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Florida Arrests Ex-Felons for Voter Fraud

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Felon Disenfranchisement Statute

Florida Arrests Ex-Felons for Voter Fraud by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On August 18, 2022, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced the first fruits of an investigation into allegations of voter fraud tied to the 2020 election. The state Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) arrested 20 ex-felons that …

Music Stops in Fifth Circuit’s Qualified Immunity ‘Dance,’ Leaving Plaintiffs With Shortened Discovery Period

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Discovery, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified, Timeliness of Motion

Music Stops in Fifth Circuit’s Qualified Immunity ‘Dance,’ Leaving Plaintiffs With Shortened Discovery Period by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On June 17, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned a long line of prior decisions to hold that a ruling on defendants’ qualified immunity (QI) …

Plastic Surgery Has a Troubled History Inside Prisons. Some Advocates Want It to Make a Comeback. Should cosmetic procedures be part of how society prepares prisoners to reenter it?

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Surgery, Restrictions, discrimination

Plastic Surgery Has a Troubled History Inside Prisons. Some Advocates Want It to Make a Comeback. Should cosmetic procedures be part of how society prepares prisoners to reenter it? by Zara Stone by Zara Stone, Mother Jones Starting in 2017, Thai media published a series of articles on the country’s …

Louisville Jail Counts 12 Deaths in Ten Months

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Wrongful Death

Louisville Jail Counts 12 Deaths in Ten Months by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott Before November 29, 2021, Louisville Metro Department of Corrections (LMDC) averaged three prisoner deaths per year. Ten months later, that number had skyrocketed; a dozen lives were lost in the lockup by October 3, …

California Prison Guards Sentenced for Assaulting Prisoners

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings

California Prison Guards Sentenced for Assaulting Prisoners by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett A pair of former guards with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) have been sentenced to federal prison for assaulting prisoners, one of whom died. A third guard has also been indicted on charges of …

‘Qualified Immunity Cannot Shield Them’: Fourth Circuit Advances Suit by Virginia Prisoners for Overlong Solitary Confinement

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified

‘Qualified Immunity Cannot Shield Them’: Fourth Circuit Advances Suit by Virginia Prisoners for Overlong Solitary Confinement by Benjamin Tschirhart by Benjamin Tschirhart On June 14, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed denial of qualified immunity (QI) to officials with Virginia’s Department of Corrections (DOC) in …

Guards Fleeing Texas Prisons

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Staffing

Guards Fleeing Texas Prisons by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke According to a March 2022 report published by the Texas State Auditor, the state Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has an extremely high staff turnover rate — 32.8%, compared to a 21.5% rate for all state employees in fiscal year …

Nevada Muslim Prisoner Wins Suit Over Denial of Jumu’ah Prayer

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Summary Judgment, Settlements, Required Religious Programming

Nevada Muslim Prisoner Wins Suit Over Denial of Jumu’ah Prayer by Harold Hempstead by Harold Hempstead On June 14, 2022, the federal Court for the District of Nevada granted summary judgment to a Muslim state prisoner, agreeing with him that the state Department of Corrections (DOC) violated his constitutional rights …

Amended Consent Decree Entered in 11-Year-Old Class-Action Challenging Prisoner Healthcare in Illinois DOC

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Consent Decrees, Class Actions, Inadequate Health Care Facilities

Amended Consent Decree Entered in 11-Year-Old Class-Action Challenging Prisoner Healthcare in Illinois DOC by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On June 24, 2022, U.S. District Judge Jorge L. Alonso of the Northern District of Illinois entered an amended consent decree in a class-action suit challenging prisoner healthcare in the state …

Hawaii Inmate Deaths Are The Highest In 10 Years. But The State Can’t Say Why Corrections officials still aren’t providing a cause of death for 20 of the 23 prisoners who died in Hawaii prisons and j...

