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Prison Legal News: March, 2023

Issue PDF
Volume 34, Number 3

In this issue:

  1. With “Fox in Charge of the Henhouse,” Almost All Misconduct Accusations Against BOP Staff Result in No Discipline (p 1)
  2. Tenth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Utah Jailers After Detainee’s Withdrawal Death (p 10)
  3. From the Editor (p 12)
  4. Riot and Escape at Nevada Prison Lead to Charges Against Four Guards, Firings or Resignations of Top Officials (p 12)
  5. In an Ominous Pattern, People Are Dying Once Transferred to Louisiana Prison (p 14)
  6. Alabama County Ends Controversial Policy Using Women’s Pregnancies to Jail Them (p 17)
  7. California Governor Vetoes State’s Humane Solitary Confinement Bill (p 18)
  8. Former California Prison Warden and Guard Accused of Sexual Misconduct with Two Dozen Prisoners and Coworkers (p 18)
  9. Fifth Circuit: Texas Prison Property Rules Withstand Scrutiny Under Religious Free-Exercise Clause (p 20)
  10. Seventh Circuit Revives Indiana Prisoner’s Claim He Was Wrongfully Fired From Prison Commissary for Attending Religious Service (p 21)
  11. “Acres of Skin” – Redux (p 22)
  12. Illinois Supreme Court Orders State DOC to Fund Required Treatment and Housing for Sex Offender’s Conditional Release (p 22)
  13. Fourth Circuit Reinstates North Carolina Prisoner’s Suit Over Flesh-Eating Infection (p 24)
  14. SCOTUS Helps Revive Malicious Prosecution Claim Against Chicago Police Officers (p 24)
  15. $1.455 Million Settlement for Discrimination Against Black Minnesota Jail Guards Barred from Watching Floyd Killer (p 26)
  16. Eighth Circuit Affirms Conviction and Sentencing of Former Arkansas Sheriff for Assaulting Detainees (p 26)
  17. Pennsylvania County Commissioner Barred from DA’s Email After Own Prison Record Is Purged and Jail Key Copied (p 28)
  18. Pennsylvania Guards and Their Attorneys Spanked for Discovery Abuse in Prisoner’s Excessive-Force Suit (p 28)
  19. Fifth Circuit Greenlights Suit by Louisiana Prisoners Held in Local Jails Beyond Release Date (p 30)
  20. Seventh Circuit Says Fourth Amendment Does Not Require Bail Hearing Within 48 Hours of Arrest (p 30)
  21. Fifth Circuit: No Liability for Texas County that Improperly Relied on Polygraph to Imprison Released Sex Offender Additional 13 Years (p 32)
  22. More Drugs Seized by Florida DOC During COVID-19 Lockdowns Than Before (p 32)
  23. Federal Court Holds Illinois DOC in Contempt for Failing to Remediate Substandard Healthcare (p 34)
  24. Second Circuit Reinstates N.Y. Prisoner’s Excessive Force Claim, Finding Grievance Procedure ‘Unavailable’ in Mental Health Unit (p 34)
  25. $175,000 Paid by California County to Escaped Prisoner Mauled By K-9 During Recapture (p 36)
  26. After 13 Jail Deaths in Eight Months of 2022, California Sheriff Finally Reveals How They Happened (p 36)
  27. $87,000 Paid to Virginia Prisoner Kicked in Testicles by Guard (p 38)
  28. Tenth Circuit Revives Kansas Prisoner’s Claim That He Was Denied Access to Court (p 38)
  29. Alabama Supreme Court Says Prisoner Who Didn’t Return From Work Release Punishable Under Felony Escape Statute (p 39)
