections by Kevin Bliss (p 24)
• Investigation Reveals “Black Market in Broad Daylight” for Prison Food by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 26)
• Record Deaths at Rikers Island Blamed on Guards’ Absenteeism, Abuse and Corruption by David Reutter, Anthony Accurso (p 28)
• $20,000 Paid by Centurion and MHM Health Professionals to Arizona Prisoner for Alleged Deliberate Indifference and Medical Negligence by Jacob Barrett (p 29)
• Third Circuit Strips Qualified Immunity From Delaware Guards Who Held Mentally Ill Prisoner in Solitary for Seven Months by David Reutter (p 30)
• Too Many Alabama Prisoners Still Dying with Too-Few Guards, Many Corrupt by Jo Ellen Nott (p 32)
• Former Tennessee Police Chief Sentenced to Six Years for Abusing Arrestees by Kevin Bliss (p 33)
• Florida Jailers Leave Detainees Out of Evacuation Plans During Hurricane by David Reutter (p 34)
• Ninth Circuit Revives Failure-to-Protect Claim of Arizona Prisoner Beaten by Gang by David Reutter (p 34)
• Ninth Circuit Says California Felons Can Fight Fires While Imprisoned, But Not After by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 36)
• Arizona DOC Accused of Cheating Both Guards and Prisoners Out of Hourly Wages by Keith Sanders (p 36)
• Fourth Circuit Says Prisoners with Gender Dysphoria not Excluded from ADA Protection by Harold Hempstead (p 38)
• Former Texas Prisoner Wins 12-Year Fight for Justice by Kevin Bliss (p 39)
• Arizona Resumes Executions by Chuck Sharman, Eike Blohm, MD (p 40)
• Student Loan Debt and Prisoners by Edward Lyon (p 40)
• New Report Estimates U.S. Prisons Hold Nearly 50,000 People in Solitary Confinement by Jennifer Taylor (p 42)
• After Federal Judge Censors Lawyer’s Tweets About CoreCivic, Company Settles Suit Over Tennessee Prisoner’s Murder by Cellmate by Harold Hempstead (p 42)
• Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Derivative Sovereign Immunity for Jail Physician by Matthew Clarke (p 44)
• Fourth Circuit Says Three-Strikes Federal Prisoner’s Imminent Danger Claim Must Be Evaluated on ‘Totality of Circumstances’ by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 44)
• Nevada Federal Court Says Prisoner’s § 1983 Suit Should’ve Been a Habeas Petition, But Returns Filing Fee by David Reutter (p 46)
• Fifth Circuit: No Qualified Immunity for Mississippi Sheriffs in Suit Over Mentally Ill Man’s Years-long Unlawful Detention by Matthew Clarke (p 46)
• Georgia Jails Faulted in Struggle With High COVID-19 Infection Rates by Kevin Bliss (p 48)
• PLN Contributor’s Retaliation Suit Against Oregon Prison Officials Survives by Jacob Barrett (p 48)
• Seventh Circuit Trims What Indiana Prisoner Owes Jail Doctor in Lost Lawsuit by David Reutter (p 50)
• Prisoner Health Update: Hepatitis C by Eike Blohm, MD (p 52)
• Under New Mississippi Law, State Chooses Execution Method by David Reutter (p 52)
• Award Slashed for Delaware Prisoner Sexually Groped by Guard by Kevin Bliss (p 54)
• Florida Makes Parolees Criminally Liable for Accidental Voter Registration Fraud by David Reutter (p 54)
• Oklahoma Jail Guard Gets 46 Months for Setting Up White Supremacist Attack on Black Detainees by David Reutter (p 55)
• DOJ Releases Special Report on U.S. Prison COVID-19 Response by Eike Blohm, MD (p 56)
• Federal Judge Refuses to Shorten Corruption Sentence for Former Head of New York City Jail Guards’ Union by Matthew Clarke (p 56)
• Former Judges in Pennsylvania ‘Kids for Cash’ Scandal Must Pay $206 Million in Damages by Ashleigh Dye (p 57)
• $60,000 Paid by Pennsylvania County to Jail Detainee Savagely Beaten by Cellmate While Guards Allegedly Ignored Cries for Help by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 58)
