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Articles by Kevin Bliss

Washington DC Jail’s Suicide Proof “Safe Cell” Use Not Safe for Prisoners

by Kevin Bliss

Washington, D.C.’s jail safe cell use has been under scrutiny since 2013 when a rash of suicides prompted the jail to hire Lindsay Hayes, a nationally renowned jail and prison suicide prevention expert, to evaluate the jail’s operations and offer recommendations to make it more effective with fewer deaths and more humane conditions. Prisoner rights activists are concerned that conditions have still not changed since then, even after a 2015 lawsuit ordered the county to make changes.

The use of isolation in confinement by jails and prisons has been a major focus in the nation recently. Yet, that has not included the use of “safe cells” for those under suicide prevention watch. These cells are similar to other solitary confinement cells in prison with a few additions. Overhead fluorescent lights are left on 24 hours a day. A hard, plastic box with no mattress serves as a bed. Access to water for drinking or flushing the toilet must be specifically requested each usage. And the only clothing issued is a type of smock made out of blankets and Velcro which hangs loosely on the body, not fully covering anything.

Hayes recommended avoiding the use of isolation as ...

New Clemency Rules Expected to Expedite Civil Rights Restoration in Florida

by Kevin Bliss

The Florida Cabinet and Governor Ron DeSantis collaborated to restructure the state’s clemency rules, streamlining the application process and automating certain aspects in an effort to expedite civil rights restoration for ex-offenders.

The Cabinet, comprised of Governor DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried, and ...

Criminal Justice System Encourages Racism According to MIT Study

by Kevin Bliss

Michigan Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Economics professor Peter Temin released a report last April titled “Mass Incarceration Retards Racial Integration.” He says that it was systemic racial prejudice which initiated the move toward mass incarceration and now it was that same intense level of incarceration ...

$30,001 Jury Verdict Over Discriminatory ICE Notification Policy By Minnesota Jail

by Kevin Bliss

Myriam Parada was awarded $30,001 from the Minnesota District Court January 28, 2021 for false imprisonment in the Anoka County Jail. The county’s unwritten policy was to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) whenever a foreign-born United States resident was booked into the jail. The American Civil ...

Smart Communications Contract Reveals Plans for Expanding Privatized Prison Mail

NYC Department of Corrections Continued Noncompliance to Consent Decree and Spending Nearly Half A Million Dollars Per Prisoner in 2020

Minnesota Mothers to Receive More Bonding Time with Their Newborn Children

Potential Radioactive Exposure to Manatee County Jail Prisoners in Florida

Debunking the ‘Superpredator’ Myth

Report Suggests Lock ‘Em Up Mentality Counterproductive to Public Safety

by Kevin Bliss

The Sentencing Project of Washington, D.C. issued a report in May of 2021 titled “A Second Look at Injustice.” This report stated that the justice system should have goals of rehabilitation and redemption as well as conviction ...

Guard “Justified” in Shooting Death of Elderly Woman in Spokane County Jail Lobby

Jack King, Nancy’s nephew, told the Spokane-Review that Nancy King suffered from alcoholism and ...