  30. Third Former Guard at Troubled Federal Prison in Brooklyn Sentenced After Retrial and Conviction for Raping Prisoner (p 40)
  31. Ex-Felon “Dirtbags” Accused of Ordering Hit on Detainee at Florida Jail, But Questions Linger (p 40)
  32. Hospitalized California IST Defendants Entitled to Jail Conduct Credits (p 42)
  33. Seventh Circuit Sides With Muslim Prisoner, Bars Strip Search by Transgender Wisconsin Guard (p 42)
  34. Florida DA Reopens Cold Murder Case, Exonerates Wrongly Imprisoned Man, Finds Real Killers – and Gets Axed by Governor (p 44)
  35. Judge Dismisses Suit Filed by California Town to Keep State Prison Open (p 44)
  36. 18 Stabbings in Less Than Nine Months at Oklahoma CoreCivic Prison (p 45)
  37. $14,000 Paid by California to Mentally Ill Prisoner Who Alleged Repeated Maulings by Guards (p 46)
  38. Hypothermia Kills Prisoner in Cold Pennsylvania Jail Cell, One of 17 Deaths Since 2019 (p 46)
  39. North Dakota Guard Fired After Suicide of Convicted Quadruple Murderer (p 48)
  40. Smuggling Ring Busted in Georgia Jail, 11 Arrested Including Four Guards and Former Nurse (p 48)
  41. After Botched Lethal Injection, Alabama Will Execute Prisoner by Nitrogen Hypoxia (p 50)
  42. Massachusetts High Court: Lawmakers Haven’t Stopped Sheriffs From Taking Kickbacks from Jail Phone Calls, and Neither Will We (p 50)
  43. Elderly Prisoners Catch a Break on Medicare Part B (p 51)
  44. Another Prisoner Dies in Another Fire at Indiana Prison (p 52)
  45. Second Hunger Strike Met With Pepper Spray at Washington GEO Group Lockup Where ICE Detainees Allege Widespread Sexual Abuse (p 52)
  46. $350,000 Settlement Reached in Florida Prisoner’s Murder (p 54)
  47. Alabama Prisoner’s Deliberate Indifference Claim Dies for Lack of Proper Affidavits (p 54)
  48. Colorado’s Halfway Houses Returning Half of Residents to Prison (p 56)
  49. Transgender Idaho Prisoner Who Won Gender Conforming Surgery Awarded Over $2.6 Million in Legal Fees (p 56)
  50. Parents Losing Children Because They Can’t Repay Foster Care Costs Incurred During Incarceration (p 57)
  51. CoreCivic Still Accruing Fines for Short-Staffing Florida Jail Where Developmentally Disabled Teen Was Raped (p 58)
  52. Second Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity for Connecticut Cops who Sicced K-9 on Suspect in His Holding Cell (p 58)
  53. $857,500 Paid by California County for Jail Detainee’s Death, While Cellmate Who Beat Him Is Now in State Prison (p 60)
  54. Over $298,000 Awarded to Alabama Jail Detainee with Heart Disease After Guards, Nurses Ignored Firing Defibrillator (p 60)
  55. Nebraska Assistant Warden Avoids Prosecution for Sexually Abusing Prisoner, Pleads Guilty to Lesser Charge and Gets a Year in Jail (p 61)
  56. After Eleventh Circuit Says ICE Detainee Is Not “Prisoner” Subject to PLRA, He Goes Missing from Georgia (p 62)
  57. Former PLN Editor Settles Suit Over Detention in Tennessee ‘Iron Man’ Cell, Gets 40-Year Prison Term for Vandalizing Nashville Jail (p 62)
  58. GTL Ordered to Pay $18.675 Million in Attorney Fees and Costs in Prison Phone Class Action (p 63)
  59. News in Brief (p 63)

