by Zachary Wolfe, Esq.1
This is an interesting time in the changing legal landscape relating to gay and lesbian prisoners, but public and scholarly attention is lacking. Rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered prisoners are often conceived of either in long-established concerns relating to guards’ discrimination or in newly ...
Washington crime lab chief Barry Logan resigned effective March 14, 2008, after judges in three counties roundly criticized the work performed in state laboratories under his supervision.
The fallout mainly stemmed from hundreds of DUI cases that were improperly handled by Ann Marie Gordon during her stint as a manager ...
This issue’s cover story on the rights and treatment of gay and lesbian prisoners stems from the dearth of such coverage everywhere else. In February of this year I was a speaker on a panel in Manhattan on the rights of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender prisoners. A few months ...
Over 60% of Oregon Prisoner Suicides Linked to Mental Illness, Isolation
by Mark Wilson
Nathan Bashaw, 21, had a mere 259 days left to serve until his April 1, 2008 release date. He was serving a sentence in the custody of the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) for attempted robbery. ...
Trifecta for Michigan DOC: Three Reports Find Deficient Prison Medical Care
by David M. Reutter
From the advent of federal oversight of medical services for Michigan prisoners, the focus has been on three Michigan Dept. of Corrections (MDOC) facilities that house the state’s sickest prisoners in close proximity to Duane ...
Fondled Hawaiian Transexual Prisoner Awarded $817,500 in Damages and Attorney Fees
by Matt Clarke
On March 18, 2008, Hawaiian First Circuit Court Judge Sabrina S. McKenna awarded a pre-operative transgendered prisoner who had been sexually abused and harassed by a prison guard at the O’ahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) $310,000 ...
by John E. Dannenberg
Politics in Virginia have trumped reason when it comes to releasing eligible offenders on parole. Notwithstanding examples of successful reintegration into society after such prisoners are released, political pressure has driven the parole board’s grant rate down from 40% to 5.6%. It also drove previous parole ...
Houston District Attorney Caught in E-mail Scandal, Resigns, Held in Contempt
by Gary Hunter
Racist jokes, sexually explicit photos, love notes to his mistress and evidence of improper political campaigning were found in the e-mail account of former Harris County (Houston, Texas) District Attorney Charles “Chuck” Rosenthal, Jr. Nevertheless, even ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 23
Cuyahoga County Judge Ronald Suster held on May 9, 2008 that Ohio’s Adam Walsh Act violates the retroactivity clause of the Ohio Constitution and is an ex post facto law.
Ohio has maintained a sex offender registry since 1963. The first substantial revisions to the registration law occurred in 1996; ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 24
NY DOC’s Former 60% Prisoner Phone Call Kickback Scheme Did Not Violate Prisoners’ Families’ Constitutional Rights
In December, 2007, the New York State Supreme Court (this is a trial level court) held that the New York Department of Corrections’ (NYDOC) policy of contracting for prisoner collect telephone calls, which resulted ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 24
Prison Legal News Prevails in Tennessee Public Records Suit Against CCA
In 2002, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that a private company which performed services that were “functionally equivalent” to those provided by a public agency had to comply with the state’s Public Records Act, T.C.A. § 10-7-501, et seq. ...
TASER International’s Stock Shocked By $6.2 Million Damages Award
by John E. Dannenberg
The stock of TASER International, Inc. tanked by 11% to $6.13 per share on June 9, 2008 when three days earlier a federal jury in San Jose, California awarded $6.2 million in a wrongful death suit to ...
Teeth Extraction Policy for CA Women Prisoners Rescinded
by John E. Dannenberg
As part of a bizarre medical policy, the California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has for years imposed a rule that requires women prisoners who apply for alternative community incarceration programs, where they can live with their ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 26
Michigan Jail Pays $145,000 for Vindictively Exhibiting Naked Detainees in Segregation Cell
Four former male and female pre-trial detainees sued the Saginaw County, Michigan jail for an outrageous disciplinary policy that forced them to sit in a segregation cell visible to passers-by of both sexes, after first being stripped naked ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 28
Harris County, Texas Sends 600 Jail Prisoners to Private Pen in Louisiana
In December 2007, Harris County, Texas officials announced they were sending an additional 200 jail prisoners – 180 of them women – to a privately-run prison in northeast Louisiana. This brings the total number of Harris County prisoners ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 28
A relatively new rapid HIV test has been used on over 31,000 jail prisoners in four different states. The testing was made possible by grants from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The grants were part of a project to expand the use of HIV tests to jail prisoners nationwide, ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 29
Federal Prisoner May Not be Held Indefinitely in Punitive Housing Pending Investigation of Infraction
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has held that a federal prisoner, removed from the general population and placed in administrative segregation (SHU) pending investigation of in-prison charges, could not be ...
