Skip navigation
Prison Legal News

Search

More search options »
358 results
News in Brief
Article • February 1, 2026 • from PLN February, 2026
News in Brief by California: In a ruling that highlights the complexities of holding corrupt staff financially accountable, the California Court of Appeal recently restored the pension of former San Francisco jail guard April Myres, 61, on December 26, 2025. Bloomberg Law reported that federal prosecutors charged Myres in 2017 …
Killings Inside Mississippi’s Prisons Continue Unabated But Report Prompts DOC to Reopen Investigations
Article • February 1, 2026 • from PLN February, 2026
Filed under: Staffing, Education, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, State Legislation
Killings Inside Mississippi’s Prisons Continue Unabated But Report Prompts DOC to Reopen Investigations by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney With at least 42 people killed inside Mississippi’s prisons over the last decade, multiple families are wondering why the Mississippi Department of Corrections (DOC) cannot protect people in its custody or …
Two Mississippi Prisons Lose Power During Winter Storm
Article • February 1, 2026 • from PLN February, 2026
Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Exposure to Cold, Negligence/Reckless Endangerment
Two Mississippi Prisons Lose Power During Winter Storm by The record-setting winter storm in January 2026 that brought freezing temperatures and snowfall to large swathes of the Eastern half of the country left at least 17 people dead and nearly a million without power. Much like the deep freeze that …
Dying Mississippi Prisoner Wins Preservation Testimony in Suit Blaming Terminal Cancer on Exposure to Janitorial Chemicals
Article • November 1, 2025 • from PLN November, 2025
Filed under: Wexford Health Services, Centurion, Eighth Amendment, Deliberate Indifference
Dying Mississippi Prisoner Wins Preservation Testimony in Suit Blaming Terminal Cancer on Exposure to Janitorial Chemicals by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman Susie Annie Balfour, who spent 33 years incarcerated at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF) before her 2021 release, died on August 5, 2025, the victim of metastatic breast …
NEWS IN BRIEF
Article • September 15, 2025 • from PLN October, 2025
Filed under: News in Brief
NEWS IN BRIEF by Alaska: Alaska Public Media reported that former Anchorage Police Department Off. Nathan Keays, 45, convicted of conspiring with a ConocoPhillips employee to embezzle over $3 million from the firm, is seeking a new trial, alleging his conviction was tainted by a secret romantic relationship between two …
Fifth Circuit Greenlights Federal Takeover of Mississippi Jail
Article • August 1, 2025 • from PLN August, 2025
Filed under: Sexual Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Eighth Amendment, Staffing, Stun Guns/Tasers
Fifth Circuit Greenlights Federal Takeover of Mississippi Jail by David Reutter The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit approved the appointment of a receiver to oversee operations of the Raymond Detention Center (RDC) in Hinds County, Mississippi. The district court’s action was a contempt sanction imposed for the …
News in Brief
Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025
Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Failure to Protect (General), Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, halfway houses, New Trial/Judgment of Acquittal, Bribery/Extortion/Theft, Fraud and Deceit
News in Brief by Alabama: Elmore County Jail guard Lita Williams, 57, was arrested and charged with first-degree promoting prison contraband on May 21, 2025, the Wetumpka Herald reported. Her arrest followed discovery of a cellphone in a jail cell during a routine search two weeks prior. Data from the …
Mississippi DOC Issues Almost $300 Million 
in No-Bid Contracts to VitalCore Health
Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025
Filed under: Private Contractors
Mississippi DOC Issues Almost $300 Million in No-Bid Contracts to VitalCore Health by When government agencies—including corrections departments—enter contracts with private companies, they typically go through a competitive bidding process, beginning with a Request for Proposals (RFP). This ensures that taxpayers have access to information used to award government contracts, …
En Banc Fifth Circuit Reverses Panel, Holds Mississippi Felon Disenfranchisement Does Not Violate Eighth Amendment
Article • March 1, 2025 • from PLN March, 2025
Filed under: Eighth Amendment, Felon Disenfranchisement Statute
En Banc Fifth Circuit Reverses Panel, Holds Mississippi Felon Disenfranchisement Does Not Violate Eighth Amendment by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On July 18, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed an earlier holding by a three-judge panel of the Court, which found that § 241 …
News in Brief
Article • February 15, 2025 • from PLN February, 2025
News in Brief by Alabama: Clarke County Jail guard Larissa Thompson was arrested on December 5, 2024, for plotting to smuggle drugs into the lockup, the Thomasville Times reported. An investigation by state law enforcement, the office of County Sheriff DeWayne Smith, and Jackson Police uncovered evidence that Thompson planned …
