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$950,000 Awarded to Trans Maryland Prisoner Dropped on Her Face by Guards
Loaded on Nov. 1, 2025
by Douglas Ankney
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2025, page 46
Filed under:
Guard Misconduct,
DOC/BOP misconduct,
Government Misconduct,
Retaliation for Filing Grievances,
Retaliation for Organizing,
Retaliatory Segregation,
Guard Brutality/Beatings,
Restraints,
Discrimination (Transgender),
Failure to Protect (Transgender),
Immunity - Absolute and Qualified,
Damages - Compensatory,
Wrongful Use of Force.
Location:
Maryland.
by Douglas Ankney
Between 2022 and 2025, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) held between 17,164 and 18,476 prisoners and detainees, according to data from the agency’s website. During that same period, just 120 of those prisoners were transgender, either male-to-female or female-to-male. But …
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More from this issue:
- America’s Deadliest Jails: Tarrant County Edition, by Anthony Accurso
- Washington Prisoners Gain Access to Crisis Hotline
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- HRDC’s Washington Jail Debit-Release Card Suit Survives Summary Judgment, by Chuck Sharman
- $11 Million Paid to Estate of Mentally Ill Illinois Jail Detainee Who Lost 60 Pounds During 85-Day Incarceration, by Chuck Sharman
- Dying Mississippi Prisoner Wins Preservation Testimony in Suit Blaming Terminal Cancer on Exposure to Janitorial Chemicals, by Chuck Sharman
- Missouri Blocks Spiritual Advisors from Prison Pastor’s Execution, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Ninth Circuit Finds No Bivens Extension Needed for Federal Prisoner Prescribed Water and Exercise for Thyroid Storms, by Chuck Sharman
- Trans Kentucky Prisoner Loses Bid to Block State’s New Ban on Hormone Replacement Therapy, by Chuck Sharman
- Enormous $14 Million Settlement Reached by Los Angeles County with Former Prisoner Exonerated After 20 Years, by Chuck Sharman
- San Diego County Files Unusual Suit Against NaphCare Over Jail Detainee’s Murder, by Chuck Sharman
- For Delay in Summoning Medical Care for Detainees, Alabama Jailers Granted Immunity But California Trooper Headed to Trial, by Chuck Sharman
- Seventh Circuit Rules Against Prisoner’s Deliberate Indifference Claim Over Wexford Health’s Poor Psychiatric Care, by Michael Thompson
- Sixth Circuit Clarifies What Constitutes PLRA “Strike” and Reinstates Michigan Prisoner’s Lawsuit, by Matthew Clarke
- $2.4 Million Paid to Indiana Prisoners Sickened With Legionnaire’s Disease by Contaminated Water, by Chuck Sharman
- Body-Worn Camera Program for Guards Expands to all Maryland Prisons, by Chuck Sharman
- CoreCivic Pays $82,500 for First COVID-19 Death at San Diego ICE Lockup, by Chuck Sharman
- Wisconsin DOC Ordered to Provide Programming for Pregnant Prisoners—34 Years After Law Was Passed, by Chuck Sharman
- Securus Loses Bid to Dismiss HRDC Price-Fixing Suit, by Chuck Sharman
- $150,000 Paid by Jacksonville for Mother of Five’s Jail Suicide, by Chuck Sharman
- Federal Injunction Bars ICE from Crowding Detainees in Unsanitary “Hold” Rooms in New York City Office, by Chuck Sharman
- While Mentally Ill Rikers Island Detainee Lay Dying, Staff Sprayed Air Freshener, Fudged Cell Checks, by Chuck Sharman
- SCOTUS Overturns Oklahoma Prisoner’s Death Sentence After More than 25 Years on Death Row, by Douglas Ankney
- $1.8 Million Settlement Reached Following CDCR Data Breach, by Chuck Sharman
- North Carolina Prison Officials Run Out the Clock On Trans Prisoner’s Vulvoplasty, by Chuck Sharman
- Seventh Circuit Dismisses Jail Detainee Suicide Case for Lack of Showing Deliberate Indifference, by Anthony Accurso
- Fourth Circuit Rules in Favor of Prisoner’s Eligibility for Time Credits, by Douglas Ankney
- Jailhouse Lawyer Gets 16-1/2-Year Sentence for Defrauding Prisoner “Clients”, by Chuck Sharman
- Federal Government, CoreCivic Slow-Walk Class-Action Challenges to Forced Labor of ICE Detainees, by Chuck Sharman
- Oklahoma County Jailers Lose Bids to Derail Three Suits Over Detainee Murders, by Chuck Sharman
- Ohio Appoints Special Prosecutor to Investigate Double Amputee’s Restraint and Death
- Fifth Circuit Remands Louisiana Detainee’s Medical Grievance Case, by Michael Thompson
- South Dakota Approves $650 Million New Prison Construction
- Eighth Circuit Orders Preliminary Injunction Requiring Minnesota to Reinstate Program Teaching Biblical “Authentic Manhood”, by Matthew Clarke
- Appeals Court Rules Michigan’s Tolling Provision Is Not Inconsistent with the PLRA, by Douglas Ankney
- California’s Attorney General Is Suing Los Angeles County Jails Over “Inhumane Conditions”, by Michael Thompson
- FCC Issues Proposed Rule Permitting Cellphone Jammers in Prisons and Jails, by Chuck Sharman
- Preliminary Injunction Halts Solitary Confinement of Mentally Ill Prisoners at New York Lockup Where Wildcat Guard Strike Began, by Chuck Sharman
- Florida Sheriff Fires Five Guards for Two Cases of Detainee Abuse
