Report on Baltimore Jail Reveals Human Waste Dripped from Ceilings by A report released by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) on December 4, 2025 details dire conditions at a jail in downtown Baltimore. While all of the detainees locked up at the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic, …
Securus Loses Bid to Dismiss HRDC Price-Fixing Suit by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman On June 11, 2025, Securus Technologies was denied a motion to dismiss claims filed against the prison telecom giant and its JPay subsidiary, alleging they colluded with competitor Global*Tel Link (GTL), now known as ViaPath Technologies, …
Body-Worn Camera Program for Guards Expands to all Maryland Prisons by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman Expanding on a pilot program begun in February 2025, Maryland lawmakers have moved to require a body-worn camera (BWC) for use by all guards in the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services …
$950,000 Awarded to Trans Maryland Prisoner Dropped on Her Face by Guards by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney Between 2022 and 2025, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) held between 17,164 and 18,476 prisoners and detainees, according to data from the agency’s website. During that same …
Albert v. GLOBAL TELLINK CORP, MD, Memorandum Opinion, Telephone Rates, 2025 Case 8:20-cv-01936-LKG Document 487 Filed 10/15/25 Page 1 of 7 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND ASHLEY ALBERT, et al., Plaintiffs, v. GLOBAL TEL*LINK CORP., et al., Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) …
NEWS IN BRIEF by Alaska: Alaska Public Media reported that former Anchorage Police Department Off. Nathan Keays, 45, convicted of conspiring with a ConocoPhillips employee to embezzle over $3 million from the firm, is seeking a new trial, alleging his conviction was tainted by a secret romantic relationship between two …
$75,000 for Transgender Maryland Prisoner Raped by Guard by Chuck Sharman On September 25, 2024, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) agreed to pay $75,000 to a transgender state prisoner who accused a guard of raping her in December 2021 at Patuxent Institution, a treatment facility …
Fourth Circuit Revives Wrongful Conviction Claim of Exonerated Maryland Prisoner, State Pays Him $3.1 Million by Chuck Sharman On January 6, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reinstated the claim of a now-exonerated Maryland prisoner against a trio of Baltimore cops who allegedly coerced a confession …
Albert v. Global Tellink Corp, MD, Memorandum Opinion and Order, Telephone Rates, 2025 Case 8:20-cv-01936-LKG Document 439 Filed 06/13/25 Page 1 of 17 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND (SOUTHERN DIVISION) Ashley Albert, et al., * Plaintiffs * v. * Global Tel*Link Corp., et al., …
Long-Running Consent Decree Again Extended at Troubled Baltimore Jail by On October 18, 2024, the federal court for the District of Maryland granted a motion to modify a years-old consent decree in a decades-old class-action challenge to conditions at Baltimore’s Central Booking and Intake Center (CBIC). As PLN reported, the …
$50,000 for Excessive Force Claim by Maryland Prisoner Who Used to Be a Guard by On March 19, 2025, an agreement was reached paying $50,000 to a Maryland prisoner—who is also a former Baltimore jailer—to settle his claim that he was subjected to excessive force by a guard at Western …
Maryland Targets Highest-in-Nation Racial Incarceration Gap by Black Marylanders make up 30% of the state’s population but 71% of those in its prisons, the nation’s highest racial incarceration gap. To address that imbalance, state Attorney General Anthony G. Brown (D) helped launch the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative (MEJC) in October …
GTL, Co-Defendant Agree to $21.3 Million Settlement with HRDC in Price-Fixing Lawsuit by On October 31, 2024, preliminary approval was granted to a settlement reached with the second of three prison telecom giants accused of illegal price-fixing. The suit was filed in June 2020 in United States District Court for …
Fourth Circuit Excuses Maryland Prisoner From Exhaustion Requirement in PREA Claim by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney In what was otherwise a disappointing ruling for a Maryland prisoner, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held on June 14, 2024, that a prisoner need not exhaust administrative …
Albert v. GLOBAL TELLINK CORP, MD, Memorandum Opinion and Order, Telephone Rates, 2025 Case 8:20-cv-01936-LKG Document 492 Filed 10/31/25 Page 1 of 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MARYLAND ASHLEY ALBERT, et al., Plaintiffs, Civil Action No. 20-cv-01936-LKG vs. GLOBAL TEL*LINK CORP., et al., Defendants. JOINT STATUS REPORT REGARDING …
Fourth Circuit: Baltimore County Prisoners May Qualify as Employees under FLSA by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On May 8, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit clarified the standards to determine whether Baltimore County prisoners are considered employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), …
News in Brief by Australia: Brisbane Correctional Center prisoner Jack James Peterson, 29, was sentenced to an additional 18 months in January 2023 for assaulting a guard with a squash racket, the Courier reported. Peterson struck the unnamed 34-year-old during a confrontation involving a riot response team, leaving him with …
Maryland Cancels Debt Owed by 6,715 Parolees by On October 4, 2024, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) announced that the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) was canceling nearly $13 million in debt owed for unpaid supervision and drug-testing fees by 6,715 former state prisoners currently on …
Top Doc Sacked from Maryland Psych Hospital with “Climate of Chaos” by At Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, Maryland’s primary secure psychiatric facility, a team from the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors arrived on October 8, 2024, to conduct a two-day evaluation of processes, policies and procedures …
News in Brief by Alabama: Wiregrass Daily News reported that Mobile Metro Jail guard Timothy Lee Scarbrough, 39, was arrested on September 9, 2024, and charged with first-degree sodomy for the alleged sexual assaulting of a detainee who was still under the effects of anesthesia after eye surgery. Scarbrough had …
