by David M. Reutter
On May 7, 2020, Kentucky’s Larue County Detention Center agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle a lawsuit alleging former guard Jerome Perry sexually abused nine prisoners.
The women’s lawsuit alleged that between February 1, 2018, and August 20, 2018, Perry “harassed, assaulted, abused, and sexually ...
by David M. Reutter
The conditions under which residents exist at Parchman are subhuman and deplorable in a civilized society,” wrote Dr. Marc Stern, a correctional health-care consultant hired by lawyers representing Parchman prisoners, in a report to federal court filed June 8, 2020. “I’ve been to prisons in sub-Saharan ...
by David M. Reutter
The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) on August 6, 2020 agreed to pay $4.65 million to prisoner Cheryl Weimar, who was beaten “to within an inch of her life” two years earlier by guards at the Lowell Correctional Institution (LCI). The investigation into the beating continued ...
by David M. Reutter
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s grant of judgment for prison officials in a class action that alleged that the Tennessee Department of Corrections’ (TDOC) Hepatitis C treatment program violates the Eighth Amendment.
The district court’s judgment was entered after a four-day ...
by David M. Reutter
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on August 10, 2020, reversed a Tennessee federal district court’s order denying defendant’s motion for summary judgment on a claim that a sheriff was deliberately indifferent to a pretrial detainee’s safety because his jail was overcrowded.
Zachery Beck was assaulted ...
by David M. Reutter
Prison journalism is on the comeback in California, and it’s being credited as a rehabilitative tool that is impacting prison reform advocacy in a positive way.
When The Prison Mirror was founded in 1887 at Stillwater Prison in Minnesota, newspapers were commonplace in prisons. The Prison ...
by David M. Reutter
Shortly after the deadliest prison riot in 25 years, officials launched an investigation into the events surrounding the April 25, 2018, incident at South Carolina’s Lee Correctional Institution (LCI). After more than two and a half years and at least $190,000 spent on a special investigation, ...
by David M. Reutter
An Alabama federal district court allowed portions of a lawsuit to move forward that sought damages from the City of Montgomery (the City) and Judicial Correction Services, Inc. (JCS). The suit alleged due process and equal protection violations that stemmed from a privatized probation system that ...
by David M. Reutter
A Nebraska Federal district court denied class certification in a lawsuit alleging systematic deficiencies in the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NCDS) health-care system. Individual claims of some of the lead incarcerated plaintiffs were allowed to proceed.
The court’s June 8, 2020, order resolved 11 pending ...
by David M. Reutter
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a summary judgment grant to defendants in a New York prisoner’s lawsuit that alleged he was denied due process. The court’s July 23, 2020, order was issued in an appeal brought by prisoner Jarvis Elder. While incarcerated at Attica ...
