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Archive: 2024

July

• Alaska’s Prison System: Dangerous, Deadly Yet Repeating Past Mistakes by David Reutter (p 1)
• From the Editor by Paul Wright (p 9)
• North Carolina’s Largest City Elects First Ex-Prisoner to Council (p 10)
• For Beating Handcuffed Prisoners, Former Alabama Guard Supervisor Gets 87 Months (p 10)
• Fifth Circuit: Texas Prisoner’s Declaration Alone Sufficient to Send PLRA Exhaustion Dispute to Trial (p 11)
• Seventh Kentucky Guard Sentenced for Restrained Prisoner’s Beat-down (p 12)
• Four BOP Guards Sentenced for Three Federal Prisoner Assaults at Kentucky Lockup (p 12)
• “Botched” and “Ill-Conceived”: BOP Slammed for Plan to Close California Lockup Known as “Rape Club” (p 13)
• Idaho Stopped From Repeatedly Scheduling Executions That It Cannot Carry Out by Douglas Ankney (p 14)
• Securus Wipes Out Months of Washington Prisoners’ Writing—Again (p 15)
• “You Just Broke My Neck”: Ohio Detainee Sues Jail Where Guards Are Accused of Multiple Assaults (p 16)
• In New Jersey, Yet More Privileged Phone Calls Between Prisoners and Attorneys Recorded and Used by Prosecutors by Douglas Ankney (p 17)
• Federal Watchdog Slams BOP for Sham Accreditations by Matthew Clarke (p 18)
• BOP Hires Sentencing Reform Advocate (p 18)
• Exonerated Prisoner Sues New York City for 16 Years of Wrongful Incarceration (p 19)
• Cleveland Jail Warden Dismissed After Asking for More Reentry Assistance for Detainees (p 19)
• Oregon Parole Board Ordered to Consider Sex-Offense-Free Time When Setting Sex Offender Notification Levels (p 20)
• Third Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Pennsylvania Jail Guards and PrimeCare in Detainee’s Overdose Death by David Reutter (p 21)
• Ninth Circuit: Alleged Denial of Hepatitis C Treatment to Federal Prisoner in Washington Presents Valid Bivens Claim by David Reutter (p 22)
• Washington, Virginia Advance Bills to Make Prison Calls Free (p 23)
• Colorado Program Employs Prisoners as Professors (p 23)
• Georgia Sheriff Takes $160,000 Kickback from Pay Tel for Video Visitation (p 24)
• Decoding Recidivism: Unraveling Its Complex Metrics and Real Impact (p 24)
• Hope Against Hope by Daryl Waters (p 26)
• Tennessee DOC Faulted for High Staff Vacancy and Turnover, Inadequate Programs, PREA Violations (p 28)
• “You Are Not Above the Law”: Former Indiana Sheriff Jailed for Contempt of Court (p 31)
• $15,000 Net Award for Georgia Prisoner’s Delayed Hep-C Treatment by David Reutter (p 32)
• West Virginia Slammed for High Costs, Low Quality of Privatized Prison Food (p 33)
• CoreCivic Sued by Former Detainee Stabbed at Shuttered Kansas Jail by David Reutter (p 34)
• Seventh Circuit Finds No Problem With Surveillance of Chicago Detainees on Toilets by David Reutter (p 35)
• $500,000 for Texas Teen Sodomized in Jail (p 35)
• Warden, Eight Employees Arrested After Four Deaths at Wisconsin Prison in Eight Months (p 36)
• Pell Grant Restoration Not Reaching All Prisoners (p 37)
• Colorado Jail Guard Must Stand Trial for Opening Accused Sex Offender’s Cell, Subjecting Him to Assault by David Reutter (p 38)
• Wrongfully Convicted Michigan Prisoners Wait for Compensation (p 39)
• Illinois Prisoner Awarded Over $822,000 For Hernia Care Denied by Wexford Health by Douglas Ankney (p 40)
• Minnesota Jailers Shrug Off Detainee’s Agony from Fatal Perforated Bowel as Withdrawal Symptoms (p 41)
• Hearing-Impaired Massachusetts Prisoners Win ADA Case (p 42)
• Virginia Legislature Tables “Second-Look” Bills (p 43)
• Federal Sentencing Guidelines Place Heavy Burden on Incarcerated Victims of Sexual Assaults by David Reutter (p 44)
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court Slows the Hand That State DOC Sticks Into Prisoners’ Pockets by David Reutter (p 46)
• Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Retaliation Claim By Federal Prisoner Against Guard in Illinois Lockup Who Saw Grievance Against Him by Matthew Clarke (p 47)
• Mentally Ill Detainee Allegedly Tasered and Starved to Death At South Carolina Jail (p 48)
• $8.9 Million Settlement Reached for N.Y. Prisoner’s Death Following Guards’ Baton Beating by David Reutter (p 48)
• Maryland County Wins Fight to Let Bureaucrats Make Pretrial Release Decisions by David Reutter (p 50)
• Eighth Circuit Largely Restores Qualified Immunity to Minnesota Jail Guards in Use of Force on Bipolar Prisoner by David Reutter (p 51)
• Maryland Prisoner Prevails in Challenge to Denial of Public Records Requests (p 52)
• $2 Million Settlement in Death of Mentally Disabled Detainee Stripped of Anti-Seizure Device at Colorado Jail by David Reutter (p 53)
• Despite Unemployment Spike, Alabama Refuses Prisoners Work-Release Paroles (p 54)
• Two Who Escaped from Arkansas Jail Recaptured (p 54)
• Ohio Supreme Court Says Prisoner’s ‘Kite’ Is Public Record, But Denies Damages for Withholding It by Matthew Clarke (p 55)
• $56.7 Million Awarded to “Harlem Park Three,” Exonerated of Baltimore Murder After 36 Years in Prison by David Reutter (p 56)
• Missouri Muslim Prisoners Advance Suit Against Guards For Assault During Prayer by Douglas Ankney (p 57)
