$450,000 Paid for Michigan Jail Detainee’s Fentanyl Death, Incarcerated Husband Prevails in Claim for Part of Payout by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman On September 30, 2025, the story of one woman’s long battle with drugs reached its conclusion, when the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan …
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 …
$2 Million Settlement Reached for 12-Year-Old’s Gang Rape in Detroit Juvenile Detention Center by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman On September 26, 2025, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and Wayne County agreed to pay $2 million to settle claims brought by the mother of a former …
Michigan Claws Back $1.2 Million Paid to Wrongfully Convicted Former Prisoner by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman In a decision that upheld a lower court ruling, the Michigan Court of Appeals said on December 22, 2025, that exonerated former state prisoner Desmond Ricks must use a $7.5 million settlement from …
Sixth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity for Michigan Jailer Accused of Retaliatory Assault by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman In a decision reached on April 7, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit clarified the boundaries of qualified immunity (QI) for a Michigan jailer accused of …
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 …
Sixth Circuit Clarifies What Constitutes PLRA “Strike” and Reinstates Michigan Prisoner’s Lawsuit by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On July 25, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit clarified what constitutes a “strike” for purposes of the Prison Litigation Reform Act’s (PLRA) “three-strikes” rule, 28 U.S.C. …
Appeals Court Rules Michigan’s Tolling Provision Is Not Inconsistent with the PLRA by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled on January 29, 2025 that Michigan’s tolling provision codified in Mich. Comp. Laws section 600.5856 is not inconsistent with the Prison Litigation …
SCOTUS Partially Overturns Pavey, Holds PLRA Exhaustion Dispute Must Go to Jury Even If Intertwined with Merits of Michigan Prisoner’s Claim by Chuck Sharman Since the passage almost 30 years ago of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e, prisoners have been required prior to filing suit against …
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 …
Sixth Circuit: Michigan Tolling Statute Applies to PLRA Administrative Exhaustion Requirement by David Reutter On January 29, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that Michigan’s “tolling provision” does not affect the administrative remedy exhaustion requirement in the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e. …
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 …
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 …
Sixth Circuit: Dismissals of Mixed-Claim Complaints Not Strikes Under PLRA by Since the 1996 passage of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e, federal courts have struggled to interpret and apply its various provisions. That struggle continues today with a recent ruling by the United States Court of …
Sixth Circuit Upholds $6.4 Million Jury Award Against Corizon Nurses For Michigan Jail Prisoner’s Fatal Alcohol Withdrawal by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On August 16, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the verdict and jury award of $6.4 million in compensatory damages against …
Michigan Judge Sued for Jailing Teen Who Nodded Off While Watching in Court by In an amended complaint filed in federal court for the Eastern District of Michigan on December 30, 2024, the mother of a 15-year-old girl accused a state judge of violating the child’s civil rights when he …
Historic $7 Million Settlement in Lawsuit Over Michigan Jail Prisoner’s Fatal Beating by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On June 20, 2024, the Wayne County Commission in Detroit approved a $5 million payment on top of $2 million paid by the County’s insurer to settle a lawsuit brought by the …
News in Brief by Alabama: Clarke County Jail guard Larissa Thompson was arrested on December 5, 2024, for plotting to smuggle drugs into the lockup, the Thomasville Times reported. An investigation by state law enforcement, the office of County Sheriff DeWayne Smith, and Jackson Police uncovered evidence that Thompson planned …
Michigan Allows More Releases for Medically Frail Prisoners by Michigan prisoners considered medically frail now have a better chance of early release under a newly amended law. On July 23, 2024, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed Senate Bill 599 and expanded the definition of “medically frail” in a 2019 statute …
DOJ Settles Complaints About Conditions for Disabled Detroit Jail Detainees by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On July 11, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) approved an agreement with Michigan’s Wayne County that promised to improve conditions at its jail in Detroit for prisoners with physical and mental disabilities. …
