News in Brief by California: In a ruling that highlights the complexities of holding corrupt staff financially accountable, the California Court of Appeal recently restored the pension of former San Francisco jail guard April Myres, 61, on December 26, 2025. Bloomberg Law reported that federal prosecutors charged Myres in 2017 …
Escape from Georgia Jail Ends in Florida after Lyft Hijacking by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Knott In escape from Georgia’s DeKalb County Jail concluded in Florida on December 23, 2025, following a multi-state manhunt, according to The Guardian. Stevenson Charles, 24, Yusuf Minor, 31, and Naod …
Three Prisoners Killed in Fight at Georgia Prison by On January 12, 2026, three prisoners were killed after a fight broke out at the Washington State Prison, a medium-security facility in Davisboro, Georgia, which is around 135 miles south of Atlanta. A guard and 12 other prisoners were also injured …
Georgia Grand Jury Dings Augusta Jail for Overcrowding Days Before Violent Detainee Assault by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman On January 16, 2025, a grand jury in Georgia’s Richmond County reported that its inspection of the County jail revealed serious overcrowding, with mattresses on the floor pressing many cells into …
Eleventh Circuit Holds Estate Cannot Sue Jailers Who Followed Medical Personnel Advice That Led to Detainee’s Death by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On December 1, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that jailers could not be held liable for the death of a …
News in Brief by California: A suit filed in state Superior Court for San Francisco County on December 1, 2025, accuses the New York Post and Los Angeles Times of defaming Nima Momeni, 41, while he was detained in the County’s San Bruno jail before his December 2024 murder trial. …
News in Brief by Alabama: A civil rights lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Alabama by Paulette Tennison on August 29, 2025, blamed Morgan County jailers for the death of her son, John Scott Jr., on April 22, 2025, just one week after he was arrested by Priceville Police …
USA v. Fulton County, GA, Monitor's First Report, Jail Conditions, 2025 Case 1:25-cv-00024-LMM Document 15-1 Filed 08/21/25 Page 1 of 40 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA ATLANTA DIVISION UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. FULTON COUNTY AND SHERIFF PATRICK LABAT, IN HIS OFFICIAL …
News in Brief by Alabama: On Sunday, June 15, 2025, state Department of Corrections (DOC) guard Airika Dorsey was arrested for allegedly smuggling food to a prisoner at St. Clair Correctional Facility, according to WABM in Birmingham. The DOC confirmed that Dorsey was caught in the act and subsequently booked …
News in Brief by Alabama: Elmore County Jail guard Lita Williams, 57, was arrested and charged with first-degree promoting prison contraband on May 21, 2025, the Wetumpka Herald reported. Her arrest followed discovery of a cellphone in a jail cell during a routine search two weeks prior. Data from the …
Eleventh Circuit Announces New Deliberate Indifference Framework in Dismissing Georgia Prisoner’s Claim for Skipped Anti-Seizure Meds by Douglas Ankney On December 23, 2024, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, affirmed the grant of qualified immunity (QI) to defendant officials with the Georgia Department of …
Auburn University’s Prison Education Program ‘Indefinitely Suspended’ by Charlotte West Longstanding prison education programs at two major public research universities in the South face an uncertain future by Charlotte West Just a few months after Georgia State University announced last spring that it would end its college program for incarcerated …
News in Brief by Alabama: Kadarius Shermaine Todd, 28, a new guard still on probationary status at the Madison County Jail, was fired on April 4, 2025, after allegedly attempting to smuggle contraband into the lockup. He was apprehended upon arrival to meet a contact with a package containing Suboxone, …
Georgia Moves to Shield Intellectually Disabled Prisoners from Execution by No Georgia prisoner facing a death sentence has ever been able to prove that he is intellectually disabled beyond a reasonable doubt—an impossibly high bar that no other state has set. It was finally lowered with a new bill signed …
News in Brief by Alabama: A Jefferson County Jail guard was briefly abducted and assaulted by detainee Reontay Harley, 33, on January 13, 2025. WBMA in Birmingham said that after Harley took the unnamed guard hostage inside a cell, responding jail Extraction Unit guards rescued their fellow guard and restrained …
Eleventh Circuit Revives Volunteer Pastor’s First Amendment Claim at Georgia Jail by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney A volunteer minister took a dustup with Georgia jailers over baptism to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which agreed on September 16, 2024, that he had been subjected …
Georgia Fights Liability for Strip-Searching Prison Visitor, Nevada Pays $126,500 by After a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit found for Georgia prison officials in a suit brought by a prison visitor they subjected to a strip-search, the decision was vacated on October 3, …
News in Brief by Alabama: State Department of Corrections (DOC) guard Arianna Kimberly Slater faces life in prison after she was arrested while attempting to smuggle contraband into Ventress Correctional Facility on February 24, 2025. According to the Birmingham News, a routine employee screening of Slater’s food container found unspecified …
Porn Produced by Georgia Prisoners by On July 16, 2024, the Human & Civil Rights Coalition (HCRC) of Georgia posted screenshots to its Facebook page from pornographic videos produced inside Wilcox State Prison and posted online by state prisoners. As the post noted, the videos ran up to 45 minutes, …
DOJ Finds “Horrific” Unconstitutional Conditions at Atlanta Jail by The Fulton County Jail in Atlanta has long been known for high levels of violence and abysmal conditions, concerns that were validated on November 14, 2024. That’s when a 105-page investigative report was issued by the United States Dept. of Justice …
