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.
Rashaad Muhammad was taken to the Fulton County Jail, where medical staff failed to provide antibiotics and other medical supplies he repeatedly told them he needed
The judge said the state’s current system places most transgender women in men’s prisons, exposing them to heightened risks of violence despite case-by-case evaluations
A state probe found that poor jail management by Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson led to the escape
The Idaho Department of Correction retrofitted its execution chamber at the maximum security prison south of Boise to retain lethal injection as its preferred method
The former COs, who all worked at Riverbend Correctional Facility, were each sentenced to 10 years in prison to be followed by five years on probation
The coroner ruled Anthony Mitchell’s death a homicide, citing hypothermia and sepsis “resulting from infected injuries obtained during incarceration and medical neglect”
One of the COs observed that Tony Mitchell’s condition “would ultimately result in serious harm or even death” without medical intervention, according to her plea deal
The King County Jail inmate and his accomplice made phone calls to veterans posing as Veterans Affairs employees in a scheme to steal from their bank accounts
In March, COs transported an inmate to a Boise hospital for treatment of self-inflicted injuries; Nicholas Umphenour ambushed the COs from behind, wounding two
Do these books make a good argument for prison reform?
The CO was inside the Saginaw County Jail control tower when she walked behind a co-worker and used her TASER to deliver a drive-stun under the CO’s arm
The inmate said he took responsibility for the slayings, regretted his actions and was praying for prison officials, officers and “for my brothers and sisters behind these walls”
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
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