News in Brief by Alabama: On February 13, 2026, Jarvis Moore, a former guard at the Morgan County Jail, turned himself in to face seven counts of felony extortion lodged against him following an August 2025 investigation. According to WAFF in Huntsville, Sheriff Ron Puckett accused Moore of threatening prisoners …
Eleventh Circuit: District Court Erred in Dismissing BOP Prisoner’s Medical Claim, Finds Prison Officials Made Administrative Remedies Unavailable by David Reutter by David Reutter On August 6, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed the dismissal of a prisoner’s medical Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) and …
News in Brief by News in Brief Alabama: The Alabama Reflector reported that state lawmakers authorized $800,000 in contracts on February 5, 2026, to defend the state Department of Corrections (DOC) against civil rights lawsuits accusing guards of brutalizing prisoners. $200,000 each will be paid to Capell & Howard in …
Mail Went Digital in Alabama Prisons. Families Are Saying Their Mail Isn’t Being Delivered by by Nayanika Guha by Nayanika Guha, Prism This article was originally published in Prism. Kenneth “Swift Justice” Traywick has been incarcerated in Alabama and separated from his family for over 16 years. But things …
Dissenter Excoriates SCOTUS for Denying Certiorari in Challenge to Constitutionality of Nitrogen Hypoxia Execution by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On October 23, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) denied certiorari in a federal civil rights action challenging Alabama’s use of nitrogen hypoxia for executions. Justice Sonia …
After Exposing Prison Horrors, Incarcerated Whistleblowers Are Moved to Solitary by Katie Rose Quandt by Katie Rose Quandt This article was originally published by Truthout. Grainy footage, filmed with contraband cell phones, forms the backbone of The Alabama Solution, a 2025 Oscar-nominated documentary that exposes the horrifying realities of life inside Alabama’s …
Alabama and Wexford Health Pay Undisclosed Settlement for Delays Costing Prisoner Partial Foot Amputation by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama on January 26, 2026, state prisoner Joseph Allen Renney said that he had reached agreements with …
Eleventh Circuit Holds Alabama County May Be Liable for Policy of Providing Inadequate Jail Medical Care by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On November 20, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that an Alabama law making sheriffs responsible for jail prisoners’ health care did …
Alabama Supreme Court Denies DOC’s Improper Venue Objection by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On December 6, 2024, the Supreme Court of Alabama held that because the Alabama Department of Corrections (DOC) failed to raise the issue of venue in the circuit court, the Court of Criminal Appeals’ (CCA) reversal …
Eleventh Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Six Female Alabama Jail Detainees’ Sexual Assault Suit by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On October 17, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld a district court’s summary dismissal of a federal civil rights suit brought by six women who …
News in Brief by Alabama: A former Blount County Jail guard received a decade behind bars on October 21, 2025, for a brutal assault that was captured on security video, according to WVTM in Birmingham. Joseph Ray Snow, 45, was sentenced for assaulting detainee Jonathan Calloway in 2022. Calloway, who …
Prisoners and Detainees in the Gulf Coast Are Particularly at Risk from Natural Disasters by The Gulf Coast of the United States stretches across five states in the Southeast. Within that region, more than 270,000 people are incarcerated in jails, prisons, and other detention facilities. For the prisoners and detainees …
News in Brief by Alabama: A civil rights lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Alabama by Paulette Tennison on August 29, 2025, blamed Morgan County jailers for the death of her son, John Scott Jr., on April 22, 2025, just one week after he was arrested by Priceville Police …
Eleventh Circuit Overturns 1990 Alabama Death Sentence Over Racially Biased Jury Selection; ACLU Report Shows It Is Still Happening by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On June 30, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that an Alabama prosecutor practiced purposeful discrimination in violation of …
Eleventh Circuit Declines to Extend to Summary Judgment Proceedings a Rule Requiring District Courts to Notify Pro Se Litigants by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On February 13, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit declined to extend to summary judgment proceedings based on Bank v. Pitt, …
Florida Appeals Court Finds Rationale for “Sexual Predator” Label on Former Prisoner’s Drivers License by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman Prisoners released from terms for violent sexual offenses may find that Florida is not “the free state” that it claims to be. In an en banc ruling on August 15, …
News in Brief by Alabama: On Sunday, June 15, 2025, state Department of Corrections (DOC) guard Airika Dorsey was arrested for allegedly smuggling food to a prisoner at St. Clair Correctional Facility, according to WABM in Birmingham. The DOC confirmed that Dorsey was caught in the act and subsequently booked …
Alabama DOC Attorneys Reprimanded for Filing AI-Written Briefs in Prisoner’s Suit by Chuck Sharman The federal court for the Northern District of Alabama issued an order on May 16, 2025, demanding that attorneys representing the state Department of Corrections (DOC) show cause why they should not be sanctioned for filing …
On Remand, Eleventh Circuit Clarifies, Affirms Grant of Habeas Relief to Death Row Prisoner by Joseph Clifton Smith beat Durk Van Dam to death during a robbery, and was sentenced to death following his conviction in 1997. He has been appealing his case for almost three decades, most recently resulting …
Johnson v. Dunn, AL, Sanctions Order, Fabricating Citations, 2025 Case 2:21-cv-01701-AMM Document 204 Filed 07/23/25 FILED Page 1 of 51 2025 Jul-23 PM 03:03 U.S. DISTRICT COURT N.D. OF ALABAMA UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA SOUTHERN DIVISION FRANKIE JOHNSON, Plaintiff, v. JEFFERSON S. DUNN, et al., Defendants. …
