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Records Show Culture of Impunity Among Kentucky Prison Guards

Loaded on May 1, 2026 by Jo Ellen Knott published in Prison Legal News May, 2026, page 57
Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Snitch Jacketing, Whistleblowing, Evidence - Admissibility. Location: Kentucky.

by Jo Ellen Knott

Inhumane conditions within the Kentucky Department of Corrections (DOC) were outed in state records detailing a “hostile and toxic environment” at the Southeast State Correctional Complex in Floyd County, according to reporting by the Lexington Herald-Leader.

The misconduct, shielded by a corrupt internal …

 

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  1. The Systematic Terror of Rankin County’s “Goon Squad”, by Anthony Accurso
  2. ACLU Threatens New Lawsuit After Indiana County’s Repeated Failures to Abide by 17-Year-Old Settlement Agreement, by Chuck Sharman
  3. From the Editor, by Paul Wright
  4. Washington Governor Fires Independent Prison Watchdog
  5. Spike in Massachusetts Prisoner Suicides Blamed on Isolation, K-2 and Spotty Mental Healthcare, by Chuck Sharman
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  7. Exonerated Texas Prisoner Entitled to $1.68 Million After 22 Years of Wrongful Incarceration, by Chuck Sharman
  8. Atlanta Jail Boasts Improvements Since Consent Decree, Reports from Monitor and ACLU Are More Critical, by Chuck Sharman
  9. Fourth Circuit Revives North Carolina Prisoner’s Suit Blaming Lazy Guards for Assault by Detainee, by Chuck Sharman
  10. Former Prison Dentist in Iowa Accused of Harassment
  11. Hospital Keeps Sending Detainees Back Without Care to County Jail in Colorado
  12. Pregnant Women Detained in Jail: The Hideous Story of In-Custody Births, by Douglas Ankney
  13. $9.8 Million in Settlements Reached with South Carolina County and Wellpath in Gruesome Jail Death, by Chuck Sharman
  14. New York Juvenile Detention Officials Sued for Abusing Adolescents with Solitary Confinement, by Chuck Sharman
  15. Idaho DOC Director Denies Verified Report of Rampant Sexual Abuse of Women Prisoners by Staff, by Douglas Ankney
  16. Prisoners in Norfolk, Virginia Left on Extended Lockdown, by Michael Thompson
  17. “Like the Walking Dead”: Smuggled Drugs Fuel Chaos Inside Ohio Prisons, by Laura A. Bischoff, USA Today Network, Doug Livingston, The Marshall Project
  18. NaphCare Pays $875,000 to Settle New York License Violations, Banned from State for Five Years, by Chuck Sharman
  19. Illinois Jail Reprimanded for Denying Detainees Mail Based on Media Content, P.O. Box Return Address, Settles Detainees’ Suit with $111,825 Payment of Legal Fees, by Douglas Ankney
  20. New Hampshire Officials Halt $700 Million Prison Replacement
  21. Texas Officials Testify That Cost to Air Condition Prisons Tops $1.5 Billion, by Chuck Sharman
  22. $2.135 Million Partial Settlement Reached in Schizophrenic Detainee’s Death from “Gross Medical Neglect” at South Carolina Jail, by Chuck Sharman
  23. Oklahoma Supreme Court: Jail Trust Cannot Withhold Requested Records under Law Enforcement Exemption of ORA, by Douglas Ankney
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  25. 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, by Matthew Clarke
  26. Taser Use Doubled After Grand Jury Report on Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Death, by Michael Thompson
  27. Pennsylvania Closes Its Second-Oldest Prison
  28. Federal Court Places Medical Care in Arizona Prisons Under Receivership, by Matthew Clarke
  29. Nearly 50 People Have Died in ICE Custody Since Trump’s Return to White House, by Jo Ellen Nott
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  47. Alabama DOC Terminates $1 Billion Contract with YesCare
  48. Records Show Culture of Impunity Among Kentucky Prison Guards, by Jo Ellen Knott
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  54. News in Brief

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