by Chuck Sharman
On September 12, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky rejected a desperate plea from a transgender state prisoner who had been receiving hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for her gender dysphoria for nine years before a new anti-trans state law was …
by Chuck Sharman
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted on July 15, 2025, to pay $14 million to former state prisoner Alexander Torres, 45, to settle his federal civil rights claim over his wrongful conviction and two-decade imprisonment for a 2000 murder that he didn’t commit.
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by Chuck Sharman
On September 18, 2025, less than a month after losing a bid to dismiss a wrongful death suit filed by the survivors of a detainee murdered in the county lockup, San Diego County filed a crossclaim against its jail medical contractor, NaphCare, along with the …
by Chuck Sharman
Two federal appeals courts recently considered cases involving delays in summoning care for detainees in medical distress. In one, the Administrator of Alabama’s Clarke County Jail (CCJ) didn’t summon emergency responders for a prisoner having a heart attack but made him dress and walk to …
by Chuck Sharman
In a letter dated September 10, 2025, attorneys for a group of more than 500 prisoners at Indiana’s Pendleton Correctional Facility announced a $2.4 million settlement of claims arising from an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease in late 2021 and 2022 caused by contaminated water. All …
by Chuck Sharman
Expanding on a pilot program begun in February 2025, Maryland lawmakers have moved to require a body-worn camera (BWC) for use by all guards in the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) by the beginning of 2026. The requirement was added to …
by Chuck Sharman
Back in January 2020, Carlos Escobar Mejia, 57, was in a car in San Diego when he was pulled over by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents. Though he had lived and worked in the U.S. since 1980, he was …
by Chuck Sharman
Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections (DOC) was ordered on February 25, 2025, to immediately implement policy changes placing pregnant prisoners in the least restrictive environment possible, as well as allowing them to be physically present with their newborns to provide care. Though state lawmakers had annually …
by Chuck Sharman
On June 11, 2025, Securus Technologies was denied a motion to dismiss claims filed against the prison telecom giant and its JPay subsidiary, alleging they colluded with competitor Global*Tel Link (GTL), now known as ViaPath Technologies, to fix prices on single-call services sold to families …
by Chuck Sharman
Under an agreement filed with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on April 10, 2025, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters agreed to pay $150,000 to the Estate of Esther Truax, a mother of five who died by suicide while in custody of …
