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 state Department of Health has received more than 3,500 complaints alleging substandard conditions within the facility
Officials say the state will be ready by July with trained riflemen and a manual process, despite efforts to reduce direct staff involvement
Lawsuits allege inmates were held for months in near-total darkness with unsafe conditions at Miami Correctional Facility
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
The inmate and an accomplice befriended a Florida State University college student and his sister before jumping them; The victim was beaten and had his throat slit
The trainer was standing in front of Lt. Rodney Osborne to give him additional instructions when he pulled the trigger, hitting Osborne just above his protective vest
A total of 981 people have died in Georgia prisons since 2021, including 207 this year alone, according to numbers from the Department of Corrections commissioner
State prosecutors suggested setting the minimum at no longer than four weeks between executions
The Pitchess Detention Center South Facility inmate reported the incident to jail staff, who discovered that several vehicles had also been struck by bullets
The law was touted by lawmakers as a way to make bail procedure uniform across the state and to limit violent criminals from being released before seeing a judge
To compensate for shortages, prison administrators regularly schedule OT shifts for officers, something the union said makes a dangerous job even more dangerous
The council’s plan “lays out our road map to help transform the lives of people leaving prison and reentering society while making our communities safe,” the governor said
A 2017 lawsuit led to a consent decree banning punitive confinement and the use of pepper spray at Lincoln Hills-Copper Lake Schools
A U.S. Penitentiary prisoner plotted with two people to send him drugs that he could sell at the prison, prosecutors said; the shipment was disguised as “legal mail” from a law office
The Marlboro County sheriff and a deputy were indicted in an incident involving the use of a TASER on an unruly prisoner in their custody
Thomas Lane was convicted of violating Floyd’s civil rights and was sentenced to 2.5 years in federal prison; he has been released to supervision, with one year left in his state sentence
The Aug. 16 order came a month after a U.S. District Judge found the city in contempt of its 2022 settlement agreement in a class-action lawsuit
“To allow sex offenders to change their names from that of which they were called at the time of the crime would undermine the very purpose of the act,” the judge wrote
Calif. DA weighing whether to retry or release death row inmate of 33 years
“There’s evidence of serious prosecutorial misconduct, and a lack of accountability in this office at the time,” Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price said
The new law expands the program, which already issues ID cards to those leaving the Department of Corrections, to every county jail and federal prison in the state
Missouri Department of Corrections acting director Trevor Foley has a week to release a man from South Central Correctional Center or will face a $1,000 daily fine
The incident occurred when the officer tried to force the allegedly intoxicated arrestee to stand still for an X-Ray photo; the officer has been sentenced to 4 years in prison
The court order, which came after a lawsuit that claimed inmates were housed in unsafe conditions, hurries a plan to demolish the prison and build a new one in its place
The inmate was sentenced to more than four years for his role in the 2018 fatal bludgeoning of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger at USP Hazelton
The idea is that the inmates will play card games, and perhaps they will know something about the case in the deck
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