Federal Prison Industries (FPI), the largest legal sweatshop in America, has jeopardized the lives and safety of untold numbers of prisoners and staff working in its recycling factories, according to a preliminary report in an investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and an evaluation issued ...
Welcome to the first issue of PLN for 2009. For the new year we are introducing a new quarterly column in PLN called Prison Health and Self Care by Dr. Michael Cohen. Dr. Cohen is a doctor who has extensive experience working with prisoners in state prisons and jails and ...
Allegations of Contraband Smuggling, Sex and Corruption at Texas Prison
by Matt Clarke
The Inspector General’s office of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has been investigating numerous cases of corruption at the 1,555-bed Terrell Unit near Rosharon, Texas. The allegations include sex between prisoners and guards, as well ...
Organizing for Freedom: Resistance at Angola State Penitentiary, Louisiana’s Last Slave Plantation
by Jordan Flaherty
At the heart of Louisiana’s prison system sits the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, a former slave plantation where little has changed in the last several hundred years. Angola has been made notorious from books ...
Until recently, immigrants destined for deportation due to their illegal residency status in the United States faced the possibility of being drugged before leaving. Since 2003, there have been more than 250 cases where psychotropic drugs were inappropriately administered to deportees, according to an investigative report by the Washington Post. ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 11
Connecticut DOC Settles Prisoner’s Brutal Beating By Ten Guards For $500,000
The Connecticut Department of. Corrections (CDC) settled for $500,000 the civil rights complaint brought by a prisoner who was brutally assaulted by ten CDC guards solely for their sadistic pleasure. While the settlement stipulates “no admission of liability,” the ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 12
Multiple Incidents Indicate Florida Jail Has Culture of Abuse
Three recent incidents at the Hillsborough County Jail in Tampa, Florida demonstrate a culture of abuse at the facility. One of the incidents involved a guard dumping a quadriplegic prisoner from his wheelchair, which was caught on videotape.
When Brian Sterner, ...
Prisoners’ Death Rate Report Indicts Prison Medical Care by Implication
by David M. Reutter
A report by the US Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics has issued a report on the 12,129 state prisoners’ deaths reported between 2001 and 2004. That report examined the circumstances and causes of death ...
Doing Time Together: Love and Family in the Shadow of the Prison. By Megan Comfort. University of Chicago Press. 256 pp. $55.00 cloth. $22.00 paper.
Race, Incarceration, and American Values. By Glenn C. Loury with Pamela Karlan, Tommie Shelby, and Löic Wacquant. MIT Press. 88 pp. $14.95.
A few years ...
Cook County Jail Conditions Unconstitutional, Charges Department of Justice
by David M. Reutter
On July 11, 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division issued a letter to officials at Illinois’ Cook County Jail (CCJ) which found that conditions at CCJ violated the constitutional rights of prisoners held at ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 17
When Dorothy Dian Palinchik was booked into Florida’s Pinellas County Jail (PCJ) on February 13, 2008 for stealing a $9.00 Philly cheesesteak sandwich from a grocery store, she was seemingly healthy. Two weeks later she died of pneumonia and an antibiotic-resistant staph infection.
Palinchik’s family suspects she caught Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus ...
Oregon Juvenile Facility Warden Indicted; Youth Authority Director Resigns
by Mark Wilson
From 2000 to 2007, Darrin Humphreys served as warden of the RiverBend Youth Detention Center, a 50-bed Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) facility in LaGrande, Oregon.
Supervisors were so impressed with his performance that they promoted him to head ...
Violence and Corruption at Rikers Island; Called a “Battle Camp for Kids”
by David M. Reutter
While there have been no escapes and only two suicides in the past year at New York City’s Rikers Island, the nation’s largest jail system – which houses 13,900 prisoners – is under scrutiny ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 21
Former PHS Doctor Arrested on Drug Charges
In July 2008, former Prison Health Services (PHS) employee John N. Mubang, 57, was arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for prescribing drugs for monetary gain and trafficking in controlled substances.
The six-month investigation that led to the four felony counts ...
by Michael D. Cohen MD
Introduction
There is much concern among prisoners about skin infections caused by a well-publicized germ called MRSA. This article explains what MRSA is, what you can do to protect yourself from MRSA, and how to take care of yourself if you get a skin infection ...
Cold Case Hits Use Vastly Exaggerated DNA “Match” Statistics; Upheld by California Supreme Court
by Matt Clarke
A recent California murder trial has highlighted serious problems in the probability statistics used to determine the odds of DNA matches in cases that involve DNA database searches. However, the California Supreme Court ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 25
$885,437.24 Award for CMS Massachusetts Jail Nurse Barred for Reporting Prisoner Abuse
A Massachusetts federal court awarded $885,437.24 in compensatory damages, punitive damages, costs, attorney fees and electronic litigation support fees to a Correctional Medical Services (CMS) nurse who was barred from the Suffolk County jail because she reported allegations ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 26
Changes to Florida’s rules for restoration of civil rights were made in April 2007; since that time, 115,232 former felons have had their rights to vote, serve on juries, run for office, and obtain various business licenses restored. That number accounts for more than half of all the state’s felons ...