• Sixth Circuit Revives Ohio Prisoner’s Retaliation Claim That Guards Got Him Kicked Out of Religious Group by David Reutter (p 58)
• $4 Million Settlement in Class Action Challenging Unconstitutional Conditions at West Virginia Jail by David Reutter (p 59)
• Transgender Maryland Prisoner’s Suit Accuses Guard of Shower Rape (p 60)
• Two Prisoners Removed from Texas Death Row Due to Intellectual Disability by David Reutter (p 61)
• News in Brief (p 62)

June

• Contemporary Slavery: The Not-So-Secret Practice of Forced Labor Inside U.S. Prisons by Douglas Ankney (p 1)
• From the Editor by Paul Wright (p 9)
• Far-Right Claremont Institute Awards Extremist California Sheriff (p 10)
• Dramatic Prisoner Escape in France Leaves Two Guards Dead (p 10)
• Georgia Prisoner’s Challenge to “Deplorable” Conditions Survives Motion to Dismiss (p 11)
• After Takeover from CoreCivic, Oklahoma Prison Even More Short-Staffed (p 12)
• Missouri DOC Models Re-entry Program on Norwegian Prisons (p 12)
• New York Court of Appeals Lets DOCCS Skate from Liability for Doctor’s Malpractice on State Prisoner by Douglas Ankney (p 13)
• Texas Bankruptcy Court Rejects Proposed Settlement of Prisoner Claims Against Corizon Health (p 14)
• Trans Detainee Sues Over Housing With Men on Rikers Island (p 14)
• Private Prison Transport Guards Sentenced to Prison for Raping Detainees by Douglas Ankney (p 16)
• Vermont Court Orders Centurion to Cough Up Records in HRDC Suit by Matthew Clarke (p 17)
• BOP Has a Halfway House Problem (p 18)
• Michigan Makes Voting Rights Restoration Automatic for Prisoner’s at Release (p 18)
• Other Jails Study Miami Diversion Program to Keep Mentally Ill from Repeated Incarceration (p 19)
• Los Angeles County Makes Jail Phone Calls Free (p 19)
• Louisiana Fights Federal Court Order to Remedy “Callous and Wanton Disregard” for Angola Prisoners’ Healthcare by David Reutter (p 20)
• Dixie Prison Growth Drives Number of Incarcerated Americans Above 2 Million Once Again (p 21)
• HRDC Files Suit for Exonerated Florida Prisoner Wrongfully Incarcerated Over 44 Years (p 22)
• Virginia Sheriff Sued After “Catfishing” Deputy Kills Family of California Teen Victim (p 23)
• Two Sentenced in Detainee’s Fentanyl Death at North Florida Jail (p 23)
• Seventh Circuit: Heck Bars Civil Rights Challenges to Civil Commitment by Matthew Clarke (p 24)
• Two Ohio Prisoners and Two Guards Tried for Assaults (p 24)
• The Mind-Breakers: the Case of Ramzi Bin al-Shibh by St Clair, Jeffrey (p 26)
• Bankruptcy Threatens $500,000 Settlement in Suit Alleging Housing Discrimination Against Former Prisoners in New York City (p 31)
• “Are You Freaking Kidding Me?” Former BOP Warden Accuses Guards of Recruiting Prisoners for Assaults at Troubled Lockup in Illinois by David Reutter (p 32)
• Contaminated Water a Longstanding Problem at Nebraska Women’s Prison (p 33)
• Lawsuit Alleges Black ICE Detainee Subjected to Racial Slurs, Choked in Restraint Chair at Pennsylvania Jail by Matthew Clarke (p 34)
• His Appeal Lost for 28 Years, Texas Prisoner Finally Off Death Row (p 35)
• Arkansas Sheriff Grilled Over Hit Netflix Show Filmed at Jail (p 35)
• Botched Idaho Execution Halted by Douglas Ankney (p 36)
• BOP Lifts Maximum Age for New Guards to 40 (p 37)
• Colorado Law Creates “Rebuttable Presumption” Against Incarcerating Pregnant Women (p 38)
• Executions Rise in 2023, Number on Death Row Falls (p 39)
• CDCR Loses Suit Over Release of Employee Misconduct Records (p 40)
• Idaho Continues To Cell “Dangerously Mentally Ill” Without Charges (p 41)
• More Alabama Prisoners’ Families Say Their Corpses Were Returned Without Organs (p 42)
• $20.5 Million Settlement for Two Kentucky Prisoners Exonerated and Freed After 22 Years by David Reutter (p 43)
• $7 Million Settlement for Mentally Ill Detainee’s Death in California’s Santa Rita Jail by Matthew Clarke (p 44)
• How Parole and Probation “No-Association” Conditions Hamper Successful Reentry (p 46)
• Harris County Shipping Detainees from Overcrowded Jail to Mississippi CoreCivic Prison (p 47)
• Florida County Pays $300,000 to Settle Jail Suicide Suit by Matthew Clarke (p 47)
• Atheist Chaplain Attends Atheist Oklahoma Prisoner During Execution (p 48)
• Memphis Jail Accused of Routine Over-Detention in Suit Over Detainee’s Murder (p 48)
• Tuberculosis Outbreak Exposed Weak Washington DOC Response (p 50)
• Florida Prisons Playing “Whack-a-Mole” With Jailbroken Tablets (p 50)
• Eleven Years After Consent Decree Entered, New Orleans Jail Still Not Compliant (p 51)
• $5 Million Settlement in Death of Georgia Prisoner Left by Guards in Cell on Fire by David Reutter (p 52)
• $500,000 Jury Award Cut to $250,000 for Pennsylvania Prisoner Brutally Beaten by Guards by Douglas Ankney (p 53)
• Watchdog Finds “Alarming Conditions” at BOP Women’s Lockup in Florida by David Reutter (p 54)
• Texas Detainee Raped in Jail Sues Macy’s for False Facial-ID Match That Led to Arrest (p 54)
• Report Finds Current Path of Florida Prison System “Unsustainable” by David Reutter (p 55)
