by Chuck Sharman
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reached a settlement with the Arkansas Division of Correction (DOC) on September 5, 2025, resolving violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131–12134, at the prison system’s Ouichita River Unit in Malvern. …
by Chuck Sharman
A federal prisoner filed a Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) complaint against the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), which the district court dismissed. Before he got notice of the dismissal, the prisoner was transferred. By the time the notice caught up with him, his appeal …
by Chuck Sharman
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky granted final approval on September 17, 2024, to a $6.49 million settlement of a class-action complaint filed on behalf of almost 600,000 prisoners in four states whose personal information was exposed in a 2022 …
by Chuck Sharman
On March 3, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona granted dismissal to a group of cases filed by federal prisoner Jeremy “Grace” Pinson, 39, after she agreed to accept a $95,000 settlement from the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), resolving …
by Chuck Sharman
In a tough ruling for some California prisoners, the state Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, said on July 28, 2025, that a 2016 voter initiative explicitly authorized the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to award “good time” credits to state prisoners …
by Chuck Sharman
A jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana returned a verdict on April 2, 2025, awarding $27.75 million in damages to former state prisoner Nathaniel Lake, after finding that staff of private prison giant CoreCivic failed to protect him from a …
by Chuck Sharman
In a ruling on August 15, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit offered important guidance for prisoners relying on expert medical testimony, affirming dismissal of claims by North Carolina prisoner Manuel Moreno for neglect he suffered while incarcerated. The U.S. …
by Chuck Sharman
In January 2025, at the conclusion of a year-long investigation into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center (ASGDC) in South Carolina’s Richland County, the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that it found “reasonable cause to believe that ASGDC violates the Eighth and Fourteenth …
by Chuck Sharman
When Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) guards failed to provide prisoner Jess Richard Smith with the required notice of his disciplinary sanction, he didn’t serve it—and a DOC hearing officer meted out additional punishment, accusing Smith of attempting to play “both sides of the line” …
by Chuck Sharman
It took over 15 months, but PLN finally received documentation that the Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) paid $5,000 to state prisoner James Spann to settle claims that he was retaliated against by Jefferson City Correctional Center guards for filing grievances.
As PLN reported, …
