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 …
Former Centurion Owner Accused of Helping Florida Governor Kill Legalized Weed by D uring a hearing on April 9, 2025, Florida lawmakers pieced together an elaborate money trail from the former owner of prison and jail medical giant Centurion Health, which pumped $10 million into an ultimately successful effort by …
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, …
$52,500 for Trans Florida Prisoner Sexually Assaulted by Cellmate by Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) prisoner Joseph “Joey” Luzier III, a transgender woman, was housed at the Tomoka Correctional Institution, a men’s facility, when on August 25, 2020, she was placed in a cell with Rene Valentin Rivas—a registered sexual …
Former Jail Guard Accused of Having Sex with Detainee Now Vice-Chair of Florida GOP by The newly installed vice-chair of Florida’s Republican Party was previously convicted of providing contraband to a detainee he was accused of having sex with while working as a jail guard, according to reporting by Fresh …
Wilson v. Dixon, FL, Order Denying Motion to Dismiss, Denial of Disability Accomodations, 2025 Case 1:24-cv-24253-KMW Document 48 Entered on FLSD Docket 05/28/2025 Page 1 of 30 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA CASE NO. 24-24253-CV-WILLIAMS DWAYNE WILSON, et al., Plaintiffs, v. RICKY DIXON, et al., Defendants. ___________________________________/ …
Florida Prisoner Released to Die Settles With Centurion Over Ignored Prostate Cancer by In a lawsuit filed by a former Florida prisoner who was released to die from prostate cancer that private prison healthcare giant Centurion allegedly ignored, officials with the company agreed to an undisclosed settlement and claims were …
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 …
Florida Prisoner Returns to Custody After Overturned Conviction Reinstated by Exactly one week before his 67th birthday, Florida prisoner Crosley Green returned to custody of the state Department of Corrections (DOC) on September 4, 2024—two and a half years after a state court granted him provisional release while the state …
Florida’s “Pay to Stay” Law: A Second Sentence for Former Prisoners by A month before Florida lawmakers were set to end their most recent session on May 2, 2025, there was no effort to revive House Bill (HB) 1111, or its companion Senate Bill (SB) 1310—twin measures that would amend …
Estate of Esther Truax v. Waters, FL, Settlement, Wrongful Death, 2025 Case 3:23-cv-01414-WWB-MCR Document 40-1 Filed 04/10/25 EXHIBIT 1 Page 1 of 3 PageID 140 Case 3:23-cv-01414-WWB-MCR Document 40-1 Filed 04/10/25 Page 2 of 3 PageID 141 COMPLETE RELEASE STATE OF FLORIDA COUNTY OF DUVAL WHEREAS, the undersigned, NANCY SIMMERSON, …
No Sunshine on In-Custody Deaths in Sunshine State by A report published by the Ocala Gazette on January 22, 2025, counted 23 deaths since 2020 of people in the custody of Florida’s Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO). Yet the state Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) had recorded just seven of …
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 …
Florida to Trans Prisoners: We’re Coming for Your Bras by The Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) incarcerates more people—nearly 87,000—than all but two other states. Yet only 100 of them have been identified as transgender and provided hormone therapy. So it was unclear what motivated the announcement of a major …
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 …
HRDC Files Suit on Behalf of Florida Man Wrongfully Convicted and Incarcerated for 31 Years by On December 5, 2024, the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), PLN’s non-profit publisher, in conjunction with attorneys from Loevy & Loevy in Chicago, filed a federal civil rights suit on behalf of Tony Hopps, …
$150,000 Settlement But No Charges After Schizophrenic Florida Detainee Killed by Jail Guards by On June 7, 2024, officials in Florida’s Marion County agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a suit filed by the survivors of Scott L. Whitley III, 46, a diagnosed schizophrenic who died naked and Tasered under …
Florida Prisoners Sue Over Deadly Heat by A group of Florida prisoners held at Dade Correctional Institution near Miami sued the state Department of Corrections (DOC) on October 31, 2024, alleging that sweltering conditions were leading to serious health risks and deaths. Filed by attorneys with the Florida Justice Institute, …
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 …
After Florida Appellate Court Holds Crimes of ‘Attempt’ Eligible for Incentive Gain Time, Supreme Court Refuses Review by Kevin Bliss by Kevin W. Bliss On November 14, 2024, Florida’s Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by officials with the state Department of Corrections (DOC) to an appellate court ruling that exempted …