• Settlement Obligates Washington DOC to Provide Gender-Affirming Care to Trans Prisoners (p 56)
• Over $71,000 Awarded to Michigan Prisoner for Sexual Abuse by Guard by Matthew Clarke (p 57)
• Conflicting Reports from New Hampshire Prison Officials Before Guard Charged in Psychiatric Detainee’s Death (p 58)
• Elderly Ohio Prisoner Beaten by Cellmate Despite Warning Guards, Who Cheered Attack (p 58)
• U.N. Panel Finds Rampant Racism in U.S. Criminal Justice System (p 59)
• Georgia Prisoner Stabs Warden (p 59)
• $700,000 Jury Verdict for Wisconsin Prisoner Denied Due Process in Disciplinary Hearing by David Reutter (p 60)
• Lawsuit Over Mailroom Abuses by Washington DOC Leads to Policy Changes (p 61)
• News in Brief (p 62)

May

• Aramark: Prison Food for Thought (p 1)
• Southern California Jail Guard Arrested With 104 Pounds of Fentanyl (p 10)
• From the Editor by Paul Wright (p 10)
• Families of New Jersey Jail Suicide Victims Still Waiting for Settlement Payouts (p 11)
• $500,000 Settlement for Colorado Prisoner Forced to Defecate in Bucket for 12 Days by David Reutter (p 11)
• These Men Fought White Supremacists and Got Sentenced to Over 200 Years by Victoria Law (p 12)
• Six Deaths in Just Over Six Months at Alabama Jail (p 15)
• Federal Watchdog Slams BOP for Lapses in Epstein Death, Pushes Back Against Rumors It Wasn’t Suicide by Douglas Ankney (p 16)
• Alabama Woman Jailed for “Fetal Endangerment” Sues After She Was Forced to Give Birth Alone in Jail Shower (p 17)
• Over 5,000 Prisoners Federally Sentenced Every Month by Douglas Ankney (p 17)
• $32,000 Settlement for Failure to Provide Insulin to Diabetic Wisconsin Prisoner (p 18)
• Former Illinois Prisoner Pursuing PhD After 27 Years of Incarceration (p 18)
• $7,500 Settlement Reached After Georgia Prisoner’s Retaliation Claim Survives Summary Judgment (p 19)
• Autistic Detainee’s Death in Pittsburgh Jail Blamed on “Culture” That Left Him “Punished Instead of Treated” (p 20)
• $6,500 Paid to Illinois Prisoner After Denied Records Request (p 21)
• HIV and Incarcerated People: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly by Douglas Ankney (p 21)
• Two West Virginia Jail Guards Plead Guilty in Detainee Death, Six More Charged (p 22)
• Escaped Idaho Prisoner Recaptured, Three Accomplices Charged (p 23)
• $125,000 Settlement for Wisconsin Prisoner’s Claim That Guards Set Him Up For Stabbing by David Reutter (p 23)
• Prisoner-on-Prisoner Violence at California Prison Leaves One Dead, Another Stabbed (p 24)
• Class-Action Challenge to Medical Care at Tennessee Jail Results in $3.8 Million Settlement (p 24)
• Eighth Circuit Says Lower Court “Tilted the Scales Too Far” for Jailers in Missouri Detainee’s Fatal Overdose by David Reutter (p 26)
• Arizona Sheriff Accused of Misusing Detainee Funds to Buy Guns, Ammo (p 27)
• Three Texas Prison Guards Among 13 Charged in Sprawling Smuggling Scheme (p 27)
• Fourth Circuit Moves North Carolina Prisons Closer to Recognizing Nation of Gods and Earths by Matthew Clarke (p 28)
• Washington Superior Court Says Jail Cannot Bill Poor Detainees for Medical Care (p 29)
• Alabama Denied Summary Judgment in Prisoner’s Suit Over Knifepoint Rape by Matthew Clarke (p 31)
• Fourth Circuit Reinstates HRDC’s RICO Claim Against Securus and ViaPath (p 32)
• Ninth Circuit Refunds Filing Fee to “Struck-Out” California Prisoner Denied Indigent Status Under PLRA by Matthew Clarke (p 34)
• Pennsylvania Jail Warden Fired, Deputy Warden Resigns After Guard Assaults Detainee (p 35)
• Was There a Plot to Discredit Former Missouri Sheriff Investigating Corruption? by Douglas Ankney (p 35)
• The Graying of American Prisons (p 36)
• $10 Million Reimbursed for Vacated Washington Drug Possession Convictions by David Reutter (p 37)
• Regarding Death Penalty, Biden’s Actions Don’t Align with His Mouth by Douglas Ankney (p 37)
• “Third Time Is Not the Charm” For Texas Jailers Barred by PLRA from Enforcing Prior Settlement Agreement Against Prisoner in New Suit by Matthew Clarke (p 38)
• Migrants at New Mexico CoreCivic ICE Detention Center Forced to Clean Up Sewage with Bare Hands by Douglas Ankney (p 39)
• Wyoming Supreme Court Grants Immunity to DOC in Prison COVID-19 Vaccine Mix-Up by David Reutter (p 40)
• FTC Orders GTL/ViaPath to Help 650,000 Customers Whose Info Was Stolen, Posted on Dark Web by Douglas Ankney (p 41)
• Three-Year Sentence for One of Four BOP Employees Charged With Ignoring Fatally Ill Federal Prisoner in Virginia (p 41)
• “There you go, Agent Orange!” Former South Carolina Sheriff Federally Indicted for Assaulting Jail Detainee by Edward Lyon (p 43)
• Dismissal Affirmed of Florida Prisoner’s Claim for Exposure to Human Waste by David Reutter (p 44)
• Qualified Immunity Denied to Former New Mexico Warden in Prisoner’s Sexual Abuse Claim (p 46)
• HRDC Wins Summary Judgment in North Carolina Prison Censorship Case (p 47)
• Pennsylvania Detainee Found Four Months After Jail Escape, Five Guards Fired (p 47)
• San Diego Jury Deadlocks on Charges Against Jail Doctor in Detainee’s Death, Nurse Acquitted (p 48)
