Sheriff Accused of Blocking Investigation Into Georgia Jail Detainee Death by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott After an otherwise healthy 32-year-old succumbed to testicular cancer at Georgia’s Clayton County Jail in January 2023, the Director of the county Medical Examiner’s Office accused Sheriff Levon Allen of withholding documents …
Detainee Allegedly “Eaten Alive” by Vermin in Overcrowded Atlanta Jail by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett A detainee found dead in Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail (FCJ) on September 13, 2022, was “eaten alive” by insects, according to an attorney hired by the dead man’s family. Michael Harper said his clients …
$1.3 Million Paid to Transgender Woman Held Five Months in Atlanta Jail on Bogus Charges by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman On January 3, 2023, the Atlanta City Council unanimously adopted Ordinance 22-O-1891, clearing the way for the city to pay $1.3 million to settle claims by a Black transgender …
Predatory Probation Still Alive in Georgia, Other States by David Reutter by David M. Reutter In a January 2022 report by the Fines and Fees Justice Center (FFJC), a national hub for the movement to reform criminal justice fines and fees, researchers documented the costs of private probation and found …
Former State Prison Guards in Georgia Sentenced for Prisoner Assaults and Cover-Up by Jayson Hawkins by Jayson Hawkins On September 28, 2022, four former guards at Georgia’s Valdosta State Prison were sentenced for beating a handcuffed prisoner and then attempting to conceal what happened. Sgt. Patrick Sharpe, 30, received four …
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 …
Alvear v. The Salvation Army, GA, Opinion and Order, Fair Labor, 2023 Case 1:22-cv-00979-SEG Document 102 Filed 03/08/23 Page 1 of 34 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA ATLANTA DIVISION RAYMON ALVEAR, JR., ROBERT MASSEY, DAVID STOUGH, and ANDREW KEIGANS, on behalf of themselves and all other similar …
After Eleventh Circuit Says ICE Detainee Is Not “Prisoner” Subject to PLRA, He Goes Missing from Georgia by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On September 29, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that a civil detainee in custody of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement …
GTL Ordered to Pay $18.675 Million in Attorney Fees and Costs in Prison Phone Class Action by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W Accurso On August 30, 2022, the federal court for the Northern District of Georgia granted final approval to a class-action settlement in a suit accusing prison telecom giant …
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 …
Smuggling Ring Busted in Georgia Jail, 11 Arrested Including Four Guards and Former Nurse by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott On December 19, 2022, a six-month investigation into contraband smuggling at the Dougherty County Jail (DCJ) in southwest Georgia resulted in charges against 11 suspects. In a stunning …
The State v. Adams, GA, Criminal Warrant, False Statements, 2023 STATE WARRANT ANO MJTTIMUS AFFIDAVIT Gecirgla. TATTNAU. Ptteonaly came County Who on oath says that lo the bat of hlls knowledge and BRIAN DENNIS ADAMS _ _._ did: In the Col.inti . _ . d , co:nmae U,. offer.a, of, …
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 …
Georgia Jails Faulted in Struggle With High COVID-19 Infection Rates by Kevin Bliss by Kevin W. Bliss Nearly all of Georgia’s 159 counties struggled with medium to high levels of COVID-19 infections, especially in county jails. But an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation published on August 22, 2022, blamed a laissez-faire approach …
Fulton County Jail Detainees Ended 2022 Freezing and Defecating in Trash Bags by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott With no end in sight for staffing shortages at the Fulton County Jail (FCJ) in Atlanta, detainees got a cruel blow the last week of 2022: A winter storm froze …
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 …
OIG Report Defers Claims That ICE Detainees in Georgia Had Forced Hysterectomies by Ashleigh Dye by Ashleigh N. Dye Did 19 women detained for federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a Georgia jail have forced hysterectomies? [See: PLN, Dec. 2020, p.60.] A whistleblower complaint said so. That led to …
Georgia Prisoner Sentenced to Death for Killing Two Guards Dies by Apparent Suicide by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders Just ten days after being sentenced to death for the 2017 murders of two state prison guards, a prisoner was found unresponsive in his cell at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison …
‘Tragic and Wholly Unacceptable’ Gang Violence Erupts at Georgia Women’s Prison by Jenifer Lockwood by Jenifer Lockwood On June 23, 2022, gang violence at Georgia’s second-largest women’s lockup sparked a sharply worded letter from U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) calling on FBI Director Chris Wray to get involved and stop …
Eleventh Circuit: Prisoner’s Religious Rights Not Violated by Georgia’s Shower Escort Policy by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed judgment for Georgia prison officials in a lawsuit alleging the policy governing prisoner shower escorts violated their …
