Arkansas Bans Outside Reading Material Sent to Prisons by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Knott In a move that further isolates prisoners from the outside world, the Arkansas Board of Corrections (BOC) voted unanimously on December 19, 2025, to ban all externally purchased books, magazines, and newspapers sent directly …
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 …
USA v. Arkansas Division of Correction, AR, Settlement, ADA Violation, 2025 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE ARKANSAS DIVISION OF CORRECTION DJ NO. 204-10-41 I. BACKGROUND 1. The parties to this Settlement Agreement are the United States of America (United States) and the Arkansas Division of …
Eighth Circuit Affirms Judgment for HRDC in Arkansas Jail Censorship Suit by David Reutter On February 24, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed judgment that the “postcard-only” policy for periodicals and books at Arkansas’ Baxter County Jail and Detention Center constituted a de facto blanket …
Arkansas Ex-Police Chief Known as “Devil in the Ozarks” Re-Captured After Prison Escape by A former Arkansas police chief who was convicted of rape and murder was recaptured on June 6, 2025, two weeks after escaping prison. The state Department of Corrections said Grant Hardin escaped dressed as a prison …
Arkansas DOC Settles Retaliation Claim by Prisoner Who Also Won Back Confiscated COVID-19 Stimulus by After the Arkansas Department of Corrections (DOC) reached a settlement with state prisoner Anthony Lamar in his retaliation claim against officials at the Varner Unit, the federal court for the Eastern District of Arkansas granted …
News in Brief by Alabama: State Department of Corrections (DOC) guard Arianna Kimberly Slater faces life in prison after she was arrested while attempting to smuggle contraband into Ventress Correctional Facility on February 24, 2025. According to the Birmingham News, a routine employee screening of Slater’s food container found unspecified …
Eighth Circuit: Arkansas Prisoner Who Had Consensual Sex With Guard Cannot Sustain Eighth Amendment Claim by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On September 20, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that a prisoner’s consensual sexual encounters with a guard cannot, as a matter of …
News in Brief by Alabama: Former Crenshaw County Jail Administrator Christian Alexander Porter, 33, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of excessive force, falsifying records and witness tampering on January 28, 2025. According to the Washington Post, the charges stem from an October 2021 incident in which …
Eighth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Arkansas Jailers Who Ignored Detainee’s Spider Bite by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso In an opinion filed on July 31, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld a district court’s denial of qualified immunity (QI) to …
HRDC v. Baxter County, AR, Censorship, Appeal, 2025 United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 23-1888 ___________________________ Human Rights Defense Center Plaintiff - Appellee v. Baxter County, Arkansas Defendant - Appellant -----------------------------Clark-Fox Family Foundation; The Marshall Project; Prison Journalism Project; Arch City Defenders; Missourians to Abolish …
HRDC v. Baxter County, AR, Censorship, Appeal, 2025 United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 23-1888 ___________________________ Human Rights Defense Center Plaintiff - Appellee v. Baxter County, Arkansas Defendant - Appellant -----------------------------Clark-Fox Family Foundation; The Marshall Project; Prison Journalism Project; Arch City Defenders; Missourians to Abolish …
News in Brief by Alabama: Clarke County Jail guard Larissa Thompson was arrested on December 5, 2024, for plotting to smuggle drugs into the lockup, the Thomasville Times reported. An investigation by state law enforcement, the office of County Sheriff DeWayne Smith, and Jackson Police uncovered evidence that Thompson planned …
Arkansas Moving Some State Prisoners from County Jails… to a Former County Jail by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders (R) announced on December 27, 2024, that the state Department of Corrections (DOC) had added 1,500 beds to ease overcrowding in state prisons. Sanders crowed that she had “stopped kicking the can …
Shrewd Federal Prisoner Salvages $5,000 from Suit Against Arkansas Jail Where He Was Held Pre-Trial by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso Randall Morris was held in Arkansas’ Miller County Detention Center (MCDC) from January 20, 2020, until he was transferred to Saline County Detention Center (SCDC) on March 24, …
News in Brief by Alabama: Mobile Metro Jail guard Robert Aaron Small was fired and arrested for assault on June 27, 2024, one day after he allegedly used excessive force against an unnamed detainee. WKRG in Mobile said that the guard had worked at the lockup since 2019. Mobile County …
Eighth Circuit: Perfect Adherence to Burdened Beliefs Not Required to Demonstrate Sincerity under RLUIPA by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On November 2, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc, does not require …
Two Who Escaped from Arkansas Jail Recaptured by Two detainees were back in custody a week after breaking out of W.C. “Dub” Brassell Adult Detention Center in Arkansas’ Jefferson County on January 22, 2024. Noah Roush, 22, and Jatonia Bryant, 23, cut a hole in the ceiling of a shower, …
Arkansas Sheriff Grilled Over Hit Netflix Show Filmed at Jail by An emergency ordinance passed by the Quorum Court of Arkansas’ Pulaski County on April 22, 2024, demanded answers from county Sheriff Eric Higgins to questions about a TV show filmed at the jail in Little Rock. The county also …
Eighth Circuit: Arkansas Detainee Suffering Fatal Seizure Might Have Been Faking or Might Have Gotten Better by David Reutter by David M. Reutter In a maddening decision issued on January 31, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed the denial of qualified immunity (QI) to four …