• BOP Guards Plead Guilty in Smuggling Ring at Closed Manhattan Lockup (p 48)
• Legal Noose Tightens Around Necks of CDCR Officials Whose Botched Transfer Sparked San Quentin COVID-19 Outbreak by Douglas Ankney (p 49)
• Virginia Supreme Court Denies New Sentence Credits to State Prisoner Serving “Mixed” Sentence by Douglas Ankney (p 50)
• Ohio Supreme Court Orders Records Produced for State Prisoner by David Reutter (p 51)
• Massachusetts Makes Calls Free From Prisons and Jails (p 51)
• $25.2 Million Settlement for Two Connecticut Prisoners Exonerated After 35 Years by David Reutter (p 52)
• Seventh Circuit Lets Illinois Prisoner Proceed In Forma Pauperis, Despite Trust Account Balance Exceeding Filing Fee by Douglas Ankney (p 53)
• Eighth Circuit Upholds Key Parts of Missouri Parole Reform (p 54)
• BOP Rolls Out Veterans-Only Housing at Federal Prison in Texas (p 54)
• Second Circuit Grants New York Officials Qualified Immunity for Prisoner’s Stolen Sentence Credits by David Reutter (p 55)
• BOP Shrugs Off Month-Long Leavenworth Lockdown (p 56)
• $15,000 to Virginia Prisoner Mauled by DOC K-9 by Matthew Clarke (p 56)
• California Law Extends Involuntary Commitment and Detention to Substance Abusers (p 57)
• West Virginia Supreme Court Orders Prison Officials to Develop Good-Time Credit Policy by David Reutter (p 58)
• “Sugar Daddy” Pennsylvania Constable Accused of Recruiting “Sugar Babies” at Jail (p 58)
• Sentencing Project Proposes Remedies for Racial Disparities Behind Bars (p 59)
• North Carolinian Left in Jail Awaiting Trial for 11 Years (p 59)
• Ninth Circuit Affirms Class Action Consent Decree at California’s Alameda County Jail by David Reutter (p 60)
• Fired Alabama Guard Reinstated Despite Excessive Force Used on Prisoner Who Died by David Reutter (p 61)
• News in Brief (p 61)

April

• Seventh Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Illinois Jail Guards Who Relied on Nurse’s Opinion that Detainee Was “Faking” Symptoms Before He Died by David Reutter
• Colorado Becomes Seventh State to Prohibit Jailing Immigrants for ICE by Jordan Arizmendi
• Young Hong Kong Protestors Held in “Deradicalization” Camps by Gregory Teixeira
• Indiana Prisoner Sues Prison Abolition Group, Wins $1,097 Default Judgment by Mark Wilson
• $175,000 Awarded to Former California Detainee Whose Suit Prompted DOJ Investigation and Settlement Requiring Structural Changes at Jail by Douglas Ankney
• $1.4 Million Verdict for Florida Jail Guard Injured in Transport Van Crash by David Reutter
• Suit Proceeds Against CoreCivic by Guard Strip-Searched at Georgia Prison by David Reutter
• Shocking Video Footage Reveals Rampant Violence and Neglect in Los Angeles County Jails by Chuck Sharman
• Eleventh Circuit: “More than Gross Negligence” Required to Prove Deliberate Indifference by David Reutter
• “Sisters-In-Law” of Brazilian Prisoners Going Viral on TikTok by Jo Ellen Nott
• Lawsuit By California Youth Alliance Prompts County Probation Chiefs to Dissolve Secretive Nonprofit by Jo Ellen Nott
• As ICE Data Errors Persist, GEO Group Cashes In by Chuck Sharman
• Unable to Post Bail, Detainee Starves to Death in Arkansas Jail by David Reutter
• $155 Million Settlement for 10,000 California Prison Guard Supervisors in Wage Lawsuit by David Reutter
• After Stripping Crucial Jail Services, NYC Splurges on $90,000 in Submachine Guns for Rikers Island Guards by Jordan Arizmendi
• BOP Guard, Nurse in Virginia Indicted in Prisoner’s Death by Chuck Sharman
• Florida Supreme Court Bans ‘Vexatious’ Prisoner From Filing Further Pro Se Petitions by David Reutter
• Fourth Circuit: South Carolina Prisoner’s Bivens Claim Must Detail Unconstitutional Acts of Each Defendant by Benjamin Tschirhart
• Fourth Circuit Finds No Defamation for Inaccurate Media Reporting of Criminal Record of Former Federal Prisoner in West Virginia
• Eighth Circuit: Arkansas Detainee Suffering Fatal Seizure Might Have Been Faking or Might Have Gotten Better by David Reutter
• NaphCare: More Proof That Privatized Healthcare Deals Death and Misery to the Incarcerated to Enhance Profits by David Reutter (p 1)
• Woman Denied Cardiac Care in Federal Prison in Texas—Despite Personal Assurance of BOP Medical Director (p 9)
• From the Editor by Paul Wright (p 9)
• With Push to Empty North Carolina’s Death Row Comes Another to End Life Without Parole (p 10)
• Drunken “Karen” Jail Guard in Michigan Invades Former Home, Demands to Speak to Prosecutor When Cops Arrive (p 10)
• Alaska Prisons Report Three Deaths in Three Days (p 11)
• Months-­Long Wisconsin Prison Lockdown Prompts Lawsuits (p 11)
• Florida County Makes Free Jail Phone Calls Available (p 12)
• From Prison Cook to Praised Pizza Chef (p 13)
• Colorado Prisoners Disciplined for Not Working Despite Ban on Prison Slavery (p 13)
• Louisville Jail Records 15 Detainee Deaths, 16 Employees Fired (p 14)
• 428 Georgia Prison Employees Criminally Charged in Five Years (p 15)
• California Prisons Locked Down After Massive Riot Hospitalizes Prisoner, Eight Guards (p 15)
• One Detainee Dying Every Week in L.A. County Jails (p 16)
