NC Prisoner Survives Summary Judgment for Two Excessive Force Claims by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals found a prisoner’s material facts in an excessive use of force claim were sufficient to overcome the defendants’ motion for summary judgment. The court’s January 4, 2021, …
Prisoners Released Without COVID Tests Face Difficult Reentry by Jayson Hawkins by Jayson Hawkins Early in the pandemic, safety watchdogs called for state and federal prisoners to be released in order to reduce the spread of the coronavirus in cramped lockups. Social distancing is simply not possible in most prisons, …
Draconian Use of Solitary Confinement in North Carolina by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders Compared to other experiences inside American prisons, spending time in solitary confinement is the harshest and most dehumanizing. Between 50,000 and 60,000 individuals languish in concrete boxes no larger than a closet for 22-plus hours a …
HRDC v. Hoekstra, NC, Complaint, Censorship, 2021 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA CASE NO. _____________________ HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE CENTER COMPLAINT Plaintiff, vs. CASANDRA SKINNER HOEKSTRA, ERIK A. HOOKS, TIM MOOSE, DOUG PARDUE, DARCELL CARTER, LARRY DUNSTON, GARRY BLEEKER, ZACHARY KENDALL, individually and …
Woodward v. North Carolina Dept of Public Safety, NC, Decision and Order, Censorship, 2021 NORTH CAROLINA INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION I.C. NO. TA-27840, ROBERT WOODWARD, Plaintiff v. NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, Defendant. DECISION AND ORDER BY: THEODORE S. DANCID, Deputy Commissioner. Filed: 20 May 2021 The above-captioned matter came on …
News in Brief by Alabama: In February 2021, Huntsville TV station WHNT reported a delay in the trial on theft and ethics charges of Mike Blakely, sheriff of Limestone County, Alabama. According to the report, retired Colbert County Circuit Judge Pride Tompkins, who had been appointed to hear the case …
Broad Support for North Carolina Bill to Bar Shackling Pregnant Prisoners by Daniel Matheson by Daniel Matheson On April 20, 2021 a bipartisan bill entitled the “Dignity for Women Who Are Incarcerated Act” was filed in the North Carolina state legislature. The bill would end the degrading act of shackling …
Fourth Circuit: Deaf North Carolina Prisoner Should be Allowed Direct Videophone Calls to Communicate with Deaf Community by David Reutter by David M. Reutter In reversing a district court’s judgment, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that a deaf prisoner be allowed “access to point-to-point videophone calls because the …
News in Brief by Afghanistan: As fighting continued between Taliban forces and the Afghan military on September 3, 3020, both parties announced they had nearly completed a prisoner exchange negotiated the previous February. According to a report by Japan’s public broadcasting company, HNK, the Taliban said all 1,000 Afghan prisoners …
News in Brief by Alabama: On August 21, 2020, Sylvester Hartley became the seventh prisoner to die of complications from COVID-19 at Alabama’s St. Clair Correctional Facility, according to a report in the St. Clair News-Aegis. The 60-year-old, who was serving a life-without-parole sentence for three counts of first-degree kidnapping, …
North Carolina Prisoners at Deadliest Federal Prison File Suit on COVID-19 Response by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On October 26, 2020, federal prisoners aided by civil rights groups and a major international law firm, filed a class action lawsuit challenging the handling of a COVID-19 outbreak by the Bureau …
North Carolina Cancer Patient Dies From COVID-19 After BOP Denies Compassionate Release and Sentencing Judge Rejects Appeal by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna On July 3, 2020, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) reported prisoner John Dailey died of COVID-19 at the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) in Butner, North Carolina. …
North Carolina Case Involving Death of Black Prisoner: “I Can’t Breathe,” Revisited by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon In late July 2020, about 30 protesters stood all day in the rain in Bailey Park near the Forsyth County Detention Center (FCDC) in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to demand answers and …
News in Brief by Alabama: The Birmingham News reported that an Alabama prison guard had been arrested for drug trafficking after a search of his vehicle when he arrived for work at the St. Clair County prison turned up 138 grams of methamphetamine and 16 grams of heroin. Ivan Caldwell, …
Fourth Circuit Orders Sealing of North Carolina Court’s Order to “Protect Defendant from Harm” by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On June 17, 2020, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the sealing of a North Carolina federal district court’s order. That order denied a Defendant’s motion for resentencing …
Fourth Circuit: Opening of Detainee’s Legal Mail Outside His Presence Violates Right to Free Speech by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld on June 8, 2020, that a pretrial detainee’s First Amendment claim that officials violated his right to free speech by opening …
North Carolina Temporarily Closes Three Prisons for Lack of Guards; Final One Reopens During COVID-19 Pandemic by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon The North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice (DACJJ) has been in a severe crisis mode regarding prison guard understaffing. The …
Federal Judge Rules Prisoners Eligible for $1,200 Stimulus Checks; Must Apply by October 30 by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna In a clear victory for prisoners and their families, a federal judge has ordered the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to make stimulus payments previously denied …
News in Brief by Alabama: In February 2020, a grand jury in Limestone County, Alabama, returned an indictment for “possession/receipt of a controlled substance” against Travis Wales, a former guard at the Limestone County Correctional Facility in Harvest. According to Columbus, Georgia, TV station WBRL, Wales was arrested in September …
Scholl v. Mnuchin, et al., CA, Order, Withholding Prisoners Money, 2020 Case 4:20-cv-05309-PJH Document 50 Filed 09/24/20 Page 1 of 45 1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 COLIN SCHOLL, et al., 9 10 11 Case No. 20-cv-05309-PJH Plaintiffs, 8 v. STEVEN …
