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Academic Study of Prison Guards’ Use of Excessive Force Details Sad State of Civil Rights for Abused Prisoners
Loaded on June 1, 2025
by Matthew Clarke
published in Prison Legal News
June, 2025, page 53
Filed under:
Guard Brutality/Beatings,
Stun Guns/Tasers,
Pepper Spray/Tear Gas,
Restraints,
Dogs,
Burning,
Electric Fences,
Laser Weapons.
Location:
United States of America.
In a research paper published on October 15, 2024, UCLA law professor Sharon Dolovich examined the state of civil rights law regarding excessive use of force by American prison guards and concluded that the current standard is woefully inadequate to protect prisoners from abuse or permit redress once excessive …
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More from this issue:
- Washington’s Continuing Competency Crisis Strains Jails
- Rejected by Conviction Integrity Unit, 27 New York Prisoners Exonerated Anyway
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- $2.4 Million Settlement Reached After Elderly Pretrial Detainee Strangled by Cellmate in San Antonio Jail, by David Reutter
- Oklahoma Supreme Court Kills One Jail Death Suit, Threatening Settlement of Another
- Arkansas DOC Settles Retaliation Claim by Prisoner Who Also Won Back Confiscated COVID-19 Stimulus
- Kansas Supreme Court Revives Prisoner’s Challenge to Loss of Parental Rights, by Matthew Clarke
- Rural Virginia Jury Refuses to Hold Guards Liable for State Prisoner’s Death
- French Prisons Targeted in Coordinated Attack
- Mississippi DOC Issues Almost $300 Million in No-Bid Contracts to VitalCore Health
- Top Rikers Island Jailers Logged Overtime Equal to 14-Hour Days With No Days Off
- Fifth Circuit Refuses to Stop Court-Ordered Construction of Mental Health Facility at New Orleans Jail, by Boris Bastidas
- Ninth Circuit Revives Complaint Over Sloppy Cell Checks Before Psychotic Detainee’s Death at L.A. Jail, by Douglas Ankney
- $875,000 Award for Illinois Prisoner’s Delay in Getting Hernia Surgery, by David M. Reutter
- Salvadoran President’s Dark Secret Allegedly Behind Deal to Hold Deported Migrants in “Mega” Prison
- California Appellate Court: Custody Credits Must be Applied to Concurrent Terms in Multiple Open Cases, by David M. Reutter
- Over $1.1 Million Recovered for Rikers Island Janitors
- Four Arizona Prisoners Dead After Being Celled with Leader of 2004 Standoff
- Former Centurion Owner Accused of Helping Florida Governor Kill Legalized Weed
- $100,000 Settlement Reached For Tennessee Detainee Baptized to Get Out of Traffic Ticket, by Boris Bastidas
- Sixth Circuit Limits Deliberate Indifference Standard in Kentucky Jail Medical Care Challenge, by David M. Reutter
- Italy Begins Conjugal Visits in Prison “Sex Rooms”
- Auburn University’s Prison Education Program ‘Indefinitely Suspended’, by Charlotte West
- New Mexico Watchdog Group Sues for Video Allegedly Showing Jailers Killing Detainee, by David M. Reutter
- Gay Tennessee Prisoner Refuses to Out Himself in PREA Classification Hearings
- $500,000 for Colorado Detainee Dropped On His Face by Jailers, by Douglas Ankney
- Three New York Guards Plead Guilty to Beating Black Prisoner in “George Floyd Challenge”
- Ninth Circuit Reinstates Religious Exercise Claim from Arizona “Christian-Israelite” Prisoner Denied Passover Meal, by Michael Thompson
- Watchdogs Fault Nebraska Prisons for Suicide Response, Overpaid Staff, by Boris Bastidas
- Smart Communications Files for Bankruptcy Protection
- 11th Alabama Sheriff’s Employee Pleads Guilty in Jail Detainee’s Death, Admits Stomping Him in Genitals
- Second South Carolina Prisoner Executed by Firing Squad
- Tenth Circuit Upholds Nearly $8.8 Million Judgment for Utah Jail Death, by Douglas Ankney
- Fifth Circuit Reinstates Baha’i Texas Prisoner’s Dietary Claim, by Matthew Clarke
- Seven TDCJ Prison Guards Arrested in Alleged Smuggling Ring
- $62,500 For Idaho Prisoner Raped by Guard Who Later Committed Suicide, by Anthony Accurso
- Eighth Circuit Excuses Missouri Prisoner’s Failure to Exhaust Remedies While He Was In a Coma, by Douglas Ankney
- GTL/ViaPath Ordered to Pay $3 Million for Violations of Consumer Protection Laws
- Federal Court Blocks Idaho Executions Until Media Access Improves
- Former Wisconsin Warden Gets No Cell Time, $500 Fine After Prisoner Deaths
- $1.3 Million for Massachusetts Prisoner Stabbed by Guard in Connecticut Lockup, by Douglas Ankney
- California Enacts Counterproductive, Regressive Solitary Confinement Bill
- Government Quasi-Agency Attempts to Infiltrate Criminal Justice Nonprofit
- $7.75 Million Settlement for Exonerated North Carolina Prisoner, by David M. Reutter
- Fourth Circuit Upholds South Carolina DOC Policy Restricting Prisoner Access to News Media
- New York Lowers Minimum Age for Prison Guards
- $13 Million Awarded to Exonerated Massachusetts Prisoner for Wrongful Conviction, by David M. Reutter
- $5.6 Million Settlement for California Prisoner’s Wife Strip-searched During Visit, by Matthew Clarke
- Death Row Prisoners Challenge New Tennessee Single-Drug Lethal Injection Protocol
- Almost $4.4 Million for Illinois Prisoner’s Failure to Protect Claim, by David Reutter
- Georgia Moves to Shield Intellectually Disabled Prisoners from Execution
- Eighth Circuit Lets Missouri Guard Skate For Placing Avowed Enemies In Same Cell, Resulting In Assault, by Anthony Accurso
