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Sixth Circuit Limits Deliberate Indifference Standard  in Kentucky Jail Medical Care Challenge

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Deliberate Indifference

Sixth Circuit Limits Deliberate Indifference Standard in Kentucky Jail Medical Care Challenge by David M. Reutter Since its September 2021 ruling in Brawner v. Scott Cty., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has held that pretrial detainees challenging their medical care in jail are not fully held …

$500,000 for Colorado Detainee Dropped  On His Face by Jailers

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

$500,000 for Colorado Detainee Dropped On His Face by Jailers by Douglas Ankney In a settlement agreement dated May 28, 2024, Colorado’s Jefferson County agreed to pay $500,000 to Frederick Fisk, a former detainee at the county jail who suffered substantial injuries to his face after guards used a jujitsu …

Second South Carolina Prisoner  Executed by Firing Squad

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Capital Punishment

Second South Carolina Prisoner Executed by Firing Squad by A South Carolina Department of Corrections (DOC) firing squad executed state prisoner Mikal Mahdi on April 11, 2025. It was the state’s second execution conducted by shooting a prisoner to death. In the first, five weeks earlier, a DOC rifle squad …

Academic Study of Prison Guards’ Use of Excessive Force  Details Sad State of Civil Rights for Abused Prisoners

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Stun Guns/Tasers, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Restraints, Dogs, Burning, Electric Fences, Laser Weapons

Academic Study of Prison Guards’ Use of Excessive Force Details Sad State of Civil Rights for Abused Prisoners by Matthew Clarke In a research paper published on October 15, 2024, UCLA law professor Sharon Dolovich examined the state of civil rights law regarding excessive use of force by American prison …

Former Jail Guard Accused of Having Sex with Detainee  Now Vice-Chair of Florida GOP

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Guard Misconduct

Former Jail Guard Accused of Having Sex with Detainee Now Vice-Chair of Florida GOP by The newly installed vice-chair of Florida’s Republican Party was previously convicted of providing contraband to a detainee he was accused of having sex with while working as a jail guard, according to reporting by Fresh …

Ninth Circuit Revives Complaint Over Sloppy Cell Checks  Before Psychotic Detainee’s Death at L.A. Jail

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Failure to Protect (General), Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides

Ninth Circuit Revives Complaint Over Sloppy Cell Checks Before Psychotic Detainee’s Death at L.A. Jail by Douglas Ankney On October 17, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that 26 cell checks performed within 13 hours by six Los Angeles County jailers who nevertheless failed to …

Kansas Supreme Court Revives Prisoner’s Challenge  to Loss of Parental Rights

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Parental rights, Parent/Child Privilege

Kansas Supreme Court Revives Prisoner’s Challenge to Loss of Parental Rights by Matthew Clarke On September 6, 2024, the Supreme Court of Kansas held that a prisoner’s due process rights were violated when he was able only to observe his parental rights termination hearing via videoconferencing and was unable to …

Arkansas DOC Settles Retaliation Claim by Prisoner  Who Also Won Back Confiscated COVID-19 Stimulus

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Retaliation for Organizing, Legal Materials, Legal Mail

Arkansas DOC Settles Retaliation Claim by Prisoner Who Also Won Back Confiscated COVID-19 Stimulus by After the Arkansas Department of Corrections (DOC) reached a settlement with state prisoner Anthony Lamar in his retaliation claim against officials at the Varner Unit, the federal court for the Eastern District of Arkansas granted …

GTL/ViaPath Ordered to Pay $3 Million for Violations  of Consumer Protection Laws

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Bid-Rigging, Price-Fixing, etc., Global Tel*Link Corp

GTL/ViaPath Ordered to Pay $3 Million for Violations of Consumer Protection Laws by Global Tel*Link (GTL), doing business as ViaPath Technologies, is one of the nation’s largest providers of carceral communications services, including phones, video calling, and e-messaging. Its subsidiaries include Telmate, LLC and TouchPay Holdings, LLC; the latter provides …

