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Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025
Third Circuit Rejects U.S. Sentencing Commission Amended Compassionate Release Policy by Douglas Ankney In a ruling on November 11, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit rejected the amended compassionate release policy published by the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) and declared that a Pennsylvania prisoner was not …
Article • May 1, 2025 • from PLN May, 2025
ACLU Sues BOP Over Failure to Implement First Step Act Release Credits by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit in federal court for the District of Columbia on December 20, 2024, challenging the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for treating sentence credits …
Virginia Parole Board Skirts New Transparency Rules, Governor Walks Back Expanded Sentence Credits—Again by Parole-eligible Virginia prisoners face one of the nation’s stingiest boards. So state lawmakers made parole decisions more transparent with passage of two new laws, the most recent signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) on April 4, …
Former South Carolina Jailer Spared Prison After Testimony Fails to Convict Former Sheriff by A former South Carolina jailer who cut a plea deal and testified against his former boss is now the only one of the two to be convicted. But David Andrew Cook, 30, will not spend any …
Oregon Supreme Court: Governor Can’t Revoke Commutation After Sentence Expires by In a bizarre case of Orwellian government overreach, the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) reincarcerated former state prisoner Terri Lee Brown for a parole violation after her parole ended. But on May 8, 2024, the Oregon Supreme Court slapped …
After Florida Appellate Court Holds Crimes of ‘Attempt’ Eligible for Incentive Gain Time, Supreme Court Refuses Review by Kevin Bliss by Kevin W. Bliss On November 14, 2024, Florida’s Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by officials with the state Department of Corrections (DOC) to an appellate court ruling that exempted …
Article • December 15, 2024 • from PLN December, 2024
Fifth Circuit Judges Battle in Louisiana Over-Detention Cases by The State of Louisiana cannot manage to correctly calculate release dates for those it incarcerates, leaving prisoners held weeks and months beyond expiration of their sentences. These over-detention cases, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit calls them, …
Article • November 15, 2024 • from PLN November, 2024
Illinois Prisoners Stage Hunger Strikes Over DOC Failure to Implement New Sentence Reduction Law by Two Illinois prisoners staged hunger strikes in June 2024 to protest the state’s foot-­dragging in granting sentence credits provided a year earlier under a new law. With promises from Robinson Correctional Facility officials to expedite …
Article • November 15, 2024 • from PLN November, 2024
Former Virginia Prisoners Win Back Denied Sentence Credits, Sue Over Delayed Release by Virginia’s shifting rules on sentence credits for state prisoners continue to end up before the state Supreme Court, which has twice spanked state Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) for failing to abide by the law. Several former …
Article • October 15, 2024 • from PLN October, 2024
Third Circuit Finds Relation-Back Rule Misapplied to Philadelphia Prisoner’s “Crappy” Ordeal Lawsuit by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On March 21, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated summary judgment in favor of a Philadelphia Department of Corrections (DOC) guard, who was accused of leaving …
Article • October 15, 2024 • from PLN October, 2024
Unequal Before the Law by Stephanie Woodard by Stephanie Woodard Native Americans serve astoundingly longer prison sentences—because they are Native. Federal charges ordinarily cover matters of national reach: immigration, voting rights, racketeering. Not in Indian Country. Tribal members frequently find themselves in federal court for all sorts of allegations— not …
Article • October 15, 2024 • from PLN October, 2024
Alaska Supreme Court: DOC Can’t Unilaterally Redefine ‘Parole Release Date’ by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On December 8, 2023, the Supreme Court of Alaska held that the state Department of Corrections (DOC) violated the rulemaking process laid out in the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) when it unilaterally changed the …
Florida Prisoner Whose Case Ended LWOP for Juveniles Released by On February 13, 2024, a judge in Florida’s Duval County amended state prisoner Terrence Graham’s sentence, paving the way for the 37-­year-­old’s release later that same month. Sentenced to life without parole (LWOP) in 2006 for crimes committed when he …
California Supreme Court Refuses Challenge to LWOP Sentence Imposed for Crime Committed After Age 18 by Under California Penal Code § 3051, prisoners who were 18 to 25 years old when they committed certain crimes are eligible for parole after serving 15, 20 or 25 years, even if sentenced to life …
Federal Sentencing Guidelines Place Heavy Burden on Incarcerated Victims of Sexual Assaults by David Reutter by David M. Reutter   The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) marked a critical step in condemning and curbing sexual assault and harassment in jails and prisons. Sadly, rape, groping and sexual harassment still occur …
Over 5,000 Prisoners Federally Sentenced Every Month by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney In the nine months ending on June 30, 2023, there were 47,931 sentences for federal crime, driving more than 5,000 prisoners into custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons every month, according to data released by the …
U.S. Sentencing Commission Greenlights Retroactive Sentence Reductions by A vote by the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) on August 24, 2023, potentially makes thousands of prisoners eligible for reduced sentences who were sentenced as first-time offenders. That’s because USSC members voted for retroactive application of an amendment to U.S. Sentencing guidelines …
Article • December 1, 2023 • from PLN December, 2023
No Compassionate Release for Bank Robber Turned Angel of Mercy at North Carolina BOP Lockup by As reported by the Atavaist on May 31, 2023, Gary Settle, a federal prisoner in North Carolina, has outlived his 18-month diagnosis with terminal prostate cancer—and is still in prison. Settle is serving an …
Article • November 15, 2023 • from PLN November, 2023
Ninth Circuit Revives Former Nevada Prisoner’s Claim for Deprivation of Sentence Credit by by Douglas Ankney On April 25, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said a lower court erred by ignoring a former state prisoner’s claim that the Department of Corrections (DOC) violated his due …
Article • September 15, 2023 • from PLN September, 2023
Life Sentence for Alabama Jail Escapee After Suicide of Guard Lover Who Helped Him by Chuck Sharman On June 8, 2023, a judge in Alabama’s Lauderdale County handed a life sentence without parole to a state prisoner for escaping the county lockup with his jail-guard lover, who then committed suicide …
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