Sixth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Retaliation Suit by Pro Se Michigan Prisoner by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a grant of summary judge to a prison official in a lawsuit alleging a prisoner was retaliated against for filling a grievance. It also …
Court Orders In-Person Inspection of Michigan Facility to Determine COVID-19 Policy Compliance by David Reutter by David M. Reutter An in-person inspection of the Calhoun County Correctional Facility (CCCF) to determine if it is compliant with COVID-19 policies was ordered by a Michigan federal district court. “Through filings submitted as …
DOJ Settlement Between USA and Michigan DOC, Right to Religious Worship, 2021 AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS (“AGREEMENT”) I. 1. INTRODUCTION On December 10, 2019, the United States began an investigation into the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) pursuant to the Religious Land Use …
News in Brief by Alabama: In February 2021, Huntsville TV station WHNT reported a delay in the trial on theft and ethics charges of Mike Blakely, sheriff of Limestone County, Alabama. According to the report, retired Colbert County Circuit Judge Pride Tompkins, who had been appointed to hear the case …
Report Calls for the End of Solitary Confinement at Michigan Prisons by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss The Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) houses over 3,200 prisoners in solitary confinement at any given time, according to a report, “Solitary: The Family Experience,” released in February of this year by the …
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 …
Parnall Correctional Facility in Michigan Copes with Scabies Outbreak by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss On January 28, 2021, Parnall Correctional Facility’s chief medical officer announced an extreme infestation of scabies, and the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) declared an institution-wide outbreak. The DOC said all 1,286 prisoners, their clothing …
Confidential Settlement in Case Involving Alleged Pattern of Racist Misconduct in Michigan Prisons by Casey Bastian by Casey Bastian On February 25, 2021, the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) settled an employment discrimination lawsuit filed by a former guard, who alleged he was a victim of anti-Muslim bias from his …
Michigan Begins Video Visits During Coronavirus Pandemic by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Over six months after concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic halted in-person visitation at Michigan state prisons in March 2020, the state Department of Corrections (DOC) launched a pilot program of video visitation on October 9 to …
Bulthouse v. Muskegon County, MI, Complaint, Wrongful Death, 2021 Case 1:21-cv-00281 ECF No. 1, PageID.1 Filed 03/29/21 Page 1 of 125 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN JOHN BULTHOUSE Individually and as Personal Representative for the Estate of Paul Bulthouse, Deceased PLAINTIFF -vs- Case No. HON. COUNTY OF …
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 …
Sixth Circuit Orders Michigan District Court to Review Prisoner’s Plea for Compassionate Release by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a Michigan federal district court to determine if a prisoner showed excusable neglect in filing an appellate notice outside time limitations. The prisoner …
News in Brief by Afghanistan: As fighting continued between Taliban forces and the Afghan military on September 3, 3020, both parties announced they had nearly completed a prisoner exchange negotiated the previous February. According to a report by Japan’s public broadcasting company, HNK, the Taliban said all 1,000 Afghan prisoners …
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, …
Malam and v. Alhalmi, MI, order, medical expert inspection of Calhoun re COVID-19, 2020 Case 5:20-cv-10829-JEL-APP ECF No. 439, PageID.11434 Filed 12/03/20 Page 1 of 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION Janet Malam, Petitioner-Plaintiff, and Qaid Alhalmi, et al., Case No. 20-10829 Judith E. Levy …
Prisoners Exonerated in Michigan After Police Misconduct Revealed by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon On March 24, 2020, Darell Chancellor and Darrell Richmond were ordered to be released from prison by a Wayne County, Michigan district judge who vacated their drug convictions. Chancellor had served nearly eight years, Richmond almost …
News in Brief by Alabama: Chanting “not one more,” about 30 carloads of protesters from “Alabamians Who Care” caravanned to the governor’s mansion in Montgomery on August 1, 2020, protesting a plan by Gov. Kay Ivey (R) to build three new “mega-prisons.” According to a report by Montgomery TV station …
Failed Michigan Jail Site to Host Innovation Center by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The University of Michigan (UM) is building a graduate campus on the grounds of the former site for a new Wayne County Jail (WCJ). The 190,000 square-foot research and graduate education building for UM students …
News in Brief by Alabama: The Birmingham News reported that an Alabama prison guard had been arrested for drug trafficking after a search of his vehicle when he arrived for work at the St. Clair County prison turned up 138 grams of methamphetamine and 16 grams of heroin. Ivan Caldwell, …
Guard Violates Eighth Amendment by Brandishing Knife and Threatening Prisoner’s Life by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On June 26, 2020, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a case in which “a prisoner states an Eighth Amendment claim by alleging that, without provocation, a prison official threatened …
