News in Brief by Alabama: On February 13, 2026, Jarvis Moore, a former guard at the Morgan County Jail, turned himself in to face seven counts of felony extortion lodged against him following an August 2025 investigation. According to WAFF in Huntsville, Sheriff Ron Puckett accused Moore of threatening prisoners …
$950,000 Settlement Reached for Pennsylvania Jail Detainee Repeatedly Pepper-Sprayed During Mental Health Episodes by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman Pennsylvania’s Bucks County executed a settlement agreement on December 20, 2025, paying $950,000 to resolve claims filed by the parents of Kimberly Stringer, a mentally ill detainee who was repeatedly pepper-sprayed …
At This Prison, Staffing Fluctuations Land Hardest on Lifers by Jeffrey Shockley by Jeffrey Shockley This article was originally published by Prison Journalism Project. Located at the edge of rural western Pennsylvania, State Correctional Institution, Mercer, has long been considered one of the calmer prisons in the state system. …
Federal Jury Awards $1,670,000 for Diabetic Detainee’s Preventable Death in Philadelphia Jail, YesCare Reaches Separate Confidential Settlement by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman In a verdict reached on March 4, 2026, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania awarded $1.5 million to the surviving …
Pennsylvania County Renews $8 Million Contract with PrimeCare Despite Settlements by On December 30, 2025, Pennsylvania’s Centre County renewed its contract with PrimeCare Medical—a prison and jail healthcare profiteer—despite the dozens of lawsuits over substandard care that have been filed against it. The five-year contract will cost the County $8 …
Pennsylvania County and Wellpath Pay Over $1.4 Million to Settle Claims of Four Former Jail Detainees, Including Three Who Died by Suicide by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman Meeting at the courthouse in Wilkes-­Barre, Pennsylvania, the Luzerne County Council approved three settlements in November 2024, totaling $645,330 in payouts on …
Third Circuit Revives Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Claims Against the State and Wellpath by Michael Thompson by Michael Thompson Jose Montanez was incarcerated in Pennsylvania on August 28, 2021 when he suddenly collapsed in his cell. His body was numb from the chest down and he was unable to move his legs …
News in Brief by Alabama: A former Blount County Jail guard received a decade behind bars on October 21, 2025, for a brutal assault that was captured on security video, according to WVTM in Birmingham. Joseph Ray Snow, 45, was sentenced for assaulting detainee Jonathan Calloway in 2022. Calloway, who …
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 …
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 …
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 …
DOJ Inspects BOP Food Service Operations, Finds Troubling Issues at Multiple Facilities by Anthony Accurso In the first week of June 2024, the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted surprise inspection at six Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Food Service Departments, finding deficiencies at the facilities which …
Third Circuit Upholds Award of $265,000 to Prisoner Who Was Sexually Assaulted Twice by the Same Guard by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a jury’s award of $265,000 to Pennsylvania prisoner Henry Unseld Washington who was sexually assaulted twice by guard T.S. Oswald. …
Third Circuit Rejects U.S. Sentencing Commission Amended Compassionate Release Policy by Douglas Ankney In a ruling on November 11, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit rejected the amended compassionate release policy published by the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) and declared that a Pennsylvania prisoner was not …
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 …
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, …
Pittsburgh Lockup Accounts for 43% of Pennsylvania Jail TASER Use, Suit Filed by According to an investigative report published on January 30, 2025, guards at Pittsburgh’s Allegheny County Jail (ACJ) accounted for nearly half of all use of taser weapons on detainees and prisoners in Pennsylvania. That revelation followed a …
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 …
Federal Watchdog Calls Out BOP for Spiking Suicide Risk at Pennsylvania Lockup by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On September 26, 2024, United States Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz released findings from an unannounced inspection of the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Numerous violations …
News in Brief by Alabama: Former Crenshaw County Jail Administrator Christian Alexander Porter, 33, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of excessive force, falsifying records and witness tampering on January 28, 2025. According to the Washington Post, the charges stem from an October 2021 incident in which …