With “Fox in Charge of the Henhouse,” Almost All Misconduct Accusations Against BOP Staff Result in No Discipline

by Benjamin Tschirhart

In just over three years ending August 2022, at least 49 employees of the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) were convicted of crimes, ranging from pilfering government property to sexually abusing prisoners. That total – an average of 16 guilty verdicts every year – represents an admittedly ...

Tenth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Utah Jailers After Detainee’s Withdrawal Death

by David M. Reutter

On September 7, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed denial of qualified immunity (QI) to officials at Utah’s Unitah County Jail in a lawsuit accusing them of deliberate indifference in a detainee’s death from complications related to alcohol withdrawal.

Coby Lee ...

From the Editor

by Paul Wright

In this month’s cover story, we report on misconduct and abuse in the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Despite being the largest prison system in the United States, and one of the largest in the world, the BOP does not receive much in the way of scrutiny ...

Riot and Escape at Nevada Prison Lead to Charges Against Four Guards, Firings or Resignations of Top Officials

by David M. Reutter

Some recreation was suspended at Nevada’s Southern Desert Correctional Center [SDCC] after 20 prisoners got into a brawl on October 10, 2022. The violence carried echoes of a riot involving at least 40 prisoners on December 8, 2021.

Eight of those 40 were indicted on a ...

In an Ominous Pattern, People Are Dying Once Transferred to Louisiana Prison

by Victoria Law, Truthout

On November 18, 2020, 37-year-old Javon Kennerson was transferred to Louisiana’s Catahoula Correctional Center, a prison that until recently was run by LaSalle Corrections, a private prison corporation. Less than one month later, after a series of mental health crises, hospitalizations and prison officials’ apparent failure ...

Alabama County Ends Controversial Policy Using Women’s Pregnancies to Jail Them

by Ashleigh N. Dye

In the state of Alabama, it is a felony to expose a child to an environment in which controlled substances are manufactured, ingested, or distributed. Called Chemical Endangerment, the crime can land a pregnant woman in jail after using drugs.

Ashley Banks, 23, was arrested on ...

California Governor Vetoes State’s Humane Solitary Confinement Bill

by Kevin W. Bliss

The California Mandela Act –
Assembly Bill (A.B.) 2632 – passed with an overwhelming majority of votes from state legislators in August 2022, limiting the use of solitary confinement in prisons, jails and immigration detention centers in the state. But it was vetoed by Gov. Gavin ...

Former California Prison Warden and Guard Accused of Sexual Misconduct with Two Dozen Prisoners and Coworkers

by Jo Ellen Nott

On December 28, 2022, Acting Warden Mike Pallares referred a former Central California Women’s Facility guard to the Madera County District Attorney’s (DA’s) Office. A six-month investigation had uncovered accusations that Gregory Rodriguez sexually assaulted 22 prisoners at the state’s biggest lockup for women.

Just over ...

Fifth Circuit: Texas Prison Property Rules Withstand Scrutiny Under Religious Free-Exercise Clause

by David Reutter

On October 4, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit considered the question: When is cleanliness not next to godliness? In answer, the Court said that the Texas prison system’s rules for storage of a prisoner’s personal property may not be broken, even if ...

Seventh Circuit Revives Indiana Prisoner’s Claim He Was Wrongfully Fired From Prison Commissary for Attending Religious Service

by David M. Reutter

On August 2, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed dismissal of an Indiana prisoner’s claim that he was wrongfully terminated from his job in the prison commissary when he missed work for a religious service he thought he had permission to ...

“Acres of Skin” – Redux

by Gregory J. Dober

In December 2022, the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) offered an apology for unethical research conducted on prisoners during the 1960s and 70s led by two of their researchers: Howard Maibach, MD, and William Epstein, MD. Both doctors were on the faculty of UCSF’s ...

Illinois Supreme Court Orders State DOC to Fund Required Treatment and Housing for Sex Offender’s Conditional Release

by David M. Reutter

On September 22, 2022, the Supreme Court of Illinois agreed with a former state prisoner that when the state sets conditions for release that he can’t afford, it is obliged to help him meet them as long as it retains him under its custody. In the ...

Fourth Circuit Reinstates North Carolina Prisoner’s Suit Over Flesh-Eating Infection

by David M. Reutter

On April 19, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed the dismissal of a prisoner’s civil rights complaint, reviving his claims that North Carolina prison officials ignored a flesh-eating infection that left him seriously injured. In the process, the Court also laid ...

SCOTUS Helps Revive Malicious Prosecution Claim Against Chicago Police Officers

by Kevin Bliss and David M. Reutter

On July 14, 2022, in a case on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit agreed that a “result opposite” was dictated to the opinion it had issued in a malicious prosecution case the year ...

