by David M. Reutter and Keith Sanders
A law that severely limits the use of solitary confinement in Connecticut jails and prisons took effect July 1, 2022. It also creates an ombudsman position within the state Department of Corrections (DOC), selected from candidates nominated by a new nine-member advisory panel ...
by David M. Reutter
Just as the Virginia Department of Corrections (DOC) was preparing to release 560 prisoners in July 2022, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and state lawmakers stepped in with a budget amendment that stripped away sentence credits, leaving the prisoners in their cells.
“They dangled this hope in ...
by David M. Reutter
After reaching a $115,000 settlement with the Maine Department of Corrections (DOC), a state prisoner dismissed his suit on October 21, 2021, in which he alleged guards at the Maine State Prison (MSP) used excessive force against him when they deployed eight times the amount of ...
by David M. Reutter
On June 16, 2022, the Supreme Court of Florida held that a trial court has authority to make corrections to sentence credits for jail and prison time already served by a defendant. However, it must do so within statutory time limits. As a result, a state ...
by David M. Reutter
On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed judgment for Georgia prison officials in a lawsuit alleging the policy governing prisoner shower escorts violated their First Amendment rights.
Hjalmar Rodriguez was imprisoned at Hays State Prison after being convicted of ...
by David M. Reutter
Two California prisoners were killed in two separate incidents of prisoner-on-prisoner violence in two days in early October 2022.
The first incident occurred on the afternoon of October 4, 2022, at California State Prison in Sacramento. Investigators named Selso E. Orcozco, Jr., 41, and Mike A. ...
by David M. Reutter
Finding a Colorado state prisoner was in grave danger from gang members he’d testified against in a murder investigation, the federal court for the District of Colorado enjoined the state Department of Corrections (DOC) on May 12, 2022, to place him in protective custody (PC).
When ...
by David M. Reutter
On January 25, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that a prisoner who loses a federal lawsuit does not earn a “strike” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) if the case was removed from state court by defendants. The reason: Because it ...
by David M. Reutter
On May 4, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed denial of qualified immunity (QI) to Nevada prison officials who “never deviated from their ‘wait and see’ treatment plan” for a prisoner, leaving him to suffer “intractable pain” for years.
“Mere disagreement ...
by David M. Reutter
On May 5, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit certified a class of Illinois prisoners in a suit accusing officials in the state Department of Corrections (DOC) of conducting unconstitutionally demeaning and unsanitary shakedowns at four downstate prisons.
The raids all occurred ...