$204,856 in Attorney’s Fees and Costs Awarded in Nebraska Kosher Diet and Muslim Prayer Case
by Brandon Sample
On May 5, 2008, Joseph F. Batallion, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, awarded $204,856.28 in attorney’s fees and costs to a prisoner in a civil ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 30
Excessive Force Suit Against Illinois Guards Must be Retried, Allowing Evidence of Guards’ Actions
The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a prisoner who sued guards for allegedly brutally injuring him during an uncuffing procedure must be given a new trial wherein evidence of the guards’ actions would ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 31
Bill Introduced to Exempt Wrongfully Convicted from Federal Income Taxes
On December 6, 2007, U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Sam Brown (R-KS) introduced a bill to exempt wrongfully convicted former prisoners from having to pay federal income tax on their compensation awards. The bill would also exempt exonerees ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 32
States Expand Registration Laws to Include Drug Offenses
In 2003, Montana began including persons convicted of manufacturing illegal drugs on its sex offender and violent offender Internet registry. Since then, Tennessee, Minnesota, Kansas and Illinois have created online registries for people convicted of making or selling methamphetamine. The information on ...
Alabama Jail Guard Fired, Convicted, Held Civilly Liable in Prisoner’s Assault
by David M. Reutter
In a rare conclusion to a guard’s violent attack on a prisoner, a Jefferson County, Alabama jail guard was fired, prosecuted, convicted and found liable in a civil lawsuit. The guard, Antonio Allums, continues to ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 33
An internal investigation of e-mail abuse in the Montana Dept. of Corrections (DOC) uncovered what was termed “disgusting” behavior on the part of guards and even high-level prison officials. Seventy-four employees were cited for abusing state computer privileges.
Their offenses included e-mailing sexually and racially inappropriate material, chain letters, videos, ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 34
The U.S. District Court for Massachusetts granted declaratory relief to two maximum-security Nation of Islam (NOI) prisoners who had sued for a Halal (Muslim religious dietary) menu and participation in daily Jum’ah prayers. The district court denied the plaintiffs’ requests for meal preparation by Muslim prisoners, prayer rugs, and monetary ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 34
PHS Wins Quadriplegic Prisoner’s Negligence Suit, Jail Settles for $100,000
On February 14, 2008, a Florida jury found that Prison Health Services (PHS) was not negligent in misdiagnosing a jail prisoner’s broken neck, which left him a permanent quadriplegic. The series of events that led to this tragic result for ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 35
Federal Prisoner in State Jail Custody Illegally Denied State Court Name Change Petition
The California Court of Appeal has reversed the Fresno Superior Court’s denial of a name-change petition filed by a federal prisoner awaiting sentencing while housed in the Fresno County Jail. The California law precluding a state prisoner ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 36
An elderly veteran, while being booked into the Santa Clara County, California jail in December 2005 for failure to appear at a civil trial, struggled with deputies during the fingerprinting process and was subdued with violent force. He claimed he suffered a fractured eye socket, broken nose, impaired vision, acute ...
by Matt Clarke
On November 23, 2007, the United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) concluded that using the Taser X-26 electric stun gun is a “form of torture” that “can even provoke death.” CAT is charged with overseeing the application of the U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman ...
Monetary Sanctions Permitted for Milwaukee Jail’s Violation of Consent Decree
by David Reutter
Wisconsin’s First District Court of Appeals has held that an intentional contempt finding against the Milwaukee County Jail (MCJ) entitles prisoners who were injured by the contemptuous conduct to recover monetary sanctions.
In March 1996, MCJ prisoner ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 38
Prior Failure to Register as Sex Offender Does Not Violate Adam Walsh Act
On December 5, 2007, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri granted a motion for judgment of acquittal in a criminal prosecution for failure to register as a sex offender.
Terry Lee Rich, a ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 39
WA Prisoner Properly Denied Access to Savings Account to Hire Lawyer for Parolability Hearing
by Roger Smith
Division 2 of the Washington Court of Appeals has upheld a denial by the state Department of Corrections (DOC) of a prisoner’s request to use funds from his Personal Inmate Savings Account (PISA) ...
Sixth Circuit: $4.5 Million Award Upheld Against Michigan DOC Doctor in Dehydration Death of Mentally Ill Prisoner
by John E. Dannenberg
The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a $4.5 million damage award against a Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) doctor whose deliberate indifference resulted in the death of ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 40
The Ohio Court of Claims has awarded a former Ohio prisoner $7,025 for injuries related to a slip and fall from a prison bunk.
