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Fifth Circuit Says Federal Habeas Action May Not Be Used to Challenge Conditions of Confinement Related to COVID-19

Article • February 1, 2022 • from PLN February, 2022

Filed under: Contagious Disease -- Misc., COVID-19, Conditions of Confinement, Habeas Corpus

Fifth Circuit Says Federal Habeas Action May Not Be Used to Challenge Conditions of Confinement Related to COVID-19 by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke As previously reported by PLN, federal appellate courts in the U.S. have taken a dim view of challenges to conditions of confinement that place prisoners at …

Texas Agrees to Settlement Providing Prisoners Hep C Treatment, Will Pay $950,000 in Attorney Fees

Article • January 1, 2022 • from PLN January, 2022

Filed under: Hepatitis, Settlements

Texas Agrees to Settlement Providing Prisoners Hep C Treatment, Will Pay $950,000 in Attorney Fees by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke A trio of pro se prisoner appeals denied by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on September 22, 2021, left intact an agreement approved earlier in …

News in Brief

Article • January 1, 2022 • from PLN January, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: On November 17, 2021, a former Alabama state prison guard was sentenced in federal court in Birmingham to 87 months in prison. As reported by the Birmingham News, a search found the guard, Gary Charles Dixon, Jr., 36, with 497 grams of methamphetamine when he …

Covid-19 Pandemic Bumps Still Anemic Clemency Numbers

Article • January 1, 2022 • from PLN January, 2022

Filed under: COVID-19, Pardons/Clemency

Covid-19 Pandemic Bumps Still Anemic Clemency Numbers by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, health and penology experts have urged state and federal governments to depopulate their prison systems. State governors remain under increasing pressure to use their executive clemency powers to achieve this …

Stewart v. Tarrant County, TX, Complaint, Wrongful Death-Suicide, 2021

Brief • December 29, 2021

Filed under: Wrongful Death

Stewart v. Tarrant County, TX, Complaint, Wrongful Death-Suicide, 2021 Case 4:21-cv-00597-O Document 24 Filed 12/29/21 Page 1 of 11 PageID 163 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS FORT WORTH DIVISION BETTY STEWART; JIMMY STEWART; ALYSSA CHRISTIAN STEWART; SAVANNAH BROOKE STEWART; COLE STEWART; and DEAN …

Fifth Circuit Holds Guard Who Let Detainee Hang Himself Entitled to Qualified Immunity

Article • December 10, 2021

Filed under: Suicides, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified

Fifth Circuit Holds Guard Who Let Detainee Hang Himself Entitled to Qualified Immunity by On July 2, 2021 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed a district court's denial of qualified immunity to three officers employed by the Coleman County Jail (CJC) in an action alleging the …

Texas County Jail Cited for Neglecting the Needs of a Pregnant Prisoner

Article • December 1, 2021 • from PLN December, 2021

Filed under: Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Texas County Jail Cited for Neglecting the Needs of a Pregnant Prisoner by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders In December, 2020, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) issued a Special Inspection Report detailing the Brazoria County jail’s failure to attend to the nutritional needs of a pregnant prisoner. The …

Eleven Guards Fired after Death at Houston Jail

Article • November 1, 2021 • from PLN November, 2021

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Wrongful Death

Eleven Guards Fired after Death at Houston Jail by Brian Dolinar by Brian Dolinar As other cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York have slowly begun to decarcerate their county jails, the Harris County Jail in Houston has resisted reform efforts. Over the years, Prison Legal News (PLN) has …

Seven Guards Fired Over Collins County Texas Jail Death

Article • November 1, 2021 • from PLN November, 2021

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Restraints, Wrongful Death

Seven Guards Fired Over Collins County Texas Jail Death by Jayson Hawkins by Jayson Hawkins Marvin David Scott III was far from what most people would consider a criminal. The 26-year-old played football in high school, made straight As, and was described by friends and family as “generous to everyone …

Fifth Circuit Holds Defendants Entitled to Sovereign Immunity For Denial of Sex-Reassignment Surgery to Texas Prisoner

Article • November 1, 2021 • from PLN November, 2021

Filed under: Sovereign Immunity, Transgender Medical Procedures

Fifth Circuit Holds Defendants Entitled to Sovereign Immunity For Denial of Sex-Reassignment Surgery to Texas Prisoner by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On July 30, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated orders denying sovereign immunity to some defendants in a lawsuit brought by a …

Fifth Circuit Overturns Permanent Injunction Requiring Texas Prison to Observe COVID-19 Precautions

