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New Hampshire Prison System Struggles to Hire Guards

Article • February 1, 2026 • from PLN February, 2026

Filed under: Staffing, Lockdowns, Guards/Staff

New Hampshire Prison System Struggles to Hire Guards by Typically, the New Hampshire Department of Corrections (DOC) graduates two classes of prison guards from its training academy each year. But in August 2025, there were so few candidates that the DOC canceled the most recent class and, as a result, …

News in Brief

Article • February 1, 2026 • from PLN February, 2026

News in Brief by California: In a ruling that highlights the complexities of holding corrupt staff financially accountable, the California Court of Appeal recently restored the pension of former San Francisco jail guard April Myres, 61, on December 26, 2025. Bloomberg Law reported that federal prosecutors charged Myres in 2017 …

NEWS IN BRIEF

Article • September 15, 2025 • from PLN October, 2025

Filed under: News in Brief

NEWS IN BRIEF by Alaska: Alaska Public Media reported that former Anchorage Police Department Off. Nathan Keays, 45, convicted of conspiring with a ConocoPhillips employee to embezzle over $3 million from the firm, is seeking a new trial, alleging his conviction was tainted by a secret romantic relationship between two …

New Hampshire Rolls Back Bail Reform

Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025

Filed under: Bail/Pretrial Release, Reversible Error, Danger to the Community

New Hampshire Rolls Back Bail Reform by When New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) signed HB 592 into law on March 25, 2025, she also goosed the state’s incarceration rate by giving back pretrial detention power to state judges and reducing the leniency and flexibility that had been provided to …

News in Brief

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

News in Brief by Alabama: Kadarius Shermaine Todd, 28, a new guard still on probationary status at the Madison County Jail, was fired on April 4, 2025, after allegedly attempting to smuggle contraband into the lockup. He was apprehended upon arrival to meet a contact with a package containing Suboxone, …

$38 Million Jury Award for Physical, Sexual Abuse at New Hampshire Juvenile Lockup

Article • December 15, 2024 • from PLN December, 2024

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Settlements, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders

$38 Million Jury Award for Physical, Sexual Abuse at New Hampshire Juvenile Lockup by In 1995, when David Meehan was 14 years old, he was committed to New Hampshire’s Youth Development Center (YDC), later renamed Sununu Youth Services Center, a secure juvenile detention center in Manchester. There he was raped …

News in Brief

Article • October 15, 2024 • from PLN October, 2024

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: State prisoner Brigido Montoya made the briefest of escapes from the State Prison Complex in Eyman on August 10, 2024, before he was recaptured 48 minutes later by Florence Police, the Florence Reminder & Blade-Tribune reported. The state Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (DCRR) …

News in Brief

Article • September 15, 2024 • from PLN September, 2024

Filed under: News in Brief

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 …

Conflicting Reports from New Hampshire Prison Officials Before Guard Charged in Psychiatric Detainee’s Death

Article • June 1, 2024 • from PLN June, 2024

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

Conflicting Reports from New Hampshire Prison Officials Before Guard Charged in Psychiatric Detainee’s Death by Former New Hampshire prison guard Matthew Millar, 39, was arrested on February 8, 2024, and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Jason O. Rothe, 50, a detainee in the Secure Psychiatric Unit (SPU) …

Meehan v. State of New Hampshire Division of Health and Human Services, NH, Verdict, Failure to Protect, 2024

Brief • May 3, 2024

Filed under: Failure to Protect (General)

Meehan v. State of New Hampshire Division of Health and Human Services, NH, Verdict, Failure to Protect, 2024 Clerk's Notice of Decision Document Sent to Parties on os10312024 Jury Verdict Form ·217-2020-CV-00026 STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT Rockingham, ss. DAVID MEEHAN V. STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, DIVISION OF HEALTH …

N.H.’s First Black Sheriff Charged With Embezzling $19,000

Article • January 1, 2024 • from PLN January, 2024

Filed under: Crime, Police/Govt Misconduct

N.H.’s First Black Sheriff Charged With Embezzling $19,000 by On September 28, 2023, Sheriff Mark A. Brave of New Hampshire’s Strafford County was arraigned on charges he stole $19,000 in phony reimbursements for attending conferences he missed or which never occurred. He is also accused of perjury for lying about …

News in Brief

Article • July 15, 2023 • from PLN July, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A guard with the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was indicted on April 27, 2023, on charges he sexually abused two prisoners at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Aliceville, according to a report by the Birmingham News. Robert D. Smith allegedly had sexual intercourse …

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 …

ACLU Pries Loose Employment Record of New Hampshire Trooper Who Detained Woman on Falsified Evidence, Leading to $237,500 Settlement

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

Filed under: Police Misconduct, False Statements, Testimony or Documents, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

ACLU Pries Loose Employment Record of New Hampshire Trooper Who Detained Woman on Falsified Evidence, Leading to $237,500 Settlement by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On July 6, 2022, the New Hampshire Personnel Appeals Board upheld the firing of former State Trooper Haden Wilber, who allegedly illegally searched a woman …

HRDC Sues New Hampshire Jail over Publications Banned under No-Hard-Copy Mail Policy

Article • April 8, 2022 • from PLN May, 2022

Filed under: Mail Regulations, PLN Litigation, Global Tel*Link Corp

HRDC Sues New Hampshire Jail over Publications Banned under No-Hard-Copy Mail Policy by Sam Rutherford By Sam Rutherford On March 11, 2022, the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), PLN’s publisher, filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the …

HRDC v. BOCC Strafford County, NH, Complaint, Censorship, 2022

Brief • March 11, 2022

Filed under: Censorship

HRDC v. BOCC Strafford County, NH, Complaint, Censorship, 2022 Case 1:22-cv-00091 Document 1 Filed 03/11/22 Page 1 of 22 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE CENTER, a not-for-profit corporation, Case No.: Plaintiff, v. JURY TRIAL DEMANDED BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS FOR …

News in Brief

Article • February 1, 2022 • from PLN February, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: According to Birmingham Real-Time News, a kidnapper was recaptured after being erroneously released from jail in Jefferson County, Alabama, on December 17, 2021. The prisoner, Matthew Burke, 35, was apprehended during a traffic stop after being released from the Jefferson County Jail on Dec. 11 …

White v. Strafford County Dept of Corrections, NH, Settlement Agreement, Unlawful Arrest, 2021

Brief • September 17, 2021

Filed under: Fabrication of Evidence

White v. Strafford County Dept of Corrections, NH, Settlement Agreement, Unlawful Arrest, 2021

New Hampshire Prisoner Sues to Enforce Conditions of Consent Decree

Article • June 1, 2021 • from PLN June, 2021

Filed under: Consent Decrees

New Hampshire Prisoner Sues to Enforce Conditions of Consent Decree by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The New Hampshire Supreme Court held a prisoner has standing to pursue a lawsuit alleging breach of contract for the failure to comply with a settlement in a prison conditions lawsuit. The court …

News in Brief

Article • September 1, 2020 • from PLN September, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by California:In June 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) commuted 21 state prisoners’ sentences, a dozen of them were for murder convictions, patch.com reported. Seven were committed when the prisoner was 22 or younger. Half of the prisoners are now 59 or older. One commutation went to …