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SCOTUS Partially Overturns Pavey, Holds PLRA Exhaustion  Dispute Must Go to Jury Even If Intertwined with  Merits of Michigan Prisoner’s Claim

Article • August 1, 2025 • from PLN August, 2025

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA)

SCOTUS Partially Overturns Pavey, Holds PLRA Exhaustion Dispute Must Go to Jury Even If Intertwined with Merits of Michigan Prisoner’s Claim by Chuck Sharman Since the passage almost 30 years ago of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e, prisoners have been required prior to filing suit against …

News in Brief

Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Failure to Protect (General), Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, halfway houses, New Trial/Judgment of Acquittal, Bribery/Extortion/Theft, Fraud and Deceit

News in Brief by Alabama: Elmore County Jail guard Lita Williams, 57, was arrested and charged with first-degree promoting prison contraband on May 21, 2025, the Wetumpka Herald reported. Her arrest followed discovery of a cellphone in a jail cell during a routine search two weeks prior. Data from the …

Sixth Circuit: Michigan Tolling Statute Applies to PLRA Administrative Exhaustion Requirement

Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Tolling of Statutes of Limitations and Laches

Sixth Circuit: Michigan Tolling Statute Applies to PLRA Administrative Exhaustion Requirement by David Reutter On January 29, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that Michigan’s “tolling provision” does not affect the administrative remedy exhaustion requirement in the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e. …

News in Brief

Article • May 1, 2025 • from PLN May, 2025

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A Jefferson County Jail guard was briefly abducted and assaulted by detainee Reontay Harley, 33, on January 13, 2025. WBMA in Birmingham said that after Harley took the unnamed guard hostage inside a cell, responding jail Extraction Unit guards rescued their fellow guard and restrained …

News in Brief

Article • April 1, 2025 • from PLN April, 2025

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: State Department of Corrections (DOC) guard Arianna Kimberly Slater faces life in prison after she was arrested while attempting to smuggle contraband into Ventress Correctional Facility on February 24, 2025. According to the Birmingham News, a routine employee screening of Slater’s food container found unspecified …

Sixth Circuit: Dismissals of Mixed-Claim Complaints Not Strikes Under PLRA

Article • April 1, 2025 • from PLN April, 2025

Filed under: Dismissal, Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), Three Strike Litigants

Sixth Circuit: Dismissals of Mixed-Claim Complaints Not Strikes Under PLRA by Since the 1996 passage of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e, federal courts have struggled to interpret and apply its various provisions. That struggle continues today with a recent ruling by the United States Court of …

Sixth Circuit Upholds $6.4 Million Jury Award Against Corizon Nurses For Michigan Jail Prisoner’s Fatal Alcohol Withdrawal

Article • March 1, 2025 • from PLN March, 2025

Filed under: Corizon, Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Settlements, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Sixth Circuit Upholds $6.4 Million Jury Award Against Corizon Nurses For Michigan Jail Prisoner’s Fatal Alcohol Withdrawal by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On August 16, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the verdict and jury award of $6.4 million in compensatory damages against …

Michigan Judge Sued for Jailing Teen Who Nodded Off While Watching in Court

Article • March 1, 2025 • from PLN March, 2025

Filed under: Witnesses, Privacy Act/Rights, Judicial Disqualification/Misconduct

Michigan Judge Sued for Jailing Teen Who Nodded Off While Watching in Court by In an amended complaint filed in federal court for the Eastern District of Michigan on December 30, 2024, the mother of a 15-year-old girl accused a state judge of violating the child’s civil rights when he …

Historic $7 Million Settlement in Lawsuit Over Michigan Jail Prisoner’s Fatal Beating

Article • February 15, 2025 • from PLN February, 2025

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Settlements

Historic $7 Million Settlement in Lawsuit Over Michigan Jail Prisoner’s Fatal Beating by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On June 20, 2024, the Wayne County Commission in Detroit approved a $5 million payment on top of $2 million paid by the County’s insurer to settle a lawsuit brought by the …

News in Brief

Article • February 15, 2025 • from PLN February, 2025

News in Brief by Alabama: Clarke County Jail guard Larissa Thompson was arrested on December 5, 2024, for plotting to smuggle drugs into the lockup, the Thomasville Times reported. An investigation by state law enforcement, the office of County Sheriff DeWayne Smith, and Jackson Police uncovered evidence that Thompson planned …

