by Chuck Sharman
In an agreement signed on March 26, 2026, private prison and jail medical contractor NaphCare paid an $875,000 fine to the state of New York to settle charges that the company violated state licensing laws and was operating illegally. As part of the settlement, the …
by Chuck Sharman
During a trial in the federal court hearing a challenge to excessive heat in state prisons on March 31, 2026, new Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) Director Bobby Lumpkin testified that the cost to fully air condition every cell for all 132,250 state prisoners …
by Chuck Sharman
The South Carolina Court of Common Pleas for Charleston County approved a settlement on February 26, 2026, paying $2,135,000 to the Estate of D’Angelo Dontrel Brown, a schizophrenic detainee who died in December 2022 after being found unresponsive in his cell at the County’s Al …
by Chuck Sharman
Texas’ Harris County agreed to pay $1.25 million to the surviving mother of Fred Harris, a teen suffering from diminished mental capacity who was fatally beaten by a cellmate at the county lockup in Houston in 2022. The November 2025 agreement was approved by County …
by Chuck Sharman
On March 30, 2026, the Arkansas Board of Corrections (BOC), which manages and oversees the state’s Department of Corrections (DOC), gave up its fight against two new laws that severely limit its power and authority over state prisons.
In a vote conducted after seating …
by Chuck Sharman
Massachusetts prisons are not going to meet a December 2026 deadline to achieve substantial compliance with the terms of a 2022 settlement agreement covering the provision of mental healthcare to state prisoners. That was the key takeaway from the most recent progress report delivered on …
by Chuck Sharman
In its 41st semiannual report on staff investigations by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), the state Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that prison officials adequately handled complaints against prison staff in just 10 of 89 cases reviewed—a little over 11%. …
by Chuck Sharman
For bloodying a state prisoner and then deleting video of his teary account to cover up the assault, the last of six Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) guards involved was sentenced in federal court on April 21, 2026.
The assault …
by Chuck Sharman
After a spate of deaths at the Onondaga County Justice Center (OCJC), the New York Attorney General’s office found the jail’s private medical contractor, NaphCare, Inc., in violation of state medical licensing laws, leading to an $875,000 fine and a five-year ban on practicing in …
by Chuck Sharman
On January 20, 2026, the Connecticut Office of Correction Ombuds (OCO) released its first annual report on conditions in state prisons, finding them so deplorable that Ombuds DeVaughn L. Ward could only conclude the state Department of Corrections (DOC) “is operating in a state of …
