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HRDC v. BOCC Pontotoc Co, OK, Consent Decree, Censorship, 2019

Brief • January 31, 2019

Filed under: PLN Litigation, Censorship

HRDC v. BOCC Pontotoc Co, OK, Consent Decree, Censorship, 2019 6:18-cv-00149-RAW Document 37 Filed in ED/OK on 01/31/19 Page 1 of 5 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE CENTER, a not–for–profit corporation, Plaintiff, v. Case No. 6:18-CV-00149-RAW BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS …

Former Jailhouse Lawyer Bobby Battle Dies at Age 80

Article • December 5, 2018 • from PLN December, 2018

Filed under: Eulogies, Prison Reform, Criminal justice system reform

Former Jailhouse Lawyer Bobby Battle Dies at Age 80 by Monte McCoin by Monte McCoin Former prisoner Bobby Battle, an Oklahoma City native with a sixth-grade education who filed a lawsuit that ultimately led to historic reforms and the desegregation of Oklahoma prisons, died on December 25, 2017 at the …

Oklahoma County Pays $150,000 to Settle Suit Over Jail Suicide

Article • November 6, 2018 • from PLN November, 2018

Filed under: Settlements, Suicides

Oklahoma County Pays $150,000 to Settle Suit Over Jail Suicide by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna Nathan Daniel Bradshaw, 32, hung himself at the Tulsa County, Oklahoma jail, five days after his arrest on a bench warrant for a larceny charge, and died shortly thereafter in a Tulsa hospital. Last …

HRDC Sues Oklahoma County Jail for Censoring Books

Article • November 6, 2018 • from PLN November, 2018

Filed under: Publications/Books, PLN Litigation, Censorship

HRDC Sues Oklahoma County Jail for Censoring Books by Steve Horn by Steve Horn The Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), which publishes Prison Legal News, filed a lawsuit on May 9, 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma against Pontotoc County and Sheriff John Christian, …

Two Former Oklahoma Death Row Prisoners Obtain $3.15 Million Settlement

Article • October 12, 2018 • from PLN October, 2018

Filed under: Eighth Amendment, Attorney Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Death Row

Two Former Oklahoma Death Row Prisoners Obtain $3.15 Million Settlement by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna Last year, Yancy L. Douglas, 43, and Paris Lapriest Powell, 44, former death row prisoners in Oklahoma, accepted a total $3.15 million settlement in their federal civil rights lawsuits brought against their prosecutor and …

Jail’s Failure to Protect Juvenile from Sexual Assault Supports $25,000 Verdict

Article • September 5, 2018 • from PLN September, 2018

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

Jail’s Failure to Protect Juvenile from Sexual Assault Supports $25,000 Verdict by David Reutter by David Reutter The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a $25,000 verdict in a civil rights action alleging the sheriff in Tulsa County, Oklahoma was deliberately indifferent to conditions that resulted in a 17-year-old prisoner …

Oklahoma Prisoners, Advocacy Group File Short-lived Lawsuit Alleging Corruption

Article • September 3, 2018 • from PLN September, 2018

Filed under: Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, GEO Group/Wackenhut, Parole

Oklahoma Prisoners, Advocacy Group File Short-lived Lawsuit Alleging Corruption by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke In August 2017, Oklahoma state prisoners and the non-profit All In One Project filed a federal civil rights suit arguing political contributions made by private prison firms to state officials led to contracts with those …

Arkansas and Oklahoma Rehab Programs Sued for Using Court-ordered Defendants for Forced Labor

Article • August 6, 2018 • from PLN August, 2018

Filed under: Prison Labor, Class Certification, Drug Treatment/Rehab

Arkansas and Oklahoma Rehab Programs Sued for Using Court-ordered Defendants for Forced Labor by David Reutter by David Reutter A federal lawsuit filed in October 2017 accuses an Arkansas-based drug rehab center of “human trafficking and forced labor” for abusing a court-ordered pre-trial diversion program. The rehab center reportedly compelled …

Vera Institute of Justice--The New Dynamics of Mass Incarceration Report, 2018

Publication • June 1, 2018

Filed under: Prison Reform, Criminal justice system reform, Crime/Demographics, Statistics/Trends, Census, Overcrowding, Jail Specific, Rural Prisons, Bail, Bail Bonds, Mental Health, Drug Treatment/Rehab

Vera Institute of Justice--The New Dynamics of Mass Incarceration Report, 2018 The New Dynamics of Mass Incarceration Jacob Kang-Brown, Oliver Hinds, Jasmine Heiss, and Olive Lu June 2018 From The Director The turn of the century marked a new direction for the nation’s prisons and jails: after three decades of …

Vera Institute of Justice--The New Dynamics of Mass Incarceration Fact Sheet, 2018

Publication • June 1, 2018

Filed under: Prison Reform, Criminal justice system reform, Statistics/Trends, Census, Conditions of Confinement, Rural Prisons

Vera Institute of Justice--The New Dynamics of Mass Incarceration Fact Sheet, 2018 The New Dynamics of Mass Incarceration After decades of continuous and unified growth across all states from the 1970s to the early 2000s, the landscape of U.S. incarceration fragmented into distinct trends. The last decade has been characterized …

