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Article • August 1, 2025 • from PLN August, 2025
Review: “Reforming the Shadow Carceral State” by In an academic paper published in the November 2024 issue of Theoretical Criminology, researchers Brittany Friedman, Gabriela Kirk-Werner, and April D. Fernandes examined efforts to reform what they termed the “shadow carceral state.” While the carceral state encompasses the criminal legal system—jails, prison, …
Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025
Kentucky Supreme Court Voids Prisoner’s $10,972 Jail Fee by David Reutter Striking a rare blow for fairness, the Supreme Court of Kentucky issued a ruling on February 25, 2025, reversing the imposition of $10,972 in jail fees upon Dillian Ford at his criminal sentencing in Carlisle County Circuit Court. Because …
Article • May 1, 2025 • from PLN May, 2025
Missouri Repeals “Pay-to-Stay” Law by When Missouri Gov. Michael Kehoe (R) signed HB 495 on March 26, 2025, authorizing a state takeover of policing in St. Louis, the bill included repeal of the Missouri Incarceration Reimbursement Act (MIRA). Also known as “pay-to-stay,” it allowed the state to sue for funds …
Article • May 1, 2025 • from PLN May, 2025
Filed under: Ability to Pay
Florida’s “Pay to Stay” Law: A Second Sentence for Former Prisoners by A month before Florida lawmakers were set to end their most recent session on May 2, 2025, there was no effort to revive House Bill (HB) 1111, or its companion Senate Bill (SB) 1310—twin measures that would amend …
Article • May 1, 2025 • from PLN May, 2025
Medical Copays Blamed for Reducing Prisoner Access to Healthcare by A report published by the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) on September 6, 2024, found an inverse relationship between medical copays imposed on prisoners and their access to healthcare. That is, those incarcerated in lockups charging higher copays were less …
Philadelphia Held in Contempt of Jail Conditions Settlement, Ordered to Pay $25 Million by On July 12, 2024, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held the City of Philadelphia in contempt of a 2022 settlement in which its Department of Prisons (PDP) agreed to improve …
Senate Votes to Increase Penalties for BOP Contraband Cellphone Smuggling by On September 28, 2024, the U.S. Senate passed legislation enhancing penalties for contraband cellphone possession in federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) lockups. Named after BOP Lt. Osvaldo Albarati, who was killed in a 2013 ambush arranged with contraband cellphones …
Article • January 15, 2025 • from PLN January, 2025
Maryland Cancels Debt Owed by 6,715 Parolees by On October 4, 2024, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) announced that the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) was canceling nearly $13 million in debt owed for unpaid supervision and drug-testing fees by 6,715 former state prisoners currently on …
Article • January 15, 2025 • from PLN January, 2025
Fines and Fees Destroy the Impoverished and Perpetuate Mass Incarceration by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney “I was young. I couldn’t pay for my ankle monitor. I went to jail because I couldn’t pay for my ankle monitor. And then they let me back out again on my ankle monitor …
$25 Million Contempt Fine Prompts Release of Pretrial Detainees from Philadelphia Lockups by The Philadelphia Department of Prisons (PDP) announced the release of 100 pretrial detainees on November 5, 2024. The detainees, all held on bail they couldn’t pay, were released during a series of emergency bail hearings that began …
Article • December 15, 2024 • from PLN December, 2024
GEO Group Just Wants to Be a Landlord for Oklahoma DOC by In June 2024, after Oklahoma failed to meet a $3 million pay hike demanded by The GEO Group, Inc., the private prison operator gave notice to terminate its contract to run Lawton Correctional and Rehabilitation Facility (LCRF), the …
Article • August 15, 2024 • from PLN August, 2024
Texas Prosecutor Gets Fine, Probated Bar Suspension After Jailing Woman for Abortion by On January 25, 2024, the Texas Bar Association issued a probated suspension to Starr County District Attorney Gocha A. Ramirez, after finding he “sought to pursue criminal homicide charges against an individual for acts clearly not criminal” …
Article • August 15, 2024 • from PLN August, 2024
Report Finds Exploitative Disciplinary Fines in One-Third of U.S. Prison Systems by "In yet another example of how the criminal legal system extracts wealth from the poorest families, at least one-third of prison systems nationwide charge fees as a punishment for a rule violation.” So begins a report released by …
Article • May 1, 2024 • from PLN May, 2024
$10 Million Reimbursed for Vacated Washington Drug Possession Convictions by David Reutter by David M. Reutter In September 2023, just two months into a program to rebate fines and fees for vacated drug convictions, Washington state courts had paid out more than $9.4 million. That’s nearly 20% of a $50 …
Brief • January 12, 2024
Filed under: Fines
City of Grant Pass v. Johnson, USA, on Writ of Certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Public Sleeping, 2024 No. 23-175 IN THE Supreme Court of the United States CITY OF GRANTS PASS, Petitioner, v. GLORIA JOHNSON AND JOHN LOGAN, ON BEHALF OF THEMSELVES AND ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED, …
Tennessee Extends CoreCivic Contract Despite Deaths, Almost $18 Million in Fines by In a three-minute meeting on May 31, 2023, the State Building Commission of Tennessee approved a request from the Department of Correction (DOC) for budget revision, funding, and amendment to the existing CoreCivic contract to operate South Central …
Article • November 15, 2023 • from PLN November, 2023
CDCR Facing Daily Fines in 33-Year-Old Suit Over Deficient Mental Health Care by For its entire three decades of publication, PLN has been reporting developments in a class-action suit brought by California state prisoners challenging grossly deficient mental health care provided by the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). …
$3.25 Million Settlement Reached With Defendants Jailed in Missouri “Debtor’s Prison” for Unpaid Fines, Fees by Matthew Clarke by Matthew Clarke On April 5, 2023, the federal court for the Eastern District of Missouri gave final approval to a $3.25 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit alleging the City of …
Article • August 15, 2023 • from PLN August, 2023
Corizon Executes “Texas Two-Step,” Spinning Off Debt Into Bankrupt New Firm to Avoid Paying Creditors and Lawsuit Winners by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke Corizon Heath, Inc. has engaged in legal maneuvers over the course of the past year that are intended to limit how much it must pay on …
Article • April 27, 2023
Filed under: Restitution, Ability to Pay
Missouri Senior Citizen Jailed Three Days After Letting Dog Off Leash by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman On March 13, 2023, an attorney in Missouri’s Iron County helped a 64-year-old resident file a pro se motion in court, asking for an indigency hearing she never got before being ordered to …
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