$10 Million Lawsuit Filed against Tennessee Jail in Hanging Death
by David Reutter
The estate of a pre-trial detainee who hanged himself at the Robertson County Detention Facility (RCDF) in Springfield, Tennessee has filed a $10 million federal lawsuit alleging deliberate indifference to his serious mental health needs. The death ...
Florida’s IQ Rule for Death Penalty Exemption Unconstitutional
by David Reutter
Florida’s “rigid rule” that requires defendants to have an IQ of 70 or less before they can present mitigating evidence of an intellectual disability “creates an unacceptable risk that persons with an intellectual disability will be executed,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority in a 5-4 Supreme Court opinion issued last year, which found Florida’s strict IQ rule unconstitutional.
The Court’s decision involved the case of Freddie Lee Hall, who was convicted in the 1978 rape and murder of Karol Hurst, who was 21 and seven months pregnant, and murder of sheriff’s deputy Lonnie Coburn. The evidence at sentencing indicated Hall “has been mentally retarded his entire life” and was raised “under the most horrible family circumstances imaginable” by an abusive mother.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002), Hall filed a motion claiming he was intellectually disabled – a term now used for mental retardation – and thus could not be executed. More than five years later, a hearing was held. Florida argued that state law requires defendants to have an IQ of 70 or lower before evidence of ...
California Court Finds “Horrific” Treatment of Mentally Ill Prisoners
by David Reutter
A California federal district court found “an existing constitutional violation with respect to use of force on seriously mentally ill inmates” in a long-running class-action lawsuit. After viewing six videos of what officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) described as acceptable use of force “tactics,” the court stopped the viewing and called the videos “horrific.”
The April 10, 2014 ruling came after the CDCR moved to terminate court oversight in the Coleman v. Brown class-action suit – a companion case to Plata v. Brown, which resulted in a landmark three-judge federal court order to significantly reduce the state’s prison population. [See: PLN, July 2011, p.1].
The prisoner class countered with motions to enforce prior court orders in the litigation and for affirmative relief. As PLN has previously reported, the district court found in 1995 that seriously mentally ill prisoners were being treated with punitive measures, placed in segregation without evaluation of their mental health condition and subjected to force without penological justification. [See: PLN, May 1996, p.20].
CDCR officials face a monumental task, for as of September 2013 there ...
New York Prisoner Awarded $2,225 for Denial of Dental Care
by David Reutter
A New York Court of Claims awarded $2,225 to a prisoner who sued prison officials for medically negligent dental care for failure to extract a tooth for almost three months.
While imprisoned at the Elmira Correctional Facility ...
Failure to Protect New York Prisoner Nets $12,500 Award
by David Reutter
A New York Court of Claims awarded $12,500 to a prisoner based on his complaint that guards were negligent in failing to ensure his safety. However, the Court dismissed the prisoner’s medical malpractice claim stemming from the treatment ...
Pennsylvania: Settlement Means Better Care for Severely Mentally Ill Prisoners
by David M. Reutter and Derek Gilna
Severely mentally ill prisoners in Pennsylvania state prisons will receive improved treatment and live in better conditions following the settlement of a civil rights lawsuit filed by the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania (DRNPA) against the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PDOC). The agreement, reached on January 5, 2015, follows improvements made by the PDOC after the suit was filed in March 2013.
“We are extremely pleased with the settlement,” said DRNPA Chief Executive Officer Peri Jude Radecic. “It guarantees that inmates with SMI (severe mental illness) in our state will be free of the horrific conditions of the RHU (restricted housing units) and will receive appropriate mental health treatment and other services. Now they will be able to maintain their mental stability, take advantage of the parole-eligibility programming, and serve their sentences in a way that does not punish them for merely having a serious mental illness.”
The 36-page settlement resolves DRNPA’s lawsuit alleging that Pennsylvania’s practice of segregating severely mentally ill prisoners in restricted housing violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. [See: PLN, April 2013, p.34]. The suit claimed that prison ...
Pennsylvania Detainee’s Estate Claims Financial Incentive Motive for Denial of Medical Care; $325,000 Settlement
by David Reutter
A Pennsylvania federal district court ordered medical personnel employed by Correctional Medical Care, Inc. (CMC) to face claims brought by the estate of a pre-trial detainee who died from alleged deliberate indifference to ...
New York: $450,000 in Awards to Two Prisoners for Failure to Treat Muscle Tears
by David Reutter
A New York Court of Claims has awarded $250,000 to a former prisoner in a lawsuit claiming inadequate treatment for a ruptured Achilles tendon, and $200,000 to another prisoner for a torn biceps ...
Two Florida Guards Charged in Assault of Prisoner
by David Reutter
Two former guards from Florida’s Pinellas County Jail were arrested and charged with official misconduct after one of them assaulted a prisoner.
As prisoner Casio Burton, 28, was in the process of being transferred on October 4, 2013, to the Pasco County Jail to face pending charges, he raised his hand to question guard Mark Capanna, 44, about his visitation list. Guard Klaus P.Reinert, 40, responded by coming out of the jail control using profanity to ask Burton what he wanted.
After that exchange, Reinert returned to the control room. Burton, once again, tried to gain Capanna’s attention. Reinert again came out of the control room and argued with Burton, and then Reinert punched Burton in the face. In retaliation, Burton struck Reinert, knocking him down. The fight only ended when Capanna broke it up.
Neither guard followed jail policy; they failed to report the incident or document the use of force. Detectives began an investigation after several prisoners who witnessed the fight reported it to other guards.
Once the investigation began, Capanna and Reinert wrote fabricated reports denying a physical altercation. Rather, they wrote that Reinert slipped on ...
Warden’s Overtime Reduction Plan Backfires
by David Reutter
Pennsylvania’s Monroe County Correctional Facility (MCCF) has been financially burdened in recent years by overtime pay to guards. To reduce that drain on resources, MCCF’s warden entered negotiations with the guards’ union with a plan to reduce overtime. That plan, however, has backfired.
Overtime at MCCF cost taxpayers $1.1 million in 2011. One guard earned $48,000 in overtime that year, and two other guards doubled their salary with overtime. As MCCF’s staff is usually too small to accommodate unanticipated absences, guards would voluntarily sign up for overtime. But, some of these volunteer guards failed to show up for those shifts.
“Prior to this current (labor) contract, which went into effect January 2012, there was nothing in place to make officers think twice about singing up for overtime and then deciding they did not want to work it, “ said MCCF Warden Donna Asure.
“During (contract) negotiations, I brought my concerns to the table, as there were no ramifications to the officers who signed up for overtime and then call out,” said Asure. “We discussed many options and the union finally agreed that if an officer called off for an overtime shift they’d ...
