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Fourth Circuit Revives Claim Over North Carolina Jail Suicide
by Douglas Ankney
In an important decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled on December 8, 2023, that pretrial detainees no longer need show that a detention official “knew of and disregarded a substantial risk to the inmate’s health or safety” to state a …
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More from this issue:
- After Spike in Jail Deaths, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Under California Department of Justice Investigation, by Matthew Clarke
- California Prisoner’s Generosity for Gaza Rewarded With Over $100,000
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- $7.5 Million Settlement in Suit Over California Jail Death, by Matthew Clarke
- Arizona DOC Agrees to Pay $2,650,000 in Legal Fees and Costs in Long-Running PLN Censorship Suit
- Unintended Consequence of Texas Prisoner Tablets: Retaliation from Fellow Prisoners
- Pilot Jail Diversion Program Opens for Mentally Ill Arrestees in Austin
- Virginia Takes Back One Prison from GEO Group, Closes Four More
- Oregon Transgender Prisoner Claims Abusive Violation of Injunction, but Court Declines Sanctions, by Matthew Clarke
- “Too brutal, too disgusting”: Prison Guards Flee as Working Conditions Worsen
- Contractor Fined $300,000 for Illegal Asbestos Dumping at Wisconsin Federal Prison
- Kentucky Parole Officer Gets Three Years for Sexually Assaulting Probationers, by Matthew Clarke
- 46 New York Prisoners Accuse Guards of Beatings—Even Waterboarding, by Douglas Ankney
- Tennessee DOC Rewards CoreCivic with Pay Increase Despite Critical Watchdog Audit
- Dead Rikers Island Detainees Had Missed Dozens of Mental Health Appointments
- New York Revises 2,772 Prisoner Disciplinary Records After Inspector General Finds Defects in Another Contraband Drug Test, by Douglas Ankney
- Illinois Parole Board Member Resigns After Violator Turns Deadly
- Inspectors Catch L.A. Jailers Watching Porn
- Eighth Circuit: Perfect Adherence to Burdened Beliefs Not Required to Demonstrate Sincerity under RLUIPA, by Douglas Ankney
- Warden and Deputy Out at Kentucky Prison As DOC Investigates Guard Misconduct
- Florida Jail Chief’s Firing Upheld, Retaliation Lawsuit Headed to Trial
- Eleventh Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Georgia Jailers Who Housed White Detainee With Black Cellmate Held for Racially Motivated Attack
- Riot at California GEO Group Lockup Sends Message to U.S. Marshals
- Cheap Food Enriching Profiteers, Making Prisoners Sick
- Prisoner Admissions Soar at Massachusetts Psychiatric Lockup Plagued by Overcrowding and Violence
- Federal Judge Calls BOP Brooklyn Lockup Too Deplorable to House Defendant
- $275,000 Settlement for Wisconsin Jail Detainee’s Death from Untreated Heart Infection
- BOP is Holding 12,000 Prisoners in Solitary Confinement, by David Reutter
- 1,200 Washington Prisoners Lose Laptops After One Shows Up on eBay
- Fifth Savannah Jail Employee Arrested for Smuggling in Just Over a Year
- Massachusetts Prison Closure Reflects Success of Criminal Justice Reforms
- Report Finds Exploitative Disciplinary Fines in One-Third of U.S. Prison Systems
- Tennessee Sheriff Indicted for Massive Prisoner Work-Release Fraud
- Fourth Circuit Revives Claim Over North Carolina Jail Suicide, by Douglas Ankney
- Arrested for Stealing Snacks, Baltimore Diabetic Dies in Jail
- Georgia Guard Fired, Charged With Setting Up Assault that Left Prisoner Dead
- Arizona Agrees to $40,000 Settlement in Suit Over Mentally Ill Prisoner’s Suicide, by Douglas Ankney
- Illinois Prisoner Succumbs to Heat Wave
- Fourth Circuit Chides Virginia Magistrate for Assuming Prisoners Proceed IFP, by Douglas Ankney
- New Mexico Jail Sued Again After Paying $787,500 In-Custody Death Settlement
- First Circuit Tolls Claim for Maine Jail Death from Date of Detainee’s Injury, Rather Than When He Died, by Douglas Ankney
- Psychiatrist Settles Virginia Jail Suicide Suit for $1.75 Million
- Florida Court Strikes $10 Million of $16 Million Judgment Against Armor Correctional Health in Jail Death, by David Reutter
- Criminalizing Poverty Drives Mass Incarceration in Kentucky, Washington, by Douglas Ankney
- Settlements Total $3.85 Million for Nevada Prisoners Hit with Birdshot, by David Reutter
- Indiana Supreme Court Says “Summary Judgment Is Not Summary Trial,” Remanding State Prisoner’s Malpractice Claim to a Jury
- Texas Prosecutor Gets Fine, Probated Bar Suspension After Jailing Woman for Abortion
- Missouri Warden, Four Guards Out After Prisoner’s Fatal Beating
- Fourth Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Guards Who Left North Carolina Prisoner to Eat with Feces-Soiled Hands
- Alaska Supreme Court Revives Prisoner’s Claim for 11-Month Solitary Confinement That DOC Admitted Was Improper, by Douglas Ankney
- Washington Prisoner’s Sentence Vacated After Attorney Calls and Visits Were Recorded, by Douglas Ankney
- 3,500 Body-Worn Cameras Recalled from Rikers Island Guards After One Catches Fire
- $11 Million Settlement for Exonerated Michigan Prisoner, by David Reutter
- No Dismissal for San Diego Jail Medical Contractor from Suit Filed Over Detainee’s Withdrawal Death
