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Prison Legal News: December, 2022

Issue PDF
Volume 33, Number 12

In this issue:

  1. ‘Plainly Grossly Inadequate’: Federal Court Finds Arizona Prison Healthcare Deliberately Indifferent to Prisoners’ Risk of Serious Harm (p 1)
  2. Settlement Extended Again After Federal Judge Faults California Prisons for Using Snitches in Solitary and Parole Procedures (p 12)
  3. From the Editor (p 14)
  4. Oregon Supreme Court Holds Corizon Health and Other Jail Contractors Liable Under State Disability Rights Laws (p 14)
  5. Colorado Prisoner Targeted by Gangs Wins Injunction for Placement in Protective Custody (p 16)
  6. Eighth Circuit Strands Missouri Prisoners Sentenced to Life Without Parole as Juveniles in ‘Opaque’ Review Process (p 18)
  7. Cages in the Coalfields (p 20)
  8. Eleventh Circuit Says No PLRA ‘Strike’ for Dismissal of Case Removed From State to Federal Court (p 24)
  9. Federal Judge Says Alaska DOC Policy Rejecting Prisoner Mail Without Notice Violates Due Process (p 25)
  10. Eighth Circuit Says Judge Dismissing Claim of Federal Prisoner in Arkansas Was Premature in Counting It a PLRA ‘Strike’ (p 26)
  11. North Carolina Prisoners Languish Without Air Conditioning (p 27)
  12. Ninth Circuit Tells Nevada DOC: ‘Wait and See’ Prisoner Medical Care Can’t Become ‘Deny and Delay’ (p 28)
  13. Class Certified in ‘Orange Crush’ Shakedown Lawsuit by Illinois Prisoners (p 30)
  14. $2.57 Million Settlement for Hogtying Death in NC Police Custody (p 30)
  15. Pennsylvania County Retakes Control of Jail From GEO Group (p 32)
  16. Fourteen Officials Indicted in New Jersey Women’s Prison Abuse Scandal, $21 Million Class-Action Settlement Reached (p 32)
  17. Prisoners Awarded Damages for Denial of Public Records by Ohio Prison Officials (p 34)
  18. Tenth Circuit Revives Suit Against Colorado Jail Guard in Death of Mentally Disabled Detainee (p 34)
  19. California Pays $3.5 Million to Settle Suit Over State Prisoner’s Murder (p 36)
  20. LGBTQ Adults and Youth Face Criminalization and Over-Incarceration (p 38)
  21. Former South Carolina Deputy Gets 18 Years for Driving Transport Van With Two Detainees Into Flood, Drowning Them (p 39)
  22. $54,000 Award for Georgia Prisoner in Failure-To-Protect Lawsuit (p 40)
  23. Excess Prisoner-Made Hand Sanitizer Costing N.Y. Taxpayers Millions to Dispose Of (p 40)
  24. After Sixth Circuit Stops Attempted End-Run Around Rules, Former Kentucky Jail Detainee Settles Suit Against Southern Health Partners (p 42)
  25. CDCR’s Medication Assisted Treatment Program for Substance Abusers is a Resounding Success (p 42)
  26. New Policy Banning Care Packages Makes Life Harder for N.Y. Prisoners (p 44)
  27. Former Deputy Warden Gets Two Years for Assaulting Mississippi Prisoner (p 44)
  28. New York City Jails Admit Illegally Recording Over 2,200 Attorney-Client Phone Calls (p 46)
  29. South Carolina Death Row Doctor Breaks Silence About Years of Executions (p 46)
  30. Texas Commission on Jail Standards Finds Unacceptable Conditions in Nueces County Jail (p 47)
  31. Texas Prisoner Killed After Wounding Guard in Escape and Killing Family While on the Run (p 48)
  32. Disgraced Virginia Sheriff Gets 12 Years for Bribery and Corruption (p 48)
  33. Idaho Lowers Cloak of Darkness Over Execution Protocols (p 50)
  34. Ninth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Doctor and Nurses at California Jail Who Treated Detainee’s Ruptured Aorta With Pepto Bismol (p 50)
  35. ‘Good Time’ Credit Policy Wrongly Under Attack in Alabama (p 52)
  36. ACH Settles After Federal Jury Awards $8.5 Million in Suit Over Missouri Detainee’s Death (p 52)
  37. Nevada Supreme Court: DOC Owes Parolee Credit for Any Days Over 60 Awaiting Revocation in Prison (p 54)
  38. Ninth Circuit: Prisoner Filing a New Grievance That Makes New Claims Does Not Render Previous Grievance ‘Unexhausted’ (p 54)
  39. $3.7 Million in Attorney Fees Paid to Settle COVID-19 Class-Action at Orange County Jail (p 56)
  40. Federal Jury Awards $30,501 to Indiana Prisoner in Retaliation Lawsuit (p 57)
  41. Federal Government Pays $300,000 for Endangering Diabetic Prisoner With ‘Dramatically’ Subpar Care (p 58)
  42. Arkansas Supreme Court Rules Felony Enhancements Subject to Parole Eligibility Statute in Place at Time of Crime (p 59)
  43. COVID-19 Stimulus Garnished From Federal Prisoner, but Only After Eighth Circuit Says ‘Not So Fast’ (p 60)
  44. Ninth Circuit: New Suit Not Required After Curing Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies (p 60)
  45. Third Guilty Plea Entered in Massive Aryan Brotherhood Drug Conspiracy in California Prisons (p 62)
  46. Settlement Reached in COVID-19 Class Action Against DC Jail (p 62)
  47. News in Brief (p 63)