$1.455 Million Settlement for Discrimination Against Black Minnesota Jail Guards Barred from Watching Floyd Killer

by David M. Reutter

On August 9, 2022, the Board of Commissioners (BOC) of Minnesota’s Ramsey County approved a payment of $1.445 million to settle a lawsuit alleging Black guards at the county lockup were segregated from the area where Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was being held after his ...

Eighth Circuit Affirms Conviction and Sentencing of Former Arkansas Sheriff for Assaulting Detainees

by Harold Hempstead

On February 10, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld the judgment of a district court that convicted the former Sheriff of Arkansas’ Franklin County and sentenced him to four years in federal prison for abusing jail detainees. That leaves Anthony “Tony” Boen, ...

Pennsylvania County Commissioner Barred from DA’s Email After Own Prison Record Is Purged and Jail Key Copied

by Kevin W. Bliss

On January 3, 2023, when Debi Domenick was re-appointed to serve as Vice-Chairwoman for the Board of Commissioners of Pennsylvania’s Lackawanna County, she chided her colleagues to face their duties and not “worry about how it’s going to affect them politically.”

Which is ironic, since Domenick’s ...

Pennsylvania Guards and Their Attorneys Spanked for Discovery Abuse in Prisoner’s Excessive-Force Suit

by David M. Reutter

On May 18, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania imposed sanctions for discovery abuse upon defendant state prison guards and their counsel, in a lawsuit alleging the guards employed unwarranted and excessive force upon prisoner Corey Bracey.

Bracey’s suit claimed that ...

Fifth Circuit Greenlights Suit by Louisiana Prisoners Held in Local Jails Beyond Release Date

by Matt Clarke

On June 10, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that Louisiana prison officials were not entitled to qualified immunity (QI) for delays in calculating release dates that left some state prisoners incarcerated for months beyond their sentences.

After Jessie Crittindon, Leon Burse, ...

Seventh Circuit Says Fourth Amendment Does Not Require Bail Hearing Within 48 Hours of Arrest

by Benjamin Tschirhart

In a decision handed down on June 22, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit found no Fourth Amendment violation for a group of protestors arrested and held nearly three days without a bail hearing. The decision affirmed a lower court ruling that found ...

Fifth Circuit: No Liability for Texas County that Improperly Relied on Polygraph to Imprison Released Sex Offender Additional 13 Years

by Benjamin Tschirhart

In a maddening decision issued on March 23, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit performed legal gymnastics to deny a former Texas prisoner’s damages claim for unlawful imprisonment after Dallas County improperly relied on polygraph tests to keep him locked up 13 years ...

More Drugs Seized by Florida DOC During COVID-19 Lockdowns Than Before

by David M. Reutter

Contraband statistics obtained from the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) during pandemic lockdowns debunk officials’ theory that visitors and mail are the main source of smuggling into state prisons. Instead the August 2022 report says the numbers point to one source: staff members and guards.

From ...

Federal Court Holds Illinois DOC in Contempt for Failing to Remediate Substandard Healthcare

by Douglas Ankney

On August 5, 2022, Judge Jorge L. Alonso of the U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois held the state Department of Corrections (DOC) in contempt, after repeated failures to draft a plan to complete agreed-upon remediation of a prison healthcare system that an appointed monitor told the ...

Second Circuit Reinstates N.Y. Prisoner’s Excessive Force Claim, Finding Grievance Procedure ‘Unavailable’ in Mental Health Unit

by David M. Reutter

On September 15, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a New York prisoner was excused from exhausting administrative remedies as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e. Why? Because his transfer to mental health confinement ...

$175,000 Paid by California County to Escaped Prisoner Mauled By K-9 During Recapture

by Keith Sanders

On September 21, 2021, an agreement was fully executed by California’s Merced County agreeing to pay $175,000 to a state prisoner who was mauled by a county K-9 when recaptured after an escape.

While held at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, minimum-security prisoner Zechariah Lee walked ...