- Nevada DOC Under Fire for Hiring Unlicensed Medical Director
- Ending Prison Slavery on the Ballot in California, Nevada
- Addicted to Punishment: Jails and Prisons Punish Drug Use Far More Than They Treat It, by Emily Widra
- Mississippi Prison Warden Suspended After Security Chief Caught Smuggling
- Intellectually Disabled Georgia Prisoner Executed After SCOTUS Denies Appeal
- Maryland Pardons 175,000 Marijuana Misdemeanor Convictions
- Alabama Denies Parole to Dead Prisoner
- Condemned Alabama Prisoner Challenges Execution by Nitrogen Hypoxia, by David Reutter
- South Carolina Supreme Court Grants Prisoner Credit for Time Served Awaiting Revocation of Supervised Release
- Colorado Lawmakers Take a Pass on Cash Assistance for Released Prisoners, by Douglas Ankney
- Bar Complaint Revives 10-Year-Old Question: Why No Charges Filed Against Florida Guards Who Killed Prisoner?, by David Reutter
- Pro-Navalny Hackers Breach Russian Prison Computers, Lower Commissary Prices
- News in Brief
More from Douglas Ankney:
- Fourth Circuit Revives Detainee’s Suit Alleging Monell and 14th Amendment Deliberate Indifference Claims, June 1, 2026
- FTC Substantiates Allegations Against ViaPath Related to Data Breach and Orders Remedial Action, June 1, 2026
- Study Shows That Suicide Intervention During and After Incarceration Reduces Suicide Attempts by 55%, June 1, 2026
- Ohio Supreme Court Rules that Sheriff Did Not Violate Open Records Act and Declines to Award Damages to Prisoner, June 1, 2026
- Fifth Circuit Announces Enhanced Supervised Release Provision Under 18 U.S.C. § 3583(k) Does Not Apply to Assimilative Crimes Act Offenses, Limiting Statutory Maximum to Five Years Under § 3583(b), June 1, 2026
- California Court of Appeal: Vehicle Impoundment Solely to Prevent Further Unlicensed Driving Does Not Satisfy Fourth Amendment’s Community Caretaking Exception; Statutory Authorization Alone Insufficient to Establish Constitutional Reasonableness, June 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Announces Predetermining a Supervisee’s Revocation Term of Imprisonment at an Earlier Violation Hearing Renders the Resulting Sentence Both Procedurally and Substantively Unreasonable, June 1, 2026
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Totality-of-the-Circumstances Framework for Evaluating Delayed Traffic Stops Under Article 14, Holding 24-Hour Gap Between Observed Infraction and Vehicle Stop Was Unreasonable, June 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Announces ICE’s Execution of a Removal Warrant Following a Final Removal Order Does Not Constitute a “Pending Proceeding” Under 18 U.S.C. § 1505, Vacating Noncitizen’s Obstruction Conviction in Issue of First Impression, June 1, 2026
- In Wake of Murders of Prisoners by Guards, New York Passes Legislation to Enhance Safety, Accountability and Training, June 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- FTC Substantiates Allegations Against ViaPath Related to Data Breach and Orders Remedial Action, June 1, 2026. Contractor Misconduct, Trust Accounts, Telephone Monitoring, Deliberate Indifference, Global Tel*Link Corp.
- Study Shows That Suicide Intervention During and After Incarceration Reduces Suicide Attempts by 55%, June 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Suicides, Health care.
- Over $2 Million Paid by Otero County and VitalCore Health Strategies for New Mexico Jail Suicide, June 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Suicides, Immunity - Sovereign/Municipal, Deliberate Indifference.
- Seventh Circuit Reinstates Illinois Prisoner’s Lawsuit Against Prison Dental Staff, June 1, 2026. Dental Care, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Summary Judgment, Class Certification, Deliberate Indifference.
- New York City Reaches Settlements Totaling Nearly $5.2 Million with Estates of Two Fatal Methadone Overdose Victims Detained on Rikers Island, June 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Drug Overdose, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Deliberate Indifference.
- $1 Million Settlement Reached in Jail Suicide of Maryland Detainee Whose Emergency Hospitalization Order Was Ignored, June 1, 2026. Qualified Immunity, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Suicides, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Deliberate Indifference.
- Dallas County Jail Deaths, Many Preventable, Dramatically Increase Under Sheriff Marian Brown, June 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Treat, Jail Specific, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Deliberate Indifference.
- Federal Judge Upholds Infamously Brutal Farm Labor at Angola Prison, June 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Prison Labor, Exposure to Heat, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Deliberate Indifference.
- Fourth Circuit Revives Detainee’s Suit Alleging Monell and 14th Amendment Deliberate Indifference Claims, June 1, 2026. Medication, Private Contractors, Failure to Treat, Monell Liability, Deliberate Indifference.
- Spike in Massachusetts Prisoner Suicides Blamed on Isolation, K-2 and Spotty Mental Healthcare, May 1, 2026. DOJ CRIPA Actions, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Confinement in Segregated Housing, Administrative Detention/Segregation.

