by David M. Reutter
Increases in use-of-force incidents, violence and disturbances in Florida prisons have been blamed on understaffing, a problem ticking like a time bomb in the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC).
Guards employed by the FDOC, which is the third-largest prison system in the U.S., are among the ...
by David M. Reutter
As its lethal injection drug supply neared expiration last year, Arkansas embarked upon the most ambitious death penalty plan since capital punishment was revived by the Supreme Court in 1976: The state scheduled eight executions over an 11-day period in April 2017. Protests and court challenges ...
by David M. Reutter
An audit personally overseen by Florida state Rep. David Richardson concluded the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) had approved a pricing scheme that allowed Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), now known as CoreCivic, to operate the Lake City Correctional Facility (LCCF) at a significantly higher cost ...
by David M. Reutter
Since 2012, at least eighteen prisoners have died at the Macomb County Jail (MCJ) in Michigan, a rate twice the national average. As a result, seven lawsuits have been filed against the jail and its private medical contractor, Correct Care Solutions. Nevertheless, Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said ...
by David M. Reutter
After privatizing its prison food services in 2013, the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) has continued to report problems with its current vendor, Florida-based Trinity Services Group – largely the same problems it experienced with its previous contractor, Pennsylvania-based Aramark Correctional Services. [See: PLN, Dec. ...
by David M. Reutter
One month after a November 2015 investigative report by the New Orleans Advocate, Louisiana State Penitentiary warden Burl Cain, 73, announced his retirement. He stepped down from his longtime position at the Angola prison effective January 1, 2016.
The report outlined a series of private ...
by David M. Reutter
Florida is moving to privatize all of its state-run juvenile detention centers. The move comes despite allegations of abuse at two of the state’s private juvenile detention centers.
“These programs offer unique services and facilities that should be maintained. We are therefore committed to an orderly ...
by David M. Reutter
A Florida legislator who was disturbed by publicized accounts of violence being inflicted on the state’s juvenile prison is using his experience as an auditor to get to the bottom of the problem and recommend change. To his surprise, The Secretary of Florida’s Department of Corrections ...
by David Reutter
The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) agreed to an interim settlement in a class action lawsuit that requires it to implement suicide prevention measures. The agreement was approved on January 12, 2017, by the federal district court overseeing the action.
The prisoners, who were represented by the ...
by David M. Reutter
Capital punishment is on hold in Tennessee. The Tennessee Supreme Court halted execution to allow lower courts to hold hearings on the new lethal injection protocol. Meanwhile, attorneys for death row prisoners are arguing the death penalty is arbitrarily imposed, and a new U.S. Supreme Court ...