Michigan Allows More Releases for Medically Frail Prisoners

Article • February 15, 2025 • from PLN February, 2025

Filed under: Compassionate Release

Michigan Allows More Releases for Medically Frail Prisoners by Michigan prisoners considered medically frail now have a better chance of early release under a newly amended law. On July 23, 2024, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed Senate Bill 599 and expanded the definition of “medically frail” in a 2019 statute …

DOJ Settles Complaints About Conditions for Disabled Detroit Jail Detainees

Article • February 15, 2025 • from PLN February, 2025

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Systemic Medical Neglect, Malpractice, Conditions of Confinement, Americans with Disabilities Act

DOJ Settles Complaints About Conditions for Disabled Detroit Jail Detainees by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On July 11, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) approved an agreement with Michigan’s Wayne County that promised to improve conditions at its jail in Detroit for prisoners with physical and mental disabilities. …

News in Brief

Article • January 15, 2025 • from PLN January, 2025

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Australia: Brisbane Correctional Center prisoner Jack James Peterson, 29, was sentenced to an additional 18 months in January 2023 for assaulting a guard with a squash racket, the Courier reported. Peterson struck the unnamed 34-year-old during a confrontation involving a riot response team, leaving him with …

Michigan Supreme Court Greenlights Adding Restitution At Resentencing of Former Juveniles Sentenced to LWOP

Article • January 15, 2025 • from PLN January, 2025

Filed under: Life without Parole (LWOP), Restitution, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders

Michigan Supreme Court Greenlights Adding Restitution At Resentencing of Former Juveniles Sentenced to LWOP by On July 8, 2024, the Supreme Court of Michigan held that imposing a new restitution obligation—by retroactive application of restitution statutes enacted after a criminal defendant committed his underlying offense—could nevertheless happen during a resentencing …

Lawsuits by Michigan Prisoner Yield $57,750 in Settlements, Plus Policy Changes

Article • January 15, 2025 • from PLN January, 2025

Filed under: Settlements, Denial of Religious Services, Religious Practices

Lawsuits by Michigan Prisoner Yield $57,750 in Settlements, Plus Policy Changes by In a letter received in August 2024, Michigan state prisoner John Patrick Moore II notified PLN about three successful lawsuits he filed against the state Department of Corrections (DOC) which resulted in settlement agreements. In an important case, …

GOP Michigan County Commissioner Re-elected— and Headed to Federal Prison

Article • January 15, 2025 • from PLN January, 2025

Filed under: Government Misconduct, Marijuana Laws/Issues, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release, Criticism of Government

GOP Michigan County Commissioner Re-elected— and Headed to Federal Prison by Voters in Michigan’s Monroe County returned Mark Brant to the County Commission on November 5, 2024—most not knowing that he was due to report to federal prison. Brant, 68, was sentenced to an 18-month term in federal court for …

Two Michigan Jails Face Class-Action Suits for Banning In-Person Visits

Article • December 15, 2024 • from PLN December, 2024

Filed under: Visiting, Class Actions

Two Michigan Jails Face Class-Action Suits for Banning In-Person Visits by In a disturbing trend, local jails are discontinuing in-person visits in conjunction with adopting fee-based video calling services. Based on 2015 data, the non-profit Prison Policy Initiative found that “74% of jails banned in-person visits when they implemented video …

News in Brief

Article • November 15, 2024 • from PLN November, 2024

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Former state Department of Corrections (DOC) guard Henry Guice, Jr., 46, was sentenced to 75 months in federal prison on September 9, 2024, for his role in a drug smuggling conspiracy at Staton Correctional Facility. The Birmingham News reported that a fellow guard was inspecting …

News in Brief

Article • October 15, 2024 • from PLN October, 2024

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: State prisoner Brigido Montoya made the briefest of escapes from the State Prison Complex in Eyman on August 10, 2024, before he was recaptured 48 minutes later by Florence Police, the Florence Reminder & Blade-Tribune reported. The state Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (DCRR) …

Sixth Circuit Sets Up Circuit Split with Ruling on Michigan Prisoner’s PLRA Exhaustion Dispute

Article • October 15, 2024 • from PLN October, 2024

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA)

Sixth Circuit Sets Up Circuit Split with Ruling on Michigan Prisoner’s PLRA Exhaustion Dispute by Before a prisoner can sue under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, he must exhaust any administrative remedies available to him; that is the threshold requirement of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e. Not infrequently, …