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September 27, 2024
Rounding up some prison press pieces as the week winds down
The highest-profile corrections stories of this week were surely the four executions in four US states. But, as is always the case in our big nation with lots of prisons and jails, there were also lots of lower-profile incarceration stories from this week worth noting. Here is an abridged list of pieces catching my eye:
From Fortune, "Binance founder ‘CZ’ leaves prison on Friday—along with his $60 billion fortune"
From The Guardian, "Activists ‘fight against censorship’ in the largest US book bans: prisons"
From The Marshall Project, "The Future of Prisons?: Inspired by Germany, South Carolina let prisoners design their own units, write house rules and settle their own disputes. Then came politics."
From the Minnesota Star Tribune, "Many people in jail have an opioid addiction, but less than half of jails offer medication, study shows"
From the Mississippi Free Press, "Mississippi Town Ran ‘Kinds of Debtors’ Prisons Charles Dickens Described,’ Justice Department Alleges"
From MIT News, "Study evaluates impacts of summer heat in U.S. prison environments"
From NPR, "DOJ watchdog: federal prison not doing enough to prevent inmate suicides"
From the Washington Post, "D.C. Jail inmates take up soccer in new program with D.C. United"
From Wisconsin Public Radio, "Wisconsin DOC: Nonprofit can no longer send used books to prisoners"
September 27, 2024 at 11:38 AM | Permalink
Comments
We take one step forward and two steps back regarding prison reform. It's clear that rehabilitation is not the purpose of incarceration, and that it serves to house the surplus population. The costs of incarceration will increase so much that Republicans will once again seek to reduce the prison population. That's if the lawsuits don't pile up first.
Posted by: Anon | Sep 28, 2024 4:11:34 PM
The Minnestoa story about fewer than half of jails and prisons permitting their inmates to receive Suboxone or Methadone to treat their opiate addictions is very important. The Courts have turned against the jails and prisons on this issue. See, Brenda Smith v. Aroostook County, No. 1:18-cv-00352-NT (D. Maine March 27, 2019), preliminary injunction affirmed, 922 F.3d 41 (1st Cir. 2019). The legal holding is that because addiction is a disability, it would violate the Americans With Disabilities Act for the jails and prisons not to give the inmates their prescribed medications. The U.S. DOJ is actively pursuing obtaining Settlement Agreements and Consent Decrees from the jails and prisons across the country. My local jail, the Fayette County (Kentucky) Detention Center, is under a Consent Decree with the DOJ on this issue. Also we have a new case to file. Female Defendant received an 8-year prison sentence for trafficking in heroin. She was taken straight to jail from the Courtroom, even thought she was 8 months pregnant. She had been taking Methadone daily to treat her heroin addiction. The Madison County Jail refused to give her the Methadone, so she went thru withdrawal. After 2 weeks without her Methadone she lost her full-term baby due to the withdrawal. We are about to sue the jail for violating the ADA. Criminal defense lawyers need to stay aware of this issue in advising their clients and pursuing their rights against the jails and prisons.
Posted by: Jim Gormley | Sep 28, 2024 8:36:49 PM
