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Articles by Boris Bastidas

Fifth Circuit Refuses to Stop Court-Ordered Construction 
of Mental Health Facility at New Orleans Jail

In an opinion filed on August 26, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dismissed an appeal by the Sheriff of Louisiana’s Orleans Parish, who sought to halt construction of a mental health annex for detainees at the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) that was ordered under a ...

$100,000 Settlement Reached For Tennessee Detainee 
Baptized to Get Out of Traffic Ticket

On August 16, 2024, the federal court for the Eastern District of Tennessee approved a settlement agreement that left Hamilton County on the hook for $100,000 to the estate of Shandie M. Riley, whose civil rights suit alleged that her First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated when a County ...

Watchdogs Fault Nebraska Prisons 
for Suicide Response, Overpaid Staff

On August 20, 2024, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (DCS) released a report detailing its investigation into three prisoner suicides, finding that DCS did not provide psychological autopsies after two, that one took place weeks after a previous attempt by the ...