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News in Brief

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

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by California: A guard at San Quentin State Prison and one of two outside co-conspirators were arraigned on September 8, 2021, on federal charges they smuggled cellphones to an unnamed prisoner on death row at the California lockup. According to a statement by the U.S. Department of …

Mississippi Supreme Court Applies Pro Se Leniency in Reversing Dismissal of Prisoner’s Lawsuit Challenging Prison Disciplinary Action

Article • September 15, 2021 • from PLN September, 2021

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Constitutional Challenges/Law

Mississippi Supreme Court Applies Pro Se Leniency in Reversing Dismissal of Prisoner’s Lawsuit Challenging Prison Disciplinary Action by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On April 29, 2021, the Supreme Court of Mississippi reversed the dismissal of a Mississippi Department of Corrections (DOC) prisoner’s pro se lawsuit challenging a prison disciplinary …

The Fight Over Cellphones in Prisons Rages On

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

Filed under: Cell Phone Access

The Fight Over Cellphones in Prisons Rages On by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna The COVID-19 pandemic and resultant shut-downs have focused attention on the need for connection between all members of society, and for many prisoners, denied in-person visits, a contraband cellphone has helped them keep in touch with …

News in Brief

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

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: On June 9, 2021, a former guard at the Federal Correctional Institution in Aliceville, Alabama, agreed to plead guilty to federal charges that he had sexual intercourse with a prisoner in the laundry room at the women’s prison west of Tuscaloosa. According to the Birmingham …

News in Brief

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

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: According to a report by the Alabama Political Reporter, a state prisoner was fatally stabbed by another man incarcerated with him at Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore on May 4, 2021—just one day before his scheduled release, which would also have been his twenty-fourth birthday. …

News in Brief

Article • June 1, 2021 • from PLN June, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Australia: A February 2021 ruling by the Supreme Court in the Australian province of Victoria presented “a rare win” for a prisoner contesting prison procedures, according to a report by The Conversation. The convict, 56-year-old Craig Minogue, argued that Barwon Prison’s random drug testing and strip-searching …

Auditor Appalled at Lack of Spending Controls in Mississippi Prison System

Article • June 1, 2021 • from PLN June, 2021

Filed under: Corrections Audits, Cost of Prison Systems

Auditor Appalled at Lack of Spending Controls in Mississippi Prison System by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Mississippi State Auditor on December 16, 2020, issued a report that made 18 findings of deficiencies within the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC). MDOC has been plagued with violence, staff shortages, …

Disability Rights, MS, Cruel and Unsusual Punishment in Mississippi Prisons, 2021

Publication • 2021

Filed under: Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Disability Rights, MS, Cruel and Unsusual Punishment in Mississippi Prisons, 2021 ~irtf DISABILITY IA-sl~I IR I G IHI TS I MISSISSIPPI Cruel and Unusual Punishment in Mississippi Prisons: A Tale of Abuse, Discrimination & Undue Death Sentences A SPECIAL REPORT FROM DISABILITY RIGHTS MISSISSIPPI EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Investigations by Disability Rights …

Mississippi Joins Illinois and Few Other States Prioritizing Vaccination of State Prisoners to Slow Spread of COVID-19

Article • April 1, 2021 • from PLN April, 2021

Filed under: COVID-19

Mississippi Joins Illinois and Few Other States Prioritizing Vaccination of State Prisoners to Slow Spread of COVID-19 by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) officials announced on March 19, 2021, that they were beginning mass vaccination of the state’s roughly 17,000 prisoners with doses provided to …

News in Brief

Article • April 1, 2021 • from PLN April, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Two Alabama jail guards were arrested in just two months for allegedly smuggling cellphones to inmates. In February 2021, 27-year-old D’Mario Jones was fired and charged with two counts of promoting prison contraband at the Lee County Detention Center in Opelika where he worked. According …

