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News in Brief

Article • April 1, 2023 • from PLN April, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: WBAM in Birmingham reported that a guard at the Blount County Jail was taken into custody and fired on January 31, 2023. Joseph Snow, 43, was charged with second-degree assault for injuring a detainee during an incident captured on surveillance video. Sheriff Mike Moon called …

Sixth Circuit Says Ohio Prisoner’s Lack of Tablet Access May Have Prevented Grievance Exhaustion

Article • April 1, 2023 • from PLN April, 2023

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion, Grievances, Electronically Stored Information, Access Devices

Sixth Circuit Says Ohio Prisoner’s Lack of Tablet Access May Have Prevented Grievance Exhaustion by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Technology giveth and technology taketh away – even in prison. That was the conclusion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on October 26, 2022, when …

News in Brief

Article • March 1, 2023 • from PLN March, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

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 …

News in Brief

Article • February 1, 2023 • from PLN February, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

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 …

Ohio Supreme Court Grants Records but No Damages for Prisoner Making Request

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Damages, Public Records

Ohio Supreme Court Grants Records but No Damages for Prisoner Making Request by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett On June 23, 2022, the Supreme Court of Ohio held that the state Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) improperly withheld records requested by a former state prisoner. But the prisoner’s failure …

Ohio Pays $185,000 to State Prisoner Bitten in Genitals by K-9

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Dogs, Settlements

Ohio Pays $185,000 to State Prisoner Bitten in Genitals by K-9 by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders On November 17, 2021, the Ohio Court of Claims awarded a state prisoner $185,000 for injuries sustained when he was bitten by a dog on a K-9 unit visiting from a local jail. …

News in Brief

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: On November 2, 2022, a former state prison guard at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility near Birmingham pleaded guilty to federal contraband smuggling charges. The Birmingham News reported that Wilson Brian Clemons, 32, was arrested on November 23, 2021, on state counts of marijuana …

News in Brief

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

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A detainee assaulted aguard at the Calhoun County Jail on August 6, 2022, the Anniston Star reported. Sheriff Matthew Wade blamed an ongoing staffing shortage, which has typically left three guards on duty to supervise 300 detainees. One of them, Jacob Hammett, was out of …

Prisoners Awarded Damages for Denial of Public Records by Ohio Prison Officials

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

Filed under: Damages, Public Records

Prisoners Awarded Damages for Denial of Public Records by Ohio Prison Officials by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On June 1, 2022, the Supreme Court of Ohio rejected the argument of state prison officials that copies of a prisoner’s “kites” — informal complaints, grievances and appeals — are exempt …

$2.1 Million Settlement for Estate of Detainee Who Committed Suicide in Scandal-Plagued Ohio Jail

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

Filed under: Settlements, Suicides

$2.1 Million Settlement for Estate of Detainee Who Committed Suicide in Scandal-Plagued Ohio Jail by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On May 5, 2022, Ohio’s Cuyahoga County agreed to pay $2.1 million to the estate of a mentally ill detainee arrested on bogus charges who was then left to …

News in Brief

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

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A convicted bank robber had 30 months added to his 17-year prison sentence on September 26, 2022, for bribing an Alabama jail guard to smuggle him a cellphone, K2 “spice” paper, and other contraband. According to a federal Department of Justice (DOJ) press release, while …

Ohio County Pays $2.5 Million for Photographing Female Detainees’ Tattooed Private Areas

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

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Photographing, Settlements

Ohio County Pays $2.5 Million for Photographing Female Detainees’ Tattooed Private Areas by Kevin Bliss by Kevin W. Bliss On January 7, 2022, Ohio’s Franklin County Board of Commissioners settled a suit brought by a class of former female detainees in the county jail who claimed their constitutional rights were …

“Ridiculous and Unacceptable”: Guards Sacked from Ohio Jail for Wrestling Matches with Prisoners

Article • October 21, 2022

Filed under: Guard Misconduct

“Ridiculous and Unacceptable”: Guards Sacked from Ohio Jail for Wrestling Matches with Prisoners by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott On July 21, 2022, at 11:30 p.m., surveillance cameras in a day room at Ohio’s Fairfield County Jail captured an unusual sight: Friendly wrestling matches were taking place between …

Ohio County Pays $4 Million To Settle Claim Over Death of Jail Detainee

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

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Settlements, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death)

Ohio County Pays $4 Million To Settle Claim Over Death of Jail Detainee by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On December 9, 2021, an agreement was reached by Richland County, Ohio, paying $4 million to settle claims in a suit that was about to be brought by the family of …

SCOTUS Kills Condemned Ohio Prisoner’s Effort to Secure Evidence of Mental Impairment to Bolster Habeas Petition

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

Filed under: Habeas Corpus, AEDPA, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

SCOTUS Kills Condemned Ohio Prisoner’s Effort to Secure Evidence of Mental Impairment to Bolster Habeas Petition by Benjamin Tschirhart by Ben Tschirhart On June 21, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court held that cases involving medical transport orders for prisoners seeking evidence of mental impairment to bolster a habeas corpus petition …

Sixth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Ohio Prison Doctor After Prisoner Blinded by Stroke

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

Filed under: Blind Prisoners, Stroke, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified

Sixth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Ohio Prison Doctor After Prisoner Blinded by Stroke by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On March 30, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed denial of qualified immunity (QI) to an Ohio prison doctor who interrupted a state prisoner’s …

All Ohio Prison Guards to Wear Body Cams

Article • September 1, 2022 • from PLN September, 2022

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Police State-Surveillance, Civil Rights Violations

All Ohio Prison Guards to Wear Body Cams by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders In January 2022, the Ohio Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation began requiring the state’s 5,000 prison guards to don body-worn cameras. Supplied by Axon, the “body cams,” which complement over 1,000 security cameras already installed in …

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 …

Ohio Supreme Court Partially Reinstates Prisoner’s Pro Se Public Records Request, Sets Damages for Denial at $1,000

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

Filed under: Settlements, Public Records

Ohio Supreme Court Partially Reinstates Prisoner’s Pro Se Public Records Request, Sets Damages for Denial at $1,000 by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On December 23, 2021, the Supreme Court of Ohio held that a state court of appeals erred when it denied a state prisoner’s motion for statutory damages …

Medical Staff Shakeup But No Charges After Teen Dies in Ohio Juvenile Facility

Article • July 25, 2022

Filed under: Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders

Medical Staff Shakeup But No Charges After Teen Dies in Ohio Juvenile Facility by Jayson Hawkins by Jayson Hawkins The deaths of young Black men at the hands of police have drawn increasing scrutiny in the media and among the political chattering class, but less attention has been given to …