Two Mississippi Prisoners Escape in One Month
Article • February 15, 2025 • from PLN February, 2025
Filed under: Escapes
Two Mississippi Prisoners Escape in One Month by The Mississippi Department of Corrections (DOC) confirmed that prisoner Drew Johnson, 33, was back in custody on December 25, 2024, a day after escaping from South Mississippi Correctional Institution. It was the second DOC prisoner escape of the month; Gregory Trigg, 45, …
News in Brief
Article • November 15, 2024 • from PLN November, 2024
Filed under: News in Brief
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 …
Houston Detainees Shipped to Private Jails in Mississippi and Louisiana
Article • October 15, 2024 • from PLN October, 2024
Filed under: Private Prisons
Houston Detainees Shipped to Private Jails in Mississippi and Louisiana by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso With the Harris County Jail (HCJ) short 139 guards, minimum staffing ratios set by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) have mathematically capped the number of beds that can be filled at …
News in Brief
Article • October 15, 2024 • from PLN October, 2024
Filed under: News in Brief
News in Brief by Arizona: State prisoner Brigido Montoya made the briefest of escapes from the State Prison Complex in Eyman on August 10, 2024, before he was recaptured 48 minutes later by Florence Police, the Florence Reminder & Blade-Tribune reported. The state Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (DCRR) …
News in Brief
Article • September 15, 2024 • from PLN September, 2024
Filed under: News in Brief
News in Brief by Alabama: Mobile Metro Jail guard Robert Aaron Small was fired and arrested for assault on June 27, 2024, one day after he allegedly used excessive force against an unnamed detainee. WKRG in Mobile said that the guard had worked at the lockup since 2019. Mobile County …
DOJ Declares Conditions at Three More Mississippi Prisons Unconstitutional
Article • September 15, 2024 • from PLN September, 2024
Filed under: Conditions of Confinement
DOJ Declares Conditions at Three More Mississippi Prisons Unconstitutional by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On February 28, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a report finding that conditions at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF), South Mississippi Correctional Institution (SMCI) and Wilkinson County Correctional Facility (WCCF) violate …
Mississippi Prison Warden Suspended After Security Chief Caught Smuggling
Article • August 15, 2024 • from PLN August, 2024
Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Marijuana Laws/Issues
Mississippi Prison Warden Suspended After Security Chief Caught Smuggling by Warden Terrance Watt was placed on administrative leave by the Mississippi Department of Corrections after his Chief of Security at Winston-­Choctaw Regional Correctional Facility was picked up on smuggling charges on July 11, 2024. Nikita Carter, 35, was arrested and …
Harris County Shipping Detainees from Overcrowded Jail to Mississippi CoreCivic Prison
Article • June 1, 2024 • from PLN June, 2024
Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Overcrowding
Harris County Shipping Detainees from Overcrowded Jail to Mississippi CoreCivic Prison by On December 1, 2023, Harris County, Texas, began sending up to 360 detainees from the county’s jails to a prison in Mississippi, under a contract with its private operator, CoreCivic. The County Commissioners Court approved the $11.3 million …
MTC Returns $5.125 Million to Mississippi for “Ghost Workers” at Private Prisons
Article • March 1, 2024 • from PLN March, 2024
Filed under: Management and Training Corporation, Contractor Misconduct, Corrections Audits, Staffing, Guards/Staff
MTC Returns $5.125 Million to Mississippi for “Ghost Workers” at Private Prisons by Utah-based Management & Training Corporation (MTC) announced on September 18, 2023, that it returned $5.125 million to the Mississippi Department of Corrections (DOC), after a state investigation found the private prison operator understaffed lockups operated for DOC. …
See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Treat No Evil: Centurion and the Curse of For-Profit Prison Healthcare
Article • January 1, 2024 • from PLN January, 2024
Filed under: MHM Inc., Corizon, Centurion, Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Retaliation, Systemic Medical Neglect, Cancer, Private Contractors, Frivolous Litigation, Disclosure of Records, Declaratory Judgment, Public Records, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, PLN Litigation, Censorship, Articles About PLN, Public Records Act, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), HRDC Litigation
See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Treat No Evil: Centurion and the Curse of For-Profit Prison Healthcare by J.D. Schmidt by J.D. Schmidt On November 14, 2022, the Florida arm of Centurion Health, one of the nation’s largest private prison and jail healthcare companies, filed a lawsuit in Putnam County …
Page 1 of 18. | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 14 15 16 17 18 | Next »