Skip navigation

Articles by Chuck Sharman

New Riker’s Crisis Response Chief Accused in Beating of Teen Detainee Kalief Browder

by Chuck Sharman

Old ghosts have come back to haunt the promotion of Vincent Grinnage to head the Emergency Services Unit (ESU) for the New York City Department of Correction (DOC).

It cost the city $3.3 million to settle the lawsuit filed over the suicide of Kalief …

Texas Jail Guard Indicted in Fatal Shooting of Shackled Detainee

by Chuck Sharman

On April 7, 2023, a Texas grand jury indicted a guard at the Hays County Jail for shooting a shackled detainee in the back and killing him. Isaiah Garcia, 27, was charged with felony deadly conduct in the December 2022 death of Joshua Leon Wright, …

$1.9 Million Paid by L.A. County for Detainee’s Suicide

by Chuck Sharman

On August 12, 2022, the federal courtfor the Central District of California approved a settlement for the minor children of a jail detainee who committed suicide less than nine hours after he was arrested for auto burglary – despite the refusal of the car’s owner …

Third Former Guard at Troubled Federal Prison in Brooklyn Sentenced After Retrial and Conviction for Raping Prisoner

by Chuck Sharman

On April 25, 2022, a former guard employed by the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) at Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn was sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping a prisoner. After completing his prison term, Carlos Richard Martinez, 52, must also remain …

Arizona Resumes Executions

by Eike Blohm, MD and Chuck Sharman

After Arizona resumed executions last year, following an eight-year hiatus, it quickly murdered three murderers on its death row.

On May 11, 2022, a lethal injection of pentobarbital was given to Clarence Dixon, 66, a mentally ill Native American, by …

Arizona Jail Racks Up Four Deaths And Two Escapes In Less Than Two Months

by Chuck Sharman

After two detainees died within a week at Arizona’s Pima County Jail — and just before two more committed suicide — two other detainees managed to walk out, all within two months.

One man escaped, and the other was released by a confused guard. …

San Diego County Pays $3.488 Million After Jail Detainee Dies in Cell Extraction

by Chuck Sharman

In October 2022, PLN successfully concluded a months-long effort to obtain a copy of an agreement by San Diego County to pay nearly $3.5 million to settle its part of a lawsuit filed by the family of Paul Silva, a mentally ill detainee who died …

San Diego County Pays $8.1 Million After Jail Guard Fatally Shot Fleeing Detainee in the Back

by Chuck Sharman

On June 22, 2022, San Diego County agreed to pay $8.1 million to settle claims that a deputy outside a county jail chased a fleeing detainee and fatally shot him in the back. It was the largest payout for a wrongful death by the county …

Condemned Alabama Prisoner Now Spared Twice

by Chuck Sharman

When his death warrant expired at 12:01 a.m. on September 23, 2022, condemned Alabama prisoner Alan Eugene Miller was still alive, capping a wild few days during which his execution was stayed by a federal judge and then reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court before …

Deaf Detainee Found Murdered in Baltimore Jail

by Chuck Sharman

A diminutive detainee who was deaf and communicated by sign language was found unresponsive at Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center early on October 9, 2022. Officials from the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) have since announced that the death of …