Carlos Anderson was released from Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) custody in July 2025, and came home on parole in October 2025. In 2024, while incarcerated at Frank Lee Community-Based Facility/Community Work Center in Deatsville, Alabama, Mr. Anderson engaged in conduct protected under the First Amendment when he spoke to a reporter from The New York Times. He answered questions about what life was like being incarcerated in ADOC and working at the Ju-Young car parts plant, part of the Hyundai supply chain. Mr. Anderson exercised his most basic First Amendment right: speaking to the media about his reality.

Following the publication of a New York Times article quoting Mr. Anderson, defendants issued Mr. Anderson a behavior citation, imposed sanctions and punishment, mandated extra labor, and spread malicious rumors about Mr. Anderson—jeopardizing his safety—in retaliation for Mr. Anderson’s exercise of protected speech.

Mr. Anderson suffered emotional distress, a violation of his constitutional right to free speech, and loss of wages because of defendants’ retaliatory actions and was ultimately transferred to a more restrictive and dangerous ADOC facility because of threats to his safety caused by defendants’ conduct.

Mr. Anderson brings this action under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to seek redress for defendants’ unlawful retaliation against him.