by David M. Reutter
A Colorado federal district court has held the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) regulation that provides a prisoner may not "publish under a byline" violates the First Amendment. The Court's order prohibits the BOP from punishing any prisoner for violating that regulation.
The Court's order comes …
by David M. Reutter
Almost everyone with experience on the incarceration side of America's criminal justice system will tell you they would rather do time in prison than in a jail. The primary reason is that the overall conditions of confinement are better and less restrictive in prisons. The transient …
Michigan's Solution to Prisoner Healthcare: Close the Prison
by David M. Reutter
In December 2006, a federal district court found the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) in contempt in the long-running Hadix case, and ordered prison officials to submit a plan to ensure that prisoners receive adequate medical care …
by David M. Reutter
Sexual relationships involving guards and prisoners in Arizona jails have resulted in criminal charges on both sides of the bars.
An investigation at the Yuma County Jail snared three guards and four female prisoners. The guards, Justin Herrera, 26, Kenneth Smith, 34, and Jose Espinoza, …
by David M. Reutter
Former Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) Secretary James Crosby and his protégé, Allen Clark, have been sentenced to federal prison terms for accepting kickbacks from profits generated from prison visiting park canteens.
PLN has previously reported on how prison officials' greed, corruption and brutality ran …
Overcrowded Washington DOC's Solution: Ship ?Em Out of State
by David M. Reutter
Overcrowding is pinching the Washington Department of Corrections (WDOC). To alleviate that problem, the department ordered less than 100 community supervision violators released without a hearing -- but the resulting public outcry has the WDOC looking for …
"Please Rip Us Off" Florida Officials Tell Private Prison Companies
by David M. Reutter
Despite having ordered a criminal investigation into its private prison contractors, the Florida Legislature and Governor Charlie Crist have enacted legislation that specifies those same companies are the only ones that can bid on expanding current …
Florida Supreme Court Enacts Rules Regulating "Super Sealing" of Court Records
by David M. Reutter
On April 5, 2007, the Florida Supreme Court implemented new rules that "provide a procedural vehicle for making circuit and county court records in non-criminal cases confidential." The rules were made to address "highly serious …
by David M. Reutter
Inadequate medical care by Prison Health Services (PHS) has resulted in yet another death and $1.6 million in settlements for the mother of a baby boy who was born over a cell toilet at Florida's Hillsborough County Jail (HCJ).
Incarcerated for prostitution, Kimberly Grey was also …
Florida Jails: State's Largest Mental Health Providers
by David M. Reutter
Florida's policy of allowing mentally ill citizens to languish without treatment until they have encounters with law enforcement has turned the state's county jails into the primary provider of mental health services. This has created fiscal and overcrowding problems, …