In the Public Interest - An Examination of Private Financing for Correctional and Immigration Detention Facilities, 2018

Publication • June 1, 2018

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Staff Assault, Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, GEO Group/Wackenhut, Prison Industries, Workplace Injury, Work Conditions/Safety, Prison Gangs, Staffing, Security Systems, Guard Brutality/Beatings

In the Public Interest - An Examination of Private Financing for Correctional and Immigration Detention Facilities, 2018 An examination of private financing for correctional and immigration detention facilities Report · In the Public Interest · June 2018 While governments have traditionally used municipal bonds to finance the construction of correctional …

Oklahoma Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Lift Prison Smoking Ban

Article • May 9, 2018 • from PLN May, 2018

Filed under: Smoking, State Legislation

Oklahoma Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Lift Prison Smoking Ban by Monte McCoin by Monte McCoin The Enid News & Eagle reported on February 23, 2018 that Oklahoma State Representative Rick West had introduced a bill to dismantle a six-year ban on cigarette sales and smoking inside state prisons. The measure, …

Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Oklahoma Sheriffs – All of Them

Article • May 9, 2018 • from PLN May, 2018

Filed under: Private Prisons, Contractor Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Criminal justice system reform, Bond Fees, Booking Fees

Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Oklahoma Sheriffs – All of Them by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna A federal lawsuit was filed in November 2017 against every sheriff in the state of Oklahoma, along with judges, court officials and the Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association, challenging a scheme that turned unpaid court fees …

HRDC v. BOCC Pontotoc Co, OK, Complaint, Censorship, 2018

Filing • May 9, 2018

Filed under: PLN Litigation, Censorship

HRDC v. BOCC Pontotoc Co, OK, Complaint, Censorship, 2018 6:18-cv-00149-RAW Document 2 Filed in ED/OK on 05/09/18 Page 1 of 11 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA (1) HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE CENTER, a not–for–profit corporation, Plaintiff, v. Case No. ___________ 18-CV-149-RAW (1) BOARD OF …

California Prisoners File Class-action Suit Seeking Hepatitis C Treatment

Article • April 2, 2018 • from PLN April, 2018

Filed under: Medication, Hepatitis, Failure to Treat, Class Certification

California Prisoners File Class-action Suit Seeking Hepatitis C Treatment by Greg Dober by Gregory Dober In 2013, the FDA approved two new life-saving hepatitis C (HCV) drugs known as simeprevir (brand named Olysio) and sofosbuvir (brand named Sovaldi). The drugs, a new class of medication called direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), were …

Johnson v. CoreCivic complaint, wrongful death, 2018

Brief • March 26, 2018

Filed under: Prison Gangs, Medical, Failure to Treat, Eighth Amendment, Excessive Force, Staff Training

Johnson v. CoreCivic complaint, wrongful death, 2018 Case 1:18-cv-01051-STA-egb Document 1 Filed 03/26/18 Page 1 of 9 PageID 1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE JACKSON DIVISION CAROLYN JOHNSON, as survivor and next of kin of EARL WAYNE JOHNSON, deceased, Plaintiff, vs. CORECIVIC, INC., …

$242,500 Settles Jail Rape Suit in Okla.

Article • March 6, 2018 • from PLN March, 2018

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Prisoner-Visitor Assault, Jail Specific, Settlements

$242,500 Settles Jail Rape Suit in Okla. by On May 24, 2017, Tulsa County officials paid $242,500 to resolve a federal complaint filed by a woman who was reportedly raped by a male prisoner while she was held at the David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Aleshia …

Prisoner Suicides a Problem in Oklahoma

Article • January 31, 2018 • from PLN February, 2018

Filed under: Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides

Prisoner Suicides a Problem in Oklahoma by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke A rash of suicides at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary (OSP) in McAlester gave it the highest suicide rate among Oklahoma prisons – six times that of the second-highest. According to a February 20, 2017 article by Oklahoma Watch, …

They Thought They Were Going to Rehab. They Ended up in Chicken Plants

Article • January 8, 2018 • from PLN January, 2018

Filed under: Prison Labor, Drug Treatment/Rehab

They Thought They Were Going to Rehab. They Ended up in Chicken Plants by Amy Julia Harris, Shoshana Walter by Amy Julia Harris and Shoshana Walter, Reveal The worst day of Brad McGahey’s life was the day a judge decided to spare him from prison. McGahey was 23 with dreams of …

Lawsuit Claims CoreCivic Allowed Corruption and Gangs to Flourish at Oklahoma Prison

Article • January 8, 2018 • from PLN January, 2018

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Contractor Misconduct, Prison Gangs, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Excessive Force (Wrongful Death)

Lawsuit Claims CoreCivic Allowed Corruption and Gangs to Flourish at Oklahoma Prison by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The family of a prisoner who was maced by guards as he bled to death at an Oklahoma prison operated by CoreCivic--then known as Corrections Corporation of America--has filed a lawsuit alleging …