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ACLU Accepts $37,500 Settlement Over Redacted Records From New Mexico Prison Healthcare Provider

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

Filed under: Wexford Health Services, Settlements, Public Records, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

ACLU Accepts $37,500 Settlement Over Redacted Records From New Mexico Prison Healthcare Provider by Benjamin Tschirhart by Benjamin Tschirhart Wexford Health Sources had been sued over 50 times in just four years when the state of New Mexico terminated the firm’s contract to provide healthcare to state prisons. That was …

Cages Without Bars Are Widening the Net: The Explosion of Electronic Monitoring

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

Filed under: Electronic Monitoring, Police State-Surveillance, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release

Cages Without Bars Are Widening the Net: The Explosion of Electronic Monitoring by James Kilgore, Brian Dolinar   by James Kilgore and Brian Dolinar Electronic monitoring (EM) is rapidly expanding throughout the criminal legal system. COVID-19 is partly responsible for this. The pandemic precipitated jailers’ use of monitors to reduce …

From the Editor

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

Filed under: Editorials

From the Editor by Paul Wright by Paul Wright This month’s cover story on electronicmonitoring (EM) is reporting relatively modern developments with regards to the technology being used to surveil people. But the premise is as old as mass incarceration itself, going back to the early 1980s. Just as some …

Minnesota Department of Corrections Searching for Tattooist for New Prison Program

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

Filed under: Hepatitis, Tattoos

Minnesota Department of Corrections Searching for Tattooist for New Prison Program by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett The Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) began advertising for a new position in April 2022: A professional tattoo artist. The new hire will serve prisoners from a tattoo parlor being opened at Stillwater …

Arizona Prisoners Win Preliminary Injunctions Requiring Centurion To Treat Them

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

Filed under: Centurion, Failure to Treat

Arizona Prisoners Win Preliminary Injunctions Requiring Centurion To Treat Them by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Twice in July 2022, the federal court for the District of Arizona spanked Centurion of Arizona, healthcare provider for the state Department of Corrections (DOC), issuing injunctions to correct mismanagement of prisoner medication. …

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 …