Hurdles to Voting for Ex-Felons Rise in Tennessee and Virginia, Fall in Mississippi by On July 21, 2023, Tennessee announced a tough new rule for ex-felons seeking to exercise their voting rights. State Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins said that anyone with a felony conviction in another state whose voting …
Hear Us Now? Hearing Impaired Tennessee Prisoners Secure Injunction by Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. ch.126 § 12101 et seq., and the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 701 et seq., prisoners who are deaf or hard of hearing are entitled to reasonable accommodations so they can communicate and …
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 …
Tennessee Extends CoreCivic Contract Despite Deaths, Almost $18 Million in Fines by In a three-minute meeting on May 31, 2023, the State Building Commission of Tennessee approved a request from the Department of Correction (DOC) for budget revision, funding, and amendment to the existing CoreCivic contract to operate South Central …
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 …
Tennessee Private Prison Gets State’s First LGBTQ+ Group by As reported in Filter Magazine on July 26, 2023, Tennessee’s South Central Correctional Facility (SCCF) has become the birthplace of “Be the Change” (BTC), the first known openly LGBTQ+ community in any of the state’s 14 prisons. A private medium-security prison …
Nine Memphis Jailers Indicted in Death of Psychotic Detainee by On September 20, 2023, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner announced that nine of his deputies had been indicted in the death of Gershun Freeman, a 33-year-old Black man who died in custody at the Memphis lockup during a psychotic episode …
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 …
$110,000 Paid By Tennessee Jail to Women Allegedly Forced to Stage “Sex Shows” for Guard by On October 26, 2022, the federal court for the Eastern District of Tennessee granted dismissal to a complaint filed by two former detainees at the Grainger County Jail, after they accepted $110,000 to settle …
Sixth Circuit Revives Blind Tennessee Prisoner’s Suit Against DOC and CoreCivic by On March 22, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit revived a suit filed five years earlier by a Tennessee prisoner who is legally blind. In his March 2018 complaint, Corey Tarvin accused the state …
Garton v. Crouch, TN, Settlement, False Arrest, 2023 RELEASE OF LIABILITY Joshua Garton v. W. Ray Crouch, et al. U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, No. 3:21-CV-338 Joshua Ga1ion ("Plaintiff') has agreed to settle all claims against Joseph Craig, W. Ray Crouch, and Andrew Vallee ("Defendants") arising …
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 …
News in Brief by Alabama: A state Department of Corrections (DOC) guard was arrested on June 10, 2023, for allegedly smuggling drugs, including meth, to a prisoner at Kilby Correctional Facility, 1819 News reported. Charlie Townsend, 28, resigned from his position upon his arrest by the Law Enforcement Services Division. …
News in Brief by Alabama: A guard with the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was indicted on April 27, 2023, on charges he sexually abused two prisoners at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Aliceville, according to a report by the Birmingham News. Robert D. Smith allegedly had sexual intercourse …
Over $7,600 Awarded to Tennessee Prisoner for Retaliatory Cell Search and Transfer by On March 13, 2023, the federal court for the Western District of Tennessee awarded $3,176.67 in costs to a state prisoner in his suit against the warden and three guards at West Tennessee State Penitentiary (WTSP). After …
Tennessee DOC Coughs Up Video of Condemned Prisoner Who Severed Own Penis by Eike Blohm, MD by Eike Blohm, MD After a month of foot-dragging, the Tennessee Department of Corrections (DOC) complied with a court order on February 24, 2023, releasing surveillance video of a death-row prisoner who cut off …
Eden v. Bradley County, TN, Settlement, Denial of Medical Care, 2023 EXHIBIT A IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA ) DARRELL EDEN; RANDY BACON; ) ESTATE OF CHRISTOPHER BROWN; ) through personal representative Paula Rhea ) Brown; ESTATE OF MARTIN ) ) …
“Abdication of Responsibility”: Heads Roll in Tennessee DOC Over Botched Execution Protocols by Kevin Bliss by Kevin W. Bliss A day before releasing a scathing report on the state’s execution procedures, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) fired the deputy commissioner of the Department of Corrections (DOC), Debbi Inglis, along with …
Federal Courts Throw Out Smart Communications’ Mail-Scanning Patent by Robert Schaeffer by K. Robert Schaeffer On October 7, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee granted judgment on the pleadings to Rutherford County and VendEngine, Inc., the contractor that digitizes prisoner mail in its jail, in …