After 13 Jail Deaths in Eight Months of 2022, California Sheriff Finally Reveals How They Happened

by Benjamin Tschirhart

It took a civil complaint to make Sheriff Chad Bianco talk. The five jails he runs for California’s Riverside County had seen 13 deaths in the first eight months of 2022 — the highest number for any year on record. And until the press conference on September ...

$87,000 Paid to Virginia Prisoner Kicked in Testicles by Guard

by Benjamin Tschirhart

On June 22, 2022, an attorney for theVirginia Department of Corrections signed off on an agreement to pay $87,000 to settle a state prisoner’s claims that he was kicked in the testicles by a guard.

The incident occurred on July 15, 2016, when a guard identified as ...

Tenth Circuit Revives Kansas Prisoner’s Claim That He Was Denied Access to Court

by Anthony W. Accurso

On April 18, 2022, the U.S Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reversed dismissal of a suit filed by Kansas prisoner Kenneth D. Leek, holding that he met the standard for alleging an access-to-the-court claim in his complaint.

Leek, a prisoner in the state Department ...

Alabama Supreme Court Says Prisoner Who Didn’t Return From Work Release Punishable Under Felony Escape Statute

by David M. Reutter

On September 16, 2022, in an important decision for Alabama prisoners on work-release programs, the state Supreme Court held that “willful escape” from such a program “is punishable under the escape statutes in the Alabama Criminal Code.” And it found that the Code implicitly repealed provisions ...

Third Former Guard at Troubled Federal Prison in Brooklyn Sentenced After Retrial and Conviction for Raping Prisoner

by Chuck Sharman

On April 25, 2022, a former guard employed by the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) at Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn was sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping a prisoner. After completing his prison term, Carlos Richard Martinez, 52, must also remain on supervised ...

Ex-Felon “Dirtbags” Accused of Ordering Hit on Detainee at Florida Jail, But Questions Linger

by Jo Ellen Nott

On December 1, 2022, Florida’s Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) arrested two ex-felons for orchestrating a beat-down in the county lockup. Sheriff Rick Staly called Margaret Watkins, 37, and her boyfriend, Raymond Dukes, 52, a pair of “dirtbags,” vowing he “won’t allow this kind of behavior ...

Hospitalized California IST Defendants Entitled to Jail Conduct Credits

by Mark Wilson

On April 29, 2022, the California Court of Appeals held that incompetent to stand trial (IST) defendants who are confined in a state hospital receiving treatment to restore competency must be granted the same opportunity for presentence conduct credit as defendants who remain in the jail receiving ...

Seventh Circuit Sides With Muslim Prisoner, Bars Strip Search by Transgender Wisconsin Guard

by David M. Reutter

On September 16, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that forcing a Muslim prisoner “to submit to cross-sex strip searches” by a transgender Wisconsin guard “substantially burdens his religious exercise.” The case was then remanded to the district court with instructions ...

Florida DA Reopens Cold Murder Case, Exonerates Wrongly Imprisoned Man, Finds Real Killers – and Gets Axed by Governor

by David M. Reutter

On August 4, 2022, nearly 40 years after the brutal 1983 murder of 19-year-old Barbara Grams in Tampa, the indictments of two men for the crime were announced by Hillsborough County District Attorney (DA) Andrew Warren. The news highlighted the grave injustice done to 56-year-old Robert ...

Judge Dismisses Suit Filed by California Town to Keep State Prison Open

by Keith Sanders

Prison is big business in America. Not only do billion-dollar corporations compete to warehouse individuals, so do American cities. That’s why in 2021, the California city of Susanville sued the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to keep it from going through with plans to close ...

18 Stabbings in Less Than Nine Months at Oklahoma CoreCivic Prison

by Keith Sanders

Violence occurs inside America’s prisons every day. But those held or working inside Oklahoma’s Davis Correctional Facility (DCF) have endured an unprecedented amount of bloodletting at the lockup, which is operated by Tennessee-based private prison giant CoreCivic: Between New Years and mid-September 2022, at least 18 people ...

