California: Surety Entitled to Exoneration of Bail Bond Forfeited as a Result of Defendant’s Deportation
by Michael Brodheim
The California Court of Appeal has held that a bail surety did not forfeit the bond it posted for a defendant who was deported before he could appear in court ...
Seventh Circuit: Prisoner with Back Condition Stated Claim for Fall from Upper Bunk
by Michael Brodheim
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a prisoner who suffers from scoliosis stated a claim for deliberate indifference when he alleged that he fell and injured himself trying to climb ...
California Prison Regulation Governing Gang Validation Upheld by Ninth Circuit
by Michael Brodheim
Last year the Ninth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of a California prison regulation that guides state prison officials in determining whether or not a prisoner should be classified as gang-affiliated.
In California, a prisoner affiliated ...
Cancellation of BOP Elderly Offender Pilot Program Moots Appeal
by Michael Brodheim
On July 11, 2013, in an amended ruling, the Ninth Circuit dismissed as moot the appeal of a federal prisoner who had been denied entry into a pilot program that allowed the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) ...
California: Trial Court Cannot Abdicate its Responsibility to Examine Peace Officer Personnel Records
by Michael Brodheim
On May 6, 2013, the California Court of Appeal held that a trial court conducting an in camera review of peace officer personnel records must examine the records itself, and cannot abdicate ...
California: Sexually Violent Predators May be Conditionally Released from Custody Even if Homeless
by Michael Brodheim
The California Court of Appeal, Third District, has held that a person committed as a sexually violent predator (SVP) may be conditionally released into the community even if he or she has ...
by Mike Brodheim
A federal district judge in New York has held that the United States is liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for the emotional distress caused by a raid which resulted from misinformation negligently provided to law enforcement by a United States Postal Service employee.
On ...
by Mike Brodheim and Alex Friedmann
WITH SEVEN FACILITIES THAT HOUSE from 15,000 to 18,000 prisoners, Los Angeles County’s jail system is the nation’s largest – and, arguably, among the most dangerous in terms of staff-on-prisoner violence.
The jail system, operated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD), is facing an investigation by the FBI into allegations of corruption and abuse, as well as multiple lawsuits. Sheriff Leroy David “Lee” Baca, 70, has committed to numerous reforms following a report and recommendations by the Citizens’ Commission on Jail Violence, but people familiar with long-standing problems in the county’s jails remain skeptical.
A Continuing Culture of Violence
THE LASD JAIL SYSTEM HAS BEEN UNDER federal court oversight since the 1970s when, following a 17-day trial, an injunction was issued that ordered the county to improve jail conditions – including overcrowding, inadequate exercise, and lack of clean clothing and telephone access. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had initially sued Los Angeles County in 1975, alleging that overcrowded conditions, systematic abuse of prisoners by sheriff’s deputies and inadequate medical care violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. See: Rutherford v. Baca, U.S.D.C. (C.D. Cal.), Case No. CV 75-04111 ...
by Mike Brodheim
In an unpublished opinion, the Court of Appeals of the State of Washington affirmed a trial court’s order dismissing an action filed by a state prisoner who alleged that the Department of Corrections (DOC) had violated the Public Records Act (PRA) when it refused to release prison ...
by Mike Brodheim
On March 17, 2011, in an unpublished per curiam decision, the Fourth Circuit remanded a prisoner’s equal protection claim that alleged black prisoners were routinely ordered to perform more degrading tasks than their white counterparts, and that such job assignment decisions were made on the basis of ...
