On January 6, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reinstated the claim of a now-exonerated Maryland prisoner against a trio of Baltimore cops who allegedly coerced a confession from an eyewitness that was used to convict him of a fatal shooting in December 1986. The …
On February 17, 2025, Paul Wright, Executive Director of the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), signed an agreement accepting a $480,000 payment to resolve claims for records made in a suit filed in state court against Centurion of New Mexico LLC, the contracted medical provider to the state Corrections …
To maintain and operate the prisons and jails that hold nearly 2 million American costs a lot—an estimated $82 billion a year, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, Sep. 2023, p.56.] But that is just the direct cost to governments. What about the costs to prisoners and their families, …
In a letter dated July 8, 2024, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) confirmed a $2,800 settlement with state prisoner Trevor J. Teagarden, resolving claims for denied public records requests made to the state Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (DRC) pursuant to ORC § 149.43. An additional $1,000 was …
Texas lawmakers took steps in opposite directions toward solving a crisis in state juvenile detention centers, after all five lockups operated by the state Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) were found to be violating the civil rights of youthful offenders by the federal Department of Justice (DOJ). In response, state …
A report on prison telecom costs presented to state lawmakers in Washington on December 13, 2024, showed dramatic decreases nationwide in the price of calls from prisons and jails over the past decade. A similar drop was not found in rates for e-messages sent from lockups. Data provided by …
Robert Rahrle, who took millions of dollars online selling gift baskets for prisoners that were never delivered, was sentenced to a 100-month federal prison term for wire fraud and tax evasion on June 2, 2025. The federal court for the Northern District of New York also ordered him to …
A federal civil rights complaint filed on January 15, 2025, accused the New York Department of Corrections and Community Services (DOCCS) and over a dozen of its officials of violating the Eighth Amendment rights of prisoner Robert Brooks with use of excessive force and deliberate indifference to his resulting …
A $45 million wrongful conviction award to an exonerated Ohio prisoner was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on May 2, 2025. Miami Township and its Police Department (MTPD) had challenged the verdict, claiming that Det. Matthew Moore acted in bad faith and outside …
On June 30, 2025, a federal prisoner lost his last chance at recovering damages for injuries suffered when he was repeatedly shackled and beaten by guards at the U.S. Penitentiary (USP)—Lee in Petersburg, Virginia. That’s when the Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) overturned an appellate court’s decision allowing …