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Hawaii Inmate Deaths Are The Highest In 10 Years. But The State Can’t Say Why Corrections officials still aren’t providing a cause of death for 20 of the 23 prisoners who died in Hawaii prisons and jails last year. by Kevin Dayton by Kevin Dayton Hawaii had more inmates die …

Federal Judge in South Carolina Holds BOP Liable for Delayed Treatment That Left Federal Prisoner Partially Blinded

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Eyeglasses, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Bureau of Prisons (BOP)

Federal Judge in South Carolina Holds BOP Liable for Delayed Treatment That Left Federal Prisoner Partially Blinded by Casey Bastian by Casey J. Bastian On May 3, 2022, the federal court for the District of South Carolina granted summary judgment to a federal prisoner left partially blinded by delayed treatment …

$450,000 Settlement to Illinois Prisoner Whose Untreated Boil Left Him Paraplegic

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Wexford Health Services, Systemic Medical Neglect, Settlements

$450,000 Settlement to Illinois Prisoner Whose Untreated Boil Left Him Paraplegic by Harold Hempstead by Harold Hempstead On August 17, 2021, after the IllinoisDepartment of Corrections (DOC) paid $450,000 to settle claims of medical neglect that cost him the use of his legs, a state prisoner successfully petitioned a federal …

$3.5 Million Paid To Estate Of Iowa Jail Detainee Who Suffered Seizure And Died When Left Unattended

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Seizures, Settlements, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

$3.5 Million Paid To Estate Of Iowa Jail Detainee Who Suffered Seizure And Died When Left Unattended by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders On March 14, 2022, an Iowa court awarded $3.5 million to the estate of a pretrial detainee who suffered a seizure and was left to die in …

California Prison Officials Cleared After Prisoner Murders Two Sex Offenders

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Accidents, Prison Brutality

California Prison Officials Cleared After Prisoner Murders Two Sex Offenders by David Reutter by David M. Reutter In a letter to PLN on May 16, 2022, the California Office of the Inspector General (OIG) confirmed that no one was disciplined at the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) following …

Eighth Circuit Revives Missouri Prisoner’s Claim Against Prison Food Manager for Denying Renal Diet

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, Kidney, Food

Eighth Circuit Revives Missouri Prisoner’s Claim Against Prison Food Manager for Denying Renal Diet by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On June 14, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed the grant of summary judgment to a Missouri prison food service director accused of interfering …

$3 Million From Forsyth County, No Stay in Civil Case Against Wellpath Nurse Indicted for Involuntary Manslaughter of N.C. Jail Detainee

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

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

$3 Million From Forsyth County, No Stay in Civil Case Against Wellpath Nurse Indicted for Involuntary Manslaughter of N.C. Jail Detainee by Eike Blohm, MD by Eike Blohm, MD After a federal court in North Carolina declined to stay a civil case against Wellpath and a nurse it employed accused …

California City Ends Private Jail Operator’s Contract After Mass Employee Resignations

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, Staffing

California City Ends Private Jail Operator’s Contract After Mass Employee Resignations by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders On September 7, 2022, the city council in California’s Costa Mesa voted to hire 11 full-time jailers to keep the city lockup open. But at an estimated cost of $1.12 million, the city …

Rhode Island Prisoners Go on Hunger Strike, Staff Denies It

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Hunger Strikes

Rhode Island Prisoners Go on Hunger Strike, Staff Denies It by Benjamin Tschirhart by Benjamin Tshirhart On August 22, 2022, as many as half of the prisoners in the maximum-security unit of Rhode Island’s Adult Correctional Institution staged a hunger strike, protesting conditions in the 144-year-old prison. But officials with …

Third Circuit Agrees With Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Access-to-Courts Claim, But Grants Defendants Qualified Immunity

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Immunity - Absolute and Qualified, Access To Courts

Third Circuit Agrees With Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Access-to-Courts Claim, But Grants Defendants Qualified Immunity by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On June 15, 2022, in a precedential ruling that might help the next prisoner plaintiff, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that “a prisoner has a …

BOP Settles for $4.18 Million With Six Prisoners Raped by Guard at Now-Shuttered Manhattan Federal Jail

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Settlements

BOP Settles for $4.18 Million With Six Prisoners Raped by Guard at Now-Shuttered Manhattan Federal Jail by Casey Bastian by Casey J. Bastian The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has been under intense scrutiny from lawmakers over misconduct by guards and officials at multiple prisons. Some of the worst behavior …