Mice, roaches in prison cells may be unconstitutional

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-09-27/news/sns-rt-us-courts-prison September 27, 2012|Jonathan Stempel | Reuters (Reuters) - A prominent federal judge said on Thursday that the infestation of a prison cell with mice and cockroaches may violate the U.S. constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment, even if the inmate is not physically harmed. Writing for a panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, Circuit Judge Richard Posner nonetheless said an inmate who objected to such conditions in his Illinois state prison cell could not recover damages because the state did not waive its immunity from sui...

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Even Amnesty Condemns SHUs

ONE VIEW: SHUs Have to Go This week Amnesty International issued a stark, damaging assessment of California's isolation units.  It concluded that California "must make substantial changes" and reduce the number inside SHUs and the amount of time any prisoner remains in isolation. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/usa-california-authorities-urged-end-shocking-conditions-prison-isolation-units-2012-09-27 That's just common sense, so it takes outsiders to make the point.  How can we ignore the 78 prisoners who have been in these cement coffins for over two decades each?  For 22 1/2 hours each day?  Often with no sunlight at all?  Shame on all of us. As you can imagine, many of these isolated souls are inside SHUs because they are mentally ill;  they...

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The Other Death Sentence: Aging and Dying in America’s Prisons

New America Media, James Ridgeway, Sept. 26, 2012 SHIRLEY. Mass.--William “Lefty” Gilday was 82 and suffering from dementia and Parkinson's when officials at Massachusetts' Shirley Prison placed him in an isolation cell -- a "medical bubble" -- for throwing an empty milk carton at a guard. He spent the last months of his life alone, separated by a window from medical staff, who placed manila folders across the glass so they didn’t have to look at him—and also blocking his view.As we get older, it is easy enough to imagine old age as a prison -- the body imprisoned by illness and loneliness. But in recent months, I have been corresponding with older men in Massachusetts state prisons who are in for life -- or in this case, death.I am 75, so we share a camaraderie of sorts as we compare...

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Better Hepatitis Treatment Costly for Prisons

Texas Tribune  September 21, 2012 by Brandi Grissom Tattooing is ubiquitous behind bars, despite — or perhaps because of — the fact that it is banned. “It’s just unbelievable how creative they can be,” said Michele Deitch, a prisons expert at the University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs. “They can jerry-rig pens to become needles. They use the dyes in paper products.” But the practice carries with it more than the risk of punishment — it can also spread hepatitis C. The prison population is particularly prone to this viral disease, which is transmitted largely through infected blood and can lead to liver cirrhosis and cancer. Not only do inmates have a penchant for illicit tattoos, but they are also likelier than the general population to have engaged in...

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Prison Violence Spikes in Tennessee

Nashville ScenePosted by Jonathan Meador Tue, Sep 18, 2012 at 12:07 PMComissioner Derrick SchofieldThe nonprofit advocacy group Human Rights Defense Center has released data that shows an uptick in incidents of violence in Tennessee's prisons over the last three years, according to documents obtained by Pith.WSMV broke the news of this trend last night in a story featuring Alex Friedmann, a longtime prisoners' rights advocate and private prison critic, who on behalf of the HRDC provided data that reveals a steady 18.3 percent increase in violent incidents per 1,000 prisoners between 2010 and the first six months of 2012.Friedmann maintains that the surge in violence corresponds with the appointment of TDOC Commisioner Derrick Schofield, a Haslam Administration pick, whom Friedmann alleges...

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CAR "separate, unequal and wholly inhumane"

TEXAS TRIBUNE Advocacy Groups Target Private Prisons for Immigrants by Maurice Chammah September 13, 2012 The unnecessary prosecution of nonviolent illegal immigrants is sending ever larger numbers to poorly managed private prisons, a coalition of advocacy groups said in a report released Thursday, calling on Congress to reject the appropriation of $25,865,000 for 1,000 new private prison beds. The coalition, which includes Justice Strategies, the ACLU of Texas, Grassroots Leadership and the Sentencing Project, argued that “petty immigration violations” are sending more Latinos to prisons where they face “poor management, lack of medical care, prolonged lockdown and human rights violations.” These facilities, called “Criminal Alien Requirement” (CAR) prisons, are run by private...

