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Fifth Circuit Finds “Opaque” Mississippi Prison Grievance System “Incapable of Use”

Article • May 1, 2023 • from PLN May, 2023

Filed under: Grievances

Fifth Circuit Finds “Opaque” Mississippi Prison Grievance System “Incapable of Use” by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On August 16, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that grievance procedure rules which the Mississippi Department of Corrections (DOC) published online – but which were not given …

News in Brief

Article • April 1, 2023 • from PLN April, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: WBAM in Birmingham reported that a guard at the Blount County Jail was taken into custody and fired on January 31, 2023. Joseph Snow, 43, was charged with second-degree assault for injuring a detainee during an incident captured on surveillance video. Sheriff Mike Moon called …

News in Brief

Article • March 1, 2023 • from PLN March, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by News in Brief Alabama: On January 9, 2023, the Montgomery Police Department (MPD) arrested a guard at the city jail for an alleged off-duty assault, the Birmingham News reported. It’s unclear who filed the misdemeanor complaint against Reba Foulks, 36; MPD didn’t begin its investigation until …

News in Brief

Article • February 1, 2023 • from PLN February, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: WHNT in Huntsville reported on December 16, 2022, that a Morgan County Jail detainee was charged with assaulting a guard. Ashley Nicole Taymon, 36, had gotten into an altercation at the Community Corrections Office five days earlier and was taken to a hospital. There she …

Fifth Circuit: No Qualified Immunity for Mississippi Sheriffs in Suit Over Mentally Ill Man’s Years-long Unlawful Detention

Article • February 1, 2023 • from PLN February, 2023

Filed under: Overdetention, Involuntary Treatment/Drugging, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified

Fifth Circuit: No Qualified Immunity for Mississippi Sheriffs in Suit Over Mentally Ill Man’s Years-long Unlawful Detention by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On August 24, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a district court’s denial of qualified immunity (QI) to the current and former …

Fifth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Mississippi Cops Who Let Injured Hemophiliac Bleed Out in Jail

Article • February 1, 2023 • from PLN February, 2023

Filed under: Blood, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified

Fifth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Mississippi Cops Who Let Injured Hemophiliac Bleed Out in Jail by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On July 15, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the denial of qualified immunity (QI) to Mississippi jailers accused of ignoring the injuries …

Under New Mississippi Law, State Chooses Execution Method

Article • February 1, 2023 • from PLN February, 2023

Filed under: Death Penalty/Death Row

Under New Mississippi Law, State Chooses Execution Method by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A Mississippi law that became effective on July 1, 2022, gives the state Department of Corrections (DOC) the discretion to choose the method of execution for a condemned prisoner. In addition, it added nitrogen hypoxia, …

Brister v. Cain, MS, Stipulation of Dismissal, Prison Conditions, 2023

Brief • January 13, 2023

Filed under: Prison Conditions

Brister v. Cain, MS, Stipulation of Dismissal, Prison Conditions, 2023 Case: 4:20-cv-00007-SA-JMV Doc #: 396 Filed: 01/13/23 1 of 2 PageID #: 12018 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI GREENVILLE DIVISION PLAINTIFFS PITRELL BRISTER, et al. NO. 4:20-CV-7-SA-JMV V. DEFENDANTS NATHAN BURL CAIN, et …

Brister v. Cain, MS, Order, Prison Conditions, 2023

Brief • January 13, 2023

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Sanitation, Prison Conditions

Brister v. Cain, MS, Order, Prison Conditions, 2023 Case: 4:20-cv-00007-SA-JMV Doc #: 395 Filed: 01/13/23 1 of 1 PageID #: 12017 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI GREENVILLE DIVISION PITRELL BRISTER, et al. PLAINTIFFS V. NO. 4:20-CV-7-SA-JMV NATHAN BURL CAIN, et al. DEFENDANTS ORDER …

Mississippi Reopens Walnut Grove Prison Just in Time for Prison Population Explosion

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

Filed under: Overcrowding, Rural Prisons

Mississippi Reopens Walnut Grove Prison Just in Time for Prison Population Explosion by Harold Hempstead byHarold Hempstead In October 2022, the Mississippi Corrections and Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force reported there were 2,192 more state prisoners than the year before. That pushed the state Department of Corrections (DOC) close to …

Mississippi Demands $1.9 Million From MTC For Short-Staffing Private State Prison

