Florida Reentry “Success” Story: Convicted Embezzler Promoted to Oversee Miami-Dade County Contracts by Though convicted of stealing nearly $500,000 from the Florida town where he used to work, Christopher Kovanes was hired and promoted by Miami-Dade County. That is to the County’s credit, for giving the former prisoner a chance. …
Parole Denied for Indigenous Activist Leonard Peltier by A Native American activist incarcerated for nearly half a century was once again denied parole on June 10, 2024. Despite support from human rights groups and seven Democratic U.S. Senators, the U.S. Parole Commission decided to keep Leonard Peltier, 79, behind bars …
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 …
Florida Prisoner Whose Case Ended LWOP for Juveniles Released by On February 13, 2024, a judge in Florida’s Duval County amended state prisoner Terrence Graham’s sentence, paving the way for the 37-­year-­old’s release later that same month. Sentenced to life without parole (LWOP) in 2006 for crimes committed when he …
$700,000 Settlement in BOP Prisoner’s Death After Court Refuses to Extend Bivens by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On February 6, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to pay $700,000 to settle a Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) complaint in the death of a prisoner held by the …
State v. Trejo, FL, Juvenile Resentencing Order, Miller Resentencing, 2024 Filing # 205089436 E-Filed 08/20/2024 09:17:08 AM IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA STATE OF FLORIDA, CASE NO.:50-2007-CF-017817-JXXX-MB CRIMINAL DIVISION (S) – Circuit vs. ROBERTO TREJO, Defendant. _______________________________/ JUVENILE RESENTENCING …
Bar Complaint Revives 10-Year-Old Question: Why No Charges Filed Against Florida Guards Who Killed Prisoner? by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A dustup between Republican politicians landed in Florida’s Charlotte County Circuit Court on February 15, 2024, when presiding Judge Lisa Porter reserved ruling on disclosure of grand jury …
Florida Court Strikes $10 Million of $16 Million Judgment Against Armor Correctional Health in Jail Death by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On August 30, 2023, a Florida court entered final judgment awarding $6 million to the estate of a detainee who died at Santa Rosa County Jail (SRCJ) …
News in Brief by Alabama: On June 24, 2024, Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith told the Birmingham News that county jail guard Tony Dewayne Jackson, 29, had been arrested for smuggling “non-­drug” contraband into the lockup. Jackson was no longer working at the jail, but Smith didn’t say how or …
Florida Jail Chief’s Firing Upheld, Retaliation Lawsuit Headed to Trial by On February 2, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida scheduled trial to begin two years later on the claim of former Volusia County Corrections Director Mark Flowers, 60, that he was fired in retaliation …
In Re Armor Health Management LLC Liquidation, Aug. 02, 2024 Filing # 203950828 E-Filed 08/02/2024 02:48:49 PM IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE ELEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA IN RE: ARMOR HEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC, and ARMOR CORRECTIONAL HEALTH & MEDICAL SERVICES OF NEW YORK, INC. Assignor, …
Pell Grant Restoration Not Reaching All Prisoners by Marina Bueno, an incarcerated writer, hopes to attend college but faces a harsh reality—no college classes are offered at her Florida women’s prison in Homestead. In fact, only 326 out of 80,000 state prisoners were enrolled in a college class as of …
Other Jails Study Miami Diversion Program to Keep Mentally Ill from Repeated Incarceration by Faced with repeated jail admissions of people suffering from schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses (SMI), the city of Miami has developed one of the nation’s most comprehensive diversion programs, focusing on treatment and community integration …
Florida County Pays $300,000 to Settle Jail Suicide Suit by Matthew Clarke On October 17, 2023, the estate of a detainee who committed suicide in Florida’s Escambia County Jail accepted $300,000 to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit. Lukas MacKenzie Snelson, 24, was arrested on December 30, 2021, for second …
Report Finds Current Path of Florida Prison System “Unsustainable” by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) leaders have come before the state legislature repeatedly to warn that it is a system operating in crisis. In a presentation on November 15, 2023, by global consulting …
Watchdog Finds “Alarming Conditions” at BOP Women’s Lockup in Florida by David Reutter by David M. Reutter When confronted with prisoner complaints, officials often produce glowing inspection reports and blame prisoners for destroying prison infrastructure. All too often, though, inept supervision is to blame for failure to maintain facilities. …
HRDC Files Suit for Exonerated Florida Prisoner Wrongfully Incarcerated Over 44 Years by On April 17, 2024, the nonprofit Human Rights Defense Center—which publishes PLN and Criminal Legal News—filed suit in federal court for the Middle District of Florida on behalf of Willie Williams, Jr., 79, seeking redress for over …
Florida Prisons Playing “Whack-a-Mole” With Jailbroken Tablets by In an essay published in Slate on December 14, 2023, former Florida prisoner Ryan Moser said that officials with the state Department of Corrections (DOC) were “essentially playing whack-a-mole” in their efforts to combat an epidemic of “jailbreaking” prison-issued electronic tablets. The …
Two Sentenced in Detainee’s Fentanyl Death at North Florida Jail by Two detainees at Florida’s Okaloosa County Jail were sentenced to federal prison on April 5, 2024, for smuggling fentanyl into the lockup and providing it to a detainee, who overdosed and died on Christmas Eve 2022. Gary Chase, 30, …
