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Seventh Circuit Finds No Problem With Surveillance of Chicago Detainees on Toilets

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Strip Searches, Electronic Surveillance

Seventh Circuit Finds No Problem With Surveillance of Chicago Detainees on Toilets by David Reutter by David M. Reutter   On December 18, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment to Defendant officials of Cook County in a civil rights action …

Eighth Circuit Largely Restores Qualified Immunity to Minnesota Jail Guards in Use of Force on Bipolar Prisoner

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Qualified Immunity, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified

Eighth Circuit Largely Restores Qualified Immunity to Minnesota Jail Guards in Use of Force on Bipolar Prisoner by David Reutter by David M. Reutter   On December 26, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit largely reversed a lower court and restored qualified immunity (QI) to guards …

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Slows the Hand That State DOC Sticks Into Prisoners’ Pockets

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Money/Property, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Slows the Hand That State DOC Sticks Into Prisoners’ Pockets by David Reutter by David M. Reutter   On December 19, 2023, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled for a prisoner who claimed that the state Department of Corrections (DOC) violated his civil rights by upping the …

West Virginia Slammed for High Costs, Low Quality of Privatized Prison Food

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Food/Commissary (Private Prisons), Aramark, Corrections Audits, Food

West Virginia Slammed for High Costs, Low Quality of Privatized Prison Food by Before food service in West Virginia’s prison system was taken over by Aramark Correctional Services, the nation’s largest for-profit food service provider in prisons and jails, all meals were prepared by prisoners, often using fresh vegetables grown …

$500,000 for Texas Teen Sodomized in Jail

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (Juveniles)

$500,000 for Texas Teen Sodomized in Jail by According to final judgment entered in federal court for the Southern District of Texas on December 18, 2023, Brazos County paid $500,000 to a former detainee assaulted at the county jail in October 2022. The victim, identified as “A.R.,” was a minor …

$4 Million Settlement in Class Action Challenging Unconstitutional Conditions at West Virginia Jail

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Wexford Health Services, Primecare Medical, Totality of Conditions, Jail Specific, Bankruptcy

$4 Million Settlement in Class Action Challenging Unconstitutional Conditions at West Virginia Jail by David Reutter by David M. Reutter   West Virginia Division of Corrections (WVDC) officials agreed to pay $4 million on November 8, 2023, to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging unconstitutional conditions at the Southern Regional Jail …

Warden, Eight Employees Arrested After Four Deaths at Wisconsin Prison in Eight Months

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Guard Misconduct

Warden, Eight Employees Arrested After Four Deaths at Wisconsin Prison in Eight Months by Just days before he was set to retire from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC), Waupun Correctional Institution (WCI) Warden Randall Hepp was arrested on June 5, 2024, along with eight other staffers charged in the …

Seventh Kentucky Guard Sentenced for Restrained Prisoner’s Beat-down

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Seventh Kentucky Guard Sentenced for Restrained Prisoner’s Beat-down by Former Kentucky Department of Corrections (DOC) guard Sgt. Eric L. Nantell, 48, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison on June 11, 2024, for beating a restrained prisoner at Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex. The federal court for the Eastern District …

Illinois Prisoner Awarded Over $822,000 For Hernia Care Denied by Wexford Health

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Wexford Health Services, Failure to Treat, Attorney Fee Awards, Attorney Fees (PLRA), Damages - Punitive

Illinois Prisoner Awarded Over $822,000 For Hernia Care Denied by Wexford Health by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney   On April 2, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois denied relief to Wexford Health Sources, Inc., the private healthcare contractor for the state Department of Corrections …

Hearing-Impaired Massachusetts Prisoners Win ADA Case

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Americans with Disabilities Act

Hearing-Impaired Massachusetts Prisoners Win ADA Case by On January 17, 2024, the federal court for the District of Massachusetts issued a ruling in a long-running case brought by hearing-impaired state prisoners, finding that the state Department of Correction (DOC) had violated their rights under Title II of the Americans with …

