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Arkansas Supreme Court Rules Felony Enhancements Subject to Parole Eligibility Statute in Place at Time of Crime

Article • November 30, 2022 • from PLN December, 2022

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Sentence Enhancements/Departures, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release

Arkansas Supreme Court Rules Felony Enhancements Subject to Parole Eligibility Statute in Place at Time of Crime by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett On May 26, 2022, the Supreme Court of Arkansas held the state Department of Corrections (DOC) miscalculated parole-eligibility dates for a pair of state prisoners, causing a …

Eighth Circuit Says Judge Dismissing Claim of Federal Prisoner in Arkansas Was Premature in Counting It a PLRA ‘Strike’

Article • November 30, 2022 • from PLN December, 2022

Filed under: PLRA, Dismissal

Eighth Circuit Says Judge Dismissing Claim of Federal Prisoner in Arkansas Was Premature in Counting It a PLRA ‘Strike’ by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On January 12, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said a lower court erred in declaring that a federal prisoner’s dismissed …

Eighth Circuit Rules Federal Prisoner Need Only Know Item Is Prohibited To Support Conviction for Possession of Contraband

Article • October 31, 2022 • from PLN November, 2022

Filed under: Possession in Furtherance of Drug Offense

Eighth Circuit Rules Federal Prisoner Need Only Know Item Is Prohibited To Support Conviction for Possession of Contraband by David Reutter by David M. Reutter How much actual knowledge does a prisoner need to have of items in his possession to support a contraband conviction? According to the U.S. Court …

$2.5 Million in Confiscated COVID-19 Relief Funds Returned to Arkansas Prisoners After Court Issues Injunction

Article • September 30, 2022 • from PLN October, 2022

Filed under: COVID-19, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

$2.5 Million in Confiscated COVID-19 Relief Funds Returned to Arkansas Prisoners After Court Issues Injunction by David Reutter by David M. Reutter As of June 6, 2022, the Arkansas Department of Corrections (DOC) had returned $2,551,198 in confiscated federal relief or stimulus funds to state prisoners, according to Communications Director …

News in Brief

Article • August 1, 2022 • from PLN August, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: On June 3, 2022, a guard was arrested for having sex with a prisoner at Alabama’s Pickens County Jail, according to a report by WTVA in Tupelo, Mississippi. The guard, Marquita Booker, 28, was fired after her arrest, which followed an investigation that earlier in …

Eighth Circuit Reinstates Arkansas Prisoner’s Claim Over DOC’s Failure to Maintain Hearing Aids

Article • July 15, 2022 • from PLN July, 2022

Filed under: Correct Care Solutions, Hearing, Failure to Treat, Malpractice, Eighth Amendment, Americans with Disabilities Act

Eighth Circuit Reinstates Arkansas Prisoner’s Claim Over DOC’s Failure to Maintain Hearing Aids by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On January 10, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that an Arkansas prisoner had not failed to state an actionable claim against prison medical officials when …

$7,000 Default Judgment Awarded in Failure to Protect Suit Against Former Arkansas Jail Guard

Article • June 1, 2022 • from PLN June, 2022

Filed under: Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, Settlements

$7,000 Default Judgment Awarded in Failure to Protect Suit Against Former Arkansas Jail Guard by Harold Hempstead by Harold Hempstead On November 23, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas awarded $7,000 in compensatory damages to a state prisoner who, while held in a Pine Bluff …

News in Brief

Article • May 1, 2022 • from PLN May, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A state Department of Corrections (DOC) guard in Birmingham was arrested on March 9, 2022, for allegedly beating a prisoner to death, according to the Alabama Political Reporter. As PLN previously reported, prison officials at first insisted no foul play was suspected in the death of Victor …

News In Brief

Article • April 1, 2022 • from PLN April, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News In Brief by Arizona: After two escaped prisoners were recaptured and returned to the Arizona State Prison in Florence on January 31, 2021, Phoenix station KNXV reported that at least part of the blame for their escape was assigned to short-staffing of guards at the state Department of Corrections …

Hayes v. Graves, AR, Order, Covid Relief Payments, 2022

Brief • March 16, 2022

Filed under: COVID-19

Hayes v. Graves, AR, Order, Covid Relief Payments, 2022 Case: 4:21-cv-00529-LPR Document#: 23-0 Filed: 03/16/2022 Page 1 of 24 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS CENTRAL DIVISION PLAINTIFF STEVEN C. HAYES, ADC # 657050 v. Master Case: 4:21-cv-00347-LPR Member Case: 4:21-cv-00347-LPR SOLOMON GRAVES, in his official …