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

Filed under: Management and Training Corporation, Staffing, Fines

Mississippi Demands $1.9 Million From MTC For Short-Staffing Private State Prison by Kevin Bliss by Kevin W. Bliss On November 14, 2022, Mississippi State Auditor Shad White submitted a civil demand for payment of $1.9 million to Utah-based private prison operator Management and Training Corporation (MTC) for violating its contractual …

Former Deputy Warden Gets Two Years for Assaulting Mississippi Prisoner

Article • November 30, 2022 • from PLN December, 2022

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings

Former Deputy Warden Gets Two Years for Assaulting Mississippi Prisoner by Kevin Bliss by Kevin W. Bliss On September 2, 2022, the former deputy warden of Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman was sentenced to 24 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for a brutal assault that …

Mississippi Attempts to Offload Prisoner Healthcare Costs Onto Medicaid

Article • October 31, 2022 • from PLN November, 2022

Filed under: Cost of Prison Systems, Health Care Fraud

Mississippi Attempts to Offload Prisoner Healthcare Costs Onto Medicaid by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso On April 21, 2022, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) signed H.B. 936, a new law creating “special care facilities” to house and provide healthcare for about 600 “medically frail” state prisoners eligible for parole …

DOJ Finds Unconstitutional Conditions at Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman

Article • October 31, 2022 • from PLN November, 2022

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement

DOJ Finds Unconstitutional Conditions at Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On April 20, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a report finding conditions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman likely violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of the prisoners …

Over $386,000 Awarded to Mississippi Prisoner, Plus Hip Surgery He Was Denied

Article • October 31, 2022 • from PLN November, 2022

Filed under: Failure to Treat, Settlements

Over $386,000 Awarded to Mississippi Prisoner, Plus Hip Surgery He Was Denied by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On March 31, 2022, the federal court for the Southern District of Mississippi granted a state prisoner’s petition and enjoined the state Department of Corrections (DOC) to provide him total hip …

$6,000 Sanction for Mississippi Federal Prosecutor Who Lied to Court About COVID-19 Vaccination Status

Article • October 31, 2022 • from PLN November, 2022

Filed under: COVID-19, Failure to Protect (General), Sanctions

$6,000 Sanction for Mississippi Federal Prosecutor Who Lied to Court About COVID-19 Vaccination Status by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On July 7, 2022, a federal judge for the Southern District of Mississippi levied a $6,000 sanction against a federal prosecutor for lying about his COVID-19 vaccination status. When …

News in Brief

Article • September 30, 2022 • from PLN October, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A jail guard in Chilton County, Alabama, was arrested on July 21, 2022, and charged with promoting contraband, the Clanton Advertiser reported. The guard, Tyler Ryan Couch, is accused of organizing an effort to smuggle drugs to detainees. Though jail policy forbids guards from transmitting …

Federal Court Puts Troubled Mississippi Jail in Receivership

Article • September 1, 2022 • from PLN September, 2022

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Prison/Jail Murders, Conditions of Confinement

Federal Court Puts Troubled Mississippi Jail in Receivership by David Reutter, Keith Sanders by David Reutter and Keith Sanders On July 29, 2022, the federal court for the Southern District of Mississippi took the dramatic step of placing Hinds County’s Raymond Detention Center (RDC) under federal receivership. A series of …

Three Killed in Gang Activity at Mississippi Private Prisons Plus High-Profile Escape, But Only One MTC Guard Arrested

Article • August 1, 2022 • from PLN August, 2022

Filed under: Management and Training Corporation, Guard Misconduct, Prison Gangs, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death)

Three Killed in Gang Activity at Mississippi Private Prisons Plus High-Profile Escape, But Only One MTC Guard Arrested by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss Though a state investigation concluded a Mississippi prisoner had inside help making a short-lived escape in September 2021, no charges have ever been announced for officials …

Doe v. Fitch, MS, Order on Motion for Atty's Fees and Costs, Sex Offender Registration, 2022

Brief • August 1, 2022

Filed under: Sex Offender Registration, Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act

Doe v. Fitch, MS, Order on Motion for Atty's Fees and Costs, Sex Offender Registration, 2022 Case 3:16-cv-00789-CWR-FKB Document 161 Filed 08/01/22 Page 1 of 18 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI NORTHERN DIVISION ARTHUR DOE, et al. PLAINTIFFS V. CAUSE NO. 3:16-CV-789-CWR-FKB LYNN …