Tag: prison

Utah corrections department discriminated against transgender woman, DOJ says

The Utah Department of Corrections violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it failed to provide a transgender woman with her hormone therapy, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

The state corrections department discriminated against the woman, who is not named in court documents, by denying her equal access to health care services, imposing “unnecessary barriers” to treatment for gender dysphoria and failing to grant her requests for reasonable accommodations, including allowing her to purchase female clothing and makeup at the commissary, a federal investigation found.

Utah’s corrections department also “unnecessarily delayed” the woman’s treatment for her gender dysphoria, a condition with which she had “for many years” before entering the department’s custody in 2021, according to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) findings.

The woman’s psychological distress worsened while she was incarcerated in a men’s prison, federal investigators said, and a health care provider contracted by the state corrections department formally diagnosed her with gender dysphoria — a state of severe distress that stems from a mismatch between a person’s gender identity and sex assigned at birth.

Unlike other requests for medical care, which are typically directed to the state corrections department’s medical staff, a request for treatment for gender dysphoria is sent to the department’s gender dysphoria committee, which federal investigators described as the “gatekeeper” of care.

The committee during the woman’s incarceration included members who demonstrated “overt bias” against transgender individuals seeking care and expressed reluctance to prescribe treatment for gender dysphoria, including hormone therapy, the Justice Department said.

“Complainant’s access to medically necessary care for her disability was unnecessarily delayed due to [the Utah Corrections Department’s] biased and prolonged approval process,” DOJ Disability Rights Chief Rebecca Bond wrote Tuesday in a letter to Brian Redd, executive director of Utah’s corrections department.

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Trudeau Demands Life In Prison For Speech Crimes

To protect children from sexual exploitation, Canada must pass the Online Harms Act, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government. “I am the parent of two young boys,” said Justice Minister Arif Virani. “I will do whatever I can to ensure their digital world is as safe as the neighborhood we live in. Children are vulnerable online. They need to be protected from online sexual exploitation, hate, and cyberbullying.”

But Virani’s bill is totally unnecessary to protect children. Its real goal is to allow judges to sentence adults to prison for life for things they’ve said and for up to a year for crimes they haven’t committed but that the government fears they might commit in the future.

As such, Trudeau and Virani’s Online Harms Act (Bill C-63) is the most shocking of all the totalitarian, illiberal, and anti-Enlightenment pieces of legislation that have been introduced in the Western world in decades.

The Liberal government’s censorship legislation, when considered in the context of Trudeau’s sweeping abuse of governmental powers during and after the Covid pandemic and new subsidies for government propaganda, sets a new watermark in rising totalitarianism in Western societies.

In an unusually long statement in response to a series of questions asked by Public, the Trudeau government’s “Canadian Heritage” department, which regulates the media, tried to ease our concerns.  “Bill C-63 is meant to bolster the rights of Canadians to express their thoughts and opinions,” said the anonymous official, “by creating a safer and more inclusive online space.”

But the government spokesperson went on to confirm the shocking truth about the legislation, which is that it would put people in prison for life for things they’ve said, specifically, “advocating genocide.”

“Bill C-63 would increase the maximum penalty specifically for advocating genocide from 5 years to life imprisonment,” said an unnamed spokesperson for the Canadian government, “and from 2 years to 5 years, on indictment, for the willful promotion of hatred (section 319 of the Criminal Code)” [emphasis added]

This means someone who writes something that a government official decides is “advocating genocide” will face a longer maximum sentence than someone who rapes a child.

And what might count as “advocating genocide”? Today, there are prominent politicians around the world who say that supporters of Israel are advocating the genocide of the Palestinian people and that supporters of Hamas are advocating genocide against Jewish people. Imagine if they were in power. Under Trudeau’s legislation, would they not be able to send their political enemies to prison for life?

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Ear-Piercing Noise Blares Through DC Gulag Torturing Sleep Deprived J6 Political Prisoners For Weeks

An ear-shattering, harrowing sharp noise has been blaring throughout the Washington DC  Correctional Treatment Facility for weeks where January 6 political prisoners are detained.

