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News in Brief

Article • April 1, 2025 • from PLN April, 2025

Filed under: News in Brief

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 …

The Grift That Keeps on Giving: $33 Million for State Prisons Generated by Seized Native Land

Article • March 1, 2025 • from PLN March, 2025

Filed under: Native American, Abandoned Property

The Grift That Keeps on Giving: $33 Million for State Prisons Generated by Seized Native Land by In 2024, land trusts in 10 states generated an estimated $33 million in revenue for their prison systems. The figure was estimated from reports by Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, …

South Dakota DOC Locks Down Third Prison in 2024

Article • January 15, 2025 • from PLN January, 2025

Filed under: Cell Searches, Lockdowns

South Dakota DOC Locks Down Third Prison in 2024 by On October 7, 2024, the South Dakota Department of Corrections (DOC) announced the results of searches conducted during a nearly three-week lockdown begun at the state penitentiary on September 15, 2024. During that time all visitation was suspended for its …

News in Brief

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

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Wiregrass Daily News reported that Mobile Metro Jail guard Timothy Lee Scarbrough, 39, was arrested on September 9, 2024, and charged with first-degree sodomy for the alleged sexual assaulting of a detainee who was still under the effects of anesthesia after eye surgery. Scarbrough had …

Two Hurricanes in Two Weeks Threaten Prisoners and Jail Detainees in Six States

Article • November 15, 2024 • from PLN November, 2024

Filed under: Failure to Protect (General), Water, Rural Prisons

Two Hurricanes in Two Weeks Threaten Prisoners and Jail Detainees in Six States by Hurricane Helene left a trail of disaster across six states after making landfall in Florida on September 26, 2024. Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton reached Florida’s Gulf Coast on October 9, 2024, causing more …

Record Temperatures in Southern Prisons Called Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Article • February 1, 2024 • from PLN February, 2024

Filed under: Ventilation, Exposure to Heat

Record Temperatures in Southern Prisons Called Cruel and Unusual Punishment by On the last day of July 2023, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced that Earth had just endured the hottest three-week period ever recorded, noting that “for vast parts of North America, Asia, Africa and Europe—it is a cruel …

News in Brief

Article • December 1, 2023 • from PLN December, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Within 48-hours of booking into the Morgan County Jail on August 29, 2023, Miles Rea Batson, 39, had two second-degree assault charges added to his public intoxication charge as well as another for disarming a law enforcement agent. WHNT in Huntsville reported that during booking …

News in Brief

Article • November 15, 2023 • from PLN November, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Three jail guards in the Yellowhammer State were hit with drug smuggling charges in August 2023 and another the month after. WAFF in Huntsville reported that Morgan County Jail guard Bobby Simmons, 19, was arrested on August 3, 2023, when he was charged with promoting …

News in Brief

Article • October 15, 2023 • from PLN October, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: On August 12, 2023, an Alabama jail guard was caught – in uniform – stealing Pokemon cards from a Walmart. WBMA in Birmingham reported that Josh Hardy then fled store security on foot before cops caught him in a nearby restaurant. Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew …

Prisoner Who Reached $11,400 Retaliation Settlement with South Dakota Jail Tries Again with DOC

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

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Settlements

Prisoner Who Reached $11,400 Retaliation Settlement with South Dakota Jail Tries Again with DOC by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders On March 31, 2023, most of South Dakota prisoner Travis McPeek’s federal civil rights claims were dismissed against officials with the state Department of Corrections (DOC) – and he was …

Eighth Circuit Holds Pornography Policy Unconstitutional as Applied to South Dakota Prisoner, but Denies Relief

Article • June 1, 2022 • from PLN June, 2022

Filed under: Censorship, Pornography/Pornography Laws

Eighth Circuit Holds Pornography Policy Unconstitutional as Applied to South Dakota Prisoner, but Denies Relief by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Holding that the pornography policy at South Dakota State Penitentiary (SDSP) was unconstitutional as applied to a prisoner, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit nonetheless …

News in Brief

Article • May 1, 2022 • from PLN May, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A state Department of Corrections (DOC) guard in Birmingham was arrested on March 9, 2022, for allegedly beating a prisoner to death, according to the Alabama Political Reporter. As PLN previously reported, prison officials at first insisted no foul play was suspected in the death of Victor …

News in Brief

Article • December 1, 2021 • from PLN December, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A 20-year-old guard at the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence, Alabama, was arrested on October 29, 2021, on charges that he attempted to smuggle methamphetamine into the jail. According to a report by Huntsville TV station WHNT, the guard, Matthew Moran, faces one count …

News in Brief

Article • November 1, 2021 • from PLN November, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by California: A guard at San Quentin State Prison and one of two outside co-conspirators were arraigned on September 8, 2021, on federal charges they smuggled cellphones to an unnamed prisoner on death row at the California lockup. According to a statement by the U.S. Department of …

News in Brief

Article • September 1, 2021 • from PLN September, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A former guard at the Mobile Metro Jail was scheduled to be arraigned on May 19, 2021, after being indicted for his role in an alleged scheme to smuggle cellphones into the Alabama lockup in exchange for bribes. According to a report by local TV …

$750,000 Settlement in South Dakota Pretrial Detainee’s Overdose Death

Article • September 1, 2021 • from PLN September, 2021

Filed under: Drug Overdose, Settlements, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Pretrial Detention and Detainees

$750,000 Settlement in South Dakota Pretrial Detainee’s Overdose Death by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A $750,000 settlement was reached in the methamphetamine overdose death of a female South Dakota pretrial detainee. The lawsuit brought claims against two separate county jails, state troopers, and guards at the jails. Sarah …

News in Brief

Article • February 1, 2021 • from PLN February, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

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 …

Decline in South Dakota State Prisoners Not Due to COVID

Article • February 1, 2021 • from PLN February, 2021

Filed under: COVID-19, Reduction of Prison Population

Decline in South Dakota State Prisoners Not Due to COVID by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, South Dakota’s state prisoner population declined by a self-reported 11 percent as of late-September. The Associated Press and The Marshall Project showed an 8 percent nationwide …

The Walworth County Jail Meets TLC - And Loss

Publication • January 6, 2021

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Class Actions

The Walworth County Jail Meets TLC - And Loss The Walworth County Jail Meets TLC - And Loses Bill Trine, Faculty Emeritus T his is an inspiring story of how two TLC lawyers used the discovery obtained during the representation of an individual client to then file a class action …

Agard v. Walworth County, S.D., class action settlement, jail conditions, 2020

Brief • November 5, 2020

Filed under: Strip Searches, Totality of Conditions, Jail Specific, PLRA

Agard v. Walworth County, S.D., class action settlement, jail conditions, 2020 *all Defendants signatures must be notarized *Defendants must fully execute before dismissal is filed SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE This Settlement Agreement and Rel ease ('·Agreement") is entered into between MEGAN MARIA AGARD, CHICO BAKER, ROBERT DESERSA, KARA JAN E …