$14,000 Paid by California to Mentally Ill Prisoner Who Alleged Repeated Maulings by Guards

by Douglas Ankney

How blatant is a violation of rights when a prisoner who is both mentally ill and proceeding pro se wins his case? The answer for California prisoner Benjamin Justin Brownlee arrived in the form of two settlement checks from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), ...

Hypothermia Kills Prisoner in Cold Pennsylvania Jail Cell, One of 17 Deaths Since 2019

by Jo Ellen Nott

When Richard A. Carter, died in Pennsylvania’s Dauphin County Prison (DCP) on Christmas Eve 2022, officials released key details that showed they had not neglected him. A nurse visited the 63-year-old at 9:31 p.m. the night before he died, making sure he took his medication for ...

North Dakota Guard Fired After Suicide of Convicted Quadruple Murderer

by Justin McFatridge

On September 22, 2022, a guard was fired by the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) after he twice failed to check on a state prisoner who then committed suicide. The firing came less than two months after the prisoner, Chad Isaak, 48, fatally hanged ...

Smuggling Ring Busted in Georgia Jail, 11 Arrested Including Four Guards and Former Nurse

by Jo Ellen Nott

On December 19, 2022, a six-month investigation into contraband smuggling at the Dougherty County Jail (DCJ) in southwest Georgia resulted in charges against 11 suspects. In a stunning display of rampant corruption, the group included four DCJ guards, a former nurse at the lockup and a ...

After Botched Lethal Injection, Alabama Will Execute Prisoner by Nitrogen Hypoxia

by David M. Reutter

On November 28, 2022, the State of Alabama entered a settlement with condemned prisoner Alan Eugene Miller, agreeing to refrain from further attempts to execute him by means of lethal injection. It further agreed that any future effort to execute Miller will employ his chosen method: ...

Massachusetts High Court: Lawmakers Haven’t Stopped Sheriffs From Taking Kickbacks from Jail Phone Calls, and Neither Will We

by Benjamin Tschirhart

On May 17, 2022, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that sheriffs may continue the decades-old practice of collecting commissions from charges for phone calls made by those incarcerated in the state’s jails.     

At issue is the cost of communication for an extremely vulnerable population, which ...

Elderly Prisoners Catch a Break on Medicare Part B

by Eike Blohm, MD

A change in Medicare rules ends a years-long policy of forcing elderly prisoners to pay for benefits they are literally not free to use or else face life-long penalties.

Americans 65 years and older are covered by Medicare, the government-run health insurance. Medicare consists of several ...

Another Prisoner Dies in Another Fire at Indiana Prison

by Jo Ellen Nott 

On January 14, 2023, a fire broke out just before 11:00 a.m. in a cell block at Indiana State Prison (ISP), killing prisoner Michael W. Smith, 48. He was the second prisoner to burn to death at the lockup in five years; Joshua Devine, 30, also ...

Second Hunger Strike Met With Pepper Spray at Washington GEO Group Lockup Where ICE Detainees Allege Widespread Sexual Abuse

by Keith Sanders

On February 4, 2023, a crowd of 50 people gathered outside the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma, Washington. They were there to support a hunger strike staged by some 100 detainees held inside by private prison giant GEO Group under contract for federal Immigration and Customs ...

$350,000 Settlement Reached in Florida Prisoner’s Murder

by David M. Reutter

The Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) agreed on March 25, 2022, to pay $350,000 to resolve a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the estate of murdered prisoner Anthony Vidal.

The lawsuit was filed after Vidal was killed by his cellmate, Torrin Blue, on March 11, 2016, ...

Alabama Prisoner’s Deliberate Indifference Claim Dies for Lack of Proper Affidavits

by David M. Reutter

On November 11, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed dismissal of an Alabama prisoner’s civil rights action that alleged overlong delays in treatment for hernias and post-surgery complications. The case provides a lesson in the proper preparation of affidavits to support ...

Colorado’s Halfway Houses Returning Half of Residents to Prison

by Keith Sanders

On July 9, 2022, the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) rescinded a new policy that barred parole officers from getting arrest warrants for people who walk away from one of the state’s halfway houses. The move was a bow to law enforcement officials like Jefferson County Sheriff ...