• Sentencing Project Finds “Important Inroads” Against Mass Incarceration, Racial Inequality Behind Bars (p 17)
• HRDC Awarded Over $130,000 in Legal Costs and Fees for Defendant’s “Bad Faith” in Maine Records Lawsuit by David Reutter (p 18)
• Condemned Texas Prisoner Ruled Too Mentally Ill to Execute by Matthew Clarke (p 18)
• Oregon Prisoner’s Parole Deferral Based on “Dangerous Offender” Statute Reversed (p 19)
• Maryland Compensates Exonerated Prisoner Over $340,000 (p 20)
• Seventh Circuit Again Rejects Challenge to Three-Book Limit at Cook County Jail by Now-Dead Detainee by David Reutter (p 21)
• $33 Million Awarded to Family of Oklahoma Jail Detainee Mocked By Nurse and Guards As He Died Begging for Help by Douglas Ankney (p 22)
• $9,000 Settlement in Wisconsin Prisoner’s Heat-­Related Illness Suit by Matthew Clarke (p 23)
• Lights, Camera, Action! “Dead Man Walking” Comes to Sing Sing (p 24)
• Sixth Circuit Refuses Michigan Prisoner’s Excessive Force Claim Despite Guard’s Conviction for Battery by David Reutter (p 24)
• Parole and Probation Accused of Driving Prison Growth by David Reutter (p 26)
• Louisiana Supreme Court Springs Prisoner From Death Row (p 27)
• $1.75 Million Settlement Reached in Washington Jail Suicide by David Reutter (p 27)
• Grand Jury Slams Sacramento County for Delaying Jail Improvements Mandated in Consent Decree by Douglas Ankney (p 28)
• California Adds Statewide Detention Monitors Overseeing Local Jails (p 29)
• Kansas DOC Claims Discrimination Against Wiccans Was “Inadvertent” by Douglas Ankney (p 29)
• Massachusetts High Court Calls Denial of Prisoner’s Medical Parole without Risk Assessment Arbitrary and Capricious by Douglas Ankney (p 31)
• Third Circuit Revives Disabled New Jersey Prisoner’s Claim for Deprivation of Walking Cane by Douglas Ankney (p 32)
• Nine Employees Arrested at Troubled South Carolina Jail (p 34)
• Missouri Moms Jailed After Kids Miss Too Much School (p 35)
• Two Kansas Prison Guards Fired, Six Disciplined for Mocking Injured Prisoner and Refusing Her Help (p 35)
• Exceptional Punishments by Kate Weisburd (p 36)
• N.J. Prison Guard Sacked Over Mock George Floyd Killing (p 37)
• Third Circuit Unhappy with Federal Detainee’s Denied Marriage Request at Pennsylvania GEO Group Lockup (p 38)
• Russian Opposition Leader Dies in Prison (p 39)
• Oklahoma Jail Withholds Death Records, Fails to Report Five Since 2018 by Matthew Clarke (p 40)
• $8.5 Million Settlement After Pretrial Detainee Suffocated by Guards and Medical Staff at Virginia Psychiatric Hospital by David Reutter (p 41)
• $11.6 Million Settlement Reached in HRDC Debit Release Card Case in Washington; California Victory Remanded (p 42)
• Georgia Sheriff Resigns After Groping TV Judge’s Breast (p 43)
• North Carolina Court of Appeals Reinstates Parolee’s Parental Rights, Says Parole Conditions Barred Him from Visiting Minor Daughter by Matthew Clarke (p 44)
• Finding Indiana Grievance Process “Unavailable,” Federal Judge Grants Summary Judgment to 22 Prisoners on Same Day (p 46)
• Alabama Denies Parole to Former Sheriff Convicted of Corruption (p 47)
• Massachusetts Prisoners Again Stage Hunger Strike Against Solitary Confinement (p 47)
• Eleventh Circuit Calls Georgia Prisoner’s Dismissed Suit Outside PLRA “Strike Zone” (p 48)
• $19.3 Million Awarded to Former Illinois Prisoner Repeatedly Sexually Assaulted by Prison Counselor (p 50)
• Federal Prisoners Released Under First Step Act Show 37% Reduction in Recidivism by Matthew Clarke (p 51)
• Missouri Expands Prison Mail Ban to Include Books Sent by Family, Friends (p 51)
• Washington DOC Outfits Guards with Narcan (p 52)
• Arizona Supreme Court Reverses Summary Judgment for Corizon Health in State Prisoner’s Death from Untreated Diabetes by Matthew Clarke (p 52)
• Class-­Action Lawsuit Challenges Use of Presumptive Drug Tests by Washington DOC (p 54)
• Fifth Circuit Finds Louisiana Prisoner’s Solitary Confinement Not Sufficiently “Atypical” to Violate the Constitution by David Reutter (p 55)
• Connecticut DOC Held Liable for Failure to Treat Transgender Prisoner’s Gender Dysphoria by Douglas Ankney (p 56)
• Eighth Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity for Missouri Prison Chief in Sexual Abuse Claims Against Former Guard by David Reutter (p 57)
• Ninth Circuit Says Federal Prisoner in California May Have Bivens Claim for Delays in Medical Care Allegedly to Cover Up Assault by BOP Guard (p 58)
• $2,000 Paid to Former Arkansas Jail Detainees Given Horse Dewormer for COVID-­19 by Douglas Ankney (p 59)
• At BOP California “Rape Club” Prison: Historic Ruling, FBI Raid, Warden Removed (p 60)
• News in Brief (p 61)

March

• Overcrowded and Understaffed, Oklahoma County Jail Remains “Deplorable” by David Reutter (p 1)
• From the Editor by Paul Wright (p 7)
• No Jail Time for Former Arizona Prisons Director After Armed Standoff With Cops (p 8)
• Lawsuit Claims Seattle’s King County Jail Shows Little Improvement in Quarter Century Since “Hammer Agreement” (p 8)
• Pennsylvania County Found Skimming Prisoner-Designated Funds from ViaPath Kickbacks (p 9)
