Detroit — Davontae Sanford is to receive $408,000 from the state of Michigan after spending more than eight years in prison for murders he insists he didn’t commit — but his attorney hopes he’ll eventually have to return that money if he wins more from a federal lawsuit. Sanford was 14 when he was arrested … Read more
SAN JOSE — Three former correctional officers convicted of fatally beating a mentally ill inmate were each sentenced Friday to 15 years to life in state prison, concluding a case that sparked community outrage and exposed Santa Clara County’s wholesale neglect of its jails. Relatives and friends of former guards Jereh Lubrin, Matt Farris and … Read more
ON DECEMBER 29, more than a decade after she was first sent to prison in Nevada for a murder she did not commit, Kirstin Blaise Lobato saw the charges against her dismissed. “It is the end to her nearly 17-year nightmare,” said Vanessa Potkin, director of post-conviction litigation for the Innocence Project, which took on … Read more
In a chilling case out of Colorado, a gay inmate has filed a federal lawsuit claiming prison guards knowingly set him up to be repeatedly raped by another inmate. “This is malice. This is sadistic. They set him up to be beaten and raped and that is exactly what happened to him,” said Denver attorney … Read more
New Brunswick, Canada – Two correctional officers are facing criminal charges after a lengthy investigation into the death of Matthew Hines, a 33-year-old federal inmate who asphyxiated after enduring repeated blasts of pepper spray from staff. On Wednesday, the New Brunswick RCMP announced charges of manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death against two men, 48-year-old … Read more
A U.S. District Court judge stepped down from his bench on Monday and apologized to two men who spent years in prison after allegedly having drugs planted on them by an officer charged in the Gun Trace Task Force racketeering case. Umar Burley was freed from prison in August — seven years into a 15-year … Read more
Two former Oklahoma County jailers have been charged with assault after an investigation into the death of an inmate who was repeatedly shot by pepper balls. Colton Ray, 26, and Brian Harrison, 33, were charged Thursday with felony assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. At the time of the April incident, both were assigned … Read more
The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners approved on Thursday paying $180,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging that an inmate died in 2013 as a result of neglect by county jail officials. But civil litigation against Correct Care Solutions, a for-profit company that provides medical care at the jail under a contract with the county, is … Read more
The city allowed Colin Kaepernick to make a surprise visit to Rikers Island on Tuesday to meet with inmates — enraging correction officers who feel the stunt will only endanger them. The former San Francisco 49ers star spoke to groups of inmates during two sessions Tuesday morning at the jail’s George Motchan Detention Center, where … Read more
The United States is the wealthiest country in the world, but it also jails more people than any other nation, including China and Russia. Over 2.3 million adults are currently in American prisons and jails. On a per capita basis, the United States still stands far above all other nations in locking people behind bars. … Read more
One sunny day in October, at the Jefferson Parish correctional center just across the river from downtown New Orleans, Tiffany Burns, 34, was visiting her boyfriend. The pair had been dating for almost two years and were still giggly in love when a late July knock on the door sent him away. Scooped up by … Read more
A wrongfully convicted man is settling his case against New York City for $9.5 million. Ruddy Quezada — who lived through 24 years in lock up for a fatal Brooklyn shooting he said he had no part in — reached a deal on Thursday, according to Brooklyn Federal Court papers. In April, Quezada settled a … Read more