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Alabama DOC Proves Truly “Heartless”
Loaded on Jan. 1, 2024
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2024, page 12
Filed under:
Prisoner-Prisoner Assault,
Guard Misconduct,
Threats by Staff,
Parole Board Misconduct,
Retaliation for Litigating,
Retaliation for Media Contact,
Retaliation for Organizing,
Whistleblowing,
Retaliatory Segregation,
Prison/Jail Murders,
Failure to Protect (General),
Staffing,
Wrongful Death,
Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death),
Excessive Force (Wrongful Death),
Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
Location:
Alabama.
In a weird-but-true story that’s oddly fitting for Alabama’s wretched prison system, the body of a state prisoner murdered on November 16, 2023, was returned to his survivors five days later without a heart.
That is the claim of a lawsuit filed in federal court for the Northern …
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More from this issue:
- See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Treat No Evil: Centurion and the Curse of For-Profit Prison Healthcare, by J.D. Schmidt
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- $7.75 Million Paid by San Diego County After Jail Detainee Severely Injured in Fall from Top Bunk
- Alabama DOC Proves Truly “Heartless”
- Misadventures in Mail Censorship, by Robert Schaeffer
- Hear Us Now? Hearing Impaired Tennessee Prisoners Secure Injunction
- Private Prisons Hold Almost 100,000 Prisoners, 8% of Total U.S. Prison Population
- Fifth BOP Employee Sentenced in California “Rape Club,” Another Lawsuit Filed
- Another Report Verifies That Prison Deaths Soared During COVID-19 Pandemic
- Record-Setting $7 Million Settlement Caps LaSalle’s Legacy at Texarkana Jail, by Matthew Clarke
- 153 Killed in Custody in Salvadorian Gang Crackdown
- Washington Agencies Sanctioned for Discovery Violations Reach $3.1 Million Settlement with Disabled Woman Allegedly Abused at State Sanctioned Home
- Former L.A. County Jail Detainees Denied Promised Sentence Credits
- N.H.’s First Black Sheriff Charged With Embezzling $19,000
- Former Florida Guard Gets Five Years for Fatal Assault on Mentally Ill Prisoner
- Hurdles to Voting for Ex-Felons Rise in Tennessee and Virginia, Fall in Mississippi
- “Brushed It Under the Rug”: Investigation Refutes Florida Sheriff’s Story About Jail Detainee’s Death
- Corizon Health Bankruptcy Delayed by Revelation of Attorney’s Affair With Mediator
- Virginia Leads the Nation in K-9 Attacks on Prisoners
- Nearly $75 Million Class-Action Settlement Reached For Delayed Releases from N.Y.C. Jails
- Officials of Pennsylvania Guards Union Charged with Theft
- $10,000 Verdict for Fired Guard’s Failure to Protect Louisiana Prisoner From Stabbing, by David Reutter
- $9,000 Settlement for Florida Prisoner’s Retaliation and Excessive Force Claims Against Guards, by David Reutter
- Wisconsin Supreme Court: Jail Time Must Be Credited When Charge Causing Jailing Read in At Sentencing, by Matthew Clarke
- The Good That Prisoner Rights Lawyers Do
- Oklahoma Prisoner Uses COVID-19 Stimulus Check to Overturn Conviction
- New Head of “Constitutional Sheriffs” Calls MLK a “Thug”
- Eleventh Circuit Addresses First Amendment, Due Process Interests in Georgia Prisoner Emails
- Second Circuit Strips Qualified Immunity from Connecticut Officials Who Ignored Prisoner’s Scalp Lesions, by David Reutter
- Long Waits for Montana Jail Detainees Needing Competency Restoration Services
- West Virginia Pretrial Detainee’s Lawsuit for Sexual Abuse Survives Dismissal Stage, by David Reutter
- Eighth Circuit Says Arkansas Prisoner’s Medical Incapacity May Excuse PLRA Exhaustion Failure
- Deaths While Incarcerated Up 18% in Louisiana
- Despite “Ban the Box” Laws, Most Prisoners Still Unemployed a Year After Release
- Seventh Circuit Reinstates Illinois Prisoner’s Claim Against Kitchen Supervisor for Scalding From Spilled Hot Water
- George Floyd’s Killer Stabbed 22 Times in Federal Prison in Arizona
- Former New Mexico Guard Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Prisoner, Suit Filed
- Ed Mead: Rest in Power, by Paul Wright
- Multiple Staffers Arrested at Georgia’s Clayton County Jail
- The “Lunacy Zone:” How Mississippi Jails 700 Mentally Ill People a Year Without Charges
- Second Circuit Revives N.Y. Prisoner’s Suit Over Sing Sing Fire, 11 Other Prisoners Split $220,000 Settlement
- Maine Ends Prison Gerrymandering
- Fifth Circuit Revives Suit Against Texas Jailers Who Tasered Detainee Suffering Epileptic Seizure, by Douglas Ankney
- West Virginia High Court Decides Medical Practice Liability Act Not Applicable to Prison System, by David Reutter
- Nevada Prisoner Wins Injunction Requiring DOC to Provide Exercise Despite Guard Shortage
- Seventh Circuit Slams Illinois Civil Commitment Program but Reverses Injunction
- Florida Prisoners Not Required to File Rulemaking Petition to Satisfy PLRA Exhaustion Requirement, by David Reutter
- News in Brief
More from these topics:
- Warden Out, Nineteen Guards Administratively Charged in Maryland Prisoner’s Death, Aug. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Prison/Jail Murders, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Protect (Staff).
- At Least Three Guards Charged for Assaulting Two Massachusetts Prisoners, Aug. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Assaults on Staff, Wrongful Use of Force.
- “Safe Inside” Review Paid for by DOJ Found Prisons Grew Much Deadlier in Five Year-Period, Aug. 1, 2026. Work Conditions/Safety, Statistics/Trends, Cost of Prison Systems, Staffing, Assaults on Staff.
- Three Detainees Die in Four Days at the Tarrant County Jail, Aug. 1, 2026. Jail Misconduct, Statistics/Trends, Wrongful Death, Compassionate Release.
- Death of Seattle Detainee—Jailed Despite Not Being “Grounded in Reality”—Costs King County $3.5 Million Settlement, Aug. 1, 2026. Restraints, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Monell Liability.
- New York Ordered to Pay Prisoner $25,000 for Failing to Protect Him from Attack, Aug. 1, 2026. Failure to Protect (General), Defenses, Damages - Compensatory, Negligence/Reckless Endangerment, Deliberate Indifference.
- Oregon Agrees to $2.3 Million Settlement After Guards Toss Mentally Ill Prisoner in Solitary, Taunt Him Until He Kills Himself, Aug. 1, 2026. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Deliberate Indifference.
- GAO Report Finds Rampant Sexual Abuse in Federal Prisons, Most Cases Unresolved, Aug. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, DOC/BOP misconduct, Corrections Audits, Prison Rape Elimination Act.
- Ombudsman Report Finds Use of Force Misapplied in Contraband Search, Aug. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Failure to Treat, Body Cavity Searches, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas.
- Detainees Overpower Guards to Take Control of a North Carolina Jail, Aug. 1, 2026. Prison Rebellion, Overcrowding, Staffing, Security Systems, Assaults on Staff.