Mississippi Department of Corrections Lifts Smoking Ban at its Prisons

Article • March 1, 2021 • from PLN March, 2021

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Smoking

Mississippi Department of Corrections Lifts Smoking Ban at its Prisons by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders Mississippi joined 28 other states by removing a tobacco ban at the state’s prisons. As of February 1, 2021, both prisoners and staff are allowed to smoke outdoors in designated areas determined by each …

Successive Corruption Scandal Rocks Mississippi Prison System

Article • March 1, 2021 • from PLN March, 2021

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct

Successive Corruption Scandal Rocks Mississippi Prison System by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon "We are the ones who are supposed to be protecting society from the criminals, not be the criminals,” the commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) said at a September 18, 2020 press conference. “So we …

Centurion Opts Out of Mississippi Prison Medical Contract

Article • March 1, 2021 • from PLN March, 2021

Filed under: Centurion

Centurion Opts Out of Mississippi Prison Medical Contract by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Citing Mississippi’s refusal to invest in prison facilities and staff, private medical vendor Centurion pulled out of its contract with the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) to provide medical and mental health care to prisoners. …

News in Brief

Article • March 1, 2021 • from PLN March, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: In January 2021, two women who worked at an Arizona state prison operated by Florida-based GEO Group pleaded guilty to having sex with inmates there. Melony Petrovffsky, 50, ran the commissary for the private contractor at a prison in Golden Valley, where she was allegedly …

No-Show Prison Workers Cost Mississippi Taxpayers Millions

Article • February 1, 2021 • from PLN February, 2021

Filed under: Cost of Prison Systems, Staffing

No-Show Prison Workers Cost Mississippi Taxpayers Millions by Joseph Neff, Alysia Santo Prisoners, guards face danger from chronic understaffing by MTC by Joseph Neff and Alysia Santo, The Marshall Project This article was published in partnership with The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi Today and The Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting. When Darrell …

Experts Find “Deplorable” Conditions at Mississippi’s Parchman Prison

Article • February 1, 2021 • from PLN February, 2021

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, Conditions of Confinement

Experts Find “Deplorable” Conditions at Mississippi’s Parchman Prison by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The conditions under which residents exist at Parchman are subhuman and deplorable in a civilized society,” wrote Dr. Marc Stern, a correctional health-care consultant hired by lawyers representing Parchman prisoners, in a report to federal …

News in Brief

Article • January 1, 2021 • from PLN January, 2021

News in Brief by Alabama: On August 21, 2020, Sylvester Hartley became the seventh prisoner to die of complications from COVID-19 at Alabama’s St. Clair Correctional Facility, according to a report in the St. Clair News-Aegis. The 60-year-old, who was serving a life-without-parole sentence for three counts of first-degree kidnapping, …

Woman Sues Mississippi Parole Board for Discrimination and Retaliation

Article • December 1, 2020 • from PLN December, 2020

Filed under: Gender Discrimination -- Women, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release

Woman Sues Mississippi Parole Board for Discrimination and Retaliation by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso On March 27, 2020, a lawsuit filed in a county court the previous year against the Mississippi Parole Board (MPB) by state prisoner Anita Krecic was refiled in federal court, alleging MPB has discriminated …

Teen Spends 17 Months in Mississippi Jail Without Indictment

Article • December 1, 2020 • from PLN December, 2020

Filed under: State Actors

Teen Spends 17 Months in Mississippi Jail Without Indictment by Daniel A. Rosen by Daniel A. Rosen A 16-year-old in Mississippi has spent almost a year and a half in an adult jail without being indicted, according to a July 30, 2020, article in The Appeal. And his case is …

Former Angola Warden Burl Cain Appointed Head of Mississippi Prison System

Article • November 1, 2020 • from PLN November, 2020

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Government Misconduct

Former Angola Warden Burl Cain Appointed Head of Mississippi Prison System by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke Former Louisiana State Penitentiary Warden Burl Cain’s 21-year tenure running the prison complex at Angola was both long and controversial. His critics accused him of religious bias, blatant racial prejudice and excessive use …