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Articles by Kevin Bliss

Original “Constitutional Sheriff” Accused of Embezzling from Arizona Anti-Vax Group

by Kevin W. Bliss

In a black eye for right-wing anti-vaccine group America’s Frontline Doctors (AFLDS), Chairman Richard Mack – the former Sheriff of Arizona’s Graham County – is accused of taking an unauthorized $350,000 transfer from the organization’s bank account, preventing payroll from going out for the month of ...

“Come Hungry, Leave Handcuffed”: Virginia Detainees Who Tunneled Through Jail Wall Recaptured at IHOP

by Kevin W. Bliss

On March 20, 2023, two detainees escaped from the jail annex in Newport News, Virginia, after tunneling through their cell wall. But their freedom lasted less than a day before they were arrested the next morning at an IHOP in the neighboring city of Hampton.

Authorities ...

Former Federal Prisoner Markets Game App He Developed Behind Bars

by Kevin W. Bliss

Prison is often compared to as a pressure cooker, exerting powerful forces that can either make or break someone. With a stunning list of achievements, Eric Van Buren is not one of the latter. Arrested in 1999 for drugs and sentenced to life in the custody ...

‘Fake Barbie’ Fights for Conjugal Visits in U.K. Prisons

by Kevin W. Bliss

British prisoner Abigail White, a self-styled “Fake Barbie” popular on the adult website OnlyFans, is petitioning the country’s prison system to allow conjugal visits for its prisoners in order to care for their sexual needs while incarcerated.

White’s popularity skyrocketed prior to her incarceration, thanks ...

MTC Accused of Parole Programming Scam at Texas Prisons

by Kevin W. Bliss

Utah-based Management and Training Corporation (MTC) faces allegations of breach of contract in Texas, where the private prison firm allegedly forced prisoners to sign for parole-required treatment and program time they were not in fact provided. The scam allegedly began during the COVID-19 pandemic and continued ...

College Education Disrupted for Washington Prisoners

by Kevin W. Bliss

At the same time the federal government is once again opening Pell Grants to prisoners, some have been left scrambling in Washington by closure of the State Reformatory (WSR) – which hosted the state’s primary college program behind bars.

The Second Chance Pell grant program will ...

Iowa Teen Who Killed Her Alleged Rapist Recaptured After Halfway House Escape

by Kevin W. Bliss

On November 9, 2022, an Iowa teenager convicted of murdering a man she claimed repeatedly raped her was recaptured, five days after her escaped from the Fresh Start  Women’s Center (FSWC) in Polk County, Iowa. Peiper Lewis, 18, was recaptured after walking out and then cutting ...

Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Poised for Much-Needed Cleanup

by Kevin W. Bliss

California’s Monterey County Sheriff’s Department (MCSD) was under the spotlight in October 2022, when two “Jane Doe” lawsuits were filed accusing now-retired Undersheriff John Mineau of sexually harassing a pair of co-workers. But the agency has been embroiled in ethical issues at least since ex-Sheriff Steve ...

SCOTUS Ruling Forces Ninth Circuit U-Turn on Damages Suit by Federal Prisoner in California “Snitch Jacketed” by Guard

by Kevin W. Bliss

On October 11, 2022, the U.S.Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of California prisoner’s suit alleging he was assaulted because a guard labeled him a “snitch.” The ruling represents a reversal of the Court’s previous judgment in the case, which found that damages ...

BOP Revives Plans for Controversial Prison in Kentucky

by Kevin W. Bliss

On December 8, 2022, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) released a summary of the Public Scoping Meeting held in Whitesburg, Kentucky, regarding its proposed bid to build a $500 million federal prison on top of a former coal mining site in Letcher County.  

The meeting, ...