News in Brief

Article • March 1, 2022 • from PLN March, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: In Mobile on January 21, 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama announced that an 18-month federal prison sentence for bribery had been handed down by a federal court to Lakerdra Shanta Snowden, 31, a former guard at the Escambia County …

News in Brief

Article • February 1, 2022 • from PLN February, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: According to Birmingham Real-Time News, a kidnapper was recaptured after being erroneously released from jail in Jefferson County, Alabama, on December 17, 2021. The prisoner, Matthew Burke, 35, was apprehended during a traffic stop after being released from the Jefferson County Jail on Dec. 11 …

Floreal-Wooten v. Washington County Detention Center, AK, Complaint, Medical Treatments-Covid, 2022

Brief • January 13, 2022

Filed under: Consent to Treatment, Forcible Treatment, COVID-19

Floreal-Wooten v. Washington County Detention Center, AK, Complaint, Medical Treatments-Covid, 2022 Case 5:22-cv-05011-TLB-CDC Document 2 Filed 01/13/22 Page 1 of 14 PageID #: 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS FAYETTEVILLE DIVISION EDRICK FLOREAL-WOOTEN; JEREMIAH LITTLE; JULIO GONZALES; DAYMAN BLACKBURN v. PLAINTIFFS Case No. 5:22-cv-05011-TLB-CDC WASHINGTON COUNTY DETENTION …

Eighth Circuit Holds Arkansas Jailers Entitled to Qualified Immunity in Prisoners’ Suit Over Black Mold in Showers, Lack of Cleaning Supplies

Article • December 1, 2021 • from PLN December, 2021

Filed under: Sanitation, Qualified Immunity

Eighth Circuit Holds Arkansas Jailers Entitled to Qualified Immunity in Prisoners’ Suit Over Black Mold in Showers, Lack of Cleaning Supplies by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that Arkansas jailers were entitled to qualified immunity in a lawsuit brought by …

Eighth Circuit Rules District Court Must Use Federal Law for Admissibility of Expert Testimony

Article • December 1, 2021 • from PLN December, 2021

Filed under: Expert and Opinion Testimony

Eighth Circuit Rules District Court Must Use Federal Law for Admissibility of Expert Testimony by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit agreed with Plaintiff Craig Shipp that a district court erred when it failed to rely on federal law in determining the …

Preliminary Injunction Bars Arkansas from Confiscating Prisoners’ COVID Stimulus Money

Article • November 1, 2021 • from PLN November, 2021

Filed under: COVID-19, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Preliminary Injunction Bars Arkansas from Confiscating Prisoners’ COVID Stimulus Money by David Reutter by David M. Reutter An Arkansas federal district court issued a preliminary injunction that bars the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) from carrying out a state law that confiscates prisoners’ stimulus money and distributes it to the …

Hayes v. Graves, AR, Brief in Support of Class Certification, COVID Stimulus Checks, 2021

Brief • October 12, 2021

Filed under: COVID-19, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Tax Law

Hayes v. Graves, AR, Brief in Support of Class Certification, COVID Stimulus Checks, 2021 Case 4:21-cv-00347-LPR Document 127 Filed 10/12/21 Page 1 of 9 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS CENTRAL DIVISION STEVEN C. HAYES, ADC # 657050, On behalf of himself and all …

Hayes v. Graves, AR, Motion for Class Certification, COVID Stimulus Checks, 2021

Brief • October 12, 2021

Filed under: COVID-19, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Tax Law

Hayes v. Graves, AR, Motion for Class Certification, COVID Stimulus Checks, 2021 Case 4:21-cv-00347-LPR Document 126 Filed 10/12/21 Page 1 of 3 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS CENTRAL DIVISION STEVEN C. HAYES, ADC # 657050, On behalf of himself and all others similarly …

News in Brief

Article • October 1, 2021 • from PLN October, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: On August 19, 2021, twoconvicted robbers were convicted of murder in the death of a fellow prisoner they and two others attacked in 2017 at Bibb Correctional Facility in Brent, Alabama. According to a report by Montgomery TV station WSFA, Dominique Covin and Roderick DeLaune …

Eighth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of HRDC Postcard-Only Suit Against Arkansas Jail

Article • October 1, 2021 • from PLN October, 2021

Filed under: PLN Litigation, Prison Mail

Eighth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of HRDC Postcard-Only Suit Against Arkansas Jail by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the postcard only policy of the Baxter County, Arkansas Jail and Detention Center (BCJ) constituted a de facto permanent ban on the First Amendment …