J6 defendants housed in C3A, the cell block known as the Patriot Pod in the DC gulag where J6ers are segregated from the general population, called The Gateway Pundit urging the American people to demand oversight of the jail from US Marshals and members of Congress.

As TGP has reported, J6ers have been brutalized and tortured for exposing the corruption within the Bureau of Prisons System and the Department of Justice to the media. In February, two political prisoners were ripped from their cells, abducted and transferred to the country’s most hostile anti-Trump correctional facilities and barred from communication for regularly speaking out.

J6 political prisoner Matthew Krol has been living on a pacemaker for nearly two years in the DC jail and has described dying from a heart attack while incarcerated and “coming back” while waiting years for heart surgery. Krol is one of several J6 defendants in the correctional facility in a legal battle with DC jail for medical deprivation.

After enduring more than two weeks of unbearable loud noise, Krol is calling on everyone on the outside for help.

“We have another situation here in C3A. For weeks, now throughout the day and many nights, there [are] sounds of construction going on,” the political prisoner, who is living on a pacemaker, told TGP after 14 days of the madness. “The supervisors say there is no construction at night, yet the noise continues.

“And there have been C/Os that have said there [is] no construction going on in the pod above us. It is 10:23 PM and our current C/O has been in my cell listening twice tonight to the noise. Inmates in the USA are supposed to get 8 1/2 hours of interrupted sleep a day, that does not happen here.”

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Death of transgender prisoner Tiffany Scott, 32, considered ‘one of Scotland’s most dangerous inmates’ is being treated as ‘unexplained’ by police

The death of a violent transgender prisoner who was considered to be one of Scotland’s most dangerous inmates is being treated as ‘unexplained’ by police.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) confirmed Tiffany Scott, who was previously known as Andrew Burns, died in HMP Grampian yesterday at the age of 32 after becoming unwell and being taken to hospital.

Scott was convicted of stalking a 13-year-old girl while known as Andrew Burns in 2013 and had requested to be moved to the female prison estate early last year.

The 32-year-old became ill on Wednesday night and died in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary the following day.

The death is being treated as ‘unexplained’, according to police and there are said to be no suspicious circumstances around the prisoner’s death.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said that at around 10.50pm on Wednesday, the force was made aware of a 32-year-old taking unwell at HMP Grampian.

They added: ‘The death is being treated as unexplained and a report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.’

A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: ‘Tiffany Scott, 32, of HMP Grampian, died on February 29.

‘With each death in custody, Police Scotland are advised and the matter reported to the procurator fiscal. Fatal accident inquiries are held in due course.’

Last year there was outrage when it emerged that Scott, who stalked a 13-year-old girl and later attacked female prison officers, was set to be moved to a women’s prison. 

A statement posted on the SPS website yesterday said: ‘Tiffany Scott, 32, has died in prison. With each death in custody, Police Scotland are advised and the matter reported to the procurator fiscal. Fatal 

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Justice Department Finds Unconstitutional Conditions in 3 More Mississippi Prisons

A report released today by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division found that three Mississippi prisons fail to protect incarcerated people from rampant violence and sexual assault, and place hundreds of people in solitary confinement “for prolonged periods in appalling conditions.”

Federal investigators concluded that severe understaffing, unchecked gang violence, unsanitary living conditions, and the use of extreme isolation violated the 8th and 14th Amendment rights of inmates.

The Justice Department launched an investigation into the Mississippi prison system in 2020 following a string of gruesome deaths and years of deteriorating conditions. In 2022, the Justice Department released a report describing barbaric conditions at Mississippi State Penitentiary, more infamously known as Parchman Farm. 

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a press conference that today’s report shows that constitutional violations inside the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) are “systemic and longstanding.”

“Our investigation uncovered chronic, systemic deficiencies that create and perpetuate violent and unsafe environments for people incarcerated at these three Mississippi facilities,” Clarke said. “The unconstitutional conditions in Mississippi’s prisons have existed for far too long, and we hope that this announcement marks a turning point towards implementing sound, evidence-based solutions to these entrenched problems.”