‘Plainly Grossly Inadequate’: Federal Court Finds Arizona Prison Healthcare Deliberately Indifferent to Prisoners’ Risk of Serious Harm

by Matt Clarke

On June 30, 2022, the federal court for the District of Arizona found that the healthcare state prisoners get is frankly awful — unconstitutionally so. As is the amount of time many spend in isolation, where their psychiatric ailments are ignored, and they go hungry not only ...

Settlement Extended Again After Federal Judge Faults California Prisons for Using Snitches in Solitary and Parole Procedures

by Jacob Barrett

On February 24, 2022, the federal court for the Northern District of California granted another 12-month extension to a 2015 settlement. That agreement was made between the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and a class of prisoners who were held in solitary confinement or denied ...

From the Editor

by Paul Wright

Welcome to the last issue of PLN for the year. This month’s cover story reports the landmark court ruling in Parsons v. Ryan —  now known as Jensen v. Shinn —  the class-action lawsuit over inadequate medical care and conditions of confinement in the Arizona Department of ...

Oregon Supreme Court Holds Corizon Health and Other Jail Contractors Liable Under State Disability Rights Laws

by Mark Wilson

On June 3, 2022, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that private companies providing services in jails and prisons are liable under state disability rights laws — even though jails and prisons themselves are not liable.

In October 2015, Andrew Abraham was arrested and confined in Clackamas County ...

Colorado Prisoner Targeted by Gangs Wins Injunction for Placement in Protective Custody

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 ...

Eighth Circuit Strands Missouri Prisoners Sentenced to Life Without Parole as Juveniles in ‘Opaque’ Review Process

by Douglas Ankney

On August 30, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that Missouri’s parole review process does not violate the constitutional rights of prisoners who were sentenced to life without parole (LWOP) as juveniles. The decision came after a rehearing of the full Court ...

Cages in the Coalfields

A growing carceral state has slowly replaced the coal industry in large swaths of Central Appalachia. But even here, a different future is possible.

by Judah Schept

Mitch Whitaker wants to be able to hunt with his birds. A certified “master falconer,” he hunts throughout the year with raptors on ...

Eleventh Circuit Says No PLRA ‘Strike’ for Dismissal of Case Removed From State to Federal Court

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 ...

Federal Judge Says Alaska DOC Policy Rejecting Prisoner Mail Without Notice Violates Due Process

by Mark Wilson

Can a prisoner’s mail be rejected without any notice whatsoever? Not without violating his Fourteenth Amendment due process rights. That was the decision of a federal court in Alaska on December 14, 2021.

At issue was a discrepancy in the mail policy of the state Department of ...

Eighth Circuit Says Judge Dismissing Claim of Federal Prisoner in Arkansas Was Premature in Counting It a PLRA ‘Strike’

by Matt Clarke

On January 12, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said a lower court erred in declaring that a federal prisoner’s dismissed lawsuit counted as the first of three “strikes” allowed under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). Why? Because only the judge who counts the ...

