Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 1
California Corrections System Officially Declared
Dysfunctional" - Redemption Doubtful
by Marvin Mentor
Culminating a multi-year crescendo of criticism leveled at California's Corrections system from frustrated legislative, judicial and executive leaders, the Corrections Independent Review Panel (CIRP) recently tasked by Governor Schwarzenegger declared in its 359 page June 30, 2004 report, ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 5
From January 3, 2000 to February 9, 2004, 26 of the 40 California state Senators and 50 of the 80 Assembly Members received funds - ranging from $1,000 to $333,000 - from the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA), the guards union, and/or Native Americans and Peace Officers Political Action ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 8
On March 10, 2004, the parties involved in a class action lawsuit over unlawful strip-searches performed during intake at the Rensselaer County (New York) Jail agreed to settle the case for $2.7 million.
On various occasions between June 26, 1999 and July 1, 2002, the 11 named plaintiffs in this ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 9
Florida's Second and Fifth District Courts of Appeals have remanded five separate cases for the award of jail or prison credit. Each case was filed under Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a) alleging illegal sentences were imposed for failure to award jail or prison credits they were entitled to.
In ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 10
South Carolina Prison Officials Cheat Charity,
Attempt Coverup
by Michael Rigby
Officials at South Carolina's Lieber Correctional Institution (LCI) were supposed to be supplying free prison labor to a charity that builds portable housing for the elderly. Instead, they were stealing building materials and trying to extort money from the ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 12
by Michael Rigby
When most people hear prison lawsuit," they think of prisoners as the initiators. But the truth is, guards and other disgruntled prison workers are prolific litigators as well. In 2004, for instance, Washington's Pierce County Superior Court entertained three class-action lawsuits brought by Washington prison employees over ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 13
Ohio Lawyer Suspended for Promising
Favor from Judge for Money
by Robert H. Woodman
Overruling a more lenient recommendation from the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline, the Ohio Supreme Court indefinitely suspended Dayton attorney Daniel L. O'Brien from the practice of law. O'Brien was found guilty by the ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 14
by John E. Dannenberg
A divided panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Oregon's Revised Statute § 144.125(3)(a) (1993) was an ex post facto law as applied to denying parole to an Oregon prisoner whose crime predated the statute.
Gilbert Brown was convicted in 1982 of ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 14
by Paul Wright
On February 1, 2005, the Ninth Circuit US court of appeals upheld the injunctions in Prison Legal News v. Lehman, 272 F. Supp.2d 1151 (WD WA 2003) which require that the Washington Department of Corrections deliver PLN's subscription renewal letters, book and subscription flyers and similar mailings ...
Problems Plague Illinois Jails And Prisons,
Employees Watch Television for Pay
by Michael Rigby
While Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was using Department of Corrections (DOC) resources to monitor his image on television, sex, drugs, and violence reigned supreme in the state's jails and prisons.
In 2002 and 2003, Illinois was ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 16
by Michael Rigby
The State of Connecticut has paid $480,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a female prisoner who was gang-raped by male prisoners in the back of a sheriff's van.
On August 18, 1999, S.C. was a prisoner being transported in a New Haven County sheriff's van with ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 17
by Robert H. Woodman
In May, 2004, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported that as of June 30, 2003, the total State prison and jail population rose 2.6% from the same date in the previous year, while the Federal prison population rose 5.4% during the same period. The total ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 18
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the failure to exhaust administrative remedies may be excused in limited circumstances and should be excused in this case. This civil rights action arose from events that occurred while Ivan Rodriguez was incarcerated in New York's Westchester County Jail (WCJ) from ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 18
Wrongfully-Convicted Missouri Woman Receives
$7.5 Million After 16 Years in Prison
by Matthew T. Clarke
On September 14, 2004, the St. Louis suburb of Dellwood settled a suit by a woman wrongfully convicted of murder for $7.5 million.
In January 1983, Ellen Maria Reasonover, a 5'-7, 120-pound mother of a ...
As the nation pondered the fate of a young California man being sentenced to death, the case of another man, one lesser-known, one without wealth or whiteness, comes back before the nation's highest court, after having been shunted through a series of killing courts in Texas.
Thomas Miller-El, 53, was ...
U.S. v. Booker: The Left Wing Gives
and the Right Wing Takes Away
by David Zuckerman
As federal prisoners are well aware, the facts found by a jury often bear little relation to the facts relied on at sentencing. Under the federal Guidelines, the sentencing judge determines a wide variety ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 21
by Michael Rigby
A disabled Delaware prisoner's $100,000 damage award for retaliation will stand, a federal district court in Delaware has held.
On August 20, 1999, Roger Atkinson, a blind prisoner with a host of medical problems, sued Delaware prison officials under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 after he was moved ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 22
by David M. Reutter
For the second time since 1999, Georgia Federal District Judge Marvin H. Shoob has taken over supervision of the Fulton County Jail. Fulton County Jail Sheriff, Jacquelyn H. Barrett, told the court to go ahead, telling the court that appointing a receiver to oversee the jail, ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 24
9th Circuit Explains Habeas Jurisdiction Under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, Upholds Washington Transfer to Private Prison
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that a state prisoner serving time on a state court judgment must seek habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
In October of ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 25
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a prisoner who voluntarily participated in testicular radiation experiments while in prison did not establish a Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) violation. The court also held that the prisoner did not establish a prima facie claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress ...
by Matthew T. Clarke
On September 14, 2004, a prisoner uprising rocked the 816-bed, 88-acre Lee Adjustment Center (LAC), a private prison owned and operated by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) in Lee County, Kentucky.
