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Articles by Douglas Ankney

Members of Congress Probe Pentagon on Accreditation of Military Prisons

“The importance of ...

$1.25 Million Settlement Against Tennessee County Over Sheriff’s Violations of Labor Law

Natasha Grayson, an employee of ...

Record Number of Laws Passed Reducing Barriers for People With Criminal Records

by Douglas Ankney  

Forty-three states, along with the District of Columbia and the federal government, passed “consequential legislation” in 2019 aimed at reducing barriers faced by people with criminal records.

The 152 laws significantly or completely eliminated obstacles to societal reintegration in areas of employment, housing, voting, jury duty and ...

New York Prisoner Prevails in Lawsuit, Freed from 23 Years in Solitary Confinement

The announcement followed a March 12, 2020, ruling by the U.S. District ...

Court Approves $1,250,000 Settlement in Suit Against Tennessee County for Fair Labor Violations

U.S. District Court Says Rhode Island Department of Corrections Violated “Morris Rules”

San Quentin Had Zero COVID-19 Cases Until California Officials Sent Infected Prisoners, Triggered Wildfire

Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign Files Suit Seeking to Sever University’s Financial Ties With Prison Industrial Complex

On February 25, 2020, student members of the Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign (HPDC) filed suit in the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County, Massachusetts, seeking to force the university to divest its charitable trust investments from entities that directly or indirectly profit from the “prison-industrial complex” (PIC) ...

Indiana Prisoner’s Suit Alleging Illegal Solitary Confinement Settled for $425,000

by Douglas Ankney

Taxpayers of the state of Indiana will pay $425,000 to prisoner Jay Vermillion as the result of an agreement reached on October 21, 2019, between him and employees of the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC). This agreement settled Vermillion’s § 1983 lawsuit alleging the IDOC employees unlawfully ...

New Jersey Jail Detainee Dies While Reportedly Begging for Water

by Douglas Ankney

Forty-one-year-old Atlantic County jail detainee Mario Terruso, Jr. died after coughing up blood and begging for water, according to a report in nj.com in September 2019.

Alan Wright, who knew Terruso for about 15 years, was working as a jail runner delivering food trays and cleaning carts ...