by David M. Reutter
As Virginia was poised to consider a bill to end private prisons, the GEO Group entered the fray with donations to legislators and lobbyists. The bill met a quick and sudden death in senate committee.
Virginia has one private prison, Lawrenceville Correctional Center (LCC). The GEO ...
by David M. Reutter
A December 2020 report by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) found that federal law enforcement and detention agencies documented an alarming number of fatalities, including 92 arrest-related deaths and 897 deaths in custody in fiscal years (FY) 2016 and 2017 combined.
The DOJ report was ...
by David M. Reutter
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held “that a facility caring for unaccompanied children fails to provide a constitutionally adequate level of mental health care if it departs from accepted professional standards.”
The court’s January 12, 2021 decision was issued in an appeal brought by a ...
by David M. Reutter
"Nationwide, crime and jail admissions decreased between 2007 and 2017, yet spending on jails increased 13%, to $25 billion, over that span,” concludes a study issued by the Pew Charitable Trusts on February 1, 2021. That spending could decrease if localities continued practices that lowered population ...
by David M. Reutter
The Mississippi State Auditor on December 16, 2020, issued a report that made 18 findings of deficiencies within the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC).
MDOC has been plagued with violence, staff shortages, and deplorable conditions. MDOC sought an additional $78 million from legislators for 2021 to ...
by David M. Reutter
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals found a prisoner’s material facts in an excessive use of force claim were sufficient to overcome the defendants’ motion for summary judgment.
The court’s January 4, 2021, opinion was issued in an appeal brought by North Carolina prisoner Willie James ...
by David M. Reutter
Tennessee executed Sedley Alley by lethal injection on June 28, 2006, for the 1985 rape and murder of Marine Lance Corporal Suzanne Collins. Seeley was denied DNA testing of evidence. His daughter, April Alley, believes Sedly is innocent and is pushing a court to order the ...
by David M. Reutter
An Oregon federal district court issued a preliminary injunction that requires the COVID-19 vaccine to be offered to all adult prisoners in the custody of the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC).
The court’s February 2, 2021 order also granted provisional class certification to all adults in ...
by David M. Reutter
The Idaho Supreme Court held that Board of Correction Rule 135.06 did not create an exemption under the Public Records Act. The court, therefore, ordered the release of documents about the death penalty that did not identify individuals.
The court’s November 20, 2020, order was issued ...
by David M. Reutter
On November 17, 2020, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the grant of summary judgment in a lawsuit alleging a guard at New York’s Suffolk County Correctional Facility (SCCF) sexually harassed and sexually assaulted female prisoners.
The lawsuit was filed by prisoners Tara Lucente, Jaimie ...
