Legal
Legal issues in the correctional system encompass various topics, including inmate rights, staff conduct, and compliance with state and federal laws. This directory offers articles and resources on the legal aspects of correctional facility operations, helping staff stay informed about the regulations and policies that govern their work. Understanding legal responsibilities is essential for minimizing liability and ensuring facilities operate within the law. For more information, explore our section on Corrections Policies.
The county board of commissioners is committing nearly $20 million to a new behavioral health unit in the jail, expanding medical beds from 12 to 112
The judge noted that the inmate was awakened at 1 a.m., ordered to stand against a wall and beaten by three corrections officers
They called Combs “unrepentant” and said he “now argues that his victims should shoulder the blame”
Learn how inmate privacy violations, as officers observed an inmate’s naked body during childbirth, led to a lawsuit in Brown v. Dickey
The inmate struck the dog hard enough that the dog had a concussion and scraped the inside of her pupil, Genesee County Sheriff Christopher Swanson said
About two minutes into the pursuit, the CO fired three rounds, wounding a passenger in the BMW, federal prosecutors said
Each Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center inmate was charged with mayhem, armed assault to murder and assault to murder
The United States has reached 1,600 executions since the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976
The consent decree required policies to prevent abuse and ensure a safe environment for women at Julia Tutwiler Prison, as required by the U.S. Constitution
Alan Eugene Miller killed three co-workers in 1999; Miller was paranoid and believed they had been gossiping about him
A lawyer argued the city should be held in contempt as Rikers Island is “more violent and less safe” than when reforms began in 2015
The plea deal revealed the former Walker County CO “admitted that ‘collectively we did it. We killed him,” following an inmate’s death from hypothermia
The family of the victim, Lisha Gayle, and the prosecutor objected to the execution of Marcellus Williams, saying they wanted his sentence commuted to life in prison
Freddie Owens was convicted of the 1997 killing of a Greenville convenience store clerk during a robbery; while on trial, he killed an inmate at a county jail
Combs, 54, was sent to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn — a place that’s been described as “hell on earth” and an “ongoing tragedy”
Boise PD responded to what they thought was an active shooter at the hospital; an IDOC officer was shot by a police officer who mistook him to be a gunman near the entrance
The ex-Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office deputy admitted that he smuggled drugs and a phone into an inmate, including fentanyl and cocaine, for distribution among other inmates
The music mogul is charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking; the indictment lists allegations that go back to 2008
A judge ordered a former New Mexico prison medical provider to pay $100 per day for withholding public records from the Human Rights Defense Center for nearly four years
The policy shift comes after a judge in August ruled he would vacate an elderly man’s sentence if he was sent to MDC Brooklyn, citing the jail’s “barbaric conditions”
The inmate shared specific details of who he planned to contact “on the outside” and that he would have them shoot the prosecutor while she was in her car
The settlement also requires CDCR to distribute a policy memorandum to employees that better protects the rights of visitors who have to undergo strip searches
Because of previous escape attempts, the inmate had shackles on her legs, wrists and waist during the ride; she was still able to roll down a window in the van and jump out
Three bags of “crystal like substance” were discovered in the Staton Correctional Facility CO’s vehicle after an officer and K-9 conducted a sniff search in the facility’s parking lot
Prison officials say the policy prevents perpetrators from gaining fame and stops inmates from sending coded messages, keeping prisons safer
Weinstein has been in and out of Bellevue Hospital since returning to Rikers Island in April after his 2020 rape and sexual assault convictions were overturned for a new trial
The union representing the COs supported the legislation due to privacy concerns after the repeal of law 50-a, which removed privacy protections
The inmate was already serving a life sentence for previous violent crimes; the DOJ said last year that it would not seek the death penalty against him in Bulger’s killing
Trump’s case “stands alone, in a unique place in this Nation’s history,” the judge wrote
The bill would have allowed inmates convicted of murders before June 5, 1990, and who have served at least 25 years, to seek parole
State regulators warned the county that Los Padrinos did not reach a mandated ratio of one officer per 10 youths for 15 of 87 shifts in July
The agreement includes a behavior management program and a skills-based curriculum with daily structured activities at the Manson Youth Institution
Danilo Cavalcante escaped in 2023 from Chester County Prison by crab-walking up between two walls in an exercise yard, then climbing over razor wire and jumping from a roof
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