Virginia Department of Corrections Confirms Visitation Not Primary Means of Contraband Introduction by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss The Virginia Mercury reported this year that the COVID-19 pandemic has proven that a vast majority of contraband being introduced into the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) has not been coming from …
News in Brief by Alabama: A former guard at the Mobile Metro Jail was scheduled to be arraigned on May 19, 2021, after being indicted for his role in an alleged scheme to smuggle cellphones into the Alabama lockup in exchange for bribes. According to a report by local TV …
Fourth Circuit: No Privacy Expectation Exists for Prisoner in Diagnosis and Treatment of HIV by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a prisoner does not have a “reasonable expectation of privacy” in his HIV status while in a prison medical unit. The …
CFPB and Three States Sue Over Predatory Immigrant Bail and GPS Scam by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A federal lawsuit alleges that Nexus Services, Inc., “preys on consumers held in federal detention centers by offering to pay for consumers’ immigration bonds to secure their release.” In exchange, the …
Smart Communications Contract Reveals Plans for Expanding Privatized Prison Mail by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss The Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) has been negotiating with a newly organized company called Smart Communications (SC), per a March 24, 2021 article in Vice. Built by CEO Jon Logan, the company’s purpose …
Anti-Parole Whistleblower Prompts Investigation of Virginia Parole Board by Casey Bastian by Casey J. Bastian Following a series of complaints resulting from the parole of 329 Virginia state prisoners in 2020, a whistleblower released several emails sent between members of the Virginia Parole Board (“VPB”) employees. The leaked emails were …
Virginia Federal Court Sentences Former Superintendent of Rockbridge County Jail to 51 Months in Prison for Brutality and Corruption by In May 2021, the former supervisor of Virginia’s Rockbridge County Regional Jail was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison after he was convicted for violating the civil rights of …
Virginia Prison Guards Attack Prisoners with Dogs by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders Two prisoners recently filed suit against the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) alleging that guards used unmuzzled dogs to attack and maul them. The plaintiffs are represented by Kelly Jo Popkin, an attorney with Rights Behind Bars, …
Virginia Votes to Abolish Death Penalty by Jayson Hawkins by Jayson Hawkins The use of DNA testing to overturn hundreds of wrongful convictions in the U.S. has revealed deep racial inequalities in the criminal justice system. Emboldened by victories at the polls in 2018 and 2020, Democrats are calling for …
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 …
GEO Group Puts Money, Lobbyist into Defeating Bill to Prohibit Private Prisons in Virginia by David Reutter by David M. Reutter As Virginia was poised to consider a bill to end private prisons, the GEO Group entered the fray with donations to legislators and lobbyists. The bill met a quick …
Fourth Circuit Holds Immigrant Children’s Mental Health Care Should Be Up to Professional Standards by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held “that a facility caring for unaccompanied children fails to provide a constitutionally adequate level of mental health care if it departs from …
Boley v. Armor Correctional Health Services, Inc, VA, Complaint, Wrongful Death-Medical Neglect, 2021 Case 2:21-cv-00197-RCY-LRL Document 1 Filed 04/14/21 Page 1 of 28 PageID# 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA Norfolk Division JAMES A. BOLEY, JR., ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF ROBERT LEE BOLEY, DECEASED, …
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 …
Virginia Settles Two Lawsuits Over Misuse of Solitary Confinement by Daniel A. Rosen by Daniel A. Rosen Virginia recently settled two outstanding lawsuits alleging the abuse of solitary confinement. Taken together, the payouts cost the state’s taxpayers over $250,000. At a time when Virginia’s General Assembly made progress on other …
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Nexus Services, VA, Complaint, Deceptive and Threatening Practices, 2021 Case 5:21-cv-00016-EKD Document 1 Filed 02/22/21 Page 1 of 49 Pageid#: 1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA Harrisonburg Division CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU; COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS; THE PEOPLE OF …
Virginia Court of Appeals Upholds Lifetime Probation With Bar on Personal Internet Use in Response to Sex Offender’s Probation Violation by In an unpublished opinion issued on December 17, 2019, the Court of Appeals of Virginia upheld the probation conditions imposed on a sex offender for probation violations, including requiring …
Fourth Circuit: ADA Relief Claims Improperly Dismissed in Virginia by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson On July 20, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a Virginia prisoner’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claim stemming from the denial of a prison …
