Kentucky Supreme Court Rules Prison Disciplinary Committee Must Demonstrate Reliability Of Informants It Relies On For Inmate Hearings.

Court: Info about informants can't be withheld

The Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled that prison officials cannot withhold all information about confidential informants used in prison discipline cases.

The justices concluded that while the full slate of legal rights don't apply to disciplinary cases, an accused inmate cannot lose privileges and good time off their sentences without knowing something about the witnesses against them.


The ruling on Thursday came in the case of 39-year-old Ontario Thomas, who was sent to segregation for 180 days and docked two years of good time for allegedly striking a fellow inmate at the Northpoint Training Center in Burgin.
The disciplinary board relied on the word of a lieutenant, who testified that two confidential informants saw Thomas strike another inmate in a dispute.

Editor's note:You can read the court's opinion here.