by Chuck Sharman
Los Angeles County officials were set to begin making the first $600 million in payouts in early July 2026, under an historic $4 billion settlement agreement with some 6,800 former detainees subjected to sexual abuse in County juvenile lockups. Payouts were also getting underway under …
by Chuck Sharman
A preliminary injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on June 30, 2026, ordered Commissioner Daniel Martuscello III and other officials with the state Department of Corrections and Community Services (DOCCS) to immediately begin providing prescribed treatment to …
by Jo Ellen Knott
More than two dozen people have been charged following multiple criminal investigations at South Carolina’s Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Columbia, exposing widespread staff misconduct and pointing to persistent operational failures at a jail already cited for unconstitutional conditions.
Richland County Sheriff …
by Michael Dean Thompson
In response to one of Pres. Donald Trump’s (R) January 2025 executive orders, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) worked with U.S. Army to create America’s largest immigration detention facility to date on Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Texas, known as Camp East Montana.
…
by Michael Dean Thompson
ryna’s Law was passed in 2025 after the brutal murder of Iryna Karutska, a Ukrainian refugee, on a Charlotte, North Carolina light rail train. The law, HB 307, restricts pretrial release of violent offenders …
by Chuck Sharman
The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota granted an injunction on August 14, 2026, to the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), nonprofit publisher of PLN and Criminal Legal News, ordering the state Department of Corrections (DOC) to modify a publications policy that censored …
by Chuck Sharman
On March 13, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida entered a $100,000 judgment against state Department of Corrections (DOC) healthcare contractor Centurion of Florida LLC and its gynecologist Ader Benoit, in a suit brought by five prisoners who accused him …
by Douglas Ankney
"When mom told staff something was wrong, they said to her ‘you’re fine, you’re fine’ even though there was fluid literally coming out of her belly button,” said Evangelina Perez, describing her incarcerated mother’s condition after missing another dialysis treatment. Evangelina Perez lost count of …
by David M. Reutter
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Western Division, held that Article I, Section 13 of the Pennsylvania Constitution prohibits the imposition of a mandatory life without parole sentence upon persons convicted of felony murder. The Court’s opinion delved deeply into the history behind the creation …
by Michael Dean Thompson
Prisoners in the Mississippi Department of Corrections (DOC) seeking help are often placed in solitary confinement, according to two new reports by The Marshall Project. Nearly 75% of the known suicides occurred among people living in restricted housing, which can include solitary confinement. Policy …
by Chuck Sharman
On July 30, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida refused to let the state Department of Corrections (DOC) seize the settlement it paid a prisoner—for his excessive force claim against guards who nearly blinded him—in order to satisfy cost-of-incarceration liens …
by David Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed a grant of summary judgment while a dispositive spoliation of evidence motion was pending. The spoliation motion sought sanctions for the failure to produce video of the incident at issue.
While imprisoned in July …
by Chuck Sharman
Hawai‘i lawmakers voted on May 26, 2026, to pay an $800,000 settlement reached by the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) with the Estate of Jimuel Gatioan, 49, who committed suicide while awaiting trial in April 2023 at Oahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC).
…
by Chuck Sharman
Under a settlement reached in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston County agreed to pay $280,000 to resolve claims filed by the Estate of Julian Jenkins, a detainee who died six days after his incarceration in the County’s Al Cannon …
by Chuck Sharman
In a decision on August 10, 2026, the Washington Court of Appeals, Division I, quashed a policy of the state Department of Corrections (DOC) under which prisoners could be “Assigned to Cell” (ATC)—locked down all day, five days a week—and the DOC could call it …
by David Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed the denial of qualified immunity (QI) to guards for the pepper ball spraying of a pretrial detainee. The Court affirmed denial of QI to guards on the detainee’s remaining excessive force claims.
Bradley Bolin …
by David Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a grant of summary judgment in a prisoner’s civil rights action alleging strip searches he was subjected to had infringed upon his constitutional rights. The Court held that it was not clearly established that prison …
by Douglas Ankney
Seeking to make the killing of incarcerated persons easier, the 2026 Regular Session of the Idaho Legislature has passed House Bill No. 803 (“HB 803”) that, inter alia, exempts from judicial review the procedures used in executions.
Idaho, like most of the remaining states …
by Michael Dean Thompson
Centurion of Delaware, a former prison healthcare contractor for the state, is the subject of a whistleblower lawsuit that has been joined by the state’s Attorney General, Kathy Jennings (D). The lawsuit alleges that Centurion of Delaware profited from fraud as it was paid …
by Jo Ellen Knott
According to The Lowell Sun, four Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC) guards face criminal charges for abusing restrained prisoners following a September 2024 incident at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley.