The Prison
LAC was built in 1990 as a 400-bed, minimum-security prison by a private ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 28
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York's order denying prison officials' motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds in a prison discipline case.
In 2003 Anthony Palmer was incarcerated at New York's Sing Sing ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 29
A federal court in New York held that the Orange County Correctional Facility's (OCCF) strip search policy violated the Fourth Amendment by authorizing strip searches without individualized reasonable suspicion that a detainee possessed contraband. The court found that the balance of hardships tipped in favor of plaintiffs and warranted the ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 30
The Ninth Circuit federal Court of Appeals held that Oregon prison officials did not violate a prisoner's rights to freedom of speech and due process by refusing to deliver publications purportedly containing sexually explicit and role-playing or similar fantasy games or materials. The court also upheld a grant of qualified ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 30
The Washington State Court of Appeals for Division 2 has affirmed a trial court's imposition of sanctions for community custody violations, for which the State Department of Corrections (DOC) had previously sanctioned Michael David Collins.
In January 2002, Collins was convicted of assault with sexual motivation and failure to register ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 31
By Michael Rigby
On July 12, 2004, Scott A. Miller, a Delaware prisoner serving a 699-year sentence for rape, assault and kidnapping, was shot to death by a prison guard at the Delaware Correctional Center. The shooting ended a 6 ½ hour standoff in which Miller had taken 27-year-old counselor ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 32
In a suit for damages against Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy Baca for over detention of jail prisoners court-ordered for release, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that summary judgment for Baca was not available where the facts showed a practice of deliberate indifference to the constitutional rights ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 32
Harsh Pre-trial Conditions of Confinement
Justify Reduced Federal Sentence
by Matthew T. Clarke
A New York federal court has held that harsh pre-trial conditions of confinement justify a downward departure in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Jubelequis Mateo, a New York federal prisoner, filed a motion for downward departure under the ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 32
In an unpublished decision involving a prisoner's lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that genuine issues of material fact precluded summary judgment of the prisoner's claim.
Dwayne Manning, a federal prisoner, alleged that during a search of his prison cell, ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 34
In a unanimous decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed a trial court ruling that had found a Pennsylvania statute prohibiting sex between prisoners and prison staff unconstitutional. The court remanded the case to the lower court for trial.
Eileen Mayfield was a guard at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility (MCCF) ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 35
by Matthew T. Clarke
A federal court in Pennsylvania has awarded the plaintiff's attorneys $78,435 in attorney fees and costs in an action that challenged the application of the community notification provision-of Pennsylvania's Registration of Sex Offenders Act (Megan's Law), 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 9791-9799.6. to a man with ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 36
Florida's Second District Court of Appeals has reversed the grant of summary judgment to the Florida Association of Counties Trust (FACT) and the Sheriff of Polk County in a lawsuit seeking indemnification by Prison Health Services (PHS).
On April 17, 1994, while a prisoner at Florida's Polk County Jail, Michael ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 36
The Texas Supreme Court has held that the mailbox rule applies to civil litigation filed by Texas prisoners in Texas state courts, overruling at least two previous court of appeals decisions.
Charles Clay Warner, Jr., a Texas state prisoner, brought suit against a prison employee in Texas state district court. ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 37
Civil Punitive Damages On Top Of Criminal Punishment
Is Not Double Punishment
by John E. Dannenberg
The California Court of Appeals held that a drunk driver convicted of vehicular manslaughter was not constitutionally immune from the second punishment of punitive damages obtained in a subsequent civil suit by the decedent's ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 38
The Arizona Court of Appeals (COA), Division II, has vacated a trial court's restitution order requiring a state prisoner to reimburse the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADOC) for costs allegedly incurred as the result of a prison escape.
On September 29, 2000, Clayton Guilliams, an ADOC prisoner assigned to a ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 38
Idaho Prisoner States Valid Retaliation
Claim Against Parole Commission
The Idaho Court of Appeals held that material fact issues regarding a prisoner's claim that he was retaliated against because of his litigious activities precluded summary judgment of his lawsuit against the parole commission.
Richard Drennon, a prisoner at the Idaho ...
By Staughton Lynd; Temple University Press, 2004; soft cover, 244 pages.
$16.95
Reviewed by Karen G. Thimmes
Death Row in Ohio is located at Mansfield Correctional Institution, a stone's throw from the fabled Mansfield Penitentiary, where much of the Shawshank Redemption was filmed. But for four men, conveniently categorized as ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 40
Missouri Post-Conviction Proceedings Not
Encompassed By PLRA Payment Scheme
The Missouri court of appeals has held that because a Missouri Supreme Court Rule 29.15 motion is not a civil action encompassed by the state's Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), Mo. Rev. Stat. § 506.360 to 506.390 (2000), a Rule 29.15 ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 41
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that if an attorney is unavailable to represent an indigent criminal defendant, the defendant must be released within 7 days and the case against that defendant dismissed within 45 days.
This consolidated case arose from separate actions brought by the Committee for Public ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 42
Alaska: On February 5, 2005, Alaska attorney general Gregg Renkes (R)resigned after it came to light that while promoting a trade deal with a Taiwanese energy company he held some $100,000 worth of stock in the company and had served as its lobbyist and adviser before becoming attorney general.
Argentina: ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2005
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2005, page 44
The Washington State Court of Appeals for Division 1 has held that RCW 9.94A.753 affords the state 10 years from a prisoner’s release from total confinement in which to collect Legal Financial Obligations (LFOs) from prisoners. The court also held that a probationer’s absconding does not toll that period of ...