North Carolina Prisoners Languish Without Air Conditioning

by Kevin W. Bliss

The North Carolina General Assembly approved a $30 million budget to air condition all state prisons in late 2021, but none of it had been spent by May 2022. That left about 15,400 of some 37,000 prisoners held by the state Department of Public Safety (DPS) ...

Ninth Circuit Tells Nevada DOC: ‘Wait and See’ Prisoner Medical Care Can’t Become ‘Deny and Delay’

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 ...

Class Certified in ‘Orange Crush’ Shakedown Lawsuit by Illinois Prisoners

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 ...

$2.57 Million Settlement for Hogtying Death in NC Police Custody

by Eike Blohm, MD

On October 20, 2022, a federalcourt in North Carolina approved a settlement obligating the City of Greensboro to pay $2.57 million for the wrongful death of a mentally ill man, after city cops detained and hogtied him in September 2018.

Most people were enjoying the late-summer ...

Pennsylvania County Retakes Control of Jail From GEO Group

by Keith Sanders

On April 6, 2022, Pennsylvania’s Delaware County assumed control of its jail for the first time in 24 years, after terminating its contract with the Florida-based GEO Group. Prior to that, the 1,800-bed George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Thornton was the state’s last privately-operated county lockup. ...

Fourteen Officials Indicted in New Jersey Women’s Prison Abuse Scandal, $21 Million Class-Action Settlement Reached

by Ashleigh N. Dye

On September 27, 2022, a New Jersey grand jury indicted 14 officials at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility (CF), the state’s only women’s prison. It was the latest fallout from a years-long sex abuse scandal that led Gov. Phil Murphy (D) to announce the prison will be ...

Prisoners Awarded Damages for Denial of Public Records by Ohio Prison Officials

by David M. Reutter

On June 1, 2022, the Supreme Court of Ohio rejected the argument of state prison officials that copies of a prisoner’s “kites” — informal complaints, grievances and appeals — are exempt from disclosure under state public-records law. The Court not only ordered the documents produced but ...

Tenth Circuit Revives Suit Against Colorado Jail Guard in Death of Mentally Disabled Detainee

by David M. Reutter

On May 25, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reinstated a claim against a guard at Colorado’s Mesa County Detention Facility (MCDF) in the death of a mentally disabled detainee. Reversing a district court’s grant of summary judgment to the guard, the ...

California Pays $3.5 Million to Settle Suit Over State Prisoner’s Murder

by Ashleigh N. Dye

On September 24, 2022, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) signed a settlement agreement providing $3.5 million to the heirs of Shaylene Graves, a state prisoner found hanged in her cell at the California Institute for Women (CIW) in Chino in June 2016.

At ...

LGBTQ Adults and Youth Face Criminalization and Over-Incarceration

by Jacob Barrett

LGBTQ individuals continue to be criminalized for their sexuality, resulting in high rates of incarceration and higher chances of solitary confinement once behind bars. That’s the take-away from a report by The Sentencing Project issued on June 9, 2022.

Using data from the year before, it estimated ...

Former South Carolina Deputy Gets 18 Years for Driving Transport Van With Two Detainees Into Flood, Drowning Them

by Ashleigh N. Dye

A former South Carolina Sheriff’s deputy was sentenced to 18 years in prison on May 19, 2022, for driving a jail transport van onto a flooded road, where it was swept away with a pair of detainees locked in the back and they drowned.

Former Horry ...

$54,000 Award for Georgia Prisoner in Failure-To-Protect Lawsuit

by David M. Reutter

A Georgia prisoner who got into a spat with a prison gang and was allegedly sold out to them by guards received a $54,000 judgment in a federal civil rights action on November 21, 2021.

Mixing it up at Ware State Prison with a prisoner in ...

Excess Prisoner-Made Hand Sanitizer Costing N.Y. Taxpayers Millions to Dispose Of

by David M. Reutter

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were national shortages of personal protective equipment. Hand sanitizer was in great need. Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) had a solution: Put prisoners to work making it.

Cuomo turned to the state’s prison industry, Corcraft ...