• With Guard Arrests at Georgia Jail, Sheriff Asks, “What Are We Doing Wrong?” (p 10)
• Colorado Sheriff Resigns After Deputies Fatally Shoot Motorist (p 10)
• U.S. Sentencing Commission Greenlights Retroactive Sentence Reductions (p 11)
• Redemption Songs: The Forgotten History of American Prison Music by Maurice Chammah (p 12)
• Nearly $11 Million Settlement Reached in Suit by BOP Prisoners Held Without Heat, Electricity During New York Winter Storm by Douglas Ankney (p 14)
• Massachusetts Becomes the Fifth State to Make Prison Phone Calls Free (p 15)
• Federal Prisoner in Virginia Convicted on Fresh Kiddie Porn Charges After Drawing His Own (p 15)
• California Slowed, But Not Barred from “Dumping” Sick, Indigent Parolees on Public Hospitals (p 16)
• Illinois Eases Restrictions on Prisoners Released Under Supervision (p 17)
• Rikers Island Detainees Given Pricey Weight-Loss Surgery but Little Follow-Up Care (p 17)
• Moms Released from Massachusetts Prison Decry Dearth of Help (p 18)
• Eighth Circuit Issues Primer on Informal Due Process Procedures to Missouri Prisoner by David Reutter (p 19)
• DOJ Finds ADA Violations in Arizona Prisons, Demands Improvements (p 20)
• Unsealed Settlement Reveals PrimeCare Medical Paid $337,500 After Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Suicide by David Reutter (p 21)
• Sick Georgia Prisoners Forced to Choose Between Treatment and Early Release (p 21)
• Eighth Circuit Remands ADA Claims—But Not Constitutional Claims—of Paralyzed Arkansas Jail Detainee by David Reutter (p 22)
• “Unethical At Best”: Hawaii Budget Director Charged With Financing New Prison is Former CoreCivic Lobbyist (p 23)
• “More jobs than people”: Prisoners Training to Work on Ohio Infrastructure Projects after Release (p 24)
• Alabama Conducts First Nitrogen Hypoxia Execution (p 24)
• HRDC Wins $14 Million Settlement for Exonerated Florida Prisoner (p 26)
• Escape from Oregon State Hospital Results in Changes to Detainee Transports (p 26)
• Four Dead in One Month in San Bernardino County Jails, $3,232,500 in Settlements Paid So Far by Casey Bastian, Douglas Ankney (p 28)
• Seventh Circuit Revives Prisoner’s Challenge to Seized $10,000 by David Reutter (p 31)
• Alabama Prisons Facing Third Class-Action Lawsuit (p 32)
• Muslim Florida Prisoner Awarded Permanent Injunction to Grow Untrimmed Beard by David Reutter (p 34)
• North Carolina Prison Official Pleads Guilty to COVID-19 Program Fraud (p 35)
• South Carolina Sheriff Ordered to Pay $37,500 in Fees and Costs in Jail FOIA Case by Matthew Clarke (p 35)
• New York Prisoners with Chronic Pain Win Injunction to Receive Denied Medication by Matthew Clarke (p 36)
• Guard and Four Summit Food Service Employees Arrested for Smuggling at Troubled Atlanta Jail (p 36)
• Ninth Circuit Shuts Down Settlement Agreement in Long-Running California Prisoners’ Gang Affiliation Suit by David Reutter (p 37)
• $470,000 Settlement After Texas Jail Nurses Fabricate Vital Signs for Detainee Who Died by Douglas Ankney (p 38)
• New Jersey Supreme Court Revives Parolee’s Challenge to Administratively Imposed Treatment Program by Matthew Clarke (p 39)
• BOP Pays $40,000 to Prisoner Sexually Assaulted at Florida Lockup by Guard, Who Must Pay Her $1 Million by David Reutter (p 40)
• Serial Killer Murdered by Cellmate at Texas Lockup (p 41)
• California Felony-Murder Reform Shaves 11,000 Years Off 600 Prisoner Sentences by Douglas Ankney (p 42)
• Seventh Circuit Says Lack of Expert Testimony Dooms Illinois Prisoner’s Medical Neglect Claim by Douglas Ankney (p 43)
• Texas Fights Fetal Rights After Forcing Prison Guard to Stay At Work Until She Delivered Stillborn Baby (p 44)
• Suit Filed After Mentally Ill Detainee Starves to Death in Miami Jail by David Reutter (p 47)
• Senators Grill BOP Chief—Then Say They’ll Toss Her More Money (p 47)
• Nevada Prisoner Strikes Out in Access-to-Courts Claim by David Reutter (p 48)
• New Jersey Private Prison Ban Voided (p 50)
• Eighth Circuit Affirms $800,000 Award After Arkansas Jail Detainee’s Fatal Appendix Rupture by Matthew Clarke (p 51)
• New Minnesota Justice Center Aims to be More ‘Humane’ (p 51)
• Wellpath Held in Contempt in Suit at California Jail (p 52)
• Minnesota Prison on Lockdown After Protest Over Dirty Water, Lack of Phone Use and Out-of-Cell Time (p 52)
• Seventh Circuit Reinstates Wisconsin Prisoner’s ADA Claim for Untreated Knee Injury by Matthew Clarke (p 54)
• California Prison Fined $1.7 Million for Stormwater Discharges, Environmental Violations (p 54)
• Eleventh Circuit Revives Claim Against Florida Jail That Forced Detainee to Scan Legal Mail Into Computer with Memory Chip by David Reutter (p 55)
• Illinois Failing to Grant Dying Prisoners Medical Releases (p 56)
• Louisiana Fugitive Recaptured After 32 Years (p 56)
• Florida Pastor Accused of Running Shoplifting Ring With DUI Diversion Program Participants (p 57)
• MTC Returns $5.125 Million to Mississippi for “Ghost Workers” at Private Prisons (p 57)
• $900,000 Settlement Reached With Ohio Jail in Detainee’s Fatal Seizure by David Reutter (p 58)
• Tribal Courts Expand ‘Healing to Wellness’ Rehabilitation Programs (p 59)
