by Chuck Sharman
The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was ordered to halt a four-month-old policy that began to “taper” the hormone therapy treatments of trans prisoners and transfer them to housing aligning with their birth sex, in a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District …
by Chuck Sharman
In a massive legal victory for Colorado prisoners, a state court found that the Department of Corrections (DOC) violated a 2018 constitutional amendment when it issued its most severe punishment—solitary confinement— to prisoners who refused to work. But in the injunction that she issued from …
by Chuck Sharman
Arizona lawmakers left the state facing a constitutional crisis on June 13, 2026, when they adjourned for the year without fully funding an increase in healthcare staffing that the state prison system is under order to make from a federal court.
As PLN reported, …
by Chuck Sharman
After receiving approval from the City Council of Stillwater, Oklahoma, a massive $2,550,000 settlement was incorporated into the judgement issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma on April 6, 2026. The agreement resolved claims by a former detainee at the …
by Chuck Sharman
The Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) ruled against a former Louisiana prisoner on June 23, 2026, refusing to grant damages for his claim under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) against state prison officials who shaved his dreadlocks, which he had …
by Chuck Sharman
On February 20, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico issued a preliminary injunction (PI) preventing the state Corrections Department (NMCD) from enforcing a blanket ban on magazines, which it announced in a 2021 memorandum sent to families of prisoners. Though …
by Chuck Sharman
On May 22, 2026, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut returned a verdict against several former employees of the state Department of Corrections (DOC), awarding $130,000 in punitive damages against them in a civil rights suit filed by state …
by Chuck Sharman
In a document copied to PLN by California state prisoner Richard Carrasco, the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) agreed on February 18, 2026, to pay $15,000 to settle claims that he was targeted for violence by guards at California State Prison in Los …
by Chuck Sharman
In a Facebook post on May 21, 2026, Albert Pugh reported hearing news from both prisoners and guards at Alabama’s Bullock Correctional Facility that Facility Administrator Jermaris Porter was arrested and walked off the job the day before by Law Enforcement Services Division (LESD) agents …
by Chuck Sharman
Five former officials at Louisiana’s Catahoula Parish Correctional Center (CPCC)—including the former warden, assistant warden and chief of security—were indicted on May 7, 2026, by a federal grand jury that charged them with civil rights violations for using an electrified riot shield to brutalize 13 …