The MDOC is the latest corrections system to come under federal scrutiny for barbaric conditions. The Justice Department sued Alabama in 2020 for ignoring multiple warnings that its gore-soaked prison system violated the Constitution. Last year, the Justice Department announced an investigation into the Fulton County Jail in Georgia, where a schizophrenic man died covered in bedbugs, lice, and lesions.

But the problems in Mississippi have been profound. All three of the Mississippi prisons the Justice Department toured had 30 to 50 percent staff vacancy rates, leaving housing units with hundreds of people largely unsupervised. Emergency responses were often tardy and ineffective.

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Kentucky prison system in chaos after more than THIRTY workers are caught having sex with inmates behind bars, anally raping others and smuggling them drugs including meth for cash

More than 30 workers with the Kentucky Department of Corrections were caught having sex with inmates behind bars during a 16-month period, while others were found smuggling drugs and guns.

A shocking investigation by Herald-Leader revealed 59 cases of employee-on-inmate sexual offenses in the past five years, with 35 cases involving possible criminal charges.

Most recently, 42-year-old Amanda Kulka was charged with third-degree sodomy earlier this month for allegedly having a sexual relationship with an inmate half her age. 

The inmate, who has not been identified, was serving a lengthy sentence for burglary, assault and theft, according to the outlet.  

Meanwhile, at least 14 others were caught smuggling drugs like suboxone and meth into prisons in exchange for money. One officer faced charges for carrying a handgun.

A total of 62 employees were either fired or resigned across 13 state prisons and a minimum-security prison camp, which together house more than 11,300 inmates.  

Experts say that troubles in Kentucky state prisons extend beyond inappropriate relationships or smuggling, and the same holds true for correctional facilities across the country.  

‘Being a correctional officer is a very challenging job,’ said Judah Schept, an associate professor in the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University. 

‘In the popular imagination, we think of these jobs as being exposed to extreme forms of violence, and of course, that can happen,’ he said. 

‘But more often, I think what you’re dealing with are mundane daily tasks and being unappreciated and underpaid and feeling isolated and overworked. Given where you’re working, this can lead to some problems,’ Schept said.

DailyMail.com was able to identify and picture at least eight corrections officers who were charged with rape, sodomy, or sexual assault in recent years. 

In a federal lawsuit filed last year, Todd Steven Boyce, 56, was accused of sexually abusing an inmate in multiple ways between March and July 2022. Allegedly, prison officials were aware of his behaviors but made no effort to stop him. 

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SOUTH CAROLINA BAN ON PRISONERS’ MEDIA INTERVIEWS VIOLATES FIRST AMENDMENT, LAWSUIT SAYS

South Carolina violates the First Amendment by forbidding incarcerated people from speaking with the press, according to a lawsuit filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of South Carolina against the state’s Department of Corrections.

“The South Carolina Department of Corrections (“SCDC”) enforces the nation’s most restrictive policy on media access to prisoners,” the complaint says. The suit alleges that the state “bans interviews by anyone, on any topic, and by any real-time means: in person, by video, or by phone. And although correspondence by mail is allowed, publication of a prisoner’s written speech is similarly prohibited.”

According to a copy of the SCDC’s media policy, the agency prohibits “personal contact interviews with any SCDC inmate, untried county safekeeper, or death row inmate by anyone,” and bans “news and non-news media representatives” from taking photographs, or audio or video recordings of SCDC prisoners.

In a press release last summer, the SCDC said, “Inmates in the custody of the S.C. Department of Corrections are not allowed to do interviews.”

“The department believes that victims of crime should not have to see or hear the person who victimized them or their family member on the news,” the press release said. “Inmates lose the privilege of speaking to the news media when they enter SCDC.”

The press release also included a copy of a letter from an SCDC official to the attorney of Richard Murdaugh, a former lawyer convicted of murdering his wife and son. (Murdaugh maintains his innocence.) The letter scolded Murdaugh and his legal team for speaking to the press.