- $5.5 Million Paid for Two Withdrawal Deaths at Washington Jail, by Chuck Sharman
- $950,000 Awarded to Trans Maryland Prisoner Dropped on Her Face by Guards, by Douglas Ankney
- Seventh Circuit Affirms Liberty Interest in Harsh Solitary Confinement Case, by Michael Thompson
- Eleventh Circuit Overturns 1990 Alabama Death Sentence Over Racially Biased Jury Selection; ACLU Report Shows It Is Still Happening, by Matthew Clarke
- Eleventh Circuit Declines to Extend to Summary Judgment Proceedings a Rule Requiring District Courts to Notify Pro Se Litigants, by Douglas Ankney
- BOP Cancels Union Rights for Prison Guards
- $4 Million Verdict Returned in Colorado Jail Suicide Case, by Chuck Sharman
- $100,000 Settlement Reached Between Imprisoned BOP Guard and Prisoners He Raped, by Chuck Sharman
- Fifth Circuit Dismisses Sex Abuse Claims Filed by Three Texas Prisoners Against Guard, by Chuck Sharman
- Nearly $528,000 Paid by Kansas Jail to Detainees Raped by Guards, by Chuck Sharman
- Two Re-Entry Non-Profit Leaders in Tennessee and Massachusetts Accused of Criminal Charges
- New York Jury Convicts Former Guard for Robert Brooks’ Taped Killing
- The Last Escaped Detainee from the New Orleans Jail Was Arrested in an Atlanta Crawlspace
- California Approves Higher Wage for Prisoner Firefighters (But Still Underpays)
- Former Prisoners’ Challenge to Virginia Constitution’s Felony Disenfranchisement Clause Allowed to Proceed, by Douglas Ankney
- $3.6 Million Paid by Minnesota County After Hemophiliac Jail Detainee Died from Brain Bleed, by Chuck Sharman
- Appeals Court Allows Illinois Prisoner’s Suit for Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies, by Douglas Ankney
- FCC Votes For Dramatic Hike to Prison Phone Call Rates, by Chuck Sharman
- News in Brief
More from Douglas Ankney:
- Tenth Circuit Holds Prior California Child Pornography Conviction Does Not Trigger Federal Mandatory Minimum Because State Statute Encompasses Conduct Beyond Federal Definition Under Categorical Approach, April 1, 2026
- Kentucky Supreme Court Clarifies Parole Board May Delegate Final Revocation Hearings to Administrative Law Judges but Holds Due Process Requires Parolees Be Permitted to File Exceptions to ALJ Findings Before Board Renders a Final Revocation Decision, April 1, 2026
- New York Court of Appeals Holds Generic Physical Description Insufficient to Justify Pursuit in Mistaken Identity Case, and Suspect’s Flight Cannot Support Reasonable Suspicion Absent Evidence He Knew He Was Fleeing Law Enforcement, April 1, 2026
- Montana Supreme Court Holds Defendant’s Sentence Must Be Vacated Where District Court Premised Sentence on Defendant’s Exercise of Constitutional Rights to Jury Trial, Silence, and Against Self-Incrimination, April 1, 2026
- Fifth Circuit Holds Texas Sexual Assault of a Child Statute Sweeps More Broadly Than Federal SORNA Tier Offenses, March 1, 2026
- Delaware Supreme Court Announces Four-Part Plain Error Framework, Aligning Prejudice Standard With Federal Approach Requiring Reasonable Probability of Different Outcome, March 1, 2026
- Acquitted Conduct Sentencing: Not Guilty – But Punished Anyway, March 1, 2026
- 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
More from these topics:
- California Spends $300 Million Each Year Incarcerating Senior Citizens in Women’s Prisons, April 1, 2026. Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Totality of Conditions, Parole, Life without Parole (LWOP), Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Idaho Struggles to Respond to Devasting Report of Widespread Prisoner Sex Abuse, April 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Prison Rape Elimination Act, State Legislation, Public Records Act.
- Missouri Prisons Called Out for Incomplete Death Records, Hellish Solitary Heat, April 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Exposure to Heat, Confinement in Segregated Housing, Deliberate Indifference.
- Unsafe Drinking Water at Multiple Texas Prisons Highlights Lack of Transparency, April 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Infections, Environmental Law, Water, Public Records Act.
- Internal Assessment Contradicts Public Claims About Women’s Prisons, April 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Failure to Treat, Totality of Conditions, Toxic Fumes/Chemicals, Deliberate Indifference.
- Former Maine Prison Official Stole $2.4 Million Through Fraudulent Supply Orders, April 1, 2026. Contractor Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Bribery/Extortion/Theft, Fraud and Deceit.
- $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.
- U.S. Sentencing Commission Report Breaks Down Federal Contraband Sentences, March 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Mechanical Searches/Scanners, Statistics/Trends, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Bribery/Extortion/Theft.
- “Devil in the Ozarks” Gets 13 More Years for Escape, March 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Escapes, Security Systems, Authentication/Identification.

