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A Song for Condemned Alabama Prisoner
Loaded on April 1, 2025
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2025, page 26
He shot the cop. Or his co-defendant did. Or he did it, but with another uncharged codefendant.
Alabama prosecutors used all three theories to try Toforest Johnson and co-defendant Ardargus Ford for the 1995 murder of Jefferson County Sheriff’s Dep. William Hardy at a Birmingham motel. Ford was …
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More from this issue:
- Deaths, Deplorable Conditions, Staff Misconduct Plague Memphis Jail
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- New Jersey Guard Sacked for Mocking George Floyd Killing Loses Appeal
- New York Suspends Solitary Ban to Woo Back Striking Prison Guards
- Porn Produced by Georgia Prisoners
- $7.15 Million for Oklahoma Prisoner Exonerated After Nearly 50 Years, by Anthony Accurso
- North Carolina Reimburses Prisoner $2,500 for Law Books Destroyed by Guards, by Anthony Accurso
- No State Oversight of Overcrowded, Understaffed, and Non-Compliant Idaho Jails
- No Sunshine on In-Custody Deaths in Sunshine State
- Little-Known Law Allows Some Texas Prisoners to Vote
- $1.35 Million in Settlements for One-Legged San Francisco Detainee Forced to Hop—Twice
- Ohio Pauses Executions, Louisiana and Arizona Race Ahead
- Self-Harming Wisconsin Prisoner Settles Failure-to-Protect Suit for $7,000, by Sam Rutherford
- Biden Clemency Recipients Included Virginians Sentenced for “Acquitted Conduct”
- 14 Overdoses in Two Weeks Leave One Dead at Phoenix Jail
- “Swing or Kick Rocks”: BOP Guard Alleges Conspiracy to Brutalize Prisoners at Kentucky Lockup
- Tucson Program Slashes Pretrial Misdemeanor Incarceration
- $1 Million Partial Settlement for Washington Jail Detainee’s Leg Amputation
- Tenth Circuit Stretches PLRA to Deny Claim of Colorado Prisoner Shot by Guard While Shackled, by Douglas Ankney
- $42 Million Jury Award for Detainees Tortured by U.S. Military at Abu Ghraib Prison
- Pardoned Insurrectionists Brought to D.C. Jail Demanded Others’ Immediate Release
- Houston Jail Cited for State-Law Violations Twice in a Month
- A Song for Condemned Alabama Prisoner
- Three Former Virginia Jailers Charged After Detainee Dies in “WRAP” Restraint
- Ninth Circuit: No Exception to Due Diligence in Discovery Even for “Conclusive Evidence”, by Anthony Accurso
- Sixth Circuit: Dismissals of Mixed-Claim Complaints Not Strikes Under PLRA
- Former Indiana Jailer Walks from Charges Over “Night of Terror”
- National Class Certified in Washington Jail Debit-Release Card Suit
- CoreCivic Will Cage Migrant Families in Texas Lockup
- Three More Prisoners Die, Three More Staffers Fired at Wisconsin Prison
- Jailing the Homeless: New Data Shed Light on Unhoused People in Local Jails, by Leah Wang
- GTL, Co-Defendant Agree to $21.3 Million Settlement in Price-Fixing Lawsuit
- No Opened Envelopes: Hawai’i Prisons Get New Mail Scanning Technology
- GEO Group Gets $1 Billion ICE Contract at New Jersey Lockup
- DOJ Finds “Horrific” Unconstitutional Conditions at Atlanta Jail
- Alabama Governor Commutes Death Sentence
- California Stops Raiding Released Prisoners’ Gate Money
- $4 Million Settlement Approved in HRDC’s Oregon Debit-Release Card Suit
- Nurse Charged, $2.6 Million Settlement Reached in Minnesota Jail Death
- Tenth Alabama Jail Employee Pleads Guilty in Detainee’s Freezing Death
- Muslim Prisoners Face Price-Gouging
- $250,000 Settlement But No Charges After Alabama Guards Beat Prisoner To Death, by Anthony Accurso
- GOP Washington Lawmaker Trolls Felon Enfranchisement Proponents
- Ninth Circuit: Posting Jail Mugshots on Arizona County’s Website Violates Substantive Due Process
- Georgia Fights Liability for Strip-Searching Prison Visitor, Nevada Pays $126,500
- Half of Hawai’i Prisoners Released With No ID
- Peters Fights Dismissal from BOP, Guards Lose Bonus Pay
