ACLU Sues Over Methadone Access for Inmates
Denial of methadone to prison inmates with opioid addictions constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, the ACLU claimed in federal court Wednesday.
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Religious Freedom
A Minnesota man filed a federal class action claiming he was forced to attend a religious lecture while he was an inmate in the Dakota County jail and faced punishment if he tried to “escape.”
Read moreTexas Can Keep Supplier of Execution Drug Secret
To ensure Texas can keep executing prisoners, it does not have to reveal the supplier of its lethal injection drug to a group of Arkansas death-row inmates, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
Read moreSoCal County Settles Bias Claims by Gay & Trans Inmates
A group of gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals who were systematically discriminated against and mistreated while incarcerated at a Southern California jail reached a deal Wednesday that will compel jail officials to enforce a zero-tolerance policy on discrimination.
Read moreInmate Advocates Push Georgia on Solitary-Confinement Harms
Two years into its legal fight over Georgia prison inmates who suffer for years in solitary confinement, the Southern Center for Human Rights laid out an expert’s findings about the practice in a letter to the state.
Read moreJournalists Ask Panel to Revive Claims Over Prison Riot
Several members of the news media, including a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter, argued before the Sixth Circuit on Thursday in hopes of reviving their constitutional claims against the Ohio Department of Correction, which blocked interviews with inmates involved in the 1993 Lucasville prison riot for over 20 years.
Read moreBodies Unearthed in Texas Were Likely Black Laborers
A Texas school district has stumbled on the state’s post-Civil War history of leasing black prisoners to plantation owners, as its construction project turned up what archaeologists believe are the bones of prisoners-for-hire in an unmarked cemetery.
Read moreClaiming Racism, Texas Inmate Asks Judge to Halt Execution
A black death-row inmate set to die Tuesday night claims that racism led the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to vote against sparing his life, and now a federal judge is considering whether to postpone the execution.
Read moreConnecticut Prison Gerrymandering Suit Is First of Its Kind
Connecticut was hit with a federal complaint Thursday over its policy of counting prisoners as constituents in the lightly populated, rural areas where they are incarcerated.
Read moreCook County Must Face Claims Over Inmates’ Lewd Behavior
A federal judge refused to dismiss lawsuits from female public defenders and correctional officers who claim Cook County, Illinois, inmates have been exposing themselves and masturbating in front of them, a problem they say was exacerbated by a program rewarding detainees with pizza for not engaging in such behavior.
Read moreSolitary Settlement
A federal judge on Monday awarded $1 million in attorney fees in a class action settlement that ended solitary confinement for California inmates suspected of gang affiliations, $2.8 million less than the inmates requested.
Read moreParole Board Recommends Death for Ohio Stabber
Ohio’s parole board decided Friday not to grant clemency to a death-row inmate after considering the testimony of a juror who said he voted to put the man to death based on misleading information about his fraught childhood and drug addiction.
Read moreJustices to Resolve Circuit Split Over Appeal Waivers
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to resolve a split amount the circuit courts on the question of when an inmate has a right to file an appeal of his conviction despite the fact his plea agreement specifically waives that right.
Read morePrison Torture Settlement
Sonoma County, California, will pay $1.7 million to settle inmate torture torture claims.
Read moreTexan’s Death Penalty Reinstated After High Court Halt
A divided Texas appeals court reaffirmed Wednesday its denial of an inmate’s petition to get off death row, finding he is not too intellectually disabled to be executed as suggested by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read moreHigh Court Clarifies Eligibility for Reduced Sentences
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a defendant who takes a plea deal can get a lighter sentence if guidelines are changed later, but those who were sentenced based on mandatory minimums and their assistance to the government are not eligible for sentencing reductions if the guidelines are lowered.
Read moreJustices Slam Rejection of Condemned Inmate’s Appeal
Two liberal justices dissented Monday from the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear a case involving mitigating evidence that a Texas death-row inmate has fetal alcohol syndrome, saying jurors did not have a complete picture of his character.
Read moreMissouri Lawmakers Pass Ban on Shackling Pregnant Inmates
Missouri lawmakers passed a bill Thursday that bars corrections officers from shackling pregnant prisoners through their third trimester, during labor and two days after delivery, and the measure will now go to embattled Governor Eric Greitens.
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