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Articles by Ashleigh Dye

Former Missouri Prisoners Awarded $20 Million for Sexual Abuse by “Resident Pervert” Guard

by Ashleigh N. Dye

On March 16, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit turned away an appeal by a former Missouri prison guard and affirmed a jury verdict against him for sexually abusing four state prisoners.

The verdict reached on April 28, 2022, awarded $5 million ...

Nevada DOC Director Sacked After Prisoner Escape Goes Unnoticed Four Days

by Ashleigh N. Dye

At the request of former Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D), the director of the state’s Department of Corrections (DOC), Charles Daniels, submitted his resignation on September 30, 2022. The move came three days after a head count at Southern Desert Correctional Center (SDCC) revealed that a ...

Virginia DOC Resists Prisoner Fee Cuts

by Ashleigh N. Dye

A report released by the Virginia Department of Corrections (DOC) on October 1, 2022, largely rejected recommendations made by a work group to reduce costs for prisoners in state lockups and their families.

Tasked by the state General Assembly, the work group focused on three major ...

Texas Prison Warden and Brother Charged with Shooting Two Migrants, Killing One

by Ashleigh N. Dye

A warden at a Texas detention center and his twin brother have been charged with shooting two migrants, one fatally, in the town of Sierra Blanca along the Mexican border on September 27, 2022. Michael Sheppard had been helming the West Texas Detention Facility (WTDF), which ...

CoreCivic Still Accruing Fines fort Short-staffing Florida Jail Where Developmentally Disabled Teen Was Raped

by Ashleigh N. Dye

At its meeting on January 24, 2023, the Board of County Commissioners of Florida’s Citrus County voted to deduct $116,250 off its December 2022 bill from private prison operator CoreCivic to run the county jail. The fine represents a daily fee of $3,750, assessed for failing ...

Alabama County Ends Controversial Policy Using Women’s Pregnancies to Jail Them

by Ashleigh N. Dye

In the state of Alabama, it is a felony to expose a child to an environment in which controlled substances are manufactured, ingested, or distributed. Called Chemical Endangerment, the crime can land a pregnant woman in jail after using drugs.

Ashley Banks, 23, was arrested on ...

CoreCivic Still Accruing Fines for Short-Staffing Florida Jail Where Developmentally Disabled Teen Was Raped

by Ashleigh N. Dye

At its meeting on January 24, 2023, the Board of County Commissioners of Florida’s Citrus County voted to deduct $116,250 off its December 2022 bill from private prison operator CoreCivic to run the county jail. The fine represents a daily fee of $3,750, assessed for failing ...

$959,000 Paid by Pennsylvania County in Deaths of Two Detainees, Plus at Least $750,000 from PrimeCare

by Ashleigh N. Dye

For the 2018 deaths of two detainees at Pennsylvania’s Bucks County Correctional Facility (BCCF), the county has agreed to pay a total of $959,000. Its privately contracted jail healthcare provider, PrimeCare Medical, reportedly agreed to pay another $750,000 in one case, plus an undisclosed amount to ...

Former Judges in Pennsylvania ‘Kids for Cash’ Scandal Must Pay $206 Million in Damages

by Ashleigh N. Dye

On August 18, 2022, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ordered two former state judges to pay $206 million in damages for taking $2.8 million in kickbacks to shut down Luzerne County’s juvenile detention center, instead sending children — many first-time offenders as young as eight-years-old — ...

$480,000 Paid by California County to Detainee Whose Newborn Died After Guards Stopped at Starbucks en Route to Hospital

by Ashleigh N. Dye

On August 23, 2022, the Board of Supervisors of California’s Orange County approved a settlement providing $480,000 to a former detainee in the county jail who went into labor and waited hours to reach a hospital — even while transport guards dawdled at Starbucks — after ...