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Articles by Matthew Clarke

Eleventh Circuit Reinstates Alabama Prisoner’s Excessive Prison Violence Claim

by Matt Clarke

On July 7, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit vacated a summary judgment favoring prison officials based on a lack of genuine dispute as to whether the plaintiff faced “a substantial risk of serious harm.”

Alabama prisoner Mitchell Marbury …

Eleventh Circuit Upholds Most of Relief Ordered in Class-Action Lawsuit Challenging Unconstitutionally Inadequate Mental Health Care in Alabama Prisons

by Matt Clarke

On June 24, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld the vast majority of the relief granted in a lawsuit challenging the unconstitutionally inadequate provision of mental health care in prisons operated by the Alabama Department of Corrections (DOC).

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Fourth Circuit Upholds Denial of Qualified Immunity to Jail Supervisors Who Ignored Detainee’s Cranial Abscesses

by Matt Clarke

On July 2, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a district court’s denial of qualified immunity to two supervisors at the Aiken County Detention Center (ACDC) in South Carolina.

While Cassiopeia Rhoads was a pretrial detainee at ACDC, …

Eighth Circuit Reverses District Court’s Denial of Motion to Dismiss Some Defendants from Lawsuit Over Missouri Prisoner’s Suicide

by Matt Clarke

On August 6, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed a district court’s denial of some defendants’ motion to dismiss some claims against them from a lawsuit over a Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) prisoner’s suicide. The dismissed claims were …

Eighth Circuit Grants Summary Judgment to Sheriff and County of Nebraska Jail Where Guard Sexually Assaulted Female Prisoner

by Matt Clarke

On August 11, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that the sheriff and county of a Nebraska jail where a guard sexually assaulted a female prisoner were entitled to summary judgment based on qualified immunity.

Anna Chernyy was …

Federal Court Orders Texas to Admit Incompetent Jailed Defendants to Mental Health Facilities Within 21 Days

by Matt Clarke

On July 7, 2026, District Judge David Ezra of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas in Austin issued a permanent injunction ordering Stephanie Muth, the Executive Commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to admit incompetent defendants …

Seventh Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Detectives Who Revealed Prisoner Was Informant, Denies Him Anonymity

by Matt Clarke

On May 29, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed a district court’s denial of qualified immunity to two police detectives who, by asking questions of a state prisoner in front of his cell, may have revealed to other prisoners …

Seventh Circuit Holds Federal Law Prohibits County Jail from Forcing Immigration Detainees to Perform Custodial Labor by Threatening Solitary Confinement

by Matt Clarke

On June 5, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that federal criminal law prohibiting forced labor, 18 U.S.C. §1589, applies to a county jail threatening immigration detainees with loss of phone and commissary privileges or up to 10 days …

New Mexico Supreme Court Holds Corrections Department Regulations Do Not Exempt Use-Of-Force Documents from Public Records Disclosure

by Matt Clarke

On June 15, 2026, the Supreme Court of New Mexico held that regulations promulgated by the New Mexico Corrections Department (CD) did not create an enforceable regulatory bar to the disclosure of public records under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act (PRA), NMSA …

DOJ Issues Memorandum Over BOP Employees Abusing Their Law Enforcement Credentials to Illegally Purchase Personal Firearms

by Matt Clarke

On May 27, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a Management Advisory Memorandum (MAM) directed to federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director William K. Marshall expressing concerns about BOP personnel misusing their law enforcement credentials to illegally purchase …