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"Gang of Deputies" in L.A. Jails

A Sheriff with his Head in the Sand By Margaret Winter, National Prison Project & Peter J. Eliasberg, ACLU of Southern California at 9:30am [reposted from LinkedIn: The Innocence Project] Originally posted by the ACLU of Southern California. Gang-like cliques of sheriff’s deputies operating with impunity inside L.A. County jails. Department top brass encouraging a culture of violence and brutality against inmates. And a sheriff with his head in the sand. We at the ACLU have been calling attention to the medieval conditions inside L.A. County jails for years. But on September 7, 2012, the blue-ribbon Citizens’ Commission on Jail Violence held its penultimate hearing on deputy violence in the L.A. County jails. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors created the Citizens’ Commission...

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Illinois System and Critics Agree

Northwest HeraldBy CHRISTOPHER WILLS - The Associated PressIll. to improve youth prison conditionsSPRINGFIELD – The state of Illinois has agreed to improve conditions at youth prisons under a settlement that officials hope will avert a legal battle if a judge agrees to the deal.The settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois doesn’t spell out exactly what would be done to correct problems such as violence, limited educational opportunities and inadequate mental health care. Instead, it proposes that independent investigators review procedures and present a plan within six months.Also under the proposal, the Department of Juvenile Justice would change its practice of throwing children into solitary confinement for long periods and keeping inmates behind bars after they’re...

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Texas: 878 Ag Seg released into public

The Texas Tribune Lawmakers Revisit Approach to Solitary Confinement by Maurice Chammah September 5, 2012 Solitary confinement has been referred to by many names, including "special housing units," "lockdown" and "the hole." In Texas, it's called "administrative segregation," and prison administrators reserve it for inmates considered particularly dangerous, including those affiliated with a prison gang.While solitary confinement in prisons is rising as a national issue because of concerns about its psychological effect on individual inmates, Texas lawmakers are worried in particular that inmates are released with no transition between solitary confinement and the free world."The longer you leave someone in there without rehabilitation, there is a possibility they will come out more dangerous,”...

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Chief Deputy Agrees: Deplorable Conditions

Inmate families protest conditions at Jefferson County Jail Published: Monday, September 10, 2012, 1:23 PM Updated: Monday, September 10, 2012, 1:23 PMBy Carol Robinson -- The Birmingham News BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Family members of several Jefferson County Jail inmates protested outside the downtown facility today, saying the food and conditions are atrocious. Five people held signs outside the Mel Bailey Criminal Justice Center and talked to news reporters and photographers, who outnumbered the protesters. Bridget Gober of Gardendale said her 18-year-old daughter has been jailed on drug charges since July 27, and has been in the same jail uniform since she was incarcerated. A judge has denied her bond and drug court, according to her mother. Gober said her daughter suffered withdrawals...

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Closing of Illinois Supermax

Fight Over Closing of Illinois Supermax Ends 14 Years of Prisoners' Silence in Solitary Confinement -Wednesday, 15 August 2012 00:00 By Yana Kunichoff and Jesse Menendez, Truthout and Vocalo | Report- Tamms Correctional Center on 200 Supermax Road, near the southern tip of Southern Illinois, may be as far from the hustling and bustling city of Chicago, with its constant city throb of noise, as you can get. And it's likely that no one can feel the difference as much as its inmates. The only supermax facility in Illinois, meaning it is the only prison built to keep the majority of its prisoners in isolation, Tamms prison was consigned for closure by the state's governor in July. But the battle between former prisoners, the families of those hurt by conditions at Tamms, anti-torture advocates,...

