Keith Dwayne Nelson was executed today, Friday, August 28, 2020 at 4:32 p.m. EDT, according to the Bureau of Prisons, marking the fifth federal execution in the past six weeks. The first four were Daniel Lewis Lee (July 14, 2020), Wesley Purkey (July 16, 2020), Dustin Honken (July 17, 2020) and Lezmond Mitchell (August 26, 2020).
The Justice Department reinstated federal executions in mid-July after a 17-year hiatus.
Today, Attorney General William P. Barr today directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to schedule the execution of Lezmond Mitchell, the only Native American on federal death row (article available here). The execution is scheduled to occur on August 26, 2020, at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. Tribal leaders and the victim's family oppose the death penalty.
A jury on Tuesday awarded $42 million to three former detainees of Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, holding Virginia-based military contractor CACI Premier Technology Inc. responsible for contributing to their torture and mistreatment two decades ago (access full article).
The three testified that they were subjected to beatings, sexual abuse, forced nudity and other cruel treatment at the prison.
President-elect Donald Trump’s return to office is putting a spotlight on the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, which houses federal death row. (access full article)
As president, Biden has the unfettered authority to issue commutations. President Biden is a practicing Catholic. The church opposes capital punishment.
Under settlements approved last Tuesday, the federal government must pay an average of 1.1 million to each of 103 women who sued the Bureau of Prison over their treatment at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California. BOP announced earlier this month that it was permanently closing FCI Dublin, known as the “rape club” because of rampant staff-on-inmate sexual misconduct.
The beleaguered federal Bureau of Prisons said Monday it will close a women’s prison in California known as the “rape club” despite attempts to reform the troubled facility after an Associated Press investigation exposed rampant staff-on-inmate sexual abuse (access previous coverage).
Missouri carried out the first execution of an openly transgender woman in the history of the United States on Tuesday (access full article).
McLaughlin’s execution – the first in the US this year – is unusual: Executions of women in the United States are already rare. Prior to McLaughlin’s execution, just 17 had been put to death since 1976.
Connecticut prisoner has an "intolerable" scalp condition consisting of painful scabs and oozing sores. Prison officials allegedly deny treatment for years. District court: there are no binding cases holding that a scalp condition is a serious medical need requiring treatment. Second Circuit: Qualified immunity is specific, but it's not that specific. The guy said his head felt like it was on fire. Reversed and remanded.
The case is Collymore v. Myers, Collymore v. Comm’r of D.O.C., No. 21-02292 (2d Cir. July 14, 2023).
As record-breaking heat broils Dallas-Fort Worth, people incarcerated in federal prisons in North Texas face potentially deadly conditions due to inadequate air conditioning, according to an advocate and family members (article available here).
Detainee at Polk County, Fla. jail sues officials for, among other things, scanning his legal mail into a computer system. Eleventh Circuit: The First Amendment requires opening legal mail in the detainee's presence and checking only for contraband. That doesn't include scanning it and saving it on a computer that jail officials can access. The jail's mail-scanning policy "sufficiently chills, inhibits, or interferes with" an inmate's ability to speak openly with his attorney and infringes his right to free speech. Case undismissed!