Prosecutors detailed the guard misconduct during a July 10, 2026, arraignment: guard Shaun …
Loaded on
Sept. 1, 2026
published in Prison Legal News
September, 2026, page None
Alabama: State Department of Corrections (DOC) contract food service worker Kamitrice Woody was arrested on July 27, 2026, following an investigation into illicit sexual behavior at the St. Clair Correctional Facility, WZDX in Huntsville reported. DOC narcotics agents launched an inquiry after receiving allegations of prohibited activities between …
by Chuck Sharman
On August 26, 2026, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California returned a $13.5 million verdict against Riverside County officials in a suit brought by the survivors of Richard Matus, Jr., who died of a fentanyl overdose while incarcerated …
by Chuck Sharman
Georgia’s Fulton County Jail in Atlanta stopped booking those arrested on most misdemeanor charges on July 1, 2026. Sheriff Pat Labatt announced the policy change in late May, shortly after the office of County Attorney So Joo issued an opinion Labatt had requested, and the …
by Chuck Sharman
New detention standards published by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on August 10, 2026, make several changes reportedly requested by The GEO Group to boost the private prison operator’s defense against lawsuits alleging it cheats immigrant detainees out of a fair wage for their …
by David Reutter
For prisoners, having access to electronic technology is a privilege that helps make doing time an easier task. The ability to listen to one’s favorite music, watch a movie on demand or to play a game helps reduce the drudgery of just lying or sitting …
by Michael Dean Thompson
Investigative reports filed by the Citrus County, Florida Sheriff’s Office, which includes the City of Inverness, paint a disturbing picture of an oversized drug problem at the CoreCivic-run county jail. As of June 2026, the Sheriff’s Office identified 11 overdose-related calls, in contrast to …
by Chuck Sharman
Alabama attorney Bill Lunsford has been a “rainmaker” for the Montgomery office of Butler Snow LLP, raking in over $42 million in contracts since 2020 to defend the state Department of Corrections (DOC) in various litigations. Now state Rep. Chris England (D-Tuscaloosa) is calling “enough”; …
by Michael Dean Thompson
Since the early 2000s, New York’s state court system has been installing mental health courts in its counties. These courts can divert people with mental health needs away from jails and prisons. When a person suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or other mental health …
by Jo Ellen Knott
For over half a century, the state of Maryland buried the tragic reality of its racially segregated juvenile justice system beneath overgrown brush and nameless cinder blocks in Prince George’s County.
Between 1870 and 1939, at least 230 Black boys and teenagers died …
by Douglas Ankney
A three-judge panel of the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey (“Court”) has ruled that the New Jersey Department of Corrections’ (DOC) denial of a civilly committed transgender female’s request for transfer to a women’s prison violated neither the Law Against Discrimination …
by Chuck Sharman
Former New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) guard Thomas Eck, 45, was sentenced on July 7, 2026, to nine months in county jail for offering a false instrument for filing with an incident report that attempted to cover up fellow guards’ fatal …
by Michael Dean Thompson
A new study by University of California, Los Angeles’s Carceral Ecologies Lab has found that deaths in Los Angeles County Jail, which refers to eight actual facilities, are tied to longer stays. These results differ significantly from federal data which suggest overdose deaths, at …
by Michael Dean Thompson
The Marshall Project analyzed 911 calls in several cities in order to get a better glimpse into how people are being treated within the jails and which problems the jail employees are struggling to address. The same technique was used by Florida’s Citrus County …
by Michael Dean Thompson
Connecticut has enacted a law, PA 26-10, that strengthens its standards and codifies parts of the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). The law took effect on July 1 of this year and requires that the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Corrections (DOC) …
by Erica R. Meiners
This article was originally published in Truthout.
When Dilmer “Loba” Lovos Mendez learned about the protests inside the Dilley Detention Center in Texas, they were not surprised. While being held for two years in California immigration jails from 2024 to 2026, …
by Jo Ellen Knott
Neglect and punishing isolation have turned the Joliet Treatment Center (JTC) in Illinois from a promised mental health sanctuary into a desperate inferno.
