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Articles by J.D. Schmidt

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Treat No Evil: Centurion and the Curse of For-Profit Prison Healthcare

by J.D. Schmidt

On November 14, 2022, the Florida arm of Centurion Health, one of the nation’s largest private prison and jail healthcare companies, filed a lawsuit in Putnam County against the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), the nonprofit publisher of PLN and its sister publication, Criminal Legal News.

Centurion ...

The Filth & the Fury: Philly Jails Descend into Murderous Chaos

by J.D. Schmidt
OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST TWO and a half years, Philadelphia’s jails appear to be failing on nearly every level, from staffing and security to medical and mental health care, occupational opportunities, library and recreation time, and even the provision of the most basic human needs ...

Corrections Special Applications Unit Builds a Lucrative National Track Record of Abuse and Torture

by J.D. Schmidt

On December 13, 2021, a group of 49 current and former prisoners sued the York County Prison (YCP) in Pennsylvania, along with a contractor hired to train its guards, Corrections Special Applications Unit (C-SAU), as well as the firm’s founder and “Senior Team Leader,” Joseph Garcia, alleging ...