With the general population of federal prisons growing older, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is looking for ways of analyzing its healthcare data in order to improve healthcare services for aging prisoners. Last month, BOP published a document, known as a “request for information,” seeking data and suggestions for ways not only to deliver improved…

By Prison Legal News Authorities in Washington State have said no charges will be filed in the death of a 33-year-old diabetic prisoner at the Spokane County Jail, even though his death was ruled a homicide after he was tased twice and placed in a restraint chair as he was suffering from extremely high blood…

By Mark Wilson The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held in March 2014 that a district court had abused its discretion when it dismissed a prisoner’s suit for failure to pay a filing fee without determining his ability to pay. Indiana prisoner Leonard Thomas filed suit in 2012, alleging inadequate medical care for his epilepsy.…

By Christopher Zoukis Petersburg, Virginia: At approximately 2:30 PM on February 24, 2015, Federal Correctional Institution Petersburg Medium inmate Ashley Jean Arnold (given name: Steven Roy Arnold), 32, ended her life by hanging herself in her prison cell. Arnold had sought medical and psychological care for her gender dysphoria in the two years leading up…

By C. Clagett It has been about five weeks since the original Norovirus started in Wake Unit and then spread entirely through the Low Custody Institution, as well as the FCI 1. This infectious virus was very poorly handled by the institution. The evidence of contamination was there from the outset, but there was no…

By Christopher Zoukis Concurrent with a recommendation from the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to test all inmates at two California prisons for “Valley Fever,” a new multi-million dollar lawsuit filed in federal court calls these prisons “incubators” for the disease that has killed dozens of prisoners and prison employees over the last decade.…

By Mark Wilson The Idaho Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of § 1983 claims stemming from the death of a detainee who committed suicide at the Ada County Jail (ACJ). On September 28, 2008, Bradley Munroe was arrested for robbery. He was hospitalized because he was intoxicated, uncooperative and exhibiting odd behavior.…

By Prison Legal News Prison officials in several states are mulling over two sides of the same coin with respect to organ transplants for prisoners: first, the eligibility and cost of such medical procedures, and second, whether prisoners should be allowed to donate their organs. Prisoners in Need of Organ Transplants In Rhode Island, a…

By Carrie Wilkinson Although Prison Legal News and its parent organization, the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), are best known for litigation involving censorship by prison and jail officials, HRDC also co-counsels select other cases, mainly involving wrongful deaths on behalf of prisoners’ surviving family members. As detailed in this issue’s cover story, one of…

By David Reutter The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held on August 26, 2013 that a judge may resolve factual disputes relevant to the exhaustion of administrative remedies without the participation of a jury. It also held the district court had erred in finding a failure to exhaust where a prisoner did not receive a…

Medical Care

To Boost Health of Aging Inmates, BOP Seeks Better Data Analysis

Overdose, Taser and Restraint Chair Combine to Kill Washington Prisoner

Seventh Circuit: Dismissal due to Nonpayment of Filing Fee Requires Assessment

Transgender Prisoner Denied Adequate Treatment Hangs Herself

Out of Control Norovirus at The Low Institution, Butner, North Carolina

Valley Fever Rages On In California’s Prisons

Idaho Supreme Court Upholds Dismissal of Section 1983 Claims in Jail Suicide Case

$750,000 Settlement for Washington State Prisoner’s Wrongful Death

Judge May Resolve Exhaustion Issue