Transgender Idaho Prisoner Who Won Gender Conforming Surgery Awarded Over $2.6 Million in Legal Fees

by Eike Blohm, MD

On September 30, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho awarded $2,631,593 in attorneys fees and expenses to a former state prisoner, who successfully sued for gender confirming surgery to address a severe case of gender dysphoria that included several attempts at self-castration. ...

Parents Losing Children Because They Can’t Repay Foster Care Costs Incurred During Incarceration

by Jo Ellen Nott

When parents are incarcerated, their children are often placed in foster care. A little-noticed federal law from the “tough on crime” Reagan era requires states to bill those parents for a portion of their kids’ foster care. But since federal subsidizing of foster care applies only ...

CoreCivic Still Accruing Fines for Short-Staffing Florida Jail Where Developmentally Disabled Teen Was Raped

by Ashleigh N. Dye

At its meeting on January 24, 2023, the Board of County Commissioners of Florida’s Citrus County voted to deduct $116,250 off its December 2022 bill from private prison operator CoreCivic to run the county jail. The fine represents a daily fee of $3,750, assessed for failing ...

Second Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity for Connecticut Cops who Sicced K-9 on Suspect in His Holding Cell

by Casey J. Bastian

When attempting to keep a detainee from hurting himself, are jailers entitled to injure him with impunity? On September 26, 2022, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit answered “yes,” affirming dismissal of a civil rights lawsuit filed by a Connecticut detainee on ...

$857,500 Paid by California County for Jail Detainee’s Death, While Cellmate Who Beat Him Is Now in State Prison

by David M. Reutter

On August 17, 2022, Lager George Reid, 26, was admitted to Folsom State Prison, after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of his cellmate at the jail in California’s San Bernardino County. Reid was being held at the county’s West Valley Detention Center (WVDC) ...

Over $298,000 Awarded to Alabama Jail Detainee with Heart Disease After Guards, Nurses Ignored Firing Defibrillator

by David M. Reutter

After a federal jury awarded $135,000 to an Alabama man deprived of medical care for a heart condition while detained at the Autauga County Jail (ACJ), the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama awarded another $163,268.25 in fees and expenses to his attorney ...

Nebraska Assistant Warden Avoids Prosecution for Sexually Abusing Prisoner, Pleads Guilty to Lesser Charge and Gets a Year in Jail

by Benjamin Tschirhart

On October 3, 2022, the same day her jury trial was scheduled to begin for sexually abusing a prisoner, a former assistant warden with the Nebraska Department of Corrections (DOC) reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. Admitting to a charge of “unlawful visitation or communication with an ...

After Eleventh Circuit Says ICE Detainee Is Not “Prisoner” Subject to PLRA, He Goes Missing from Georgia

by David M. Reutter

On September 29, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that a civil detainee in custody of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is not a “prisoner” subject to the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e. Since that law ...

Former PLN Editor Settles Suit Over Detention in Tennessee ‘Iron Man’ Cell, Gets 40-Year Prison Term for Vandalizing Nashville Jail

by Benjamin Tschirhart

On September 29, 2022, former PLN Editor Alex Friedmann, 53, settled with the Tennessee Department of Corrections (DOC) in a federal action alleging his civil rights were violated when he was held 580 days in pretrial detention in an ‘Iron Man’ cell that he called “utterly barren ...

GTL Ordered to Pay $18.675 Million in Attorney Fees and Costs in Prison Phone Class Action

by Anthony W Accurso

On August 30, 2022, the federal court for the Northern District of Georgia granted final approval to a class-action settlement in a suit accusing prison telecom giant Global Tel*Link (GTL) of unjust enrichment by seizing funds from prisoner phone accounts after as little as 90 days ...

News in Brief

News in Brief

Alabama: On January 9, 2023, the Montgomery Police Department (MPD) arrested a guard at the city jail for an alleged off-duty assault, the Birmingham News reported. It’s unclear who filed the misdemeanor complaint against Reba Foulks, 36; MPD didn’t begin its investigation until receiving notice of ...