Stacy Rose slipped and fell while climbing down from his bunk at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution. Rose suffered injuries to his lower back, left ankle, and ...
by John E. Dannenberg
Ten Michigan attorneys were awarded two different awards by two national attorney professional associations. The attorneys received the National Lawyers Guilds’ coveted Law for the People award. The NLG was founded in 1937 as the nation’s first racially integrated bar association. In addition to the NLG ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 43
Georgia Inmate Welfare Fund Consent Decree Terminated Under PLRA
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered a Georgia federal district court to terminate a permanent plan for charitable donations from the Inmate Welfare Fund at the Glynn County Detention Center (GCDC). The matter was before the Eleventh Circuit after ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 43
$45,000 Awarded to Probationer Subject to Overzealous Probation Officer
An arbitrator awarded Washington State probationer Mark S. Rice $44,515 in a claim alleging negligence, emotional distress, and aggravation of a preexisting elbow injury. Washington Department of Corrections Community Corrections Officer Jenny Sheriden was alleged to have overstepped her boundaries when ...
Michigan Federal Court Issues Injunctive Relief for Lifer Parole Hearings
by John E. Dannenberg
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan issued a declaratory judgment and remedial injunctive order granting new hearings to non-drug offense parolable Michigan prisoners sentenced to life prior to 1992, who had been ...
$305,021 Awarded to Missouri Prisoner Struck by Tree; State Legislature Takes Note
by Brandon Sample
A Missouri prisoner was awarded $305,021 after being struck by a tree. In February 2000, Hortense Cain, a female prisoner at the Women’s Correctional Center in Vandalia, was assigned to a Missouri Department of Transportation ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 45
Washington DOC Fires McNeil Island Employee for Prisoner Fund Theft
On February 22, 2008, the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) fired Colleen Brixley, 48, a fiscal analyst at the McNeil Island Corrections Center, for stealing $103,000 from the McNeil Offender Welfare Betterment Fund. The fund is used primarily to ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 46
Contempt Order Entered Against Virgin Island’s Prison Mental Health Care
A Virgin Islands federal district court has held territory officials in contempt, ruling that they willfully violated the court’s orders. That finding came in a class action suit dating back to 1994 which challenges “inhumane and dangerous conditions” at the ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 46
$449,000 Settlement in BIA Prisoner’s Fall from Top Bunk in Detox Cell
The United States has settled a lawsuit alleging negligent supervision and observation of a prisoner who fell from a top bunk. While the settlement was estimated to be for $449,000, it could be more due to guaranteed annuity ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 47
On February 16, 2007, a North Carolina man who spent 18 years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit settled with the State and the City of Winston-Salem for $1,958,454.
Darryl Hunt, a black man, was imprisoned in 1984 for the rape and murder of Deborah Sykes, a young, ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 47
Wyoming Prisoner Receives $350,000 in Failure to Protect Case
The Wyoming Department of Corrections has settled a prisoner’s failure to protect claim for $350,000. The action was filed in U.S. District Court by Wyoming State Penitentiary prisoner Jason C. Huff.
Huff had informed prison officials upon intake that he feared ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 48
On December 17, 2007, Judge Peter Nemeth of St. Joseph County, Indiana informed Governor Mitch Daniels that he would no longer send female juvenile offenders to the Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility (formerly known as the Indiana Girls School).
Nemeth found that the facility was understaffed and determined it was “neither ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 48
The Appellate Division, Fourth Department, of the New York Supreme Court has ordered the removal from a prisoner’s institutional record of a misbehavior report for failing to comply with correspondence rules.
Curtis Davis, a prisoner at New York’s Attica prison, commenced an action pursuant to CPLR Article 78 to annul ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 49
Texas Adds Sex Offender Employment and School Information to Registry
The Texas Department of Public Safety has announced it is adding information about where sex offenders work and go to school to its online sex offender registry. The registry update will cost $1.2 million, which is being paid by a ...
It took less than three months for Texas officials to reach an agreement after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit against the Texas Youth Commission (TYC), alleging mistreatment of youthful offenders. A final settlement was entered by the court on May 5, 2008.
The lawsuit brought against the ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 50
California: On April 3, 2008, four prison guards at the state prison in Tehachapi were stabbed by two Hispanic prisoner members of the Surenos gang, and the entire state prison system was placed on lockdown. Other guards used batons, pepper spray and physical force to stop the attack. The injured ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 2008
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2008, page 52
Several cities and at least one state have passed laws that prohibit sex offenders from driving ice cream trucks.
In 2004 Eduardo Grau, 56, was driving an ice cream truck in New York state when he molested a 9-year-old girl. It was discovered that Grau had been in the habit ...
