by David M. Reutter
On April 26, 2024, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) entered into the last of multiple settlement agreements with a Muslim prisoner who accused the prison agency of failing to accommodate his religion and discriminating against him because of his faith. The settlements provided for attorney’s ...
by David M. Reutter
On November 6, 2023, three of the “Fairbanks Four” accepted $5 million from the Alaska city for 18 years they spent wrongfully incarcerated for a teen’s 1997 murder before their exoneration in 2015. The case featured almost every hallmark of a wrongful conviction, including a confession ...
by David M. Reutter
Alabama’s Dallas County Jail (DCJ) has a “scheme” of releasing very ill detainees to avoid the cost of their medical care. That explosive allegation lay at the heart of a lawsuit filed on April 4, 2024, by the family of Mary Strong, who died just days ...
by David M. Reutter
On April 11, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found error in a lower court’s judgment for Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) officials in a lawsuit accusing them of infringing on prisoner Eric Demond Lozano’s ability to practice his religion.
As ...
by David M. Reutter
On September 30, 2024, the federal court for the District of Oregon sanctioned private prison and jail medical contractor Wellpath, LLC for destroying evidence in a suit filed over a detainee death at the Josephine County Jail (JCJ). It was the second time in just over ...
by David M. Reutter
Sheriff Chad K. Nichols (R) of Georgia’s Rabun County was sentenced on September 13, 2024, to five years of probation and fined $1,000 after pleading guilty to violation of oath by a public officer. That followed a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the ...
by David M. Reutter
On March 5, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated dismissal of a Wisconsin prisoner’s civil rights action for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1997e. Defendant state Department of Corrections (DOC) officials ...
by David M. Reutter
On March 21, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated summary judgment in favor of a Philadelphia Department of Corrections (DOC) guard, who was accused of leaving a prisoner to languish for hours in a truly “crappy” situation after his cell toilet ...
by David M. Reutter
According to a lawsuit removed to federal court for the Western District of Oklahoma on May 1, 2024, prisoners at Great Plains Correctional Center (GPCC) were confined in a tiny shower stall for days on end. That follows a report from Florida that prisoners there were ...
by David M. Reutter
Over more than three decades of publication, PLN has chronicled some outlandish and horrifying stories of prisoner abuse, but few can compete with the Hobson’s choice guards at Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex (EKCC) allegedly presented prisoners who failed a urinalysis. According to a civil rights complaint ...
