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
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
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 …
by Chuck Sharman
Blocked from seeing attorneys. Left to sleep on the floor under blazing lights. Sharing a 215-square-foot cell with 89 others. Women forced to menstruate without pads and wear their bloody clothing for days afterward. These were just some of the conditions which a putative class …
by Chuck Sharman
Surveillance video from New York City’s Rikers Island jail captured staffers flouting policy and ignoring detainee Ardit Billa, 29, as he lay dying in a cell in August 2025, according to a report released on September 17, 2025, by the city’s Board of Correction (BOC), …
by Chuck Sharman
In January 2022, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reported that unidentified hackers breached its computer systems, exposing sensitive information of some 236,000 state prisoners and parolees. On April 25, 2025, a Sacramento state court gave final approval to a $1.8 million settlement …
by Chuck Sharman
Even as some states successfully move to strip hormone therapy and other gender-related care from trans prisoners, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina twice ruled against state prison officials trying to deny gender-affirming surgery to state prisoner Kanautica Zayre-Brown. The …
by Chuck Sharman
Admitting to a federal judge that he “made some mistakes,” a self-described jailhouse lawyer said that one mistake “was being overly optimistic on a few occasions and sharing that optimism with clients.” But since he wasn’t licensed to have legal clients, Christopher Reese, 57, was …
