by David M. Reutter
On July 4, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed denial of qualified immunity (QI) to New York state prison officials who refused a prisoner’s judicially ordered enrollment in the state’s Shock Incarceration Program.
For a controlled substance offense, Michael Matzell was ...
by David M. Reutter
On July 3, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging a federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policy that caps a prisoner’s phone calls at a total of 300 minutes per month.
The suit was ...
by David M. Reutter
A July 10, 2023, report by Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) showed that measures of public safety after cash bail reform reflected “decreases or negligible increases in crime or re-arrest rates.” The report revealed that the type of pretrial reform did not matter, the results were the ...
by David M. Reutter
On July 17, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed denial of qualified immunity (QI) to Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPSC) Secretary James LeBlanc in a prisoner’s claim alleging his misclassification as a sex offender illegally extended his sentence ...
by David M. Reutter
Assistant U.S. Attorney General Amy L. Solomon, Director of the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), and National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Director Nancy La Vigne visited South Carolina’s Turbeville Correctional Institution (TCI) in June 2023 to inspect the Community Opportunity Restoration Enhancement (CORE) ...
by David M. Reutter
On July 24, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit concluded that “precedents conclusively establish that the use of a taser on a non-threatening and cooperative subject is an unconstitutionally excessive use of force.” The Court, therefore, reversed summary judgment for a Texas ...
by David M. Reutter
In a precedential opinion issued on August 21, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that a federal prisoner incarcerated in the state need not satisfy a state-law requirement for a certificate of merit in order to proceed with a medical malpractice ...
by David M. Reutter
On September 30, 2023, the federal court for the Eastern District of Arkansas gave final approval to a settlement agreement under which for-profit prisoner transport firm Inmate Services Corp. (ISC) agreed to pay a total of $949,379.48 to resolve claims that it violated the constitutional rights ...
by David M. Reutter
The federal court for the Middle District of Louisiana found on July 18, 2023, that a guard at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center (EHCC) violated a prisoner’s Eighth Amendment rights by failing to intervene when he was assaulted by another prisoner. After a bench trial, the Court ...
by David M. Reutter
On June 28, 2023, Florida prisoner Quincy Williams reached a settlement with the state and its Department of Corrections (DOC), which agreed to pay him $9,000 to resolve claims he was retaliated against—repeatedly—for exercising the right to grieve his conditions of confinement. The case illustrates the ...
