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Eleventh Circuit Revives Volunteer Pastor’s First Amendment Claim at Georgia Jail
by Douglas Ankney
A volunteer minister took a dustup with Georgia jailers over baptism to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which agreed on September 16, 2024, that he had been subjected to impermissible viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. The relevant …
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More from this issue:
- $1.2 Million in Settlements Reached in Suit Over Sacramento Jail Murder, by Douglas Ankney
- Multitudes Caged for Failure to Pay Child Support, Driving Mass Incarceration, by Matthew Clarke
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Florida’s “Pay to Stay” Law: A Second Sentence for Former Prisoners
- Fifth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Louisiana Officials Who Forced Prisoner to Work with Broken Surgical Screws in Ankle, by Anthony Accurso
- Study Finds Just 1% of Prisoner’s Eighth Amendment Claims Succeed
- Incarcerated Students Caught in Crosshairs of Trump War on Education Department
- Disbarred Cincinnati Defense Attorney Who Defrauded Prisoner Clients Gets Three-Year Sentence
- Wisconsin Prisoner Inhaled His Own Teeth in Fatal Beatdown
- South Carolina Conducts First U.S. Execution by Firing Squad in 15 Years
- Eleventh Circuit Revives Volunteer Pastor’s First Amendment Claim at Georgia Jail, by Douglas Ankney
- Trump Guts BOP Guard Union
- Los Angeles County Jails Record Almost One Death Every Nine Days
- Florida Prisoner Returns to Custody After Overturned Conviction Reinstated
- South Carolina Jailer Gets 10 Years for Sexually Assaulting Nine Detainees and Co-Workers
- Maryland Targets Highest-in-Nation Racial Incarceration Gap
- Idaho Warden Bought Execution Drugs on Roadside
- Connecticut Court Denies Access to Video of Prisoner’s Fatal Beat-Down by Guards
- Florida Prisoner Released to Die Settles With Centurion Over Ignored Prostate Cancer
- Wellpath Sanctioned for Discovery Violation in Suit Over Kentucky Prisoner’s Death, by Douglas Ankney
- Cruelty Is Now the Point for BOP
- New York Lifts Hiring Ban on Fired Striking Prison Guards, Announces Early Prisoner Releases
- Former Prisoner Appointed President’s Pardon “Czar”
- Oregon DOC Replaces Top Medical Staffers Amid Turmoil
- Rikers Island Staffers, Contractor and Detainee Sentenced for Smuggling
- Washington DOC On Hot Seat Over “Unexpected Fatalities,” Missed Autopsies
- 20 Charged in Nevada Prison Brawl That Left Three Dead
- Second Circuit Revives Connecticut Prisoner’s Challenge To Conditions In Virginia Lockup Where He Was Transferred, by Douglas Ankney
- Pittsburgh Lockup Accounts for 43% of Pennsylvania Jail TASER Use, Suit Filed
- Rikers Island Detainees Wait in “Black Hole” for Competency Treatment
- Mass Incarceration Weakens All Workers, by Eric Seligman, Brian Nam-Sonenstein
- Plans to Hold Migrants at Gitmo Hit Snag
- Third Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Pennsylvania DOC in Prisoner’s Challenge to 26 Years of Solitary Confinement
- Studies Link Incarceration with Lower Cancer Survival Rates—For Prisoner’s Partners, Too, by Anthony Accurso
- Virginia Bribes Prisoners Not to Set Themselves On Fire
- $2.95 Million Settlement for Untreated Pneumonia Death in Washington Jail
- Medical Copays Blamed for Reducing Prisoner Access to Healthcare
- New York Guards Indicted for Prisoner’s Murder
- Missouri Repeals “Pay-to-Stay” Law
- New Jersey DOC Sued Twice for Turning “Blind Eye” to “Pervasive” Drug-Smuggling Blamed for Prisoner Deaths
- $18,000 for New York Prisoner Who Alleged Guards Planted Shank in Cell
- Kansas Supreme Court Denies Compensation to Former Prisoner Whose Conviction Was Overturned
- Los Angeles County Pays $24 Million to Two Former Prisoners Wrongly Convicted as Teens of 1997 Murder, by Matthew Clarke
- Missouri Pays More Than $1.2 Million for Deputy Warden’s Sexual Harassment Claim Against Warden, by Douglas Ankney
