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Weeks Without a Shower: Neglect Defines COVID-19 Containment in California Jails
Incarcerated people have been denied basic services in the name of fighting the virus, exacting a heavy psychological toll.
by Brian Osgood, The Intercept
Michael Pitre spent Christmas Eve in a frigid cell in the Sacramento County Main Jail. Wrapped in a blanket that hadn’t been replaced in weeks, he ...
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More from this issue:
- Wrongfully Convicted Man Freed for Murder of Oregon DOC Director, But State Wants Him Back In Prison, by Mark Wilson
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Indiana DOC Settles HRDC Mail Censorship Suit, by Chuck Sharman
- HRDC Represents Wrongfully Convicted Florida Man Who Spent 37 Years in Prison for a Rape Murder He Did Not Commit, by Chuck Sharman
- Fifth Circuit Overturns Permanent Injunction Requiring Texas Prison to Observe COVID-19 Precautions, by Matthew Clarke
- $750,000 Settlement in South Carolina Pretrial Detainee’s Suicide by Southern Health Partners, by David Reutter
- Arizona Auditor’s Report Finds Underfunding of DOC’s Capital Funding Requests and Unreconciled Prisoner Trust Fund Accounts, by Matthew Clarke
- Preliminary Injunction Bars Arkansas from Confiscating Prisoners’ COVID Stimulus Money, by David Reutter
- Washington State Prison Chief Secretly Forced to Retire, But Why?
- Benevolent or Predatory?, by Casey Bastian
- Georgia Sheriff Suspended After Indictment on Federal Civil Rights Charges, by David Reutter
- Language Matters: Why We Use the Words We Do, by Paul Wright
- What’s in a Name?, by Jeffrey Ross
- Louisiana Prisoners Used as Slave Labor During Hurricane Ida, Families Left in the Dark for Weeks, by Brian Dolinar
- Will Federal Prisoners on Home Confinement Have to Return to Prison?, by Dale Chappell
- Kentucky’s Prison HCV Policy of Monitoring Without Treatment Constitutional, by David Reutter
- Seven Guards Fired Over Collins County Texas Jail Death, by Jayson Hawkins
- All Massachusetts Jails to Provide Prisoners Ten Free Minutes of Phone Calls Per Week and Cap Charges on Additional Minutes at 14 Cents
- Company Surveils Activists Opposing Construction of Prisons and Jails, by Keith Sanders
- Federal District Court Orders All CDCR Employees be Vaccinated, by Douglas Ankney
- Louisville Jail Moves to Have Free Phone Calls for Prisoners by First of the Year, by Kevin Bliss
- Hackers Breach Thousands of Security Cameras, by David Reutter
- Wisconsin Feels Effects of Staffing Shortage in State Prisons, by Kevin Bliss
- First Prisoner Elected to Hold Public Office in Washington DC, by Kevin Bliss
- $72,000 Settlement Over Corizon’s Lack of Medical Treatment to Injured Arizona Prisoner, by Matthew Clarke
- Eleventh Circuit Upholds Immunity of Federal Prison Guards Under FTCA, Even for Blatant Unconstitutional Acts, by Dale Chappell
- Weeks Without a Shower: Neglect Defines COVID-19 Containment in California Jails, by Brian Osgood
- Audit Reveals Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Chaplaincy Services Branch Critically Depleted, by Casey Bastian
- To End Mass Incarceration, We Need to Bust the Myths That Prop It Up, by James Kilgore
- CFPB Hits JPay with $6 Million in Fines and Restitution Over Fee-Heavy “Debit Release Cards”, by Chuck Sharman
- Eleven Guards Fired after Death at Houston Jail, by Brian Dolinar
- HRDC Prevails Over Wellpath as Vermont Supreme Court Rules Private Contractor Must Release Public Records, by David Reutter
- Second Circuit Reversed Dismissal of Former BOP Prisoner’s FTCA Claim Against Dentist, by David Reutter
- Indiana Prisoner Entitled to Credit Time During Period of Erroneous Liberty, by David Reutter
- Eighth Circuit Clarifies Legal Standards for Conditions-of-Confinement Lawsuits Brought by Civilly-Committed Sex Offenders, by Matthew Clarke
- $731,000 Jury Award to Illinois DOC Prisoner Held 23 Months Beyond Release Date, Over $210k in Fees Awarded As Well, by David Reutter
- Prisoner Voting Population Grows as Illinois Bill Extends Polling Sites to County Jails
