Skip navigation
Prison Legal News
× You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.

Overdoses Skyrocket in Tennessee Prisons During Pandemic Despite Visitation Restrictions

Loaded on June 1, 2022 by Edward Lyon published in Prison Legal News June, 2022, page 52
Filed under: Drug Overdose, COVID-19, Visiting. Location: Tennessee.

by Ed Lyon

In the three years before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, fourteen Tennessee state prisoners died from overdoses, according to the state Department of Correction (DOC). Over the two years since then that number skyrocketed to at least 68, not including several pending autopsies.

The rise from ...

 

Full article and associated cases available to subscribers.

As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.

Subscribe today

Already a subscriber? Login

More from this issue:

  1. Locked Up and Left to Die, by Sophie Novack,, Michael Barajas
  2. After 49 Years in Prison for a Murder in Which He Didn’t Pull the Trigger, Former Black Liberation Army Member Sundiata Acoli Wins Parole, by Chuck Sharman
  3. Fifth Circuit Reinstates Louisiana Prisoner’s Excessive-Force Claim Despite Prison Disciplinary Conviction Issued for the Same Incident, by Matthew Clarke
  4. From the Editor, by Paul Wright
  5. Fifth Circuit Reinstates Louisiana Prisoner’s Suit Dismissed on Heck Grounds, Holds Related Disciplinary Convictions Don’t Absolutely Bar Excessive Force Claims, by Matthew Clarke
  6. Securus Rolls Out “Free” E-tablets to Texas Prisoners, by Edward Lyon
  7. Oregon Federal Court Issues Groundbreaking, Model COVID-19 Damage Class & Wrongful Death Class Certification, by Mark Wilson
  8. Eleventh Circuit Says Florida Prisoner Alleging Sexual Assault by Guard Need Not Also Prove Excessive Force and Malicious Intent, by David Reutter
  9. Washington Pays $3.25 Million for Negligent Medical Care Causing Preventable Prisoner Death, by Mark Wilson
  10. DOJ Secures Settlement With South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice at Detention Center Where Staff Hogtied and Bit Kids, by Brooke Kaufman
  11. Healthcare Audit in Utah Prisons Reveals “Inadequate Service” and “Systemic Deficiencies” After 18 Prisoner Deaths During Pandemic, by Benjamin Tschirhart
  12. Ninth Circuit Holds California Prison Officials Entitled to Legislative Immunity When Promulgating Rules, by David Reutter
  13. After Paying $500,000 to Consultant Outed for Corruption Ties, Iowa DOC Accused of Allowing “Corporate Dodge”, by Jacob Barrett
  14. $12.5 Million Settlement Over Invasive Strip and Body Cavity Searches of NYC Jail Visitors, by Matthew Clarke
  15. Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting Uncovers Almost 1,000 Privileged Calls Recorded in Four County Jails, Sues York County for Denying Public Records Request, by Keith Sanders
  16. BOP Prisoners on Extended Home Confinement Not Headed Back to Prison When COVID-19 Emergency Ends, by Casey Bastian
  17. $500,001 Settlement Against Guard Who Groped Delaware Prisoner With Long History of Lost Cases, by Keith Sanders
  18. Kansas Appeals Court Vacates Prison Dentist’s Conviction for Sexually Abusing Prisoner, Says Touching Wasn’t “Lewd”, by Mark Wilson
  19. The Catalog of Carceral Surveillance: Mobile Correctional Facility Robots, by Beryl Lipton, Cooper Quintin
  20. Washington Pays $3 Million to Murdered Prisoner’s Family After Overriding Single-Cell Recommendation for Violent Cellmate, by Mark Wilson
  21. $275,000 Settlement Reached After Detainee’s Attempted Suicide at Illinois Jail, by David Reutter
  22. Settlement Finally Reached in Prisoners’ Hep-C Class-Action Against Connecticut DOC, by Edward Lyon
  23. Prison Phone Giant GTL Cuts Prices in Miami-Dade Jails, But Only After County Taps COVID-19 Relief Funds to Replace Forfeited Kickbacks, by Ashleigh Dye
  24. Kentucky Supreme Court Rules ‘Incarceration Fees’ May Not Be Collected After Charges Are Dismissed, by Casey Bastian
  25. Seventh Circuit Reinstates Suit of Epileptic Illinois Prisoner Who Suffered Seizure and Fell From Top Bunk, by Edward Lyon
  26. $250,000 Paid to Woman Forced to Give Birth in California Jail Cell by Guards and CFMG Nurses, by Ashleigh Dye
  27. Sacramento Shooting Stokes Debate Over CDCR Rule Changes on Good Conduct Credit, by Matthew Clarke
  28. U.S. Prison and Jail Populations Flat or Rising Again After 2020 Decline Spurred by Pandemic, by Matthew Clarke
  29. Third Circuit Joins Fifth, Tenth and D.C. Circuits in Holding Heck Favorable-Termination Dismissals Are PLRA Strikes, by Mark Wilson
  30. Sixth Circuit: Michigan DOC’s Years-Long Delay in Access to Religious Services and Items Constitutes Constructive Denial of Religious Exercise, by Jacob Barrett
  31. Illinois Department of Corrections Cancels Contract with Canteen Provider Keefe, by Kevin Bliss
  32. Georgia Sheriff Victor Hill Facing Criminal Trial for Using Restraint Chair to Punish Jail Detainees, by David Reutter
  33. $7,000 Default Judgment Awarded in Failure to Protect Suit Against Former Arkansas Jail Guard, by Harold Hempstead
  34. Eighth Circuit Holds Pornography Policy Unconstitutional as Applied to South Dakota Prisoner, but Denies Relief, by David Reutter
  35. Ineffective Mississippi Prison Industries on the Chopping Block After Scathing Report, by Ashleigh Dye
  36. Federal Suit Challenging Iowa DOC Ban on Nude Images Moves Forward, Defendants Denied Summary Judgement on Due Process Claim, by David Reutter
  37. Overdoses Skyrocket in Tennessee Prisons During Pandemic Despite Visitation Restrictions, by Edward Lyon
  38. Third Circuit Reinstates Suit Filed by Transgender Prisoner Assaulted at New Jersey Federal Prison, by Matthew Clarke
  39. $17.5 Million Paid to Ohio Prisoner Left Quadriplegic After Brutal Attack by Guards, by Harold Hempstead
  40. New Jersey Sex Offenders Excluded From Programming, Chances for Early Release, by Mario Palomo
  41. “On-Going Distress and Harm” Persist at FCI Sheridan Months After Court-Ordered Inspection, by Brooke Kaufman
  42. Sixth Circuit Revives Tennessee Detainee’s Suit, Holds Lower Court Not Required to Retain Jurisdiction of State Law Claims After Dismissing Federal Claims, by Matthew Clarke
  43. $45,000 Paid by Idaho Jail to Settle Censorship Suit Filed by HRDC, by Jacob Barrett
  44. Illinois Inspector General Finds Prisoner Labor Used to Benefit DOC Employees, by Casey Bastian
  45. Fifth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Texas Sheriff Who Rehired Abusive Jailer Who in Turn Again Abused a Detainee, by Matthew Clarke
  46. $6,500 Settlement After Eleventh Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Florida Jail Officials Who Repeatedly Opened Detainee’s Legal Mail, by David Reutter
  47. News in Brief

More from Edward Lyon:

More from these topics: