During the Civil War, General William Tecumseh Shermans devastating march through the South was a blight on Georgia and all who lived there. Today, the safety of many Georgians particularly the 50,000 confined in the states 37 prisons is just as precarious.
At one state prison guards are accused of ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 7
Texas Counties Set To Raid State Prisoners Trust Fund Accounts
by Matthew T. Clarke
Partially in response to legislation making it mandatory by 2007 for Texas counties to establish programs to collect fines, costs, restitution and fees from Texas state prisoners and partially on their own, several Texas counties have ...
Welcome to another issue of PLN. Readers may have noticed that we have kicked off PLNs annual subscription madness campaign where we allow folks to purchase multiple gift subscriptions for people who are not current PLN subscribers. This is a great way to let people know about PLN. If you ...
An independent auditor found the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) to be lax in its oversight of medical care contractors.
In April 2005, Navigant Consulting, Inc., reported the results of its audit, commissioned by the Colorado State Auditor, of the CDOC external health care services provided to prisoners. The audit ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 10
A former social worker with the Baltimore public defenders office in Maryland, who said she was raped by a 15-year-old boy she was a visiting at the Charles H. Hickley, Jr. School settled a civil lawsuit on March 28, 2005, against the corporations that ran the juvenile detention center.
Amy ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 10
by Gary Hunter
Former Georgia parole board chairman Bobby K. Whitworth launched a last-ditch attempt, in the Georgia Court of Appeals, to thwart his felony conviction for corruption. He failed.
Whitworths tenure with the Georgia prison system is replete with scandal. His eventual prosecution stemmed from a $75,000 payment he ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 11
Weary California Prison Gang Members Increasingly Opt Out for Solace of Sensitive Needs Yards
Imprisoned California gang members are increasingly tiring of doing hard time to satisfy gang leaders demands to enforce dogmatic, self-serving obeisance to the perpetuation of in-prison violence. Today, 13,000 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) ...
Cell-Block Beatdown: Do Boston Prisoners Have Any Chance of
Holding Abusive Prison Guards Responsible? Signs Are Not Promising
by David S. Bernstein
Stories about prison guards beating up prisoners arent exactly the rage these days people are more likely to get outraged over lax treatment of prisoners, like the flap ...
Continued Reliance on Commitment Offense to Deny California Lifers Parole Denies Federal Due Process
by Marvin Mentor
The U.S.D.C. (E.D. Cal.) granted habeas relief to a California lifer whose parole had been repeatedly denied based upon the commitment offense, and ordered the California Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) to release ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 16
by Mark Wilson
Stone Cold Chemicals, (SCC), sells cleaning products to government agencies, and it is really cleaning up.
Company founder Thomas Stone admits to training his sales force to offer premiums (i.e., bribes and kickbacks) to government purchasing agents to induce them to buy SCC products at grossly inflated ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 16
Prison Health Services (PHS) has, once again, entered into a pretrial settlement to pay the family of a prisoner who died from the negligent care provided by PHS at Floridas Leon County Detention Center (LCOC).
The parents of a Ruth Hubbs brought this action in Leon County Circuit Court, but ...
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in an unpublished opinion, has reversed a lower courts dismissal of deliberate indifference claims in a prisoners denial of medical treatment for hepatitis C plus pancreatic and gout disorders. The Court further reversed the dismissal of a retaliation claim for ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 17
In its 2005 session, the Georgia Legislature awarded Clarence Harrison $1 million for loss of liberty, personal injury, lost wages, injury to reputation, emotional distress, and other damages as a result of his nearly 18 years of incarceration and expenses and trying to prove his innocence.
Harrison was convicted on ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 17
On August 25, 2005, the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota approved a $225,000 settlement to a Minnesota prisoner whose appendicitis went untreated at the Douglas County Jail.
Jeremiah Bratsch, 21, suffered stabbing pains in his lower right abdomen for four days while at the jail in July ...
by Matthew T. Clarke
In June 2005, the Colorado State Auditor released its April 2005 report of the performance audit of private prisons contracted by the Colorado Department of Corrections. The report strongly criticized the private prisons performance and the lack of oversight by the DOCs monitors.
The DOC uses ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 20
The city of Phoenix, Arizona, will pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a man who spent more than a decade in prison for a murder he did not commit. The settlement, approved by the city council in September 2005, is the second Ray Krone has received. In ...
by John E. Dannenberg
Upon remand from the U.S. Supreme Court (Johnson v. California, 125 S.Ct. 1141 (2005)), the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) entered into a settlement agreement with plaintiff prisoner Garrison Johnson wherein CDCR agreed to end using race as the sole determinative criterion in double-celling ...
Michigan Jails Strip Policy Unconstitutional; Guards and Get Qualified Immunity, County Liable
by David M. Reutter
A Michigan federal district court has held that the practice of removing the clothing of unruly pretrial detainees and keeping them naked in the hole, violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, but held the ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 21
A Los Angeles (L.A.) County, California jail prisoner who was severely beaten by three other prisoners on three occasions sued for deliberate indifference in failing to protect him. On August 3, 2005, after a five day trial and seven hours of deliberations, a federal civil jury found against jail staff ...
Californias 2005 Prison Suicide Rate Doubles Over 2004
by John E. Dannenberg
By the time 2005 ended, 44 California state prisoners had committed suicide. A significant increase over the 26 suicides that occurred in 2004. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) suicide rate is currently running at 27 ...
by John E. Dannenberg
On June 2, 2004, the United States District Court (D. Utah) ruled that the Salt Lake County Jails (SLCJ) policy prohibiting prisoners receipt of any magazine or newspaper was unconstitutional. Brian Barnard, the persistent attorney, who fought the case for eleven years, was granted $28,374.89 in ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 23
In late September 2005, 275 minimum-security Alabama prisoners were moved from work camps to maximum-security prisons pursuant to an order by Governor Bob Riley. The prisoners had done nothing wrong. The move was purely reactionary following the escape of 3 prisoners in 4 months.
The escaped prisoners had all been ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 23
Upon the request of prison officials, the Second Circuit Court Of Appeals vacated a district courts dismissal of an action brought by New York prisoners, for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
Several of New York State Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) prisoners brought suit in federal court, alleging violations of ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 24
Injury Required in First Amendment Cases
In a 2-1 decision, the Eighth Circuit of Appeals held that the Prison Litigation Reform Acts (PLRA) emotional injury bar on compensatory damages of 42 USC § 1997e(e) applies to First Amendment cases. The court upheld a lower courts denial of compensatory and punitive ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 24
The Third Circuit Court Of Appeals held that a Pennsylvania state prisoner challenging the denial of parole need not file a petition for a writ of mandamus in order to satisfy the dictates of exhaustion before seeking federal habeas review.
Pennsylvania prisoner Robert DeFoy was convicted of armed robbery and ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 25
On February 22, 2005, a court of claims in Rochester, New York, awarded $2,250 to a state prisoner who was given the wrong medication for nearly two years while imprisoned at the Collins Correctional Facility.
On October 14, 1999, prisoner Nathan Baxter went to the prison pharmacy to have his ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 26
Inadequate security, which had existed for years at Georgia's Fulton County Courthouse, as well as lapses by Sheriff's deputies, are being blamed for the deadly March 11, 2005 escape of Brian Nichols. PLN has previously reported on the many problems afflicting the Fulton County Jail. Nichols' violent breakout that left ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 27
L.A. County Jail Gets $20,000 from State for Pruno-Sniffing Dogs; Inmate Welfare Funds Tapped to Maintain Program
On September 30, 2005, the Los Angeles (L.A.) County Board of Supervisors approved a Sheriffs funding request for $20,000 to purchase and train two pruno sniffing puppies and to pair them with Sheriffs ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 28
$1.1 Million FTCA Emotional Distress Award In BOP Suicide Death Upheld, Even Though Murder By Guards Suspected
by John E. Dannenberg
The Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a $1.1 million award under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671-80 for intentional infliction of emotional ...
by John E. Dannenberg
A diabetic Alabama prisoner lying on the floor of his cell due to suffering from his diabetes condition had his leg stomped on by a guard. When the prisoner grieved the abuse, another guard filed a phony disciplinary report against him. Proceeding pro se, the prisoner ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 30
On August 15, 2005, the Ohio Court of Claims awarded $618,683.33 to a man who spent nearly 16 years in prison for a rape he did not commit.
Donte L. Booker was arrested for a carjacking outside a Beachwood, Ohio bar in February 1987. During the crime Booker used a ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 30
PLRA Doesnt Bar FRCP 15(a) Amendment of Complaint - No HIV/Hepatitis Treatment = Imminent Danger of Serious Physical Injury
In a case of first impression, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Present Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) does not bar a prisoner, proceeding in forma pauperis, from amending ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 31
PLRA Doesnt Alter FRCP 23 Class Certification Analysis
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) does not change, limit or add new elements to the class certification and analysis of Fed.R.Civ.P. 23. The court reversed a lower courts denial of class certification, finding ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 32
The Seventh Circuit Court Of Appeals upheld a district courts denial of qualified immunity to jail officials on claims of denial of toothpaste, withholding asthma inhaler and inadequate ventilation.
In 1984, two Indiana men disappeared. Neither the men nor their bodies were ever found but they were declared legally dead. ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 32
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that the appointment of counsel is a valid means of fully satisfying a state constitutional obligation to provide prisoners, including pretrial detainees, with access to the courts[.] The court also held that constitutionally acceptable access to the courts through appointment of counsel is ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 34
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district courts dismissal of a conditions of confinement suit for failure to state a claim.
Female pretrial detainees of the Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois, sued the jail superintendent and County alleging that the jails practice of monthly lockdowns of 48 ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 34
Missouri's 5-Year Limitation Period Applies to § 1983 Claims;
8th Circuit Reverses Earlier Decision to Contrary
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that it previously erred in applying a three-year statute of limitations in a jail assault case. The court concluded that Missouris five-year statute of limitations for personal ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 35
A federal court in Oregon denied prison officials qualified immunity on a prisoners freedom of association, access to courts and retaliation claims. The association and retaliation claims were later settled for $1,250 and a transfer to another prison.
On December 21, 2000, Oregon Department Of Corrections (ODOC) prisoner Frank Phillips ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 36
Division 2 of the Washington State Court of Appeals (Div. 2) has affirmed the summary dismissal of a prison guards law-suit for wrongful discharge for sexual misconduct.
James Shinn was captain of a ferry serving the McNeil Island Correction Center (MICC). In March of 2000, an MICC ser-geant accused him ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 36
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, on remand from the United States Supreme Court, reversed a district courts grant of summary judgment to a prison guard on a First Amendment retaliation claim.
Michigan prisoner Shakur Muhammad brought suit against guard Mark Close, alleging Close violated his First Amendment writes by ...
Any Reliance On AA or NA Participation During Parole
Consideration Violates Establishment Clause
by John E. Dannenberg
The United States District Court, E.D. Cal., ruled that requiring a California life prisoner to attend Narcotics Anonymous (NA) or Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) as a predicate for parole constituted a state establishment of ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 38
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a lower courts grant of summary judgment against a federal prisoner for failing to exhaust administrative remedies.
Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) prisoner Curtis Dale was stabbed seven times by other prisoners on the recreation yard at the U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute. Nineteen ...
California Probationers and Parolees Not Similarly Situated As To Eligibility For Prop. 36 Drug Treatment
by John E. Dannenberg
The California State Supreme Court held that Equal Protection claims as to parolees and probationers do not save a probation violators claim for eligibility to receive alternative drug treatment in lieu ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 39
A panel of the Sixth Circuit joined the Eighth and Tenth Circuits in holding that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) requires total exhaustion. One judge dissented, however, criticizing the majority opinion as being invalid for conflicting with Hartsfield v. Vidor, 199 F.3d 305 (6th Cir. 1999).
Lamar William Jones ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 40
Fair Labor Standards Acts Minimum Wage Provision Not Applicable to Private Prisons
The Seventh Circuit Appeals Court affirmed a lower courts decision that held prisoners are not entitled to the minimum wage provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201 (FLSA).
Jay R. Bennett and James W. ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 40
Washington Appeals Court Reverses the Dismissal of a Slip-and-Fall Negligence Action; State Responsible for Negligence of Prisoner Laborers
In an unpublished opinion, the Washington Court of Appeals held that a trial court erred in dismissing a pro se prisoners negligence action against the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) in a ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 41
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district courts sua sponte dismissal, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(b)(ii), of a New York parolees action, for failure to state a claim.
Alonzo Jacobs, a parolee under the supervision of the New York State Division of Parole, brought suit in federal ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 42
News in Brief:
Arizona: On March 22, 2006, David Leyva, 24, a guard at the Pima county jail was arrested on charges that he conspired to possess an unidentified narcotic drug.
Arkansas: On March 21, 2006, a brawl involving 12 prisoners that started over a bag of stolen instant coffee ...
Loaded on
April 15, 2006
published in Prison Legal News
April, 2006, page 44
Prisoner Suit Alleging Sexual Assault By Colorado Sheriffs Staff Reinstated
by John E. Dannenberg
Reversing the U.S. District Court (D. Colo.), the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a review of the record showed that female prisoners alleging sexual assault by Huerfano County Jail (Colorado) sheriffs deputies had ...
