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Texas Attorney General Clarifies Scope of Statute Requiring Outside Agency Investigation of Jail Deaths by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On February 12, 2026, Texas Attorney General (TAG) Ken Paxton issued an opinion clarifying the scope of a statute requiring the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) to appoint an …
First Circuit Revives Federal Prisoner’s Claim Against Rhode Island Lockup by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman When a prisoner is held in a state facility to await sentencing on federal charges, does that confer federal immunity on the lockup? That was the question presented to the U.S. Court of Appeals …
Officials in Kansas Allow CoreCivic to Reopen Leavenworth Prison by After a yearlong fight by advocates to prevent private prison profiteer CoreCivic from reopening its prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, city commissioners approved a special use permit on March 10, 2026, allowing the company to proceed. Two people were arrested and …
Private Company Investigating Rapes at California ICE Detention Center Instead of Sheriff by In 2025, officials with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office failed to investigate at least seven reported cases of sexual assault that occured at Otay Mesa immigration detention center, a facility run by private prison profiteer CoreCivic …
Alaska Prisoner’s Discipline for Violating Invalidated Rule Tossed by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman In a letter to PLN dated January 19, 2026, Alaska prisoner Donovan Taylor, 56, provided documentation of a disturbing incident in which he was disciplined for violating a state Department of Corrections (DOC) rule that had …
New York State Moves to Dismiss Hundreds of Prison Sexual Assault Lawsuits by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Knott In a calculated effort to evade liability for systemic custodial sexual violence, lawyers for New York State plan to ask judges to dismiss approximately 500 prison sexual assault lawsuits based …
Article • January 1, 2026 • from PLN January, 2026
Alabama Supreme Court Denies DOC’s Improper Venue Objection by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On December 6, 2024, the Supreme Court of Alabama held that because the Alabama Department of Corrections (DOC) failed to raise the issue of venue in the circuit court, the Court of Criminal Appeals’ (CCA) reversal …
Georgia Bristles at Federal Law that Prohibits Drone Interceptions by The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that the Georgia Department of Corrections (DOC) prisons are buckling under a 15-­year high incarceration rate, now exceeding 50,000, and projected to climb past 55,000 by 2030 due to tougher sentencing. Simultaneously, guard staffing …
Arkansas Guards Can Now Work as Immigration Enforcers by On December 2, 2025, the Arkansas Department of Corrections (DOC) signed a Memoranda of Agreement (MOA), also known as 287(g) agreements, with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), allowing the federal agency to train guards and give them the power …
Brooklyn Jail Guard Convicted for Shooting and Car Chase by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott The New York Times reported that Leon Wilson, 51, a veteran guard at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, was convicted on October 28, 2025, in the borough’s Federal District Court for …
SCOTUS Stops Fourth Circuit from Tossing Federal Prisoner’s Appeal on Technicality by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman A federal prisoner filed a Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) complaint against the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), which the district court dismissed. Before he got notice of the dismissal, the prisoner was transferred. …
Florida Prisoner Whose Case Ended LWOP for Juveniles Released by On February 13, 2024, a judge in Florida’s Duval County amended state prisoner Terrence Graham’s sentence, paving the way for the 37-­year-­old’s release later that same month. Sentenced to life without parole (LWOP) in 2006 for crimes committed when he …
Alabama Denies Parole to Dead Prisoner by Having granted release to a whopping 3% of eligible state prisoners so far in 2024—that’s 25 parole grants out of 792 hearings—the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) likely surprised no one when it denied release to Frederick Bishop on March 9, …
Article • September 1, 2022 • from PLN September, 2022
Even as U.S. Jail Population Declines, Average Length of Stay Rises by Ashleigh Dye by Ashleigh N. Dye A recent study published in December 2021 suggests that even as U.S. jail population was falling between 2014 and 2019, the length of stay for each incarceration was on the rise. The …
Alabama Grandma Sentenced to Life on Drug Charge Finally Paroled by David Reutter by David M. Reutter In recent years many states have made changes to their criminal codes in an effort to reduce their prison populations. Those amendments, however, are rarely retroactive and leave those already imprisoned to serve …
USA v. Marks, NY, Decision and Order, Sentence Reduction, 2020 Case 6:03-cr-06033-DGL Document 536 Filed 04/20/20 Page 1 of 39 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ___________________________________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, DECISION AND ORDER Plaintiff, 03-CR-6033L v. CHAD MARKS, Defendant. ___________________________________________ In 2006, defendant Chad Marks was …