Across the Country - Page 2

NEW MEXICO
December 5, 2007-A Do a Ana County Detention Center officer was said to be in good spirits Tuesday after he was attacked and suffered non-life-threatening injuries, allegedly at the hands of an inmate who is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood and is under federal indictment for murder. County officials declined to speculate if the attack was racially motivated; the officer, who is Hispanic, was attacked while delivering a food tray to the inmate, according to a county spokesman. (Jose L. Medina Sun-News)

SOUTH CAROLINA
December 7, 2007-Horry County's J. Reuben Long Detention Center is designed to house just under 400 inmates. Currently, it holds nearly 700. Phase I of a new 128-bed housing unit at the detention center is being built to help alleviate the severe overcrowding at the main jail. (Thema Ponton, Florence Morning News)

TEXAS
December 11, 2007-Inmates from Idaho housed at a private West Texas prison could face new charges after an attack on a female guard. The Idaho Department of Corrections says the woman was attacked after she apparently tried to confiscate tobacco from at least two inmates at the Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield. An Idaho prisons spokesman said the woman's injuries weren't life threatening. (KWTX News 10)

December 11, 2007-A private prison operator has proposed building another immigrant detention center in Central Texas. The plan calls for a $30 million, 1,000-bed facility to be built between Lytton Springs and Dale, about 30 miles southeast of Austin. It would house men and women separately for immigrations and customs enforcement; funding would come from private sources. (KXAN News)

WASHINGTON
December 6, 2007-King County jailers will re-examine their use of hair holds to subdue inmates as they work toward a settlement with the Department of Justice on reforms at the downtown Seattle lockup. If administrators don't work things out with the federal government, the council might set up a civilian oversight agency for the jails, much as it created one last year for the sheriff's office, said one Sea-Tac councilwoman. A county corrections official and the director of public health for Seattle & King County, heard some tough talk from the councilwoman and other council members reacting to a recent Justice Department report that was harshly critical of conditions at the jail. (Gregory Roberts, Post Intelligencer)

WISCONSIN
December 5, 2007-Dane County's new contract for jail health services will cost the county about $600,000 more a year than its current agreement, but county officials say mental health services should improve. The proposed $4.4 million-a-year contract with Nashville-based Correct Care Solutions must win approval from the Dane County board tonight before it is sent to a Dane County executive for signature. Falk's office said the expiring contract with Prison Health Services cost about $3.8 million a year. (Patricia Simms, State Journal)

December 5, 2007-All the inmate wanted was to hang a picture of actress Jennifer Aniston in his room. But because his room was a cell at a Green Bay prison, the warden wouldn't allow it. Jackson took his case to federal court, where a judge ruled Wednesday in favor of the prison but offered the inmate advice on how to get a picture of the actress. (Scott Bauer, Associated Press)

December 13, 2007-Corrections officers are pressuring the state to change a law which lets inmates file what many consider to be frivolous lawsuits. Those lawsuits are typically thrown out, but guards must first spend money and time defending themselves. A 24-year-old corrections officer who has patrolled the halls of Waupun Correctional Institution for five years is the latest in a string of several officers facing a felony accusation. He's accused of beating an inmate, even after the district attorney didn't file charges. (Matt Smith, WBAY News 2)

December 13, 2007-Understaffing, overpopulation and legislators' refusal to address problems in the correctional system led to prison employees statewide racking up $38.2 million in overtime in the most recent fiscal year, a union representative from Columbia Correctional Institution said. An officer at CCI topped $120,000 in total earnings, and a sergeant there made more than $119,000. Understaffing is a statewide problem that is the greatest cause of large amounts of overtime, according to the Wisconsin State Employees Union Local 3394 president. (Todd Krysiak, Daily Register)

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