The department’s letter stated that, in violation of the SCDC policy, Murdaugh read excerpts of his journal to his attorney, who recorded Murdaugh’s voice and sent the audio files to the media. Murdaugh received a disciplinary infraction. The letter warned the violation could jeopardize Murdaugh’s access to his attorney.

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CANADA: Man Who Raped Infant Quietly Moved to Prison with Mother-Baby Unit After Transgender Claim

A Canadian man who was convicted of the horrific rape of a 3-month-old infant boy has begun identifying as transgender while incarcerated and is currently being held in a women’s correctional facility with a mother and child unit.

In 1997, Adam Laboucan sexually assaulted a three-month-old baby boy in Quesnel, British Columbia. Laboucan was 15-years-old at the time and had been hired to babysit the child. The infant was so brutally injured by the attack that he had to be flown to Vancouver, 410 miles away, to undergo reconstructive surgery.

After committing the horrific assault, Laboucan “mutilated himself and ate his own flesh,” according to news reports.

During the trial, an expert witness stated that Laboucan displayed “everything from transsexual to pedophilic tendencies.” A forensic psychiatrist who examined Laboucan testified that even he believed himself to be a danger to the public. “He said he was not planning a life of crime, but he felt he had no way to control the flood of violent, murderous fantasies,” Dr. Ian Postnikoff told the B.C. Supreme Court.

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Putin Opponent Alexei Navalny Dies in Arctic Jail, Russia Says

Russia’s most prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny collapsed and died on Friday after a walk at the “Polar Wolf” Arctic penal colony where he was serving a long jail term, the Russian prison service said.

Mr. Navalny, a 47-year-old former lawyer, rose to prominence more than a decade ago with blogs on what he said was vast corruption and opulence among the “crooks and thieves” of Russia’s elite.

The Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District said in a statement that Mr. Navalny felt unwell after a walk at the IK-3 penal colony in Kharp, about 1,900 km (1,200 miles) north east of Moscow into the Arctic Circle.

He lost consciousness almost immediately, it said.

“All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not yield positive results,” the prison service said, adding that causes of death were being established.

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin was told about the death.

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Wall Street Is Finding New Ways to Milk the Prison System

As part of a growing effort to stop prison telecom monopolies from charging exorbitant fees for calls between prisoners and their families, last year Minnesota became one of the first states to make all phone calls free for prisoners. And to eliminate the kickback system perpetuating the scheme, the state barred its agencies from collecting commissions on prison phone services, as well as on video calling and e-messaging.

But records obtained by us show Minnesota’s Department of Corrections still collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks last year from commissions on other prison services private telecom companies controlled — including money transfers, music access, and other entertainment behind bars. All in all, the records suggest the telecom firms brought in nearly $3 million in revenue from an ever-increasing array of nonphone prison services in the state.

Minnesota, which was the fourth state in the country to make the government, not prisoners, pay for phone calls, is a case study in how prison communication companies and their private equity owners have managed to preserve their symbiotic relationship with state corrections agencies despite reforms — at the major expense of incarcerated people and their families.

According to a Minnesota state watchdog agency, under a current prison contract, people in state prisons must pay between $1.06 and $1.99 to listen to a single song on state-issued devices. Under a new contract with another telecom vendor, the cost will increase to up to $2.36 per song — and the state will pocket a bigger cut of the revenue.

“For-profit telecom companies are making hundreds of millions of dollars from incarcerated people and their families, while Minnesota families are going into debt to stay connected with their loved ones through phone calls and video calls,” said Margaret Zadra, Minnesota’s ombudsperson of corrections. “For-profit companies should not be allowed to erode that connection to line their own pockets.”

As digital tablets become increasingly ubiquitous behind bars, criminal justice reform advocates say Wall Street is poised to control and monetize an ever larger share of the daily lives of this captive audience.

“The ideal world for the private equity owners of these companies is every prisoner has one of their tablets, and every one of those tablets is hooked up to the bank account of someone outside of prison that they can just drain,” said Paul Wright, the executive director of the advocacy group Human Rights Defense Center, which for years has led a campaign to lower prison telecom costs.

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