According to an investigation by The Marshall Project, WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times, conditions at the lockup became hellish after …
by Chuck Sharman
n July 17, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona denied a request by the state Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Re-entry (DCRR) to allow the prison agency to lower professional qualifications …
by Chuck Sharman
The Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC) has yet to ink another long-term contract for prisoner healthcare since backing out of a 10-year, $4 billion agreement with Wexford Health Sources in July 2025. Instead, a series of 90-day emergency contracts were given to rival Centurion Health …
Loaded on
Sept. 1, 2026
published in Prison Legal News
September, 2026, page None
Wildfires blazed across the American West this summer, with an unprecedented 2.9 million acres scorched in Washington and Oregon alone. In Utah, as of mid-August, 820 fires across the state had burned more than 514,000 acres. As The Salt Lake Tribune reported, the total scale of destruction is equal …
by Michael Dean Thompson
Disability Rights Michigan (DRM) had alerted the Michigan Department of Corrections (DOC) many times since 2019 that conditions exist that threaten the health and safety of wheelchair users at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility (WHV). But DOC failed to act and even denied the …
by Chuck Sharman
Under a consent judgment entered in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on July 26, 2026, former Lorain County Jail guard Ruben Ortiz accepted a $500,000 liability for beating mentally ill detainee Charles Koch, Jr. while he was awaiting transfer to …
Loaded on
Sept. 1, 2026
published in Prison Legal News
September, 2026, page None
In June 2025, Joshua J. Smith, a Tennessee businessman and former federal prisoner, was appointed by Pres. Donald Trump (R) as the Deputy Director of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Smith was the first ex-prisoner to have held the role (or any leadership position at the BOP). Smith’s tenure, …
by Chuck Sharman
San Diego County attorneys agreed to a $3 million settlement on June 30, 2026, resolving claims filed by the Estate of Keith Bach, 63, who died of diabetic ketoacidosis at the Men’s Central Jail in September 2023, after his insulin pump ran dry and its …
by Michael Dean Thompson
The Riverside County Civil Grand Jury has released a new report regarding oversight of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office (RSCO). The June 2026 report found the extant Sheriff’s Advisory Committee (SAC) “activities, documentation practices, and public transparency raised significant questions about its ability to …
by Michael Dean Thompson
Less than 10% of eligible incarcerated voters applied for a ballot in the run-up to the 2024 election in Massachusetts. Of those, just over half had their ballots returned and counted, according to a new report released by Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin.
…
by Jo Ellen Knott
Legal payouts by the Michigan Department of Corrections (DOC) more than doubled in fiscal year 2025, reaching over $7 million in settlements and court judgments.
Despite the sharp increase from the previous year, civil rights attorneys point out that the sum represents a …
by Michael Dean Thompson
California’s prosecutors have been increasingly making use of an investigatory tool known as a Perkins operation. Perkins operations are a legal loophole that circumvent Miranda requirements thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Illinois v. Perkins, 496 U.S. 292 (1990).
In the …
by Jo Ellen Knott
On July 28, 2026, Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) officials executed 80-year-old Dominick Occhicone and former police officer James Duckett, 68, marking the first double execution in the state since 1964.
According to NBC News, Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has aggressively accelerated Florida’s …
by Jo Ellen Knott
Two Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC) guards pleaded guilty in federal court on July 14, 2026, to conspiring to deprive a prisoner of his civil rights. According to the Daily Record of Vincennes, guards Lieutenant Ethan Yates, 30, and Craig Muhs, 28, participated in …
by Jo Ellen Knott
State inspectors from the Ohio Bureau of Adult Detention reversed their previous findings, concluding that Cuyahoga County Jail staff and contracted MetroHealth medical personnel committed a fatal failure by not performing CPR immediately on 41-year-old Jennifer Wade.
Discovered unresponsive on her cell floor …
by Chuck Sharman
The City of Boston paid $11 million to settle federal civil rights claims filed by former state prisoner Joseph Jabir Pope, after he was exonerated in 2022 of a murder conviction for which he spent 37 years in prison. The August 2025 settlement only came …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, on February 27, 2026, upheld a consultants’ finding and decision that Oklahoma is not honoring its obligations under a consent decree to provide mental health treatment to persons adjudged incompetent to stand trial.
On …
Loaded on
Sept. 1, 2026
published in Prison Legal News
September, 2026, page None
Prisoners at multiple state prisons in Oklahoma told reporters that, for over one month this year, they had made calls on behalf of an insurance company and political campaigns during primary election season.
As Oklahoma Watch learned through an open records request, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC) …
by Jo Ellen Knott
On August 4, 2026, private prison giant CoreCivic announced a lucrative five-year, $75 million annual contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to reopen Prairie Correctional Facility in rural Appleton, Minnesota. Vacant since 2010, the 1,600-bed facility is set to house immigrant detainees starting …
by Paul Wright
The sexual assault of prisoners is such a common and widespread occurrence throughout the American gulag that it is basically an ingrained management policy at every level. And this has been the case for decades, if not longer. This month’s cover story reports on the …
by Chuck Sharman
The GEO Group, Inc., paid over $104,000 in May 2026 to settle charges by the California Department of Industrial Relations Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) that workplace safety rules were violated at Golden State Annex in McFarland, where the firm incarcerates detainees pursuant …
by Chuck Sharman
On May 26, 2026, Hawai‘i lawmakers agreed to fund a $600,000 settlement resolving claims against the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) filed by the Estate of Brian O’Gorman, who died two weeks after being taken off his methadone addiction treatment by officials at …
by Michael Dean Thompson
As of June 2026, at least four prisoners are stuck in prison despite having been granted compassionate parole by the Hawaii Paroling Authority. The prisoners are currently living in the prison infirmary because long-term care facilities have been unwilling to accept them, according to …
