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Corizon Needs a Checkup: Problems with Privatized Correctional Healthcare

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Private Prisons, GEO Group/Wackenhut, CMS, Prison Health Services, Wexford Health Services, Medical Misconduct, Medication, Systemic Medical Neglect, Private Contractors, Misdiagnosis, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Corizon Needs a Checkup: Problems with Privatized Correctional Healthcare by Greg Dober Corizon, the nation’s largest for-profit medical services provider for prisons, jails and other detention facilities, was formed in June 2011 through the merger of Prison Health Services (PHS) and Correctional Medical Services (CMS). In April 2013, the debt-rating …

News in Brief

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: News, News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: Two prisoners at the Yavapai County Jail have been sentenced for their involvement in a fraudulent tax refund scheme. James Borboa pleaded guilty and on September 8, 2013 received an additional term of 18.5 years in prison for using other prisoners’ IDs to file tax …

Florida County Agrees to Pay $4 Million to Deceased Prisoner’s Estate

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Prison Health Services, Eighth Amendment, Excessive Force, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Restraints, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Florida County Agrees to Pay $4 Million to Deceased Prisoner’s Estate by Derek Gilna Nicholas T. Christie, incarcerated at the Lee County jail in Ft. Myers, Florida, died on March 31, 2009 after being repeatedly pepper sprayed by deputies while strapped to a restraint chair. Following three years of litigation, …

Seventh Circuit Upholds Removal of Prisoner’s Dreadlocks

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Religious Grooming

Seventh Circuit Upholds Removal of Prisoner’s Dreadlocks by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that an Illinois prisoner’s religious rights were not violated when prison officials required him to cut off his dreadlocks to be transported to a court hearing. Peter A. Lewis, incarcerated at the Dixon Correctional …

From the Editor

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Commentary/Reviews, Editorials

From the Editor by Paul Wright This month’s cover story on Corizon, the company formed by the merger of Prison Health Services and Correctional Medical Services, is our most recent reporting on an issue that has been ongoing for the past several decades. Namely, the prison HMO model whereby corrections …

Second Circuit Vacates Magistrate’s Judgment Entered without Consent

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Summary Judgment, Magistrates

Second Circuit Vacates Magistrate’s Judgment Entered without Consent by On March 6, 2013, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the summary judgment dismissal of a New York prisoner’s lawsuit, finding he had not consented to having the case decided by a magistrate judge. Willie James Yeldon filed suit in …

Why There’s an Even Larger Racial Disparity in Private Prisons Than in Public Ones

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Discrimination, Racial Discrimination, Statistics/Trends

Why There’s an Even Larger Racial Disparity in Private Prisons Than in Public Ones by Katie Rose Quandt It’s well known that people of color are vastly overrepresented in U.S. prisons. African-Americans and Latinos constitute 30 percent of the U.S. population and 60 percent of its prisoners. But a new …

Arrest-Proof Yourself, by Dale Carson and Wes Denham

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Commentary/Reviews, Reviews

Arrest-Proof Yourself, by Dale Carson and Wes Denham by John Dannenberg (Chicago Review Press, 2007). 282 pages (paperback), $14.95. Book review by John E. Dannenberg In short, Arrest-Proof Yourself is a colorfully-written manual on how to avoid being arrested. The book’s principal thesis is a hypothetical “electronic plantation” where all …

When Victims Speak Up in Court – in Defense of the Criminals

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Victims, Death Penalty, Mental Health, Assaults on Staff

When Victims Speak Up in Court – in Defense of the Criminals by Andrew Cohen A death penalty case in Colorado has generated an unusual fight between a district attorney and two parents who oppose capital punishment against the man who murdered their son. One of the most profound changes …

Texas Criminal Court Fees are a Tax on Poor Defendants

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Filing Fees, Booking Fees

Texas Criminal Court Fees are a Tax on Poor Defendants by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The Texas legislature has erected such a hodgepodge of criminal court fees that even the court administrators and clerks don’t know how to apply them. These fees, which are frequently not used for their …

California County Not Liable for Misconduct of Jail Guard Not Acting within Scope of Employment

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct

California County Not Liable for Misconduct of Jail Guard Not Acting within Scope of Employment by On April 3, 2013, the California Court of Appeal held that a county is not liable for damages arising out of the misconduct of one of its jail guards when such misconduct is deemed …

Texas Courts Examine Proof of Ability to Pay Probation Fees before Revocation

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Costs, Probation

Texas Courts Examine Proof of Ability to Pay Probation Fees before Revocation by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke In a November 14, 2012 opinion, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held prosecutors are not required to prove that a probationer was able to pay fees and fines when his probation …

A Rare Look Inside the Maine State Prison's "Supermax"

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

A Rare Look Inside the Maine State Prison's "Supermax" by Lance Tapley An almost-clean version of hell by Lance Tapley There was a stain of what looked like blood on the floor of the otherwise shiny-clean, empty Mental Health Unit isolation cell. “It’s Kool-Aid,” said my minder, a deputy warden. …

Eighth Circuit: Denial of Nominal Damages Jury Instruction was Improper

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Food, Eighth Amendment, Restraints, Civil Procedure, Jury Instructions

Eighth Circuit: Denial of Nominal Damages Jury Instruction was Improper by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held on September 4, 2012 that a district court erred when it refused to give a nominal damages jury instruction in a lawsuit brought by a Missouri state prisoner. Another trial was held …

Second Circuit: Videoconference at Resentencing Violates Right to be Present

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Presence at Hearing, Court Appearances, Prisoners-International, Terrorism

Second Circuit: Videoconference at Resentencing Violates Right to be Present by The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has held that resentencing a defendant by videoconference violated his right to be present in court, and the government failed to satisfy its burden of establishing that the defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived …

D.C. Circuit Holds PLRA’s Exhaustion Requirement Inapplicable to Former Prisoner

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: PLRA, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA)

D.C. Circuit Holds PLRA’s Exhaustion Requirement Inapplicable to Former Prisoner by The Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has held that the administrative exhaustion requirement of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) does not apply to suits filed by persons who are no longer incarcerated. The lawsuit …

The Federal Tort Claims Act: A Primer

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Federal Statutory Law, Federal Tort Claims Act

The Federal Tort Claims Act: A Primer by Derek Gilna The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) is outlined in various sections of Chapter 28 of the United States Code, which describe the steps necessary to file and maintain a tort action against the U.S. government. The FTCA is the exclusive …

Taylor County, Texas Rarely Disciplines Jailers

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct

Taylor County, Texas Rarely Disciplines Jailers by Compared to scandals at the Harris County Jail in Houston – where guards have assaulted and had sex with prisoners, mistakenly released prisoners and abandoned their posts to play dominos [see: PLN, Sept. 2013, p.23] – problems at the Taylor County Jail in …

Psst! Hey Man, Need Some Execution Drugs?

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty

Psst! Hey Man, Need Some Execution Drugs? by Officials in Delaware and 31 other states that use lethal injection to execute prisoners are scrambling to find new drugs to carry out death sentences, and in some cases are procuring them through secret exchanges and confidential deals – and from questionable …

Video Visitation a Growing Trend, but Concerns Remain

Article • March 15, 2014 • from PLN March, 2014

Filed under: Visiting

Video Visitation a Growing Trend, but Concerns Remain by A growing trend toward the use of video visitation at jails across the country is drawing the praise of corrections officials and prisoners’ family members alike, though some advocacy groups worry that video visits could pose an undue financial hardship on …