South Carolina Pays $200,000 to Jail Detainees Exposed to Toxic Fumes by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney In June 2023, the South Carolina Insurance Reserve Fund paid $8,700 to each of 23 former detainees at Berkeley County’s Hill-Finklea Detention Center (HFDC)—a total of $200,100—to settle claims they were exposed to …
Restorative Justice Program Boosts South Carolina Prison and Public Safety by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Assistant U.S. Attorney General Amy L. Solomon, Director of the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), and National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Director Nancy La Vigne visited South Carolina’s Turbeville Correctional …
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 …
South Carolina DOC Investigates Jail After 30 Detainee Injuries, Two Escapes and Five Guard Arrests by According to a report by the Charleston Post & Courier on July 31, 2023, the South Carolina Department of Corrections (DOC) had dispatched a team to inspect the Richland County jail, after a series …
South Carolina Supreme Court Denies Prisoner’s Challenge to DOC Policy Restricting Visitors to People He Knew Before Incarceration by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On April 5, 2023, the South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed that denying a state prisoner visits from people he didn’t know prior to incarceration did not …
Fourth Circuit: Dismissal of South Carolina Prisoner’s Complaint Cannot Prematurely Be Called a “Strike” Under PLRA by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On April 13, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that a district court cannot dismiss a prisoner’s complaint and at the same time …
Estate of Alan R. Thibodeau v. Southern Health Partners, SC, Complaint, Wrongful Death-Medical Malpractice, 2023 COUNTY OF BAMBERG ) ) ) EDWIN THIBODEAU, As Personal Representative of the ESTATE OF ALAN RONALD THIBODEAU, IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS CIVIL ACTION 2023-NI-05-__________ ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) …
Estate of Alan R. Thibodeau v. Bamberg County, SC, Complaint, Wrongful Death-Medical Malpractice, 2023 COUNTY OF BAMBERG ) ) ) IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS CIVIL ACTION 2023-CP-05-_______ EDWIN THIBODEAU, As Personal ) Representative of the ESTATE OF ALAN ) R. THIBODEAU, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) …
News in Brief by Alabama: On August 12, 2023, an Alabama jail guard was caught – in uniform – stealing Pokemon cards from a Walmart. WBMA in Birmingham reported that Josh Hardy then fled store security on foot before cops caught him in a nearby restaurant. Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew …
News in Brief by Alabama: According to WSFA in Montgomery, a guard at the Montgomery County Detention Center was charged on July 18, 2023, with conspiracy to provide contraband to a prisoner as well as bribing a public official. Timothy Bernard Summerlin, 33, had worked at the lockup for roughly …
$150,000 Verdict for South Carolina Jail Detainee’s Groin Injury During Pat-Down by Eike Blohm, MD by Eike Blohm After turning down offers to settle for far less, South Carolina’s Aiken County wound up on the losing side of a $150,000 verdict on November 4, 2022, after a state court jury …
Almost 800 Deaths in South Carolina Jails and Prisons Six Years by A new report published in January 2023 by Madalyn Wasilczur, a professor leading the University of South Carolina (USC) School of Law Incarceration Transparency project, reveals a troubling number of deaths in jails and prisons in the Palmetto …
News in Brief by Arizona: A private prison guard in Arizona was picked up on drug charges in California on April 18, 2023, as he made his way back from Mexico with his wife and kids – along with almost 53 pounds of meth and heroin stashed in the gas …
Fifth South Carolina Prisoner Sentenced in “Sextortion” Scams Targeting Military Members by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman On April 21, 2023, South Carolina prisoner Dexter Lawrence, 27, was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for his role in a “sextortion” scam that targeted …
Convicted Murderer Released 16 Years Early Is Ordered Back to Prison by South Carolina High Court by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott At an emergency hearing on April 26, 2023, the South Carolina Supreme Court found a legal rationale to countermand the release of a convicted killer 16 …
Rhoads v. Southern Health Partners, SC, Deposition of Thomas D. Fowlkes, MD, Medical Neglect, 2023 Page 1 3/8/2023 Thomas D. Fowlkes, MD Rhoads v. Southern Health Partners, Inc., et al. 1 STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA ) IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS 2 COUNTY OF AIKEN ) C/A #: 2020-CP-02-02238 …
News in Brief by News in Brief Alabama: On January 9, 2023, the Montgomery Police Department (MPD) arrested a guard at the city jail for an alleged off-duty assault, the Birmingham News reported. It’s unclear who filed the misdemeanor complaint against Reba Foulks, 36; MPD didn’t begin its investigation until …
Bordeaux v. Berkeley County, SC, Settlement, Conditions of Confinement, 2023 IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS CIA NO.: 2018-CP-08-01843 STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF BERKELEY Brandon Bordeaux, Lee Dell Bradley, Cornelius Chisolm, William Countee III, Allen C. Davis, Brandon Gibson, Devante Gibson, Chad Gourdine, Prentice Gourdine, Jamichael Howard, Joshua …
News in Brief by Alabama: WHNT in Huntsville reported on December 16, 2022, that a Morgan County Jail detainee was charged with assaulting a guard. Ashley Nicole Taymon, 36, had gotten into an altercation at the Community Corrections Office five days earlier and was taken to a hospital. There she …
Federal Judge in South Carolina Holds BOP Liable for Delayed Treatment That Left Federal Prisoner Partially Blinded by Casey Bastian by Casey J. Bastian On May 3, 2022, the federal court for the District of South Carolina granted summary judgment to a federal prisoner left partially blinded by delayed treatment …
