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Articles by Keith Sanders

Study Shows COVID-19 Drove Prison Death Rates 50% Higher

by Keith Sanders

The COVID-19 pandemic is over but not forgotten. Highlighting the virus’s deadly toll on American prisoners, an analysis published by the New York Times on February 19, 2023, tracked the impact of the disease during its first year. The data reveal significantly higher rates of infection and ...

Wellpath Subsidiary Out of Australian Women’s Prison After Indigenous Prisoner’s Death

by Keith Sanders

On January 19, 2023, Corrections Minister Enver Erdogan announced that the Australian state of Victoria is booting the private healthcare contractor from the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre (DPFC). Effective July 1, 2023, Wellpath subsidiary Correct Care Australasia (CCA) will be replaced by the state-owned Western Health to ...

Four Escape Troubled Mississippi Jail After Fifth Circuit Postpones Federal Receivership

by Keith Sanders

Two of four detainees have been recaptured after escaping from jail in Mississippi’s Hinds County on April 29, 2023. The other two are dead. Meanwhile control of the Raymond Detention Center (RDC) remains in limbo after the U.S. Court of Appeals to the Fifth Circuit granted a ...

No Charges for Georgia Guards Who Allegedly Abetted Attack That Left Prisoner Dead

by Keith Sanders

On September 30, 2022, nineteen-year-old Quafabian McBride was fatally stabbed in the heart during a fight between rival gangs at Georgia’s Phillips State Prison. McBride and fellow “Rolax Bloods” member Dejuan Cannon, 22, allegedly attempted to attack another prisoner, “Crips” member Antavious Simon, also 19. But Simon ...

Sing Sing Prisoners File Suit Against New York State Alleging Vicious Beating by Guards

by Keith Sanders

On January 31, 2023, a group of 26 prisoners housed in New York’s notorious Sing Sing maximum-security prison brought suit against the state for an assault on them by guards during a two-day prison-wide search in November 2022. The suit, filed for the prisoners in state Court ...

Second Circuit Restores Qualified Immunity for Parole Commissioners Imposing Onerous Conditions for Prisoner’s Release

by Keith Sanders

On March 20, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a lower court’s denial of summary judgment to members of the New York Board of Parole Commission and Offender Rehabilitation Coordinator’s claims of absolute and qualified immunity (QI), in a suit brought by ...

Top Official in Boston Mayor’s Office Charged With Money Laundering in Prison Drug Smuggling Scheme

by Keith Sanders

Smuggling contraband into prison – like the synthetic cannabinoid known as K2 or “spice” – is a ubiquitous problem. There is an opportunity to quickly make significant money when an 8 x 11 sheet of paper sprayed with liquid K2 can sell for up to $32,000. But ...

Hawaii Supreme Court Rules That Time Served for Concurrent Sentences Can Be Counted Only Once for Sentence Credit

by Keith Sanders

On March 15, 2023, the Supreme Court of Hawaii ruled that Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) §706-671 (2014) does not entitle a defendant to count time earned in detention or incarceration twice against consecutive sentences imposed later.

The Court’s ruling concerned Jonathan Vaden, who was charged with five ...

Sing Sing Prisoners Sue, Alleging Vicious Beatings During CERT Shakedown

by Keith Sanders

On January 31, 2023, a group of 26 prisoners at New York’s notorious maximum-security Sing Sing Correctional Facility sued the state for assaults allegedly carried out by guards during a two-day prison-wide shakedown in November 2022.

The suit, filed in State Court of Claims by attorney Alexander ...

Circuit Court Orders Hawaii to Release Names of Prisoners Who Die in State’s Jails and Prisons

by Keith Sanders

On November 14, 2022, a Hawaiian court ordered the state Department of Public Safety (DPS), the agency that runs state prisons and jails, to reveal the names of those who have died while incarcerated by the state.

The decision by Judge John M. Tonaki of the state’s ...