- Massachusetts Department of Corrections Sued Over Use of “Fake” Drug Tests on Legal Mail, by Casey Bastian
- Seventh Circuit: Local Rules Requiring Specific Filings to Summary Judgments Should Not be Used as a Sanction, by Dale Chappell
- Michigan DOC Eases Up on Pregnant Prisoners, Limits Shackles and Solitary Confinement, by Chuck Sharman
- D.C. Federal Court Rules District Providing Unlawfully Inadequate Education to Incarcerated Youth with Disabilities, Grants Preliminary Injunction, by Matthew Clarke
- Prison Officials Actions to Correct Inhumane Cell Conditions Merit Judgement in Their Favor
- $129,000 Bench Verdict for BOP Prisoner in Failure to Warn of Valley Fever
- Lawsuit Over Denial of Medical Treatment for Painful Erection Causing Impotence in Oklahoma County Jail Reinstated by Tenth Circuit, by Matthew Clarke
- CoreCivic Prison at Center of Georgia Drug Trafficking Investigation
- Fifth Circuit Holds Defendants Entitled to Sovereign Immunity For Denial of Sex-Reassignment Surgery to Texas Prisoner, by Matthew Clarke
- Sixth Circuit Holds Court Lacked Jurisdiction to Rule on Summary Judgment in Retaliation Suit by BOP Prisoner
- $5,000 Award for Pro Se Florida DOC Prisoner in Unjustified Pepper Spraying
- California Fire Crew Prisoner’s Escape Attempt Leaves Trail of Destruction
- Forced Shaving of Muslim Colorado Prisoner’s Beard Unconstitutional, by David Reutter
- Oregon Suspends Outside Prisoner Work Crews After Prisoner Escape Sparks International Incident, by Mark Wilson
- Broward County Florida Sheriff Rejects Independent Reviews of Detainee’s Death
- $170,000 Settlement By New Jersey DOC in Transgender Lawsuit With New Policy, by Jayson Hawkins
- $8.6 Million Award Against Wexford for Deliberate Indifference to Prisoner’s Kidney Cancer
- Arizona Federal Court Dismisses NAACP’s Challenge to Private Prisons as Violating Thirteenth Amendment by Commodifying Prisoners for Profit
- Fifth Circuit Holds Confessed Medical Malpractice Does Not Insulate Prison Medical Providers From Finding of Deliberate Indifference, by Matthew Clarke
- $23,000 Settlement Against Pennsylvania Dental Healthcare Company for Inadequate Dental Care
- News in Brief
More from Brian Osgood:
More from these topics:
- Failures Brought to Light in Arizona Prison System’s COVID-19 Response, March 1, 2025. Centurion, Systemic Medical Neglect, COVID-19.
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Holds Witness Wearing Surgical Mask During Pandemic Is Denial of Sixth Amendment Right to Face-to-Face Confrontation and No General Exception to This Right for Pandemic or ‘Other Global Events’ Such as Wars and Natural, Feb. 15, 2025. COVID-19, Confrontation Clause/Rights, Practitioner Exception.
- Illinois Shutters Decrepit Prison, Dec. 15, 2024. Ventilation, Water, Hygiene Supplies, Lighting, Vermin, Rural Prisons, Class Actions.
- Public Defender Files Habeas Petitions for Detainees at “Horrific” Baltimore Lockup, Nov. 15, 2024. Failure to Treat, Conditions of Confinement, Hygiene Supplies, Disclosure of Records, Habeas Corpus.
- Identities Stolen From Virginia Jail Detainees For $341,205 COVID-19 Fraud, Nov. 15, 2024. COVID-19, Financial Institution - Definition, Identity Theft.
- Ninth Circuit Provides Cover to Oregon Governor for Prioritizing Guards Over Prisoners for COVID-19 Vaccine, Oct. 15, 2024. Systemic Medical Neglect, COVID-19, Guards/Staff.
- Prisoners Reportedly Locked in Showers in Oklahoma, Florida, Oct. 15, 2024. Guard Misconduct, Showers, Restraints.
- U.S. Sentencing Commission Publishes Data Report on Compassionate Release in FY 2023, Oct. 1, 2024. COVID-19, Statistics/Trends, Compassionate Release, Official Report.
- Fourth Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Guards Who Left North Carolina Prisoner to Eat with Feces-Soiled Hands, Aug. 15, 2024. Showers, Water, Sanitation, Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- Legal Noose Tightens Around Necks of CDCR Officials Whose Botched Transfer Sparked San Quentin COVID-19 Outbreak, May 1, 2024. Transfers, COVID-19.