After Sixth Circuit Stops Attempted End-Run Around Rules, Former Kentucky Jail Detainee Settles Suit Against Southern Health Partners

by Kevin W. Bliss

On June 7, 2022, the federal court for the Eastern District of Kentucky dismissed the case of a former jail detainee after she reached a settlement with the lockup’s privately contracted healthcare provider. However, the amount and most of the terms of the settlement between Kimissa ...

CDCR’s Medication Assisted Treatment Program for Substance Abusers is a Resounding Success

by Matt Clarke

Between 2016 and 2019, fatal drug overdoses more than doubled for California state prisoners. The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) said that hospitalizations for drug overdoses rose almost as fast. Clearly, a new approach was needed to stem prisoner drug use.

That resulted in the ...

New Policy Banning Care Packages Makes Life Harder for N.Y. Prisoners

by Jayson Hawkins

To justify rules making life difficult for prisoners, officials often point to contraband — even when facts point in another direction. That was the case when the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) rolled out a new policy for prisoner packages in May 2022. ...

Former Deputy Warden Gets Two Years for Assaulting Mississippi Prisoner

by Kevin W. Bliss

On September 2, 2022, the former deputy warden of Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman was sentenced to 24 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for a brutal assault that left a state prisoner with permanent injuries.

Melvin Hilson, 50, was ordered by ...

New York City Jails Admit Illegally Recording Over 2,200 Attorney-Client Phone Calls

by Anthony W. Accurso

On the last day of 2021, the New York City Department of Correction (DOC) revealed a stunning privacy breach: Over 500 detainees in city jails had their calls to their attorneys recorded. Worse, the recordings were then turned over to prosecutors.

The Constitution guarantees the privacy ...

South Carolina Death Row Doctor Breaks Silence About Years of Executions

by Ashleigh N. Dye

In an interview published in The State in Columbia on April 26, 2022, a South Carolina physician spoke out for the first time about executing condemned state prisoners — and the toll it has taken on him.

“Death is death, no matter whether it’s by disease, ...

Texas Commission on Jail Standards Finds Unacceptable Conditions in Nueces County Jail

by Benjamin Tschirhart

They knew it was coming: The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) mandates a yearly inspection of all jail facilities in the state. The goal is to support local governments in maintaining “safe, secure and suitable local jail facilities.”

This is especially important, considering most jail detainees ...

Texas Prisoner Killed After Wounding Guard in Escape and Killing Family While on the Run

by Matt Clarke

On May 12, 2022, as Texas state prisoner Gonzalo Lopez, 46, was being transported in a prison bus to a medical appointment, he used a “prison-made knife and key” to loosen his restraints. He then cut through the metal cage for high-risk prisoners in which he was ...

Disgraced Virginia Sheriff Gets 12 Years for Bribery and Corruption

by Ashleigh N. Dye

On May 19, 2022, the federal court for the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced former Norfolk Sheriff Robert McCabe, to 12 years in federal prison for his role in a jail bribery scheme that went on for more than two decades. A jury convicted McCabe in ...

Idaho Lowers Cloak of Darkness Over Execution Protocols

by Douglas Ankney

On March 23, 2022, Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) signed a new law to shield the identity of drug suppliers for state executions by lethal injection.

House Bill 658 was written by the state’s Attorney General and Department of Correction (DOC). It won complete approval in the ...

Ninth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Doctor and Nurses at California Jail Who Treated Detainee’s Ruptured Aorta With Pepto Bismol

by David M. Reutter

On May 24, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied a request for rehearing en banc of a case brought on behalf of a detainee at California’s Orange County Jail (OCJ) who died of an undiagnosed rupture in his aorta. See: Russell ...

‘Good Time’ Credit Policy Wrongly Under Attack in Alabama

by Jo Ellen Nott

Policymakers in Alabama are howling for an end to “good time” sentence credits after a recently released state prisoner killed a Sheriff’s deputy in June 2022. But how did Austin Patrick Hall, a 26-year-old felon with 46 arrests since age 17, leave prison after serving less ...

