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Articles by Jacob Barrett

Federal Judge Calls Out BOP’s ‘Plinko’ Tactics, Orders Surgeon Found for Trans Prisoner’s Gender-Confirming Procedure

by Jacob Barrett

On April 18, 2022, after finding the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) “employed tactics similar to the game of Plinko on The Price is Right,” an exasperated federal judge demanded the agency produce a timeline for compliance with an earlier Preliminary Injunction (PI) ordering Gender Confirming ...

Washington DOC Fined $84,000 for Health Code Violations Found After TB Outbreak

by Jacob Barrett

On September 9, 2022, the Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) levied an $84,000 fine against the state Department of Corrections (DOC) for safety violations at a state prison that was the epicenter of the state’s largest tuberculosis outbreak in 20 years.

L&I issued the fine ...

Georgia Sheriff Agrees To Provide Muslim Prisoners With Halal Meals for Ramadan

by Jacob Barrett

On April 19, 2022, Georgia’s DeKalb County Jail (DCJ) and county Sheriff Melody M. Maddox filed a stipulation in a civil suit agreeing to provide religious meals for Muslim prisoners observing daylight fasts during Ramadan.

The suit was brought by Norman Simmonds, who was detained at DCJ ...

11th Circuit Tells Sexually Assaulted Transgender Georgia Prisoner: PREA Violations Aren’t Per Se Eighth Amendment Violations

by Jacob Barrett

On February 2, 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to issue a writ of certiorari to hear her appeal, a transgender Georgia prisoner was thwarted in her attempt to hold state prison officials liable for assaults she suffered at three state prisons for men. See: Cox ...

Wisconsin Supreme Court Guts State’s Fair Employment Act Protection for Returning Prisoners With Domestic Violence Convictions

by Jacob Barrett

In a 4-to-3 decision handed down on March 10, 2022, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin held an employer did not unlawfully discriminate against a former state prisoner by rescinding a job offer based on his domestic violence convictions.

In its ruling, the Court held that the state ...

Oregon DOC Auctions Land Possibly Containing Native American Burial Mounds

by Jacob Barrett

Second-round bidding closed on August 4, 2022, for the 390-acre site of the now-shuttered Mill Creek Correctional Institution (MCCI) owned by the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC). But a 98-year-old grandson of the land’s former owner claims it holds Native American grave sites, which would severely complicate ...

Oregon Appeals Court Okays Legal Change of Transgender Prisoner’s Name and Sex

by Jacob Barrett

On February 2, 2022, the Court of Appeals of the State of Oregon held that a lower court erred in denying a state prisoner’s petition for change of legal name or sex just because she was incarcerated.

The prisoner, Andrew “April” Jondle, is a transgender woman currently ...

Senators Spank BOP Director on Last Day Before Replacement by Former Oregon DOC Director

by Jacob Barrett

On August 2, 2022, the federal Department of Justice introduced its pick to helm the nation’s Bureau of Prison (BOP): Collette Peters, the director of Oregon’s Department of Corrections (DOC) since 2012. She fills a slot vacated by retiring BOP Director Michael Carvajal, a career agency employee—he ...

Two Top Oregon Prison Administrators Ousted

by Jacob Barrett

One official in the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) has been fired and another has resigned following separate investigations into allegations of misconduct.

On July 29, 2022, then-DOC Director Colette Peters fired Assistant Director Nathaline Frener, 52, in a termination letter that said she wished to take ...

California Court Tells State Prisoner His $12 Monthly Pay Is Enough to Pay Court-Ordered Fines and Fees

by Jacob Barrett

On January 11, 2022, the California Court of Appeals rejected the plea of a state prisoner who argued he was charged $3,210 in fines and fees without considering his ability to pay, saying his $12 monthly prison wage will be sufficient to eventually satisfy the debt.

In ...