by Douglas Ankney
When Missouri prisoner Robert Hebert learned in January 2023 that he had less than two years remaining on his prison sentence, the father of six and his family shared in the excitement. He planned to look for work in the concrete industry. Along with his wife, Rachelle ...
by Douglas Ankney
On April 19, 2023, the Supreme Court of Ohio awarded prisoner Franklin Woods $700 in statutory damages against the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) for failure to comply with a public-records request.
On August 1, 2022, while Woods was incarcerated at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution, he sent ...
by Douglas Ankney
On August 23, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the judgment of a lower court in favor of Arkansas prisoner Deverick Scott, who claimed that a guard with the state Department of Corrections (DOC) provoked a fellow prisoner to attack Scott in ...
by Douglas Ankney
On January 25, 2023, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) signed Executive Order No. 6, establishing an Independent Prison Oversight Commission (IPOC). Created to address the “urgent need to provide transparency and accountability of Arizona’s corrections system,” Hobbs said that IPOC’s responsibilities include safeguarding the integrity of the ...
by Douglas Ankney
On December 8, 2022, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania agreed to pay state prisoner Warren Easley $30,000 to settle claims that guards and medical staff at the State Correctional Institution (SCI) in Frackville violated his civil rights.
Easley filed his suit pro se in federal court for the ...
by Douglas Ankney
According to a report released by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS Report) in December 2022, “the number of persons under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities in the United States declined 1%, from 1,221,200 to 1,204,300” between December 31, 2020, ...
by Douglas Ankney
In consolidated cases, the Massachusetts Superior Court for Suffolk County ordered preliminary injunctive relief on December 30, 2022, for a pair of transgender women incarcerated at the state’s Souza Baranowski Correctional Center (SBCC).
Each woman filed a suit, which the Court consolidated. In the lead case, Jerome ...
by Douglas Ankney
On February 21, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered judgment in favor of a now-paroled prisoner against the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS), after an assault by guards left him paralyzed. Based upon a jury’s verdict in ...
by Douglas Ankney
While fans of college football get excited in November about upcoming bowl games, few ever mention the Turkey Bowl, likely because almost none of those fans will be in attendance. Played annually – except for the unusual 2020 season canceled due to COVID-19 – the game draws ...
by Douglas Ankney
There was good news and bad news for former Virginia prisoner Jeramiah Chamberlain on December 22, 2021. That’s when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed dismissal of his suit against officials with the state Department of Corrections (DOC), alleging they failed to treat ...