• $300,000 Paid by Colorado to Prisoner Sexually Harassed by Guard with Foot Fetish by Harold Hempstead (p 59)
• $98,000 Paid by BOP to Immigrant Detainees Racially Profiled as Terrorists in New York City Lockup by Kevin Bliss (p 60)
• $480,000 Paid by California County to Detainee Whose Newborn Died After Guards Stopped at Starbucks en Route to Hospital by Ashleigh Dye (p 60)
• Former BOP Warden Convicted of Sexually Abusing Prisoners in California ‘Rape Club’ Scandal by Kevin Bliss (p 62)
• Fifth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Mississippi Cops Who Let Injured Hemophiliac Bleed Out in Jail by Matthew Clarke (p 62)
• News in Brief (p 63)

January

• Cages Without Bars Are Widening the Net: The Explosion of Electronic Monitoring by Brian Dolinar, James Kilgore (p 1)
• From the Editor by Paul Wright (p 12)
• Amended Consent Decree Entered in 11-Year-Old Class-Action Challenging Prisoner Healthcare in Illinois DOC by Douglas Ankney (p 12)
• Hawaii Inmate Deaths Are The Highest In 10 Years. But The State Can’t Say Why Corrections officials still aren’t providing a cause of death for 20 of the 23 prisoners who died in Hawaii prisons and jails last year. by Kevin Dayton (p 14)
• Arizona Prisoners Win Preliminary Injunctions Requiring Centurion To Treat Them by David Reutter (p 16)
• Minnesota Department of Corrections Searching for Tattooist for New Prison Program by Jacob Barrett (p 16)
• Florida Arrests Ex-Felons for Voter Fraud by David Reutter (p 18)
• Music Stops in Fifth Circuit’s Qualified Immunity ‘Dance,’ Leaving Plaintiffs With Shortened Discovery Period by Matthew Clarke (p 20)
• Plastic Surgery Has a Troubled History Inside Prisons. Some Advocates Want It to Make a Comeback. Should cosmetic procedures be part of how society prepares prisoners to reenter it? by Zara Stone (p 22)
• Louisville Jail Counts 12 Deaths in Ten Months by Jo Ellen Nott (p 24)
• Third Circuit Agrees With Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Access-to-Courts Claim, But Grants Defendants Qualified Immunity by David Reutter (p 26)
• Rhode Island Prisoners Go on Hunger Strike, Staff Denies It by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 27)
• $3 Million From Forsyth County, No Stay in Civil Case Against Wellpath Nurse Indicted for Involuntary Manslaughter of N.C. Jail Detainee by Eike Blohm, MD (p 28)
• California City Ends Private Jail Operator’s Contract After Mass Employee Resignations by Keith Sanders (p 28)
• Eighth Circuit Revives Missouri Prisoner’s Claim Against Prison Food Manager for Denying Renal Diet by David Reutter (p 29)
• Nevada Muslim Prisoner Wins Suit Over Denial of Jumu’ah Prayer by Harold Hempstead (p 30)
• Guards Fleeing Texas Prisons by Matthew Clarke (p 31)
• ‘Qualified Immunity Cannot Shield Them’: Fourth Circuit Advances Suit by Virginia Prisoners for Overlong Solitary Confinement by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 32)
• California Prison Guards Sentenced for Assaulting Prisoners by Jacob Barrett (p 32)
• Eleventh Circuit Says Passover Sign-Up Requirement in Florida Jail Passes Constitutional Muster by David Reutter (p 34)
• Ohio Supreme Court Grants Records but No Damages for Prisoner Making Request by Jacob Barrett (p 34)
• Will Overturning Roe v. Wade Kill the Right to Abortion Under BOP Policy? by Dale Chappell (p 35)
• Second Circuit: No Qualified Immunity for Wardens Accused of Violating Religious Freedom of Muslim Prisoners in Connecticut by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 36)
• California Guards Kill Two Prisoners Who Attacked a Third by Jo Ellen Nott (p 36)
• Idaho Cancels Execution Because It Cannot Obtain Lethal Injection Drugs by Jo Ellen Nott (p 38)
• Prisoner Health Update: MRSA Infections by Eike Blohm, MD (p 38)