- New Orleans Public Defender’s “Redeem Team” Says: “Re-entry Is Never Over”
- Texas Courts, Legislature at Odds over Executing Potentially Innocent Death Row Prisoner
- ACLU Sues BOP Over Failure to Implement First Step Act Release Credits, by Anthony Accurso
- Six Deaths in Eleven Months at Washington Jail
- New York Prisoner Awarded Almost $280,000 in Retaliation Claim Against Guards
- West Virginia Prison Chief Tapped to Helm BOP
- Crackdown On Pro-Palestinian Dissent Nabs New York Professor Who Found Link Between Cars and Incarceration
- Two California Prisoners Accused of Strangling Conjugal Visitors
- Wellpath Prepares Plan to Exit Bankruptcy
- Texas Prison Heat Declared Unconstitutional
- $3.4 Million Settlement for Minnesota Jail Death Called “Real-Life Nightmare”
- BOP Jettisons Transgender Offender Manual
- Kentucky Jail Sued for Detainee’s Death, Prisoner’s Stillborn Child
- Wait for Competency Restoration Averages 14 Months in Missouri Jails
- Jury Deadlocks at Trial of Last BOP Guard Accused at California “Rape Club”
- News in Brief
More from Douglas Ankney:
- Barbaric and Deadly Conditions Continue to Plague Los Angeles County Jails, Feb. 1, 2026
- Killings Inside Mississippi’s Prisons Continue Unabated But Report Prompts DOC to Reopen Investigations, Feb. 1, 2026
- Competency Crisis in Missouri’s Jails, Feb. 1, 2026
- Ninth Circuit: Notice of Appeal of Order Denying Qualified Immunity Must Be Filed Within 30 Days of Entry, Feb. 1, 2026
- Fifth Circuit Rules Against Louisiana Prisoner Seeking to Recoup Money Made at Angola Prison Rodeo, Jan. 1, 2026
- Report on “Pay-to-Stay” Fees Makes Strong Case for Their Repeal, Jan. 1, 2026
- Maryland Agrees to Pay $30,000 to Prisoner Who Was Beaten by Guards While Handcuffed, Jan. 1, 2026
- Alabama Supreme Court Denies DOC’s Improper Venue Objection, Jan. 1, 2026
- Third Circuit Rules Awarding BOP Prisoners 54 Days of Good Time Per Year Is Pro-Rated, Jan. 1, 2026
- Utah Supreme Court Announces Framework for Analyzing Combined Brady and Napue Violations, Affirms Postconviction Relief in Capital Murder Case, Jan. 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- D.C. Federal Court Holds Blocking Prison Reform Advocate’s Access to Federal Prisoners May Violate First Amendment and Due Process, Feb. 1, 2026. Threats by Staff, DOC/BOP misconduct, First Amendment, rights, Fifth Amendment, Access to Computers.
- HRDC Sues Minnesota DOC Over Censorship Policy, Feb. 1, 2026. Publications/Books, Due Process, Censorship, First Amendment, HRDC Litigation.
- County Jail in Oklahoma Accused of Coercing Detainees to Convert to Christianity, Feb. 1, 2026. Jail Misconduct, Religious Practices, First Amendment, rights, Religious Freedom/Worship.
- HRDC Sues Washington Jail for Rejecting PLN and Other Publications, Jan. 1, 2026. Publications/Books, Due Process, Censorship, First Amendment, rights, HRDC Litigation.
- $4,652 for Jewish Nevada Prisoner Denied Passover Meal, Jan. 1, 2026. Religious Discrimination, Food, Settlements, First Amendment, rights, Dismissal.
- HRDC Sues New Mexico County for Violating 10-Year-Old Settlement of Censorship Suit, Jan. 1, 2026. Settlements, Publications/Books, Due Process, Censorship, First Amendment.
- Louisiana Prisoner Granted Preliminary Injunction in Challenge to Jail Book Ban, Dec. 1, 2025. Reading Materials, Injunctions, Publications/Books, Censorship, First Amendment, rights.
- ICE Amasses Mass Surveillance Arsenal Targeting U.S. Citizens and Protesters, Nov. 15, 2025. Protests, First Amendment, rights, Police State-Surveillance, Enforcement of Immigration Laws, Electronic Surveillance.
- Gag Order on Tennessee Attorney for Criticizing CoreCivic Lifted by Judge, July 15, 2025. Retaliation for Media Contact, First Amendment, rights, Gag Order.
- $95,000 in Settlements for Illinois Prisoners Retaliated Against for Class Participation in Prison Education Programs, July 15, 2025. Retaliation, Education, First Amendment, rights.

