Fourth Circuit Revives Deliberate Indifference Claim for Baltimore Detainee Served Rotten Food by David Reutter by David Reutter On July 23, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed dismissal of a pretrial detainee’s civil rights complaint that alleged he was served “rotten and unsafe food” and …
Fourth Circuit Holds Federal Prisoner Does Not Earn First Step Act Time Credits While in Transit Between Prisons by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On January 13, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the denial of a federal prisoner’s petition for a writ of …
Maryland Prisons Reel from Growing Number of Prisoner Deaths by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott Maryland’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) is reeling from a surge in fatalities, with seven prisoner deaths recorded in just two months. Per reporting by The Baltimore Sun, this spike …
Report on Baltimore Jail Reveals Human Waste Dripped from Ceilings by A report released by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) on December 4, 2025 details dire conditions at a jail in downtown Baltimore. While all of the detainees locked up at the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic, …
Maryland Agrees to Pay $30,000 to Prisoner Who Was Beaten by Guards While Handcuffed by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On February 22, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland granted dismissal to a suit filed by state prisoner Keith Darnell Kelly, after he accepted a $30,000 …
News in Brief by California: A suit filed in state Superior Court for San Francisco County on December 1, 2025, accuses the New York Post and Los Angeles Times of defaming Nima Momeni, 41, while he was detained in the County’s San Bruno jail before his December 2024 murder trial. …
Ten People Indicted in Three Separate Smuggling Schemes at a Maryland Prison by On December 1, 2025, state prosecutors announced that ten people—including three jail guards—were indicted on criminal charges related to three separate alleged smuggling schemes at the Jesup Correctional Institution (JCI) in Anne Arundel County. The first of …
Securus Loses Bid to Dismiss HRDC Price-Fixing Suit by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman On June 11, 2025, Securus Technologies was denied a motion to dismiss claims filed against the prison telecom giant and its JPay subsidiary, alleging they colluded with competitor Global*Tel Link (GTL), now known as ViaPath Technologies, …
Body-Worn Camera Program for Guards Expands to all Maryland Prisons by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman Expanding on a pilot program begun in February 2025, Maryland lawmakers have moved to require a body-worn camera (BWC) for use by all guards in the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services …
$950,000 Awarded to Trans Maryland Prisoner Dropped on Her Face by Guards by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney Between 2022 and 2025, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) held between 17,164 and 18,476 prisoners and detainees, according to data from the agency’s website. During that same …
Albert v. GLOBAL TELLINK CORP, MD, Memorandum Opinion, Telephone Rates, 2025 Case 8:20-cv-01936-LKG Document 487 Filed 10/15/25 Page 1 of 7 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND ASHLEY ALBERT, et al., Plaintiffs, v. GLOBAL TEL*LINK CORP., et al., Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) …
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 …
$75,000 for Transgender Maryland Prisoner Raped by Guard by Chuck Sharman On September 25, 2024, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) agreed to pay $75,000 to a transgender state prisoner who accused a guard of raping her in December 2021 at Patuxent Institution, a treatment facility …
Fourth Circuit Revives Wrongful Conviction Claim of Exonerated Maryland Prisoner, State Pays Him $3.1 Million by Chuck Sharman On January 6, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reinstated the claim of a now-exonerated Maryland prisoner against a trio of Baltimore cops who allegedly coerced a confession …
Albert v. Global Tellink Corp, MD, Memorandum Opinion and Order, Telephone Rates, 2025 Case 8:20-cv-01936-LKG Document 439 Filed 06/13/25 Page 1 of 17 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND (SOUTHERN DIVISION) Ashley Albert, et al., * Plaintiffs * v. * Global Tel*Link Corp., et al., …
Long-Running Consent Decree Again Extended at Troubled Baltimore Jail by On October 18, 2024, the federal court for the District of Maryland granted a motion to modify a years-old consent decree in a decades-old class-action challenge to conditions at Baltimore’s Central Booking and Intake Center (CBIC). As PLN reported, the …
$50,000 for Excessive Force Claim by Maryland Prisoner Who Used to Be a Guard by On March 19, 2025, an agreement was reached paying $50,000 to a Maryland prisoner—who is also a former Baltimore jailer—to settle his claim that he was subjected to excessive force by a guard at Western …
Maryland Targets Highest-in-Nation Racial Incarceration Gap by Black Marylanders make up 30% of the state’s population but 71% of those in its prisons, the nation’s highest racial incarceration gap. To address that imbalance, state Attorney General Anthony G. Brown (D) helped launch the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative (MEJC) in October …
GTL, Co-Defendant Agree to $21.3 Million Settlement with HRDC in Price-Fixing Lawsuit by On October 31, 2024, preliminary approval was granted to a settlement reached with the second of three prison telecom giants accused of illegal price-fixing. The suit was filed in June 2020 in United States District Court for …
Fourth Circuit Excuses Maryland Prisoner From Exhaustion Requirement in PREA Claim by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney In what was otherwise a disappointing ruling for a Maryland prisoner, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held on June 14, 2024, that a prisoner need not exhaust administrative …
