Report: Incarcerated people more likely to suffer from chronic illness and...
The federal Bureau of Justice Statistics released a new report (PDF) this month on the health of incarcerated people in state and federal lock-ups from 2011-12. The study focused on both prisoners...
View ArticleMontana legislature debuts bill prohibiting solitary confinement for minors,...
A bill introduced in the Montana House of Representatives this week would curb the use of isolation in state prisons. The Montana Solitary Confinement Reform Act (or House Bill 490) was introduced by...
View ArticleVirginia woman dies in custody after being tasered, placed in restraints and...
On February 3rd, a 5’3″, 130 pound Virginia woman was killed after six deputies tased her before locking her in restraints with an anti-spitting hood over her head. Natasha McKenna, who was 37 years...
View ArticleFlorida plans to rebid and revamp troubled prison medical contracts
Florida’s newly-minted corrections chief Julie Jones has announced that her department will rebid $1.4 billion worth of private contracts to provide healthcare to approximately 100,000 inmates across...
View ArticleNYC DOC withholding records on violence against developmentally disabled...
A lawsuit filed on March 12th in the eastern district of New York claims that the New York City Department of Corrections (DOC) withheld important records from a federally-mandated disability advocate...
View ArticleNew solitary confinement unit plagued by old problems on Rikers Island
At the beginning of March, New York City’s Board of Correction released a preliminary report on Rikers Island’s controversial new isolation facility, the Enhanced Supervision Housing Unit (ESHU). The...
View ArticleCorizon Health Staff on Rikers Island File Federal Labor Complaint Over...
According to the NY Daily News, a group of medical staffers from New York City jail medical contractor Corizon Health Services filed a federal labor complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health...
View ArticleMedical Examiner Says Mentally Ill Inmate Natasha McKenna Died of Excited...
UPDATE: More on ‘excited delirium’ and its diagnosis in in-custody deaths involving the use of force. According to the Fairfax County Police, a medical examiner has ruled that 37-year old inmate...
View ArticleAgainst Reform: Beyond Rikers Island
There are a couple of things I want to say about the 10 reform bills proposed in the NYC Council this week targeting the Department of Corrections. First, as I mentioned in my rundown, even if these...
View ArticleExcited Delirium, the Use of Force and the Death of Natasha McKenna
Update: Taser’s role in the rise of excited delirium diagnoses is an important part of this story. H/T to @SusieMadrak Last week, police in Fairfax County, Virginia, said a medical examiner determined...
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