by Derek Gilna
Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), the parent company of Prison Legal News (PLN), entered into a stipulation and consent decree involving Napa County, California’s jail, on June 11, 2020, settling a federal civil action that ended what HRDC termed “a Defendants’ Mail Policy (that) is ...
by Derek Gilna
A report by the California State Auditor found that Los Angles, Alameda, and Fresno counties have failed to properly account for funds provided to them by the state of California to house prisoners transferred from state prisons to relieve overcrowding. The report is entitled, “Public Safety Realignment: ...
by Derek Gilna
The COVID-19 pandemic and resultant shut-downs have focused attention on the need for connection between all members of society, and for many prisoners, denied in-person visits, a contraband cellphone has helped them keep in touch with family. But that didn’t stop the Mississippi Supreme Court from affirming ...
Judge Orders Facilities Housing Disabled Prisoners
to Install Surveillance and Body Cameras
by Derek Gilna and Doug Ankney
On March 11, 2021, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in the Northern District of California ordered the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to require its guards to wear body cameras and install ...
by Derek Gilna
Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), the parent organization of Prison Legal News (PLN), on May 12, 2021, settled its civil lawsuit filed in September of 2020 in U.S. district court for the District of Kansas against the Board of Commissioners of Johnson County, Kansas, and county sheriff ...
by Derek Gilna
Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) officials announced on March 19, 2021, that they were beginning mass vaccination of the state’s roughly 17,000 prisoners with doses provided to all 3,017 inmates at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF) in Pearl.
“We talked to the guys and ladies upfront ...
by Derek Gilna
COVID-19’s impact on American society has been dramatic, but no more so than in prisons and jails. While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended maintaining “social distancing” and governmental officials closed or mandated drastically reduced capacity of public buildings to stop the spread of ...
by Derek Gilna
Pennsylvania state prisons continued to suffer through a spike in COVID-19 cases in March 2021, with Albion Correctional Institution in Erie County and the State Correctional Institution (SCI) in Huntington each reporting 100 new cases in the first full week of the month. With 235 active cases ...
by Derek Gilna
Despite the fact that prisoners and staff at Colorado’s state prisons have been ravaged by COVID-19 infections and death, Colorado Governor Jared Polis reversed course and decided not to prioritize vaccines for prisoners. However, prisoners who are considered high-risk by reason of pre-existing condition or age will ...
by Derek Gilna
Many troubling details surround the 13 executions carried out by the Department of Justice in the final months of the Trump administration, including allegations that the drug used, pentobarbital, caused intense pain and suffering before death are reportedly being suppressed by federal officials. If the federal justice ...
