by Harold Hempstead
On February 10, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld the judgment of a district court that convicted the former Sheriff of Arkansas’ Franklin County and sentenced him to four years in federal prison for abusing jail detainees. That leaves Anthony “Tony” Boen, ...
by Harold Hempstead
On August 16, 2022, in a question of first impression for federal appellate courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the complaint of a Virginia jail detainee presented sufficient facts to support the conclusion that gender dysphoria is not an identity disorder ...
by Harold Hempstead
On July 15, 2022, in a case accusing private prison giant CoreCivic of a Tennessee prisoner’s wrongful death, a federal magistrate judge issued a gag order restricting public comments on the case made by Plaintiff’s attorney.
The suit was brought by Marie Newby in federal court for ...
by Harold Hempstead
On July 25, 2022, Colorado agreed to pay former state prisoner Susan Ullery $300,000 to settle her claims that she was sexually harassed by a former guard — who also sexually assaulted her while she wore a wire for prison officials trying to catch him in the ...
by Harold Hempstead
On June 14, 2022, the federal Court for the District of Nevada granted summary judgment to a Muslim state prisoner, agreeing with him that the state Department of Corrections (DOC) violated his constitutional rights by restricting his ability to participate in Jumu’ah prayer.
While held at Lovelock ...
by Harold Hempstead
On August 17, 2021, after the IllinoisDepartment of Corrections (DOC) paid $450,000 to settle claims of medical neglect that cost him the use of his legs, a state prisoner successfully petitioned a federal court to dismiss his lawsuit.
In September 2017, while held at Hill Correctional Center, ...
byHarold Hempstead
In October 2022, the Mississippi Corrections and Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force reported there were 2,192 more state prisoners than the year before. That pushed the state Department of Corrections (DOC) close to 95% capacity, despite reopening a former juvenile prison in 2021.
That prison, Walnut Grove Correctional ...
by Harold Hempstead
On September 2, 2021, the federal court for the District of Maryland denied a motion for summary judgment made by a state prison guard who is the defendant in a case brought by a prisoner who was himself a former guard, and who alleged he was subjected ...
by Harold Hempstead
On May 2, 2022, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) halted all executions scheduled for the remainder of the year for an independent investigation into the state’s lethal injection protocols. Four days later, the interim director of the state Department of Correction (DOC), Lisa Helton, filed her admission ...
by Harold Hempstead
On January 28, 2022, when Sheriff Steve Hespen retired after 35 years in Dodge County, Nebraska, he left behind unanswered a charge from the state Jail Standards Board (JSB) that the county jail was almost two years out of compliance in documenting admissions and releases.
That charge ...