• Arizona Jail Racks Up Four Deaths And Two Escapes In Less Than Two Months by Chuck Sharman (p 39)
• Fifth Circuit Holds PLRA’s ‘Three-Strikes’ Provision Does Not Apply to Actions Removed From State Court by Matthew Clarke (p 40)
• BOP Settles for $4.18 Million With Six Prisoners Raped by Guard at Now-Shuttered Manhattan Federal Jail by Casey Bastian (p 40)
• Incarceration Exacerbates Obesity in America by Keith Sanders (p 42)
• Ohio Pays $185,000 to State Prisoner Bitten in Genitals by K-9 by Keith Sanders (p 42)
• Former Felons Elected to Rhode Island Legislature by Jo Ellen Nott (p 44)
• Investor Lawsuit Against GEO Group Trimmed by David Reutter (p 44)
• Federal Judge in South Carolina Holds BOP Liable for Delayed Treatment That Left Federal Prisoner Partially Blinded by Casey Bastian (p 45)
• California Prison Officials Cleared After Prisoner Murders Two Sex Offenders by David Reutter (p 46)
• $450,000 Settlement to Illinois Prisoner Whose Untreated Boil Left Him Paraplegic by Harold Hempstead (p 46)
• $3.5 Million Paid To Estate Of Iowa Jail Detainee Who Suffered Seizure And Died When Left Unattended by Keith Sanders (p 47)
• Daughter of Condemned Missouri Prisoner Unsuccessfully Sues to Witness His Execution by Jo Ellen Nott (p 48)
• New Connecticut Law Restricts Use of Solitary Confinement by David Reutter, Keith Sanders (p 48)
• Former South Carolina Sheriff Begins 46-Month Prison Term for Corruption by Ashleigh Dye (p 49)
• ‘Tragic and Wholly Unacceptable’ Gang Violence Erupts at Georgia Women’s Prison by Jenifer Lockwood (p 50)
• Virginia Swipes Sentence Credits From 560 Prisoners Just About to Get Out by David Reutter (p 50)
• Georgia Prisoner Sentenced to Death for Killing Two Guards Dies by Apparent Suicide by Keith Sanders (p 51)
• UCLA Study Finds Over Half of ‘Natural’ Deaths Inside L.A. County Jails Showed Signs of Physical Harm by Keith Sanders (p 52)
• GEO Group Gets Another Extension to Biden’s Deadline for USMS at California Prison by Jenifer Lockwood (p 52)
• Ex-Prisoner Re-Elected to New York State Assembly by Keith Sanders (p 53)
• Fifth Circuit: Martinez Report May Not Override Factual Allegations in Prisoner’s Complaint by Matthew Clarke (p 54)
• Over $237,000 Awarded in Wisconsin Prisoner’s Suit Accusing Guard of Unwanted Sexual Advances by Kevin Bliss (p 54)
• Potentially Fatal Legionella Bacteria Found at Six Illinois Prisons by Casey Bastian (p 55)
• OIG Report Defers Claims That ICE Detainees in Georgia Had Forced Hysterectomies by Ashleigh Dye (p 56)
• Second Circuit: N.Y. Detainee Didn’t Fail to Exhaust Administrative Remedies When Jail Grievance Procedure Excluded Matter Forming Basis of Claim by Matthew Clarke (p 56)
• ‘Time for Me to Go’: Troubled Oklahoma Jail Loses Administrator by Matthew Clarke (p 57)
• Mississippi Demands $1.9 Million From MTC For Short-Staffing Private State Prison by Kevin Bliss (p 58)
• Oklahoma Raises Pay for Execution Doctors From $300 to $15,000 Per Execution, Still Won’t Say Who They Are or What They Do by Matthew Clarke (p 58)
• HRDC Sues Wyoming Jail for Unlawful Censorship by Douglas Ankney (p 59)
• Mississippi Reopens Walnut Grove Prison Just in Time for Prison Population Explosion by Harold Hempstead (p 59)
• Florida Supreme Court: Trial Courts Have Authority to Correct Sentencing Errors, But Subject to Time Limits by David Reutter (p 60)
• $115,000 Settlement for Excessive Pepper-Spraying of Maine Prisoner by David Reutter (p 60)
• Massive Price Tags and Meager Results: The Legacy of Federal Monitors in New York City by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 62)
• ACLU Accepts $37,500 Settlement Over Redacted Records From New Mexico Prison Healthcare Provider by Benjamin Tschirhart (p 62)
• News in Brief (p 63)