Posts Tagged ‘Prison Deaths’
Boston Mobster Slain Within Hours of Entering New Prison
By Christopher Zoukis Notorious Boston gang chief James “Whitey” Bulger was found murdered in his cell at the federal high-security prison in Hazelton, West Virginia on October 30, the morning after being arrived there from a Bureau of Prisons transfer center in Oklahoma City. Bulger was the chief organized crime figure in New England, in…
Read MoreDrugs Suspected for Five Inmate Deaths in Four Days in Arkansas
By Christopher Zoukis Five inmates were found dead in their cells at southeastern Arkansas’ Varner Unit prison during a four-day period in late August, three of them in a single day. The Arkansas Department of Corrections (DOC) announced that, between the morning of Sunday, August 26 and early hours of the next day, inmates Edward…
Read MorePrison Workers Will Receive $7.5 Million for Riot Death, Injuries
By Christopher Zoukis In what may be the state’s largest-ever settlement of a civil lawsuit, on Dec. 15 a federal judge approved a settlement agreement between Delaware and survivors of a correctional officer killed last February during an inmate riot and takeover at a state prison, and five other corrections officers held by rioters during…
Read MoreMilwaukee Jail Under Fire for Deaths, Civil Rights Abuses
By Christopher Zoukis At least four people, including a newborn, have died in Wisconsin’s Milwaukee County Jail since April 2016. The facility, run by Sheriff David A. Clarke, Jr., houses about 950 detainees daily. The string of deaths has raised concerns about conditions at the jail, including whether adequate medical care is being provided. The…
Read MoreMentally Ill, Disabled CDCR Prisoner Dies Following Use of Force Incident
By Christopher Zoukis On September 7, 2013, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) prisoner Joseph Duran, 35, a mentally ill inmate who breathed through the use of a tube in his throat, died following a use of force incident. He had been pepper-sprayed in the face for refusing to remove his hands from a…
Read MorePrisoner Deaths Continue To Rise
By Chris Zoukis For the third year in row, the number of prisoners who died in America’s prisons and jails rose. Some 4,446 prisoners died in 2013, a two percent increase over 2012, continuing an upward trend, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Suicide remains the…
Read MoreDehydration Death of North Carolina Prisoner Prompts Investigations, Firings, Resignations
A North Carolina prisoner with a history of mental illness who was found dead in a transport van after being transferred to another prison died due to dehydration, according to the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office.
However, the state pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Michael Anthony Kerr, 54, said records provided by the Department of Public Safety were so scanty and incomplete that she was unable to determine whether his death was accidental, a suicide or a homicide.
Prison records indicate that Kerr was held in solitary confinement for 35 days prior to his death and had spent the last five days of his life handcuffed and largely unresponsive. Prison officials repeatedly turned off the water to his cell because he had flooded it, and put him on a diet of milk and nutraloaf. The milk was later ordered withheld.
“They treated him like a dog,” said Kerr’s sister, Brenda Liles.
Read More$2.25 Million Jury Verdict Against LCS in Texas Prisoner Death Suit
By Matt Clarke On October 24, 2012, a federal jury in Texas awarded $2.25 million to the estate and survivors of a prisoner who died at a facility operated by LCS Corrections Services (LCS), after finding the company was 100% at fault. The district court subsequently reversed its dismissal of § 1983 claims against LCS…
Read MoreOklahoma Inmate Dies 43 Minutes After Botched Execution
By The Takeaway A few days ago in Oklahoma, a chaotic series of events led to the botched lethal injection of a prisoner. Clayton D. Lockett, who was convicted of rape and murder in 1999, was one of two prisoners set to be executed by a new combination of drugs. Last night he was strapped on…
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