• Four TDCJ Guards Resign, Seven Suspended for Beating Handcuffed Prisoner Into Coma (p 60)
• Michigan Reaches $1.03 Million Settlement with Exonerated Prisoner (p 61)
• Oklahoma Parole Board Resignations Threaten Prisoner Clemencies (p 61)
• News in Brief (p 62)
• After Eight Deaths in Eight Years, Virginia Jail Introduces—Pickleball? (p 62)

February

• Commissary and Food Service Privatization Strands Florida Prisoners in ‘Food Desert’ by David Reutter (p 1)
• From the Editor by Paul Wright (p 9)
• Virginia Settles Suit Over Prisoner’s Death from Untreated Hepatitis C for $700,000 by David Reutter (p 10)
• Eleventh Circuit Refuses to Reimpose Death Sentence for Intellectually Disabled Alabama Prisoner (p 11)
• Deaths and Lawsuits Mount at “Disgusting” Atlanta Jail (p 12)
• Three L.A. Jail Gang Leaders Murdered (p 12)
• Nine Guilty So Far in Sprawling California Aryan Brotherhood Case (p 14)
• $3 Million Settlement for Illinois Pretrial Detainee’s Opioid Withdrawal Death by David Reutter (p 15)
• First Circuit Lets BOP Take Prisoner’s Entire $10,956.36 Trust Account Balance for Restitution by Douglas Ankney (p 16)
• BOP Evacuates Federal Prison in Florida After Possible Carbon Monoxide Poisoning (p 17)
• $2.9 Million Paid by Maryland to Exonerated Former Prisoner (p 17)
• Censoring Women’s Health by Kwaneta Harris (p 18)
• Second Circuit Says New York Prisons Must Answer for Denying Court-Ordered Rehab by David Reutter (p 20)
• In Suit Over Connecticut Prisoner’s Death, Attorney General Will No Longer Represent Guard Convicted of Assault (p 21)
• South Carolina Pays $200,000 to Jail Detainees Exposed to Toxic Fumes by Douglas Ankney (p 21)
• Ninth Circuit Revives Challenge by Federal Prisoner in Arizona to BOP’s 300-Minute Monthly Phone Cap by David Reutter (p 22)
• No Data to Prove Whether $600-Million California Parole Effort Worked (p 23)
• Inmate Records Released from Closed Washington Psychiatric Lockup (p 24)
• Maine Prison Official Charged with Theft and Bribery in Decade-Long Kickback Scheme (p 24)
• Ohio Prisoner Wins $2,000 Settlement for Guard Abuse Claims, Loses Appeal to Uncover Identity of Prison Officials Who Negotiated It by Matthew Clarke (p 26)
• First Prisoners Released Two Years After Illinois Passed Law to Revisit Excessive Sentences (p 26)
• Writing on the Prison Wall: How Prisons Suppress Prison Journalism (p 27)
• Resistance to Bail Reform Powered By Untruthful Scaremongering by David Reutter (p 29)
• Fifth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Louisiana Prison Chief for Prolonging Prisoner’s Detention with Sex Offender Misclassification by David Reutter (p 31)
• Sixth Circuit Revives Suit by Pregnant Mentally Ill Michigan Detainee Allegedly Kicked in Her Womb by Jail Guard, Losing Baby (p 32)
• Eighth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Minnesota Jail Guard Accused of Grabbing and Squeezing Detainee’s Penis by Mark Wilson (p 34)
• Rikers Island Guard Accidentally Records Himself Planting Shiv in Prisoner’s Cell (p 35)
• Seventh Circuit Upholds Disciplinary Sanction Revoking Over 15 Years of Indiana Prisoner’s Good Time by Douglas Ankney (p 36)
• Record Temperatures in Southern Prisons Called Cruel and Unusual Punishment (p 37)
• Fifth Circuit Says Both Texas Prisoner’s Dismissed Suit and His Lost Appeal Count as “Strikes” by Douglas Ankney (p 38)
• Restorative Justice Program Boosts South Carolina Prison and Public Safety by David Reutter (p 39)
• Fifth Circuit: Texas Jail Guard’s Use of Taser on Compliant Detainee Unconstitutional by David Reutter (p 40)
• Lawsuit Claims Kentucky Prison Officials Ignored Chaplain’s Sexual Abuse (p 41)
• Tenth Circuit: No Qualified Immunity for Oklahoma Jail Guard Who Kneed Handcuffed Prisoner’s Face by Matthew Clarke (p 42)
• BOP Slammed for Prisoner Abuse in Now-Shuttered Segregation Unit at USP-Thomson in Illinois by Douglas Ankney (p 43)
• DOJ Concludes BOP Pretrial Detainees Need Improvements in Access to Attorneys by Matthew Clarke (p 44)
• Ohio Prisoner Has Now Collected $5,700 for Denied Public Records Requests (p 47)
• Virginia Sheriff Indicted for Selling Auxiliary Deputy Sheriff Credentials by Matthew Clarke (p 48)
• Seventh Circuit Reinstates Claim of Illinois Prisoner Held 18 Months After Release for Refusing to Sign Incomplete Form by Matthew Clarke (p 50)
• Oklahoma Prisoner’s Conviction Tossed After Judge’s Affair With Prosecutor Uncovered by Douglas Ankney (p 51)
• San Diego County Jail Accused of Letting Mentally Ill Detainee Starve to Death by Matthew Clarke (p 52)
• Washington Fined Over $100 Million for Delays in Competency Evaluations and Restoration by Douglas Ankney (p 52)
• Seventh Circuit Finds Jail Guard May Be Liable for Delayed Response to Illinois Detainee’s Fatal Heart Attack by Douglas Ankney (p 54)
• Misconduct Shades Sexual Assault Suit As Hawaii Settles With Prisoners for $2 Million by Douglas Ankney (p 55)
• Subclass Certified and Settlement Proposed to Address ADA Violations at Long-Plagued San Diego County Jails by Douglas Ankney (p 56)
