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 …
Arkansas Moving Some State Prisoners from County Jails… to a Former County Jail by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders (R) announced on December 27, 2024, that the state Department of Corrections (DOC) had added 1,500 beds to ease overcrowding in state prisons. Sanders crowed that she had “stopped kicking the can …
Shrewd Federal Prisoner Salvages $5,000 from Suit Against Arkansas Jail Where He Was Held Pre-Trial by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso Randall Morris was held in Arkansas’ Miller County Detention Center (MCDC) from January 20, 2020, until he was transferred to Saline County Detention Center (SCDC) on March 24, …
News in Brief by Alabama: Mobile Metro Jail guard Robert Aaron Small was fired and arrested for assault on June 27, 2024, one day after he allegedly used excessive force against an unnamed detainee. WKRG in Mobile said that the guard had worked at the lockup since 2019. Mobile County …
Eighth Circuit: Perfect Adherence to Burdened Beliefs Not Required to Demonstrate Sincerity under RLUIPA by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On November 2, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc, does not require …
Two Who Escaped from Arkansas Jail Recaptured by Two detainees were back in custody a week after breaking out of W.C. “Dub” Brassell Adult Detention Center in Arkansas’ Jefferson County on January 22, 2024. Noah Roush, 22, and Jatonia Bryant, 23, cut a hole in the ceiling of a shower, …
Arkansas Sheriff Grilled Over Hit Netflix Show Filmed at Jail by An emergency ordinance passed by the Quorum Court of Arkansas’ Pulaski County on April 22, 2024, demanded answers from county Sheriff Eric Higgins to questions about a TV show filmed at the jail in Little Rock. The county also …
Eighth Circuit: Arkansas Detainee Suffering Fatal Seizure Might Have Been Faking or Might Have Gotten Better by David Reutter by David M. Reutter In a maddening decision issued on January 31, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed the denial of qualified immunity (QI) to four …
Unable to Post Bail, Detainee Starves to Death in Arkansas Jail by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A lawsuit filed in federal court for the Western District of Arkansas on January 13, 2023, makes a stunning claim: That a man was left to starve to death in jail because …
$2,000 Paid to Former Arkansas Jail Detainees Given Horse Dewormer for COVID-19 by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On September 7, 2023, five former detainees at Arkansas’ Washington County Detention Center (WCDC) informed the federal court for the Western District of Arkansas that they had accepted payment of $2,000 each …
Eighth Circuit Affirms $800,000 Award After Arkansas Jail Detainee’s Fatal Appendix Rupture by Matthew Clarke by Matthew Clarke On August 24, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed an $800,000 jury award against a contract doctor at an Arkansas jail, in a suit brought on behalf …
Eighth Circuit Remands ADA Claims—But Not Constitutional Claims—of Paralyzed Arkansas Jail Detainee by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On August 15, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a paraplegic Arkansas jail detainee’s deliberate indifference and conditions of confinement claims, while reviving claims …
Almost $950,000 Paid by Inmate Services Corp. for Hellish Prisoner Transports by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On September 30, 2023, the federal court for the Eastern District of Arkansas gave final approval to a settlement agreement under which for-profit prisoner transport firm Inmate Services Corp. (ISC) agreed to …
Eighth Circuit Says Arkansas Prisoner’s Medical Incapacity May Excuse PLRA Exhaustion Failure by As often reported in PLN, the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e, imposes numerous requirements on incarcerated litigants—including exhaustion of administrative remedies before filing a lawsuit, by first filing a grievance and seeing it completely …
News in Brief by Alabama: Within 48-hours of booking into the Morgan County Jail on August 29, 2023, Miles Rea Batson, 39, had two second-degree assault charges added to his public intoxication charge as well as another for disarming a law enforcement agent. WHNT in Huntsville reported that during booking …
News in Brief by Alabama: Three jail guards in the Yellowhammer State were hit with drug smuggling charges in August 2023 and another the month after. WAFF in Huntsville reported that Morgan County Jail guard Bobby Simmons, 19, was arrested on August 3, 2023, when he was charged with promoting …
Eighth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Arkansas Guard Accused of Provoking One Prisoner to Attack Another by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On August 23, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the judgment of a lower court in favor of Arkansas prisoner Deverick …
Unable to Post Bail, Detainee Starves to Death in Arkansas Jail by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A lawsuit filed in federal court for the Western District of Arkansas on January 13, 2023, makes a stunning claim: That a man was left to starve to death in jail because …
HRDC Granted Injunction to End Censorship in Arkansas Jail by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On March 31, 2023, the federal court for the Western District of Arkansas concluded that a “postcard-only” policy at the Baxter County Correctional Center (BCCC) constituted a de facto blanket ban on publications, in …
Arkansas Parole Board Denies Release to Sex Offender For Failure to Find Appropriate Housing by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On February 2, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas dismissed a state prisoner’s habeas corpus petition challenging denial of his parole because he did …