- Long-Running Consent Decree Again Extended at Troubled Baltimore Jail
- $50,000 for Excessive Force Claim by Maryland Prisoner Who Used to Be a Guard
- Retired California Prison Guard Killed in Colorado Jail
- Academic Study of Prison Guards’ Use of Excessive Force Details Sad State of Civil Rights for Abused Prisoners, by Matthew Clarke
- Kansas Pays $150,000 for Prisoner Killed by Cellmate, Centurion Settlement Confidential
- $52,500 for Trans Florida Prisoner Sexually Assaulted by Cellmate
- Wellpath and VitalCore Skip Paying Nearly $2 Million in Settlements in South Carolina
- U.S. Pulls $1.5 Million in Funding from Maine DOC Over a Single Trans Prisoner
- Idaho Spent $200,000 on Execution Drugs Now Expired
- Washington Appellate Court: Personal Restraint Petition Proper Vehicle to Challenge Community Supervision, by David Reutter
- Former Jail Guard Accused of Having Sex with Detainee Now Vice-Chair of Florida GOP
- New York Guards Plead Guilty to Fatally Beating Prisoner, Mopping Up His Blood
- $2.8 Million Settlement in National NUMI Debit Release Card Class Action, by David Reutter
- $3.15 Million for Illinois Prisoner Raped by Guard and Then Denied “Boot Camp”
- Rash of 5,000 False-Positive Prisoner Drug Tests Going to California Parole Board Anyway
- Trio of Guards Fired and Arrested for Smuggling at Louisiana Jails
- $6 Million Settlement in Illinois Detainee’s Gruesome Untreated Heroin Withdrawal Death, by David Reutter
- News in Brief
- Two Guards Arrested in Two Weeks at Texas Jail
More from Matthew Clarke:
- Federal Court Grants HRDC Preliminary Injunction Against Mail Censorship at New Mexico Jail, May 1, 2026
- Faced with Record-Breaking Jail Deaths, L.A. County Supervisors Tell Sheriff’s Department to Improve Access to Naloxone, Camera Monitoring, and Security Checks at California Jail, May 1, 2026
- Federal Court Places Medical Care in Arizona Prisons Under Receivership, May 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Upholds Liability but Reverses Damages in Lawsuit Over Illinois Warden and Investigator Using Prisoner as Bait to Catch Staff Member Raping Her, May 1, 2026
- Texas Moves to Restrict Cashless Bond and Reverse Federal Court-Ordered Misdemeanor Bail Reform, May 1, 2026
- In Texas, Harris County Commissioners Approve $1.2 Million for Fourth Study of Jail Since 2020 After Dozens of Abuse Allegations, April 1, 2026
- Texas Attorney General Clarifies Scope of Statute Requiring Outside Agency Investigation of Jail Deaths, April 1, 2026
- D.C. Judge Blocks Transfer of Biden-Commuted Federal Death Row Prisoners to “Supermax,” Citing Lack of Meaningful Due Process, April 1, 2026
- Eighth Circuit Revives Lawsuit Over Iowa Jail Detainee’s Suicide, April 1, 2026
- Groundbreaking Statistical Study of Pregnant Texas Jail Detainees Finds Over 400 Monthly, April 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- Washington Governor Fires Independent Prison Watchdog, May 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Government Misconduct, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Restraints, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- Atlanta Jail Boasts Improvements Since Consent Decree, Reports from Monitor and ACLU Are More Critical, May 1, 2026. Staffing, Sanitation, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Consent Decrees, Bail/Pretrial Release.
- Taser Use Doubled After Grand Jury Report on Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Death, May 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Stun Guns/Tasers, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Staff Training.
- Six Maryland Guards Convicted in Prisoner’s Beating, Cover-up; § 1983 Suit Filed, May 1, 2026. Guard Brutality/Beatings, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Obstruction of Justice, Wrongful Use of Force, Evidence - Destruction/Fabrication/Manipulation of.
- Judge Denies New York Prison Chief’s Motion to be Dismissed from Case Related to Robert Brooks’ Murder, May 1, 2026. Work Strikes, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Failure to Train/Supervise, Police--Excessive Force, Deliberate Indifference.
- $950,000 Settlement Reached for Pennsylvania Jail Detainee Repeatedly Pepper-Sprayed During Mental Health Episodes, April 1, 2026. Clothing, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Chemical Spraying of Mentally Ill Inmates, Deliberate Indifference.
- $667,000 Awarded to Muslim Missouri Prisoners Pepper-Sprayed for Praying, April 1, 2026. Religious Discrimination, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Religious Practices, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Deliberate Indifference.
- $10.3 Million Paid for Teen’s Death at Kansas Juvenile Detention Facility, April 1, 2026. Restraints, Qualified Immunity, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Wrongful Use of Force.
- Leaked Video Footage Shows California Prison Guards Engaged in Retaliatory Assault, March 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Prison Rape Elimination Act.
- Sixth Circuit Revives Michigan Prisoner’s Challenge to Guard Tackle That Broke His Foot, March 1, 2026. Evidentiary Ruling (Disciplinary Hearings), Guard Brutality/Beatings, Summary Judgment, Qualified Immunity, Wrongful Use of Force.