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US judges won't ease state prison crowding order

KTVU.comPosted: 5:28 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, 2012SACRAMENTO — A panel of federal judges won't consider easing its order that the state sharply reduce its prison population to improve inmate care, but may give state officials more time to comply, the three judges said Friday.State prison officials have said they won't be able to meet a court-ordered deadline to reduce the population of the state's 33 adult prisons by about 33,000 inmates by June 2013. They argue that they could house another 3,000 inmates in those prisons while still bringing conditions up to constitutional standards for providing medical and mental health care.The judges wrote in a four-page order that they are not willing to reconsider the population cap order that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last year."That question...

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Feds: Kan. women's prison violates inmates' rights

NECN.com Sept. 7by John HannaTOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Sexual misconduct and abuse of inmates at Kansas' prison for women is "rampant throughout the facility" and persisted even as federal officials investigated problems at the facility, according to a U.S. Justice Department report released Thursday.The department's Civil Rights Division concluded that Kansas failed to adequately deal with problems at the Topeka Correctional Facility after the National Institute of Corrections recommended more than two dozen changes in January 2010 and the prison's top administrator was reassigned. The report also cited a shortage of female officers and said the prison's policies and staffing are inadequate.Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, immediately sought to assign blame for the problems to former Democratic...

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Crowded Illinois Prisons

> Chicagoland Quinn's plan to close prisons put on temporary lockdownJudge agrees with union that increasing crowding would endanger guardsBy Monique Garcia, Chicago Tribune reporter September 5, 2012A southern Illinois judge has issued a temporary halt to Gov. Pat Quinn's plan to close several prisons and juvenile justice facilities.The ruling came at the request of the state's largest employee union, which asked Alexander County Circuit Judge Charles Cavaness to block the closures. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees argued that the closures would put prison employees' safety at risk, citing already crowded conditions at prisons across the state.The move follows last week's ruling by an arbitrator that Quinn violated the state's contract with the union by...

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The 3 Essential Correctional Skills

By Judith A. YatesPublished: 09/10/2012http://www.corrections.com/news/article The three most important skills in corrections are report writing, the ability to ‘read’ nonverbal communication, and the ability to communicate. Sounds simple? It takes years of training, watching, and the ability to want to learn. Report writing is essencial. We have become far to reliant on electronic means for spell check and grammar. You should have noticed there are already two spelling and grammar errors here: ‘essencial’ and ‘to,’ easy to overlook but sloppy in a report. A report can lose a case in court, can have your statement thrown out of the Lieutenant’s basket, or can make your entire department appear disorganized, ignorant, and incompetent. As the saying goes, “If it is not written down, it...

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Colorado Prison Inmate Wins Right to Outdoor Exercise

By John IngoldThe DenverPostcanoncitydailyrecord.comPosted: 09/04/2012 12:01:00 AM MDT For 12 years, virtually the only exposure Troy Anderson has had to theoutdoors has come in a 90-square-foot room. At one end of the room are two slits in the wall that are 6-inches wide and5-feet tall. The slits are covered with metal grates. On one wall of the room isa chin-up bar. This, Colorado Department of Corrections officials argued in a lawsuit Anderson filed, satisfied the constitutional requirement that Anderson, a prisoner at the Colorado State Penitentiary, begiven outdoor exercise opportunities. In a ruling issued last week, a federal judge in Denver disagreed and orderedprison officials to allow Anderson to exercise in a place with no roof where therain can fall on...

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Increase in Texas Prison Slayings: 2012 shaping up as deadly year for Texas prisons

By MICHAEL GRACZYK, Austin American StatesmanThe Associated Press HUNTSVILLE, Texas — With four months still remaining, 2012 is already the deadliest year in more than a decade in Texas prisons.    The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has reported 10 homicides this year, up from only three in 2011. There were five in 2010 and just one in 2009, according to agency figures.    "It's definitely jumped out at us," Bruce Toney, the agency's inspector general, said of the increase. "It definitely has not been an average year."    The homicides don't appear to be connected and have been scattered throughout the 111-prison...

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