The Vermont Supreme Court held that “public records” under the Public Records Act (PRA) include any documents generated in the course of public agency business, even if the record is stored in a private account. The court held that failure to ask an employee to search a private account for ...
by David Reutters
A New York appellate court held that the New York State Education Department correctly redacted or exempted public records compiled for auditing special education costs because they were compiled for civil law enforcement purposes. The court also held that a request for award of attorney fees was ...
by David Reutter
The North Dakota Supreme Court held the North Dakota Department of Corrections (NDDOC) is immune from litigation unless an employee injury is due to intentional act of conscious purpose.
Delmar Markel was a guard at North Dakota Youth Correctional Center when he was injured during an escape ...
by David Reutter
A Colorado federal district court held that deaf prisoners and prisoners in contact with deaf persons alleged sufficient facts to survive dismissal of the Americans with Disabilities Act claim. The court said the prison’s archaic, faulty communication system for hearing impaired prisoners failed to accommodate their disability. ...
A Washington state court of appeals held that the Department of Corrections (DOC) is not automatically subject to any immunity from litigation against actions outside their quasi-judicial function. Nonetheless, its officers do not owe a duty to report a charge’s behavior to the sentencing court.
An abusive alcoholic, John McKay, ...
The Colorado Supreme Court concluded that Section 18-1.3-405, C.R.S. (2017) prevents the award of presentence confinement credit (PSCC) in cases involving multiple charges or jurisdictions unless the case under review is the sole cause for detention and the prisoner would have been released if that charge did not exist.
In ...
by David Reutter
A Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s decision that the Jefferson County Economics Development and Oversight Committee, Inc. (EDOC) is not subject to provisions of the State Public Records and Open Meetings Acts and remanded the case for further review.
Jefferson County, Jefferson City, and ...
by David Reutter
The North Dakota Supreme Court held that N.D.C.C. 27-10-01.4(1)(b) prohibits a prisoner’s incarceration for contempt of court for more than six months where no specific extension was ordered by the district court or referees.
Tricia Taylor was granted visitation with her two children, but custody was granted ...
by David M. Reutter
Opioid addiction has reached epidemic proportions. Handling withdrawal from those drugs is something that many jails are unprepared to handle. Kentucky’s Mason County Detention Center (MCDC) was so unprepared that it allowed Jenny Fulton, 27, to deteriorate and die over a four day period. In April ...
by David M. Reutter
A record number of prisoners – 356 – died while in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) in 2016. Even more died during 2017.
Topping the chart in 2016 was Dade Correctional Institution (DCI) with 13 deaths – twice the number of any other prison except Charlotte Correctional Institution, which had 7, and facilities that house elderly or ill prisoners.
DCI has been under scrutiny since the Miami Herald published an investigative report about the death of Darren Rainey, 50, a schizophrenic prisoner serving a drug-related sentence who was fatally scalded in a shower in the facility’s mental health unit on June 23, 2012 – apparently as part of a sadistic punishment by guards. [See: PLN, April 2017, p.38; Feb. 2016, p.1].
Despite a letter sent to State Attorney Katherine Frenández Rundle by advocacy group Stop Prison Abuse Now (SPAN), no official explanation has been forthcoming as to why no one was held accountable for Rainey’s death. Prosecutors announced in March 2017 that criminal charges would not be filed against prison staff.
In 2000, there were just 191 deaths among FDOC prisoners. The increase in the system’s mortality rate since then has ...
