by Chuck Sharman
A February 2026 review by PLN of mail policies at 250 of the largest U.S. jail systems, which together hold over half the country’s detainees, reveals that almost 62% have instituted policies banning physical mail, except for legal mail. The findings indicate that jails are …
by Chuck Sharman
On January 6, 2026, federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) officials were lambasted by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the BOP’s parent agency, the federal Department of Justice, in a report cataloguing a cascade of bumbling failures that cost prisoner Frederick Mervin Bardell …
by Chuck Sharman
In an amended complaint filed under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa on December 17, 2025, state prisoner Nersius Adonliel Artisani, also known as Roger Joseph Hoffert, Jr., accused officials with the state Department of Corrections …
by Michael Thompson
In 2018, Colorado lawmakers unanimously passed a law designed to relieve overcrowded state prisons. It was set to trigger whenever the total vacancy rate for state prison beds drops below 2% for more than 30 days. That happened in August 2025, yet the law has …
Loaded on
March 1, 2026
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2026, page 14
On January 31, the recently elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) announced the appointment of Stanley Richards, who was locked up at Rikers Island multiple times in his youth, as the commissioner of the city’s Corrections Department (DOC). Richards turned his life around in the early 1990s …
by Sam Rutherford
On December 2, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a $3,840,000 jury verdict for the Estate of a San Bernardino County jail detainee who died from untreated symptoms from acute alcohol withdrawal.
William Enyart’s family members called 911 on …
by Jo Ellen Nott
Leaked surveillance and body-camera footage from the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla exposed a brutal August 2, 2024, assault on incarcerated women, many of whom were elderly or mobility-impaired. CCWF is the state’s largest women’s prison, with an intended capacity of 2,000 …
by Chuck Sharman
On December 23, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana granted class certification to a suit challenging the constitutionality of the “farm line” work program at the Louisiana State Penitentiary (LSP) at Angola. The ruling allows claims from the seven named …
by Chuck Sharman
The Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) ruled on February 6, 2026, that federal prisoners seeking habeas corpus relief are not bound by the statute that limits state prisoners to one shot at their claims. The result seems only fair for federal prisoner Michael Bowe, …
by Matt Clarke
On January 13, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the denial of a federal prisoner’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus claiming he was unlawfully denied time credits he was entitled to pursuant to the First Step Act …
by Chuck Sharman
Analyzing population data at the overcrowded Fulton County Jail (FCJ) in Atlanta, a report from the Georgia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on January 27, 2026, found that detainees endure “a crisis with a cascade of public health and safety problems.” An …
