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Articles by Douglas Ankney

Sixth Circuit Revives Challenge by Kentucky Prisoner Left Three Weeks in “Rancid” Paper Undershorts

by Douglas Ankney

On June 17, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed a grant of summary judgment to Defendant Kentucky Department of Corrections (DOC) officials who forced a prisoner to wear paper undershorts and then shrugged when the prison supply that was his size ...

Fourth Circuit Revives Claims Against Virginia Jailers by Detainee They Allegedly Manhandled While Handcuffed

by Douglas Ankney

On July 8, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed a grant of summary judgment to Defendant officials at Virginia’s Hampton Roads Regional Jail (HRRJ) in a detainee’s suit alleging that they manhandled him while he was restrained in handcuffs.

Johnnie R. ...

Fourth Circuit Reinstates North Carolina Prisoner’s Failure-to-Protect Claim Against Guard in Stabbing

by Douglas Ankney

On July 2, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated the grant of summary judgment to one of several North Carolina Department of Corrections (DOC) officials accused by a prisoner of failing to protect him from violence from other prisoners.

In 2004, ...

Fines and Fees Destroy the Impoverished and Perpetuate Mass Incarceration

by Douglas Ankney

“I was young. I couldn’t pay for my ankle monitor. I went to jail because I couldn’t pay for my ankle monitor. And then they let me back out again on my ankle monitor that I couldn’t pay for.”—Dante Bristow, 23, who was arrested in Kansas at ...

Eighth Circuit: Evidentiary Admissibility Is a “Red Herring” At Class Certification of St. Louis Jail Conditions Challenge

by Douglas Ankney

On June 3, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit declined to join most sister circuits, which admit evidentiary challenges to class certification of a lawsuit. The Court called admissibility a “red herring” at such an early stage—before proceeding to find other reasons ...

Blood in the Water Author Wins Censorship Challenges Against Illinois, New York Prison Systems

by Douglas Ankney

In 2016, University of Michigan Professor Heather Ann Thompson published Blood in the Water, a book about the 1971 uprising at New York’s Attica State Prison that claimed the lives of 33 prisoners and 10 guards. The book received numerous awards, including the 2016 Bancroft Prize and ...

Fifth Circuit Leaves Louisiana Prisoner Waiting for Reinstated Parole

by Douglas Ankney

On June 6, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit released a mandate it earlier withheld, which in turn ordered the release of Louisiana prisoner Samuel K. Galbraith—nearly eight years after he was originally granted parole. However, the Court had subsequently withdrawn the opinion ...

Ninth Circuit Greenlights Muslim Hawaii Prisoner’s Challenge to Early-Served Ramadan Meals

by Douglas Ankney

On February 5, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a grant of summary judgment to Defendant Hawaii Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) officials accused by prisoner Dewitt Lamar Long of violating his First Amendment right to free exercise of his Muslim ...

Eighth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Missouri Guards in Transgender Prisoner’s Suit Alleging Retaliation and Unreasonable Search

by Douglas Ankney

On April 4, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed denial of qualified immunity (QI) to defendant Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) guards in a transgender prisoner’s claims that they subjected her to retaliation and unreasonable search in violation of her First and ...

Nearly $12 Million Paid to Mentally Disabled Indiana Prisoner Wrongly Convicted of Murder

by Douglas Ankney

On December 8, 2023, the Indiana city of Elkhart agreed to pay former state prisoner Andrew Royer, then 44, nearly $12 million to settle a lawsuit filed over his wrongful murder conviction and subsequent 17 years of unjustified imprisonment.

In October 2023, Royer filed a 42 U.S.C. ...