Police Misconduct Blog

In April 2019, Dr. Julia Barnett was terminated as the head doctor at the Monroe Correctional Complex (“MCC”) by the Washington State Department of Corrections (“DOC”). MCC is the third-largest prison in the state. An internal investigation found she was responsible for the...

A recent Reuters report found that jails that resort to private healthcare providers have a higher death rate than facilities serviced by government agencies.
The privatization of inmate healthcare has had tragic consequences across the country. When contractors put profits first, doctors are...

When a person is murdered, suspicion often falls on the spouse. Of course, that does not mean the spouse did it – most homicide victims are not killed by their husbands or wives. Russell Faria did not kill his wife Betsy, but he was convicted of the crime and sentenced to spend the rest of...

Carl Edwards was working on the fence on his property on July 30, 2017, in Vallejo, California, when his neighbor called 911. The woman said a Black man wearing a white tank top and black jeans was throwing rocks at her sons – and she specifically told the two police officers answering the...

Umar Burley and Brent Matthews went to prison after drugs were planted on them by members of Baltimore’s elite Gun Trace Task Force (GFTF). The GFTF’s notable goal was getting guns off the street. In reality, it became a den of thieves, preying on both their constituents and taxpayer...

Decorated former U.S. Army medic Gregory Lloyd Edwards, 38, witnessed a lot of horror during his years in the service. It affected him profoundly and may have contributed to his death years later in a Brevard County jail. What caused his death, however, was a lack of attention and the failure to...

Thirty-eight years is a huge portion of anyone’s life. That is how long Frederick Clay, 57, spent behind bars after conviction for a murder he did not commit. On November 12, the city of Boston agreed to pay Clay $3.1 million after it was determined a poorly run Boston Police Department...

Since the pandemic hit the U.S. in March, 135 inmates and 2 staff members in the federal Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) system have succumbed to Covid-19. The situation will worsen, as BOP practices such as prisoner transfers exacerbate the situation and spread disease. Rather than limit...

The worst instances of potential medical malpractice in the prison system. That is what Federal Judge Thomas O. Farrish called the situation regarding 25 inmates under the care of the Connecticut Department of Corrections (“DOC”). On November 4, Farrish ruled that the state must turn...

It is a plaintive, heart-wrenching plea. Matthew Loflin, 32, an inmate at the Chatham County Detention Center (“CCDC”) in Savannah, Georgia, tells his mom on a phone call that “I’m gonna die in here.” His words were prophetic.
As of early 2014, Loflin had spent...