Article • November 1, 2021 • from PLN November, 2021

Filed under: COVID-19

Fifth Circuit Overturns Permanent Injunction Requiring Texas Prison to Observe COVID-19 Precautions by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On March 26, 2021, the Fifth Circuit court of appeals overturned a permanent injunction that required a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison to observe certain precautions against the spread of …

Howard v. City of Houston, TX, Omnibus Response to Dft's Motions to Dismiss, Excessive Force, 2021

Brief • October 25, 2021

Filed under: Strip Searches, Excessive Force

Howard v. City of Houston, TX, Omnibus Response to Dft's Motions to Dismiss, Excessive Force, 2021 Case 4:21-cv-01179 Document 44 Filed on 10/25/21 in TXSD Page 1 of 10 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS HOUSTON DIVISION AUNDRE HOWARD, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF HOUSTON, …

Study Analyzes Deaths of Parole-Approved Texas Prisoners Awaiting Release

Article • October 1, 2021 • from PLN October, 2021

Filed under: Corrections Audits, COVID-19, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Study Analyzes Deaths of Parole-Approved Texas Prisoners Awaiting Release by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke A national audit of state parole systems conducted in 2019 gave Texas an “F” grade, noting it had some of the most burdensome requirements prisoners must meet before being approved for parole. Now a new …

Seven Former GEO Employees Plead Guilty in Federal Texas Private Jail Bribery Scheme

Article • October 1, 2021 • from PLN October, 2021

Filed under: GEO Group/Wackenhut, Bribery/Extortion/Theft

Seven Former GEO Employees Plead Guilty in Federal Texas Private Jail Bribery Scheme by On July 6, 2021, Veronica Ortega, 45, a former medical assistant at the GEO-owned and -operated East Hidalgo Detention Center pleaded guilty to bribery after admitting she received cash to smuggle marijuana into the jail. She …

Supreme Court Reverses Qualified Immunity Dismissal of Texas Prisoner’s Excessive Force Claim

Article • October 1, 2021 • from PLN October, 2021

Filed under: Excessive Force, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified

Supreme Court Reverses Qualified Immunity Dismissal of Texas Prisoner’s Excessive Force Claim by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney In December 2016, Prince McCoy Jr. was confined in a segregation cell at the Darrington Unit in Rosharon, Texas. The prisoner in the cell adjacent to McCoy’s threw water on Officer Tajudeen …

Kent v. Collin County,TX, Response to Defendant Motion to Dismiss, Failure to Provide Adequate Medical Care, 2021

Brief • September 17, 2021

Filed under: Medical

Kent v. Collin County,TX, Response to Defendant Motion to Dismiss, Failure to Provide Adequate Medical Care, 2021 Case 4:21-cv-00412-SDJ Document 35 Filed 09/17/21 Page 1 of 31 PageID #: 336 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS SHERMAN DIVISION LAUREN KENT, Plaintiff, v. COLLIN COUNTY, TEXAS, et …

Fifth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Texas Prisoner’s Failure-to-Protect Suit

Article • September 1, 2021 • from PLN September, 2021

Filed under: Failure to Protect (Staff), Dismissal

Fifth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Texas Prisoner’s Failure-to-Protect Suit by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On May 5, 2021, the Fifth Circuit court of appeals reversed the dismissal of a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by a Texas state prisoner who alleged an assistant warden failed to protect him from …

Streater v. Allen, TX, Settlement, Jail Conditions, 2021

Brief • August 10, 2021

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Sanitation

Streater v. Allen, TX, Settlement, Jail Conditions, 2021 KEN PAXTON .-\TTORNEY GENER.-\L Of TEXAS .\ugllst lO. 2021 Theodore Streater #(11 43092::! TD(J-Smirh l lnit 131.1 CR 19 Lamesa. l X 79 33 I Re: The,,don• Strelllff 1•. Shurrm .,. f//m, el al '): 15 c,· 11068; USDC - E:1stern Dist.rice …

Seven Guards Fired After Prisoner Dies in TX Jail

Article • August 1, 2021 • from PLN August, 2021

Filed under: Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Restraints, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death)

Seven Guards Fired After Prisoner Dies in TX Jail by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders At 6:22 pm on March 14, 2021, Marvin David Scott III was arrested by police in Allen, Texas for possession of less than two ounces of marijuana. Soon after being transferred to the Collin County …

U.S. Supreme Court Reverses Dismissal of Texas Prisoner’s Feces Covered Cell Lawsuit

Article • July 1, 2021 • from PLN July, 2021

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Exposure to Cold, Sewage, Sanitation

U.S. Supreme Court Reverses Dismissal of Texas Prisoner’s Feces Covered Cell Lawsuit by David Reutter by David M. Reutter In a per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) on November 2, 2020 vacated lower court rulings that held prison officials were entitled to summary judgment in …