Maryland Prisoner Prevails in Challenge to Denial of Public Records Requests

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Public Records, Public Records Act

Maryland Prisoner Prevails in Challenge to Denial of Public Records Requests by As PLN has reported, prison and jail employees have been identified in racist or extremist groups. [See: PLN, Feb. 2022, p.40.] The problem was manifested in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, when participating …

$15,000 Net Award for Georgia Prisoner’s Delayed Hep-C Treatment

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Hepatitis, Failure to Treat

$15,000 Net Award for Georgia Prisoner’s Delayed Hep-C Treatment by David Reutter by David Reutter   On April 26, 2024, a long legal battle over his delayed Hepatitis C (HCV) treatment netted Georgia prisoner Ricky Johnson just over $15,000 from Defendant state prison officials and medical personnel. As PLN has …

$8.9 Million Settlement Reached for N.Y. Prisoner’s Death Following Guards’ Baton Beating

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death)

$8.9 Million Settlement Reached for N.Y. Prisoner’s Death Following Guards’ Baton Beating by David Reutter by David M. Reutter   On February 13, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York gave final approval to a settlement paying $8.9 million from the state to the family …

Ohio Supreme Court Says Prisoner’s ‘Kite’ Is Public Record, But Denies Damages for Withholding It

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Public Records Act

Ohio Supreme Court Says Prisoner’s ‘Kite’ Is Public Record, But Denies Damages for Withholding It by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke   On November 22, 2023, the Supreme Court of Ohio reiterated that a prisoner’s “kite”—his communication with staff—is a public record subject to disclosure upon request. Moreover, the Court …

$56.7 Million Awarded to “Harlem Park Three,” Exonerated of Baltimore Murder After 36 Years in Prison

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction

$56.7 Million Awarded to “Harlem Park Three,” Exonerated of Baltimore Murder After 36 Years in Prison by David Reutter by David M. Reutter   On September 29, 2023, Maryland’s Baltimore Board of Estimates approved a $48 million settlement for former state prisoners Alfred Chestnut, Andrew Stewart, Jr. and Ransom Watkins, …

Federal Sentencing Guidelines Place Heavy Burden on Incarcerated Victims of Sexual Assaults

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Prison Rape Elimination Act

Federal Sentencing Guidelines Place Heavy Burden on Incarcerated Victims of Sexual Assaults by David Reutter by David M. Reutter   The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) marked a critical step in condemning and curbing sexual assault and harassment in jails and prisons. Sadly, rape, groping and sexual harassment still occur …

Pell Grant Restoration Not Reaching All Prisoners

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Education

Pell Grant Restoration Not Reaching All Prisoners by Marina Bueno, an incarcerated writer, hopes to attend college but faces a harsh reality—no college classes are offered at her Florida women’s prison in Homestead. In fact, only 326 out of 80,000 state prisoners were enrolled in a college class as of …

Despite Unemployment Spike, Alabama Refuses Prisoners Work-Release Paroles

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Work Release

Despite Unemployment Spike, Alabama Refuses Prisoners Work-Release Paroles by Alabama is notoriously stingy with parole grants to eligible prisoners, but it also leaves many to languish in work-release centers, where the unemployment rate in January 2024 hit 26%—far above the state’s overall rate of just 2.9% Though numbering just 350 …

“You Are Not Above the Law”: Former Indiana Sheriff Jailed for Contempt of Court

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Embezzlement, Police/Govt Misconduct, Contempt - Civil and Criminal

“You Are Not Above the Law”: Former Indiana Sheriff Jailed for Contempt of Court by A $4.8 million embezzlement scheme involving his wife and daughter. A collection of cars and cigars purchased with the ill-gotten gains. More of the money diverted to a former county councilwoman for child support payments …

Idaho Stopped From Repeatedly Scheduling Executions That It Cannot Carry Out

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Injunctions, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty, Death Row, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Punishment, Method of Execution, Lethal Injection, Lethal Injection Method of Execution

Idaho Stopped From Repeatedly Scheduling Executions That It Cannot Carry Out by Douglas Ankney