Search | Prison Legal News

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 …

The “Lunacy Zone:” How Mississippi Jails 700 Mentally Ill People a Year Without Charges

Article • January 1, 2024 • from PLN January, 2024

Filed under: Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Involuntary Treatment/Drugging, Suicides, Civil Commitment, Suicide/Assisted Suicide, Inadequate Health Care Facilities

The “Lunacy Zone:” How Mississippi Jails 700 Mentally Ill People a Year Without Charges by A Mississippi Today article published on July 24, 2023, examined why the Magnolia State jails the mentally ill without charges for longer than any other state. As in every other state, Mississippians picked up by …

Hurdles to Voting for Ex-Felons Rise in Tennessee and Virginia, Fall in Mississippi

Article • January 1, 2024 • from PLN January, 2024

Filed under: Commentary/Reviews, Voting Rights, Felon Disenfranchisement Statute

Hurdles to Voting for Ex-Felons Rise in Tennessee and Virginia, Fall in Mississippi by On July 21, 2023, Tennessee announced a tough new rule for ex-felons seeking to exercise their voting rights. State Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins said that anyone with a felony conviction in another state whose voting …

37 Mississippi Prison Gang Members, Accomplices Convicted in Massive Conspiracy

Article • December 1, 2023 • from PLN December, 2023

Filed under: Prison Gangs, Conspiracy

37 Mississippi Prison Gang Members, Accomplices Convicted in Massive Conspiracy by On October 19, 2023, the last of a group of 37 Mississippi prison gang members and their accomplices pleaded guilty in federal court to selling drugs and committing violent crimes in state lockups. From its founding in Chicago in …

News in Brief

Article • December 1, 2023 • from PLN December, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Within 48-hours of booking into the Morgan County Jail on August 29, 2023, Miles Rea Batson, 39, had two second-degree assault charges added to his public intoxication charge as well as another for disarming a law enforcement agent. WHNT in Huntsville reported that during booking …

News in Brief

Article • November 15, 2023 • from PLN November, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Three jail guards in the Yellowhammer State were hit with drug smuggling charges in August 2023 and another the month after. WAFF in Huntsville reported that Morgan County Jail guard Bobby Simmons, 19, was arrested on August 3, 2023, when he was charged with promoting …