Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Arizona Challenge to Private Prisons by In 2020, the Arizona chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and two state prisoners filed a federal class-action suit, challenging the state’s use of privately-operated prisons on a variety of constitutional grounds. The …
Ninth Circuit Reinstates Religious Exercise Claim from Arizona “Christian-Israelite” Prisoner Denied Passover Meal by Michael Thompson In 2017, a prisoner describing himself as a “Christian-Israelite” was denied access to his Arizona prison’s Passover meal after the unit chaplain challenged his religious beliefs. Michael Ray Fuqua was incarcerated at the Arizona …
News in Brief by Alabama: Kadarius Shermaine Todd, 28, a new guard still on probationary status at the Madison County Jail, was fired on April 4, 2025, after allegedly attempting to smuggle contraband into the lockup. He was apprehended upon arrival to meet a contact with a package containing Suboxone, …
Four Arizona Prisoners Dead After Being Celled with Leader of 2004 Standoff by Three Arizona prisoners were murdered at the state prison complex in Tucson on April 4, 2025, by fellow prisoner Ricky Wassenaar, 61. He claimed to have a fourth victim, too, who died in November 2024, but state …
Tucson Program Slashes Pretrial Misdemeanor Incarceration by Writing to the Board of Supervisors of Arizona’s Pima County on November 7, 2024, County Administrator Jan Lesher reported striking results from first-year operations of its Transition Center in Tucson: Since it opened in September 2023, the share of those held at the …
Ninth Circuit: Posting Jail Mugshots on Arizona County’s Website Violates Substantive Due Process by Like many jurisdictions, Arizona’s Maricopa County maintained a website where mugshots were posted of those arrested and booked into the county jail. The photos were accompanied by personal identifying information, including names and birthdates. But after …
Ohio Pauses Executions, Louisiana and Arizona Race Ahead by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) reprieved three condemned state prisoners on February 13, 2025, pushing their execution dates years down the road to give the state time to fix its broken supply chain of lethal injections drug. But Louisiana Gov. Jeff …
14 Overdoses in Two Weeks Leave One Dead at Phoenix Jail by Two detainees overdosed at the Maricopa County Jail in Phoenix on February 18, 2025, joining another dozen who overdosed the week before—one of whom later died. Deputies of newly elected Sheriff Jerry Sheridan suspected that one or more …
News in Brief by Alabama: Former Crenshaw County Jail Administrator Christian Alexander Porter, 33, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of excessive force, falsifying records and witness tampering on January 28, 2025. According to the Washington Post, the charges stem from an October 2021 incident in which …
Federal Withdrawal of Single-Drug Execution Protocol Follows Challenges in Indiana, Arizona by On January 16, 2025, days before Pres. Donald J. Trump (R) returned to office for a second term, outgoing U.S. Attorney General (AG) Merrick Garland withdrew the Department of Justice (DOJ) protocol under which condemned federal prisoners are …
Failures Brought to Light in Arizona Prison System’s COVID-19 Response by The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Re-entry (DCRR) has faced bitter criticism for the healthcare provided to state prisoners, which a federal judge in 2022 called “plainly, grossly inadequate,” as PLN reported. [See: PLN, Dec. 2022, p.1.] So …
The Grift That Keeps on Giving: $33 Million for State Prisons Generated by Seized Native Land by In 2024, land trusts in 10 states generated an estimated $33 million in revenue for their prison systems. The figure was estimated from reports by Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, …
“Happy Mother’s Day”: $1,353,000 Settlement Approved for Migrant Parents Separated from Minor Kids at Border by Matthew Clarke by Matthew Thomas Clarke On July 2, 2024, the federal court for the District of Arizona approved settlement of a lawsuit brought against the United States by former immigration detainees under the …
Ninth Circuit Revives Lawsuit Over Arizona Prisoner’s Heat-Related Death by The family of Monnie Washburn moved one step closer to holding Arizona prison officials accountable for his preventable heat-related death. On September 10, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court’s grant of …
HRDC v. Arizona Dept of Corrections, AZ, Complaint, Public Records Violation, 2025 y FEB 1 8 2025 1 David l Bodney (006065) bodneyd@ballardspahr.com 2 Matthew E. Kelley (037353) 3 kelleym@ballardspahr.com Helen Hitz (039579) 4 hitzh@ballardspahr.com 5 BALLARD SPAHR LLP 1 East Washington Street, Suite 2300 6 Phoenix, AZ 85004-2555 Telephone: …
HRDC v. Arizona Dept of Corrections, AZ, Complaint, Public Records Violation, 2025 y FEB 1 8 2025 1 David l Bodney (006065) bodneyd@ballardspahr.com 2 Matthew E. Kelley (037353) 3 kelleym@ballardspahr.com Helen Hitz (039579) 4 hitzh@ballardspahr.com 5 BALLARD SPAHR LLP 1 East Washington Street, Suite 2300 6 Phoenix, AZ 85004-2555 Telephone: …
Arizona To Resume Executions by On November 26, 2024, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) dismissed David Duncan, the head of the state Independent Death Penalty Review committee that she appointed in January 2023 to review execution procedures after a series of state killings that Hobbs called “botched.” But when executions …
Arizona DCRR Ordered to Fill Prison Medical Staff Vacancies—Again by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On June 3, 2024, the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (DCRR) was ordered to implement a pilot program that would immediately bring two state prison complexes up to medical staffing levels recommended by …
News in Brief by Alabama: Former state Department of Corrections (DOC) guard Henry Guice, Jr., 46, was sentenced to 75 months in federal prison on September 9, 2024, for his role in a drug smuggling conspiracy at Staton Correctional Facility. The Birmingham News reported that a fellow guard was inspecting …
Another Payout Brings Arizona Prisoner’s Total to $92,850 by On June 6, 2024, Arizona prisoner Edmund Powers settled a claim against three state Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (DCRR) guards for $850. Though relatively small, it was Powers’ third such settlement since 2020, bringing his total payout to $92,850. …
