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Arizona Death Row Chain Gang Killing
Loaded on Dec. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
December, 1997, page 5
PLN has previously reported how the death row chain gang in Arizona has resulted in numerous incidents of violence, including prisoners being wounded by shotgun blasts to quell fighting.
Filed under:
Prison Industries,
Chain Gangs,
Escapes,
Excessive Force,
Shootings,
Death Row.
Location:
Arizona.
On July 9, 1997, the violence took a bizarre and deadly turn. On that date, Rebecca Lynn Thornton, 38, who had …
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More from this issue:
- Massachusetts Prisoner PAC Assailed by Governor, DOC, by Dan Pens
- Prisoner PAC Announces Formation
- Trial Required in Retaliation Claim
- Arizona Holiday Package Decree Modified
- Supreme Court Rulings Trickle Down: Washington Civil Commitment
- From the Editor, by Dan Pens
- Supreme Court Rulings Trickle Down: WA Good Time
- Arizona Death Row Chain Gang Killing
- Supreme Court Rulings Trickle Down: RFRA
- Pro Se Tips and Tactics (Summary Judgments), by John Midgley
- Ohio Overtime Gravy
- Leon County Employees Replaced by Slaves
- Private Prisons Cheaper?
- Jury Awards $201,501 to Raped Indiana Prisoner, by John Emry
- AEDPA Applies to Prison Disciplinary Hearings
- The Poor Get Poorer - The Rich Get Prisons
- Uprisings in New York State Prisons, by Julia Lutsky
- A Matter of Fact
- NJ Guards Threaten Walkout Over Vests
- Second Circuit Approves Disciplinary Hearing Surcharge
- Utah Prisoners May Build Own Cages
- AA Still Violates the Establishment Clause
- U.S. and Russia Reaching Record Levels of Incarceration
- Eleventh Circuit Approves and Applies the PLRA, by James Quigley
- Fifth Circuit Rules on Appeals to Denials of IFP Status
- D.C. Prisoners Win No Smoking Injunction
- More Ohio Jail Construction Corruption
- Frivolous State Litigation, by Paul Wright
- GAO Reports Available: Private and Public Prisons, by Julia Lutsky
- GAO Reports Available: Federal and State Prisons, by Julia Lutsky
- Pepper Spray Report, by Julia Lutsky
- New York State Drug Sentencing Report, by Julia Lutsky
- The Abuse of U.S. Women Prisoners, by Julia Lutsky
- Qualified Immunity in Failure to Protect Claim, by James Quigley
- Montana Prisoners Have Liberty Interest in Classification Hearings, by Danny Arledge
- WA Officials Liable for Seizing Court Tape
- VI Decree Modification Denied Under PLRA, DOC Held in Contempt
- CCA Unveils Aggressive New Marketing Ploy
- Federal Jail in NYC a Mob Social Club?
- Peruvian Prisoners Rebel, by Dan Axtell
- Washington Sex Offender Notification Enjoined
- DC DOC Official Convicted of Contempt
- New Jersey Jail Brutality Settlement
- Man Jailed for Saying 'No' to TB Drugs
- Prisoner Awarded $30,001 in Beating Suit
- More Evidence Required in Retaliatory Infractions
- Counselor Liable in Failure to Protect Claim
- Americans with Disability Act Applies to Jails
- Alabama AG Moves to Dissolve 17 Consent Decrees
- Knowledge of Risk May Establish 8th Amendment Liability
- News in Brief
More from these topics:
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- Federal Death Row Prisoners Granted Clemency by Biden Are Facing Retaliation by Trump, Feb. 1, 2026. Transfers, Pardons/Clemency, Death Row, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Confinement in Segregated Housing.
- Oklahoma Prisoner Who Escaped Through Hole Killed by Sheriff, Feb. 1, 2026. Escapes, Plumbing, Jail Specific, Security Systems.
- Ninth Circuit Reinstates Wheelchair-Bound Washington State Prisoner’s Suit Over Failure to Accommodate Disabilities During Transport, Feb. 1, 2026. Transportation, Excessive Force, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Deliberate Indifference.
- Labor Coalition in Minnesota Demands Disney Contractor Pay Prisoners Minimum Wage, Jan. 1, 2026. Prison Industries, Prison Labor, Advocacy, Contractor Liability, jobs.
- Slender Man Stabber’s Escape Prompts “Serious Questions” for Wisconsin DOC, Jan. 1, 2026. Escapes, Electronic Monitoring, Conditions of.
- Louisiana Detainee Captured After Two Previous Escapes, Dec. 1, 2025. Criminal Prosecution, Escapes, Jail Specific, Assaults on Staff, Prior Conviction/Sentence/Incarceration.
- Brooklyn Jail Guard Convicted for Shooting and Car Chase, Dec. 1, 2025. Guard Misconduct, Shootings, Guards/Staff, Wrongful Use of Force, Authority and Jurisdiction.
- The Last Escaped Detainee from the New Orleans Jail Was Arrested in an Atlanta Crawlspace, Nov. 1, 2025. Escapes, Overcrowding, Staffing, Plumbing, Security Systems, Release and Reentry, Consent Decrees, CRIPA.
- In the Killing Chamber, Oct. 1, 2025. Death Penalty, Death Row.

