by Chuck Sharman
On January 9, 2026, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma made a massive $9,544,375 award to the Estate of Jennifer Crowell, agreeing that her 2020 death was the result of federal civil rights violations and state-prohibited negligence inflicted …
by Chuck Sharman
On December 1, 2025, the Washington Court of Appeals found that conditions at the state’s toughest juvenile prison violated state law. The case was remarkable for using a habeas corpus action—known in Washington as a personal restraint petition (PRP)—to challenge a prisoner’s conditions of confinement. …
by Chuck Sharman
In a letter to PLN dated January 19, 2026, Alaska prisoner Donovan Taylor, 56, provided documentation of a disturbing incident in which he was disciplined for violating a state Department of Corrections (DOC) rule that had been judicially invalidated. Alhough he kept a copy of …
by Chuck Sharman
On February 10, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted approval to a settlement resolving claims against Alameda County for unconstitutional conditions of confinement imposed upon a Class of detainees at its Santa Rita Jail (SRJ). The agreement included a …
by Chuck Sharman
On January 7, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana refused to dismiss claims against a doctor with the Department of Public Safety & Corrections (DPSC), who allegedly ignored broken surgical screws in a prisoner’s ankle when approving a status change …
by Chuck Sharman
According to a report by the nonprofit Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) published on January 8, 2026, arrests on “failure to appear” warrants account for over 13.6% of some 7.6 million annual jail bookings in the U.S. About half of those people have no other charges, …
by Chuck Sharman
The death of a pair of parole reform bills in the New Jersey legislature highlights a persistent problem plaguing prisons across the country: 10% of new prison admissions are not for new crimes but for technical violations of parole that reincarcerate released prisoners. While addressing …
by Chuck Sharman
On February 4, 2026, a federal indictment was unsealed against California state prison guard Matthew L. Madsen, 39, alleging that he accepted over $100,000 in bribes to smuggle contraband cellphones and tobacco into the Salinas Valley State Prison. The guard had been relieved of duty …
by Chuck Sharman
In just over seven years, changes in prison mail policies proliferating across the country have severely restricted mail privileges at lockups holding the majority of America’s nearly 1.2 million prisoners. According to research conducted by PLN in January 2026, at least 78% of these prisoners …
by Chuck Sharman
Under a settlement with Washington’s Walla Walla County, a now-released state prisoner took a $300,000 payment to resolve claims that he was denied treatment for a kidney stone while in pretrial detention in the County jail. After he signed the agreement on January 28, 2025, …
