This site contains over 2,000 news articles, legal briefs and publications related to for-profit companies that provide correctional services. Most of the content under the "Articles" tab below is from our Prison Legal News site. PLN, a monthly print publication, has been reporting on criminal justice-related issues, including prison privatization, since 1990. If you are seeking pleadings or court rulings in lawsuits and other legal proceedings involving private prison companies, search under the "Legal Briefs" tab. For reports, audits and other publications related to the private prison industry, search using the "Publications" tab.
For any type of search, click on the magnifying glass icon to enter one or more keywords, and you can refine your search criteria using "More search options." Note that searches for "CCA" and "Corrections Corporation of America" will return different results.
the Eighth Amendment. Baylor Women's Correctional Facility prisoner Shalnessa Goode sued, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Correctional Medical Services (CMS) nurses Jacqueline A. Nixon and Barbara LeWallen
...
Medical Care Still Deficient in Texas Prisons by Gary Hunter Deficient medical care at the unit level has Texas prisons incubating a new, more virulent strain of HIV. Dr. William Obrien is one of the most noted doctors on staff with the University of Texas Medical Branch. (UTMB) Over a …
Florida Prisoner Dies in CCA Jail by Lonnie Burton On February 26, 2002, the family of a prisoner who died as a result of medical neglect at the privately-run Bay County jail in Florida filed formal notice that they intend to sue the jail, as well as the Bay Medical …
CMS Overdoses Five Boston Jail Prisoners
by
Five prisoners at Boston's Suffolk County jail in Massachusetts were rushed to a nearby hospital after receiving the wrong medication. Jail
...
News in Brief by Roger Hummel Alaska: On April 11, 2002, Cynthia Cooper, the head prosecutor in the state attorney general's office, resigned after being judicially admonished for pursuing felony charges against a public defender who crashed his car into a light pole. Anchorage prosecutors had agreed to a misdemeanor …
for prisoner-patients and for secure clinical settings.
CCA, the nation's largest privateprison company, has about 61,000 prison beds under contract. "In addition to streamlining our ordering process
...
Prisoners at Private Federal Prison in California Strike Over Food, Medical Care by Lonnie Burton On November 26, 2001, more than 1,800 prisoners at the Taft Correctional Institution (TCI) refused to report to work in protest of shortcomings in the prison's food and medical care. TCI, a privately run low-security …
Hawaiian Women Prisoners File Suit Over Sex Abuse, Torture in Oklahoma PrivatePrison
by Lonnie Burton
When the State of Hawaii opted in 1998 to send its female prisoners to a privately run
...
of organization makes resource and cost control increasingly difficult. [See cover story.]
In an independent investigation, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel documented a variety of questionable prison health
...
Pubic Hair Search by Medical Personnel Constitutional by The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has overturned a district court's order that held as unconstitutional a Sheriff's policy of searching a prisoner's pubic hair prior to release. PLN previously reported the district court's order. (See: Skurstenis v. Jones , …
, Colorado.
The lawsuit was brought against Correctional Medical Services, Inc. (CMS) who had a contractual obligation to provide medical services for prisoners and detainees at the facility. The mother
...
Summary Judgment Denied in Oklahoma Jail Beating by A federal district court in Oklahoma has denied summary judgment against a pretrial detainee's failure to protect and deliberate indifference to medical needs claims. On September 5, 1995, John Winton was booked into the Tulsa County Jail on shooting charges that were …
Sanction Excessive When It Excludes Medical Expert's Testimony by The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has held that a discovery sanction is excessive when it causes the dismissal of a prisoner's suit by excluding expert medical testimony. The Court also held that dismissing a claim for failure to …
No Interlocutory Appeal for Good Faith Defense by The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that the requirements of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) do not apply to properly characterized habeas corpus petitions under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2241, 2254, or 2255, finding that those actions are not …
PrivatePrison Corporation Can Be Sued in Bivens Action: Supreme Court Grants Review
by John E Dannenberg
by John E. Dannenberg
Holding that a private corporation acting under color
...
Summary Judgment for Private Physician Reversed by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court's grant of summary judgment to a private physician under contract with the county, holding that contract services provided to the county constituted state action. The court also held that qualified immunity was categorically …
the above plaintiffs. He said that Wexford has been replaced by Correctional Medical Services, another privateprison health care company, "which shows greater expertise in administration and even a worse
...
Virginia DOC Cuts Ties with CMS
by Robert Durkee
Virginia DOC Cuts Ties With CMS
by Robert Durkee
After numerous allegations of inadequate medical care, pending prisoner lawsuits
...
CCA Medical Cost-Saving Contract Unconstitutional by A Tennessee federal district judge as found an incentives contract between the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and a private doctor unconstitutional and must be stopped. The contract provided for financial incentives for the physician to reduce costs, which motivated him to reduce medical …
no comment on the jury's verdict or their message. It appears that juries readily draw a connection between profit driven privateprison companies and denial of basic services such as medical care
...