Government Quasi-Agency Attempts to Infiltrate Criminal Justice Nonprofit

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Government Misconduct

Government Quasi-Agency Attempts to Infiltrate Criminal Justice Nonprofit by   The federal Department of Justice (DOJ) canceled some $5 million in funding to the nonprofit Vera Institute of Justice on April 4, 2025. The decision to end the five multiyear grants to the criminal justice nonprofit was emailed that day …

New Mexico Watchdog Group Sues for Video Allegedly  Showing Jailers Killing Detainee

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Public Records Act

New Mexico Watchdog Group Sues for Video Allegedly Showing Jailers Killing Detainee by David M. Reutter The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government (NMFOG) has filed an enforcement complaint under the state Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) against the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners, seeking release of video and …

From the Editor

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Editorials

From the Editor by Paul Wright While prisons cage the majority of American prisoners, jails around the country still hold around 600,000 on any given day and anywhere between five and ten million people cycle through them annually. The vast majority of people who enter and leave American jails are …

Mississippi DOC Issues Almost $300 Million  in No-Bid Contracts to VitalCore Health

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Private Contractors

Mississippi DOC Issues Almost $300 Million in No-Bid Contracts to VitalCore Health by When government agencies—including corrections departments—enter contracts with private companies, they typically go through a competitive bidding process, beginning with a Request for Proposals (RFP). This ensures that taxpayers have access to information used to award government contracts, …

California Appellate Court: Custody Credits Must be Applied  to Concurrent Terms in Multiple Open Cases

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Credits, Concurrent and Consecutive Sentences

California Appellate Court: Custody Credits Must be Applied to Concurrent Terms in Multiple Open Cases by David M. Reutter In a case of importance to California prisoners, the state Court of Appeals, Sixth Appellate District, held on June 28, 2024, that Penal Code § 2900.5 requires a trial court to apply …

Oklahoma Supreme Court Kills One Jail Death Suit,  Threatening Settlement of Another

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, Private Contractors, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Oklahoma Supreme Court Kills One Jail Death Suit, Threatening Settlement of Another by In a case with enormous implications for Oklahoma jail detainees, the state Supreme Court ruled on March 11, 2025, that a jail’s subcontracted medical providers are “employees” for the purposes of the Oklahoma Governmental Tort Claims Act …

Fifth Circuit Refuses to Stop Court-Ordered Construction  of Mental Health Facility at New Orleans Jail

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Jail Specific

Fifth Circuit Refuses to Stop Court-Ordered Construction of Mental Health Facility at New Orleans Jail by Boris Bastidas In an opinion filed on August 26, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dismissed an appeal by the Sheriff of Louisiana’s Orleans Parish, who sought to halt construction …

$875,000 Award for Illinois Prisoner’s Delay  in Getting Hernia Surgery

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, Hernias

$875,000 Award for Illinois Prisoner’s Delay in Getting Hernia Surgery by David M. Reutter On April 1, 2024, jury in federal court for the Northern District of Illinois awarded $875,000 to state prisoner John E. Taylor, Jr., after finding officials with the state Department of Corrections (DOC) and its contracted …

Salvadoran President’s Dark Secret Allegedly Behind Deal  to Hold Deported Migrants in “Mega” Prison

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Conditions of Confinement, Immigration

Salvadoran President’s Dark Secret Allegedly Behind Deal to Hold Deported Migrants in “Mega” Prison by When Pres. Donald J. Trump (R) invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act in March 2025 to send several hundred Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), the tradeoff for Salvadoran Pres. Nayib Bukele …

Over $1.1 Million Recovered for Rikers Island Janitors

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct

Over $1.1 Million Recovered for Rikers Island Janitors by On January 22, 2025, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) signed an agreement with a firm providing janitorial services at New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex, which promised to pay $1,029,175 in restitution to workers from whom managers extorted …

Fourth Circuit Upholds South Carolina DOC Policy  Restricting Prisoner Access to News Media

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Access to Media, First Amendment, First Amendment, rights

Fourth Circuit Upholds South Carolina DOC Policy Restricting Prisoner Access to News Media by Those in custody of the South Carolina Department of Corrections (DOC) “lose the privilege of speaking to the news media,” a policy that makes it “unique among prison systems nationwide,” according to the American Civil Liberties …