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.
Amid nearly 30 vacancies at FCI Edgefield alone, prison teachers, nurses and electricians are being pulled to cover CO shifts without compensation
The new law raises wages for incarcerated firefighters from about $1 an hour to the federal minimum, with $10 million in state funding to support the increase
Robert Kessler, a former CO who took a plea deal, described in court how officers repeatedly hit and pepper-sprayed Robert Brooks before he died at a Utica hospital
An inmate filed a petition against the deputies working in the jail in an attempt to have their non-lethal weapons removed
A jury agreed Richard Dixson was subjected to racial discrimination and a hostile work environment
The lawsuit says Michael A. Carter died because medical staff at the jail refused to give him prescription medicine and appropriate attention as his condition worsened
The legislation comes in the wake of last year’s report on the Department of Justice’s investigation into the state’s prisons
Two federal lawsuits have been filed on behalf of prisoners, saying Parchman is dangerous, vermin-infested and unfit for human habitation
The lawsuit claims COs didn’t provide proper care for the men despite knowing they had severe mental illnesses
At least 19 inmates have died in Mississippi prisons since late December; the lawsuit was filed on behalf of 152 prisoners
Recent changes in the law have kept inmates from being sent to prison, instead placing them in treatment programs from which they can escape
After initially being suspended during a criminal investigation, the officer alleges he was terminated for remaining an active union steward
“I didn’t know if my co-worker was going to die. So I stepped into the situation then I got hit in the face and neck.”
“No one should be assaulted in a prison. Correctional officers should not be assaulted. ... It speaks to a lack of control and a lack of oversight.”
The lawsuit alleges the COs at four different prisons had help from their colleagues in covering up the assault
The inmate died after another inmate attacked him for nearly 20 minutes in view of surveillance cameras
A lawsuit accused a corrections officer of encouraging the inmate to take his own life
A judge ruled an inmate can sue the state prison system over the end of her hormone therapy treatments
Funding and staffing for medical care have not kept pace with inmate numbers or the aging inmate population
Lawyers are challenging a state law prohibiting people who have committed serious felonies from changing their names
This is the first time a federal appeals court has affirmed a ruling ordering a state to provide gender-confirmation surgery to a transgender inmate
The union said Sen. James Eldridge was taking the side of inmates after an attack that injured three COs
The DOC will lease three prisons from private developers in an attempt to address rising violence and shrinking space
Three former corrections officers faced criminal charges in connection with a 2014 attack
The state must address overcrowding, violence that led the DOJ to believe the state is violating inmates’ constitutional rights
The lawsuit alleges the state law unconstitutionally interferes with the federal prison and immigration detention systems
Contrary to a previous statement, Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren said a paper with an article about the county jail was not distributed due to a security risk
The ACLU accused Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren of removing copies of a newspaper containing an article about inmate treatment at the jail
Attorneys for Epstein’s former cellmate, COs on duty at time of Epstein’s death have requested more detailed information about why and how footage of Epstein’s death was deleted
The lawsuit claims inmates ‘are dying because Miss. has failed to fund its prisons’
More than two dozen inmates filed a federal lawsuit after outbreaks of violence that killed five inmates
Sgt. John Thomas Lowe will be compensated for the three years of unpaid administrative leave from his job prior to his termination
A judge will hear arguments on whether to order testing on evidence from the 1980s in a killing for which a death row inmate is scheduled to be executed next week
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