ACH Settles After Federal Jury Awards $8.5 Million in Suit Over Missouri Detainee’s Death

by Benjamin Tschirhart

In August 2022, private jail medical provider Advanced Correctional Healthcare (ACH) settled with the estate of a Missouri pretrial detainee who died of lung cancer after being refused medical attention for months. The agreement, which was for an undisclosed sum, came a few months after a jury ...

Nevada Supreme Court: DOC Owes Parolee Credit for Any Days Over 60 Awaiting Revocation in Prison

by Matt Clarke

On May 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of Nevada ordered the state Department of Corrections (DOC) to credit a parolee for time he spent in custody awaiting parole revocation that exceeded the 60-day window state law provides for proceedings to begin.

After he was paroled, state prisoner ...

Ninth Circuit: Prisoner Filing a New Grievance That Makes New Claims Does Not Render Previous Grievance ‘Unexhausted’

by David M. Reutter

In May 2022, after a ruling in his favor by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a former California prisoner accepted a settlement over an alleged assault by guards at Mule Creek State Prison. Importantly, the Court’s ruling held that a grievance alleging ...

$3.7 Million in Attorney Fees Paid to Settle COVID-19 Class-Action at Orange County Jail

by Jacob Barrett

On September 12, 2022, the federal court for the Central District of California granted final approval to a class-action settlement resolving claims against California’s Orange County Jail (OCJ) over its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The legal saga began in California Superior Court for Orange County, where ...

Federal Jury Awards $30,501 to Indiana Prisoner in Retaliation Lawsuit

by David M. Reutter

In October 2022, the federal court for the Southern District of Indiana confirmed payment to a state prisoner of $30,501 in damages, which was awarded for retaliation he suffered when seeking protection from other prisoners.

The prisoner, Jason Seth Perry, was held at Wabash Valley Correctional ...

Federal Government Pays $300,000 for Endangering Diabetic Prisoner With ‘Dramatically’ Subpar Care

by Benjamin Tschirhart

On May 25, 2022, a former federal prisoner agreed to accept $300,000 to settle claims he was subjected to unconstitutionally bad treatment for severe Type 1 diabetes while incarcerated by the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

From 2004 to 2018, Seifullah Chapman was held in several BOP ...

Arkansas Supreme Court Rules Felony Enhancements Subject to Parole Eligibility Statute in Place at Time of Crime

by Jacob Barrett

On May 26, 2022, the Supreme Court of Arkansas held the state Department of Corrections (DOC) miscalculated parole-eligibility dates for a pair of state prisoners, causing a delay somewhere between 45 and 66 months.

Marcus Atkins and Calvin Perry were convicted for April 2007 crimes including kidnapping, ...

COVID-19 Stimulus Garnished From Federal Prisoner, but Only After Eighth Circuit Says ‘Not So Fast’

by David M. Reutter

On March 28, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit ruled that money may not be withdrawn from a federal prisoner’s trust account, even to satisfy court-ordered restitution, without first determining the source of the funds.

The Court’s decision concerned the strange case ...

Ninth Circuit: New Suit Not Required After Curing Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies

by David M. Reutter

On May 23, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a prisoner whose complaint was dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies need not file a new suit after completing that task. Rather, a supplemental pleading is sufficient, the Court said, ...

Third Guilty Plea Entered in Massive Aryan Brotherhood Drug Conspiracy in California Prisons

by Jo Ellen Nott

On September 12, 2022, the wife of an imprisoned street gang member pleaded guilty to posing as a paralegal for an allegedly corrupt lawyer in a scheme to smuggle methamphetamine into the California State Prison at Folsom.

Kristen Demar, 47, pleaded guilty to smuggling drugs to ...

Settlement Reached in COVID-19 Class Action Against DC Jail

by Kevin W. Bliss and Jayson Hawkins

On April 12, 2022, the federal court for the District of Columbia approved a settlement agreement to resolve a class-action lawsuit which challenged conditions of confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic at the DC Jail. Like an earlier preliminary injunction (PI) issued in the ...

News in Brief

Alabama: A detainee assaulted aguard at the Calhoun County Jail on August 6, 2022, the Anniston Star reported. Sheriff Matthew Wade blamed an ongoing staffing shortage, which has typically left three guards on duty to supervise 300 detainees. One of them, Jacob Hammett, was out of his maximum-security cell ...