Loaded on May 1, 2023 by Jacob Barrett published in Prison Legal News May, 2023, page 16 Filed under: Vermin, Wrongful Death, Infestations of vermin. Location: Georgia. by Jacob Barrett A detainee found dead in Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail (FCJ) on September 13, 2022, was “eaten alive” by insects, according to an attorney hired by the dead man’s family. Michael Harper said his clients were “horrified” by squalid conditions revealed in photos of the cell where 35-year-old ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on May 1, 2023 by Matthew Clarke published in Prison Legal News May, 2023, page 15 Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Mental Health. Location: Texas. by Matt Clarke On July 13, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed dismissal of a lawsuit filed over the death of a Texas detainee during an altercation with jail guards. Kelli Leanne Page, 46, was awaiting trial at the Coryell County Jail for “several months” ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on May 1, 2023 by Edward Lyon published in Prison Legal News May, 2023, page 14 Filed under: Guard Misconduct, DUI. Location: Alabama. by Ed Lyon A state prison warden was arrested on August 30, 2022, on suspicion of driving under the influence in Cullman, Alabama. Jeffrey Baldwin was then placed on mandatory leave from his post at Elmore Correctional Facility (CF) by the state Department of Corrections (DOC). Thwarting any effort to ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on May 1, 2023 by Eike Blohm, MD published in Prison Legal News May, 2023, page 13 Filed under: Cell Searches, Drug Testing, Drugs - Determination of, Detention of Goods Exception. Location: United States of America. by Eike Blohm, MD Drugs are ubiquitous behind prison walls, but screening of items sent to prisoners and random drug testing incentivizes the use of substances difficult to detect and easy to conceal. Synthetic cannabinoids, known under numerous monikers such as K2 and Spice, fill that niche. Originally synthesized by ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on May 1, 2023 by Paul Wright published in Prison Legal News May, 2023, page 12 Filed under: Editorials. Location: United States of America. By Paul Wright This issue of PLN marks our 33rd anniversary of publishing. Since we published our first issue in May 1990 we have seen massive changes in the American gulag, starting with its sheer growth from a million prisoners to over 2 million a decade later and a ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on May 1, 2023 by Matthew Clarke published in Prison Legal News May, 2023, page 18 Filed under: LaSalle Management Company, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death). Location: Louisiana. by Matt Clarke On July 22, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reinstated claims previously dismissed in a lawsuit filed over a detainee’s fatal beating at a prison privately operated by LaSalle Management Co. for the city of Monroe, Louisiana. Monroe ceased leasing beds from LaSalle ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on May 1, 2023 by Jacob Barrett published in Prison Legal News May, 2023, page 20 Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion, Grievances, Exhaustion of Remedies. Location: Oregon. by Jacob Barrett On October 12, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated dismissal of an Oregon prisoner’s civil rights claims for failure to exhaust administrative remedies available in the state Department of Corrections (DOC), as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on May 1, 2023 by Benjamin Tschirhart published in Prison Legal News May, 2023, page 1 Filed under: Conditions of Confinement. Location: California. by Benjamin Tschirhart Calling conditions in Los Angeles County jails “abhorrent,” attorneys representing a group of incarcerated plaintiffs appeared before a federal judge on April 19, 2023, asking him to hold the county in contempt of a recently granted injunction. That was after three detainee deaths in just nine days ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on May 1, 2023 by Jo Ellen Nott published in Prison Legal News May, 2023, page 22 Filed under: Police Misconduct, Racial Discrimination, Staffing. Location: North Carolina. by Jo Ellen Nott On January 4, 2023, Jody Greene (R) resigned as Sheriff of North Carolina’s Columbus County – for the second time in just over two months. First elected in 2018, he had earlier resigned in October 2022 to avoid being removed from office, after he was caught ... Read more ..read more

Loaded on May 1, 2023 by David Reutter published in Prison Legal News May, 2023, page 10 Filed under: Prison Reform, Criminal justice system reform, Reimbursement of Costs, Conditions of. Location: Georgia. by David M. Reutter In a January 2022 report by the Fines and Fees Justice Center (FFJC), a national hub for the movement to reform criminal justice fines and fees, researchers documented the costs of private probation and found that “monetary sanctions…create substantial challenges for individuals on private probation.” The ... Read more ..read more