- Southern Health Partners Settles Suit Over Kentucky Jail Meth Death
- Federal Watchdog Calls Out BOP for Spiking Suicide Risk at Pennsylvania Lockup, by Matthew Clarke
- Wisconsin DOC Agrees to Improve Services for Hearing-Impaired Prisoners
- $2.5 Million Settlement After South Carolina Jail Detainee Lost 2 Lbs.Per Day and Died, by Anthony Accurso
- More New York Guards Suspended After Another Prisoner’s Fatal Beating
- Fourth Circuit Excuses Maryland Prisoner From Exhaustion Requirement in PREA Claim, by Douglas Ankney
- Eighth Circuit: Arkansas Prisoner Who Had Consensual Sex With Guard Cannot Sustain Eighth Amendment Claim, by Matthew Clarke
- Illinois Pretrial Incarceration Becomes Less Random A Year After Elimination of Cash Bail, by David Reutter
- D.C. Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Federal Prisoner’s Complaint Due to PLRA Three-Strikes Rule
- TDCJ to Run Out of Beds in 2025, by Matthew Clarke
- News in Brief
- Shrewd Federal Prisoner Salvages $5,000 from Suit Against Arkansas Jail Where He Was Held Pre-Trial, by Anthony Accurso
More from these topics:
- Detroit Pays $5.8 Million to Former State Prisoner Exonerated of Murder After 15 Years, Aug. 1, 2026. Wrongful Conviction, Qualified Immunity, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Eyewitness Identification, Evidence - Failure to Disclose.
- SCOTUS Holds Federal Habeas Court May Not Consider Post-Trial DNA Evidence That Was Never Presented to Jury When Assessing Whether False Informant Testimony Influenced Verdict, July 1, 2026. AEDPA, Perjury/Perjured Testimony, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, Brady/Giglio/Jencks Act Issues, Withholding of Exculpatory Evidence.
- 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.
- New York Prisoner, Paroled After 25 Years, Exonerated of Crime, June 1, 2026. Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, Prosecutorial Threats, Brady/Giglio/Jencks Act Issues.
- Connecticut Supreme Court Announces Extension of Brady Obligations to Same-Office Impeachment Evidence, May 1, 2026. Perjury/Perjured Testimony, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, Constructive/Imputed/Presumed knowledge, Brady/Giglio/Jencks Act Issues, Exculpatory Evidence - Disclosure Obligations.
- Jury Returns Record $80 Million Verdict for Wrongful Conviction Based on DA Misconduct, Dec. 15, 2025. Monell Liability, False Imprisonment, Perjury/Perjured Testimony, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, Improper Comments.
- Police AI and “Sycophancy”: New Evidence Tools May Tell Cops Exactly What They Want to Hear, Dec. 15, 2025. junk science, Police State-Surveillance, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, Exculpatory Evidence - Disclosure Obligations.
- DOJ Settles With Orange County Over Use of “Jailhouse Snitches”, Dec. 1, 2025. Informants, Sixth Amendment, Confessions - Admissibility, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, Pleas Linked to Cooperation.
- An AI Model from Securus Aims to Expand Phone Call Monitoring, Dec. 1, 2025. Databases, Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring, Electronic Surveillance, Securus.
- SCOTUS Overturns Oklahoma Prisoner’s Death Sentence After More than 25 Years on Death Row, Nov. 1, 2025. Ex Post Facto, Good Time, Wrongful Conviction, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, Pardons/Clemency, First Step Act, Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA), Specific Offenses, Controlled Substances, Weapons, Accuracy of Information, Depraved Indifference Murder, Evidence - Circumstantial, Theft, Failure to Disclose, Perjury/Perjured Testimony, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, New Trial - Motions for, Pleas Linked to Cooperation, Evidence - Destruction/Fabrication/Manipulation of, Selective Prosecution/Enforcement, Improper Comments, Official Report, Withholding of Exculpatory Evidence, Exculpatory Evidence - Disclosure Obligations.

