Tag: bureau of prisons
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Inmate dies at federal Florence penitentiary
George Hall, 55, an inmate at the federal penitentiary in Florence, was pronounced dead despite life-saving efforts by emergency personnel at the facility on Monday, the Bureau of Prisons announced in a news release. No information about how he died was available, and no one else was injured. Hall was serving a 10-year sentence from…
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Grand jury indicts Florence prison investigator on charges of providing over 400 vapes, 100 phones to inmate
An investigator at the federal prison in Florence is accused of taking cash and alcohol in exchange for giving hundreds of contraband items to an inmate, according to a grand jury indictment obtained by The Gazette. Bureau of Prisons Special Investigative Services Lt. Michael Popma was arrested by Department of Justice special agents in Cañon…
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Trump-backed Tina Peters faces state resistance in transfer to federal custody
Colorado’s attorney general said he opposes efforts to move former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters from a state prison to a federal one, though he refused to comment on the specifics. In a statement to Colorado Politics on Monday, Phil Weiser said there is “no basis” for a request to transfer Peters, who was convicted…
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Federal judge allows inmate to challenge prison’s confiscation of allegedly dangerous book
A federal judge has permitted an incarcerated man to challenge prison officials’ decision to withhold a book that allegedly depicted or encouraged disruption. Rodney C. Hamrick is incarcerated at the Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, also known as “supermax” or “ADX.” In 2022, the warden rejected two books Hamrick received, both of which were written…
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10th Circuit allows lawsuit to proceed against federal prison officials who attacked fellow staff
The federal appeals court based in Denver agreed on Tuesday that multiple prison employees could be held individually liable for taking a hostage-training exercise too far and, as a trial judge found, engaging “in combat” with other staff members. The question before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit was whether the government…
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Susan Prose talks about surprises, self-represented plaintiffs and settlements in first year as magistrate judge
U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Prose, speaking about her first year as a federal judge on Thursday, described multiple eye-opening experiences on the bench, including the revelation that some litigants are not actually seeking a speedy trial. “I’ve been surprised to see how frequently folks actually don’t want to go to trial. It’s not just defendants…
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Divided 10th Circuit keeps ‘zombie’ claims alive against federal prison officials
The federal appeals court based in Denver rejected the appeal of prison officials accused of using excessive force against an incarcerated man, reasoning earlier this month that even if the U.S. Supreme Court’s precedent means the claims will ultimately fail, an immediate appeal was not the answer. The appeal from the Federal Bureau of Prisons…
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10th Circuit opens door wider for courts to dismiss prisoners’ civil rights lawsuits
The federal appeals court based in Denver made it easier on Tuesday for prison officials to defeat lawsuits from incarcerated plaintiffs by moving them to a different facility outside a circuit court’s jurisdiction before judges have a chance to rule. Michael Bacote Jr., a prisoner with an intellectual disability and history of mental illness, spent…
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Federal judges in Colorado denied overwhelming majority of requests to release inmates for COVID-19
Out of two dozen requests for sentence reductions from inmates concerned about their health amid the pandemic, federal judges in Colorado approved only three in the final four months of 2020. Known as compassionate release, a 2018 change in the law allows federal inmates to petition a court directly if there are “extraordinary and compelling…