• Former Oklahoma Undersheriff Gets 22 Months In Prison for Beating Handcuffed Jail Detainee by Douglas Ankney (p 57)
• Third Circuit Revives Claim by Federal Prisoner in Pennsylvania that Delayed Cancer Treatment Cost Him a Testicle by David Reutter (p 58)
• Texas Looks to Find Prison Guards in High Schools (p 59)
• Almost $950,000 Paid by Inmate Services Corp. for Hellish Prisoner Transports by David Reutter (p 60)
• Champion of Death Row Prisoners Accused of Spoiling Oklahoman’s Clemency (p 61)
• Michigan Supreme Court: DOC Owes Attorney Fees in Public Records Case Even if Plaintiff Is Represented Pro Bono by Matthew Clarke (p 62)
• News in Brief (p 63)
• Cash Bail Eliminated in Illinois, Reduced in Los Angeles County (p None)

January

• See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Treat No Evil: Centurion and the Curse of For-Profit Prison Healthcare by J.D. Schmidt (p 1)
• From the Editor by Paul Wright (p 10)
• $7.75 Million Paid by San Diego County After Jail Detainee Severely Injured in Fall from Top Bunk (p 11)
• Alabama DOC Proves Truly “Heartless” (p 12)
• Misadventures in Mail Censorship by Robert Schaeffer (p 14)
• Hear Us Now? Hearing Impaired Tennessee Prisoners Secure Injunction (p 17)
• Private Prisons Hold Almost 100,000 Prisoners, 8% of Total U.S. Prison Population (p 17)
• Fifth BOP Employee Sentenced in California “Rape Club,” Another Lawsuit Filed (p 18)
• Another Report Verifies That Prison Deaths Soared During COVID-19 Pandemic (p 19)
• Record-Setting $7 Million Settlement Caps LaSalle’s Legacy at Texarkana Jail by Matthew Clarke (p 20)
• 153 Killed in Custody in Salvadorian Gang Crackdown (p 23)
• Former L.A. County Jail Detainees Denied Promised Sentence Credits (p 24)
• Washington Agencies Sanctioned for Discovery Violations Reach $3.1 Million Settlement with Disabled Woman Allegedly Abused at State Sanctioned Home (p 24)
• N.H.’s First Black Sheriff Charged With Embezzling $19,000 (p 26)
• Former Florida Guard Gets Five Years for Fatal Assault on Mentally Ill Prisoner (p 26)
• Hurdles to Voting for Ex-Felons Rise in Tennessee and Virginia, Fall in Mississippi (p 27)
• How “Big Capital” Learned to Love Mass Incarceration (p 28)
• “Brushed It Under the Rug”: Investigation Refutes Florida Sheriff’s Story About Jail Detainee’s Death (p 28)
• Corizon Health Bankruptcy Delayed by Revelation of Attorney’s Affair With Mediator (p 29)
• Virginia Leads the Nation in K-9 Attacks on Prisoners (p 31)
• Nearly $75 Million Class-Action Settlement Reached For Delayed Releases from N.Y.C. Jails (p 32)
• Officials of Pennsylvania Guards Union Charged with Theft (p 34)
• $10,000 Verdict for Fired Guard’s Failure to Protect Louisiana Prisoner From Stabbing by David Reutter (p 35)
• $9,000 Settlement for Florida Prisoner’s Retaliation and Excessive Force Claims Against Guards by David Reutter (p 36)
• Wisconsin Supreme Court: Jail Time Must Be Credited When Charge Causing Jailing Read in At Sentencing by Matthew Clarke (p 37)
• Oklahoma Prisoner Uses COVID-19 Stimulus Check to Overturn Conviction (p 38)
• The Good That Prisoner Rights Lawyers Do (p 38)
• New Head of “Constitutional Sheriffs” Calls MLK a “Thug” (p 39)
• Eleventh Circuit Addresses First Amendment, Due Process Interests in Georgia Prisoner Emails (p 40)
• Second Circuit Strips Qualified Immunity from Connecticut Officials Who Ignored Prisoner’s Scalp Lesions by David Reutter (p 42)
• Long Waits for Montana Jail Detainees Needing Competency Restoration Services (p 43)
• West Virginia Pretrial Detainee’s Lawsuit for Sexual Abuse Survives Dismissal Stage by David Reutter (p 44)
• Eighth Circuit Says Arkansas Prisoner’s Medical Incapacity May Excuse PLRA Exhaustion Failure (p 47)
• Deaths While Incarcerated Up 18% in Louisiana (p 48)
• Despite “Ban the Box” Laws, Most Prisoners Still Unemployed a Year After Release (p 48)
• Seventh Circuit Reinstates Illinois Prisoner’s Claim Against Kitchen Supervisor for Scalding From Spilled Hot Water (p 50)
• Former New Mexico Guard Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Prisoner, Suit Filed (p 51)
• George Floyd’s Killer Stabbed 22 Times in Federal Prison in Arizona (p 51)
• Ed Mead: Rest in Power by Paul Wright (p 52)
• Multiple Staffers Arrested at Georgia’s Clayton County Jail (p 54)
• The “Lunacy Zone:” How Mississippi Jails 700 Mentally Ill People a Year Without Charges (p 55)
• Second Circuit Revives N.Y. Prisoner’s Suit Over Sing Sing Fire, 11 Other Prisoners Split $220,000 Settlement (p 56)
• Maine Ends Prison Gerrymandering (p 57)
• Fifth Circuit Revives Suit Against Texas Jailers Who Tasered Detainee Suffering Epileptic Seizure by Douglas Ankney (p 58)
• West Virginia High Court Decides Medical Practice Liability Act Not Applicable to Prison System by David Reutter (p 59)
• Nevada Prisoner Wins Injunction Requiring DOC to Provide Exercise Despite Guard Shortage (p 60)
• Seventh Circuit Slams Illinois Civil Commitment Program but Reverses Injunction (p 61)
• Florida Prisoners Not Required to File Rulemaking Petition to Satisfy PLRA Exhaustion Requirement by David Reutter (p 62)
• News in Brief (p 63)