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Articles by David Reutter

Ohio Supreme Court Orders Records Produced for State Prisoner

by David M. Reutter

On November 7, 2023, the Supreme Court of Ohio rebuffed a request from the office of state Attorney General Dave Yost (R) to reconsider a grant of a state prisoner’s mandamus action. That left to stand the Court’s earlier order issued on August 31, 2023, requiring ...

$25.2 Million Settlement for Two Connecticut Prisoners Exonerated After 35 Years

by David M. Reutter

A unanimous vote by Connecticut’s House Committee on Judiciary on March 1, 2024, all but assured state lawmakers would approve an agreement made in August 2023 by state Attorney General William Tong (D) to pay a total of $25.2 million to Ralph “Ricky” Birch, 67, and ...

Second Circuit Grants New York Officials Qualified Immunity for Prisoner’s Stolen Sentence Credits

by David M. Reutter

On October 12, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment to Defendant officials with New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) in a state prisoner’s civil rights action. The Court recognized that Steven Bangs had ...

West Virginia Supreme Court Orders Prison Officials to Develop Good-Time Credit Policy

by David M. Reutter

On October 16, 2023, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia reversed denial of mandamus relief to a prisoner and compelled the Commissioner of the state Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) to “develop a policy directive and/or operational procedure that is in compliance” with ...

Ninth Circuit Affirms Class Action Consent Decree at California’s Alameda County Jail

by David M. Reutter

On October 6, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a consent decree in a class-action lawsuit filed over solitary confinement of mentally ill detainees at the Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County, California.

As PLN reported, the suit accused jailers of ...

Fired Alabama Guard Reinstated Despite Excessive Force Used on Prisoner Who Died

by David M. Reutter

On October 24, 2023, the Alabama Personnel Board (APB) reinstated Capt. Timothy McCorvey, a guard dismissed by the warden at Ventress Correctional Facility in 2023 for using excessive force against a prisoner who later died of blunt force trauma.

Around 2:20 a.m. on January 21, 2023, ...

Eighth Circuit: Arkansas Detainee Suffering Fatal Seizure Might Have Been Faking or Might Have Gotten Better

by David M. Reutter

In a maddening decision issued on January 31, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed the denial of qualified immunity (QI) to four guards from Arkansas’s Benton County Detention Center (BCDC), in a lawsuit accusing them of deliberate indifference to the serious ...

$1.4 Million Verdict for Florida Jail Guard Injured in Transport Van Crash

by David M. Reutter

On May 20, 2021, a Florida jury awarded $1.4 million to Bradford County Jail guard Clinton Jenkins, 53. The jury’s award was based on its finding that the truck driver who crashed into Jenkin’s jail transport was negligent and liable for the crash and Jenkins’ significant ...

Eleventh Circuit: “More than Gross Negligence” Required to Prove Deliberate Indifference

[See update at end of article] 

by David M. Reutter

On May 22, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment to Defendant officials at Georgia’s Walker State Prison (WSP), where a prisoner accused them of deliberate indifference to his seizure condition ...

Seventh Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Illinois Jail Guards Who Relied on Nurse’s Opinion that Detainee Was “Faking” Symptoms Before He Died

by David M. Reutter

On December 15, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed denial of qualified immunity (QI) to Illinois jail guards who relied upon a nurse’s claim that a detainee was faking his medical condition, which then proved fatal. The estate of Michael Carter, ...