Texas Prison Guard Files False Report, Faces 20 Years
by Gary Hunter
Former Texas prison guard Eugene Morris, Jr. was found guilty of filing a false report about a use of force incident involving state prisoner Robert Tanzini. Morris was a sergeant at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s (TDCJ) ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 27
Los Angeles County Settles For $900,000 After Unattended Prisoner Savagely Beaten By Violent Jail Gang
Los Angeles County paid $900,000 to settle the civil rights complaint brought by the parents of a 41-year-old man who was beaten and crippled on June 7, 2005 by a known violent jail gang during ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 28
Many Texas prisoners seeking parole are paying large fees to attorneys acting as parole consultants, in an attempt to increase the likelihood of gaining release. In 2007, 22,364 Texas prisoners were paroled. About ten percent – or 2,168 – had hired one of 769 attorneys registered as parole consultants.
One ...
TASER Avoids Liability in Three Deaths by Suing Medical Examiner
by John E. Dannenberg
Arizona-based TASER International, Inc. (TASER) was cleared of liability in the unrelated deaths of three drug-afflicted Ohio men who died shortly after being shocked with X-26 Taser stun guns during their apprehension by police. TASER had ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 30
A California federal jury awarded $2 million to a man imprisoned 12 years for a rape/robbery he did not commit. The court also awarded him $1,368,834 in attorney fees, $6,500 in fees on fees, and $165,067.22 in costs (including $40,363.35 in travel expenses, $20,935.32 in jury consultant expenses and $54,995.48 ...
PR Bonds Plummet in Harris County, Texas as Jail Overflows
by Gary Hunter
Republican judges elected on promises to be tough on crime and the absence of federal oversight have been cited as two reasons why Houston, Texas jails are once again dangerously overcrowded.
Less than a decade ago, the ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 31
A former nurse at Florida’s Miami Regional Juvenile Detention Center has pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of culpable negligence related to the death of a teenage prisoner. The guilty plea comes five years after the death of 17-year-old Omar Paisley.
While detained on a battery charge, Paisley begged guards ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 32
Ohio Court Finds Three-Drug Execution Protocol Violates Prisoners’ State Rights
On June 10, 2008, Judge James J. Burge of the Lorain County Court of Common Pleas has held that the three-drug protocol used by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DORC) to execute prisoners violates their right under Ohio ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 32
Florida Prison Employees Awarded $630,000 for ?Subjection to Prisoner “Gunners”
On May 15, 2008, a federal jury awarded $45,000 to each of 14 former female employees at Florida’s Martin Correctional Institution, finding the women had been subjected to lewd behavior by prisoners. The women claimed the Florida Department of Corrections ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 33
Demonstrators Supporting Guantanamo Prisoners in Front of U.S. Supreme Court Found Guilty of Unlawful Assembly
On May 29, 2008, thirty-four members of the civil rights group Witness Against Torture (WAT) were found guilty in the District of Columbia Superior Court of unlawful assembly for having demonstrated at the U.S. Supreme ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 34
$170,000 Jury Verdict in Sacramento Jail Beating
In April 2008, a federal jury in Sacramento, California returned verdicts against five Sacramento County Jail deputies for beating a prisoner and denying him food and water for eight hours. Although the facts were contested, the jury’s verdicts of $20,000 in compensatory damages ...
by John E. Dannenberg
As delays mount, San Quentin’s proposed replacement Death Row facility is growing in cost while shrinking in size. In a June 2008 report to the Governor and Legislature, the state Auditor’s office made its first of two reports concerning the cost of the proposed facility being ...
Washington State’s Criminal Libel Statute Held Unconstitutional; Prisoner Disciplinary Conviction Vacated
by John E. Dannenberg
The Washington State Court of Appeal, Division 2, ruled that the state’s criminal libel statute was unconstitutional under U.S. Supreme Court precedent due to vagueness and for being overbroad. In so ruling, the appellate court ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 36
Florida Sheriff Sued for Awarding No-Bid ?Health Care Contract, Receiving Gifts
Prison Health Services (PHS) has sued the sheriff of Sarasota County, Florida for awarding the jail’s health care contract to rival Armor Correctional Health Services without taking competitive bids. The lawsuit also alleges that Sheriff Bill Balkwill received gifts ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 37
Civil Commitment Provisions of Adam Walsh Act Held Unconstitutional
Congress exceeded its authority under the Commerce Clause and Necessary and Proper Clause of the U.S. Constitution in enacting the civil commitment provisions of the Adam Walsh Act, a Minnesota U.S. District Court ruled on May 23, 2008.
Shortly before Roger ...
by John E. Dannenberg
Prison Health Services, Inc. (PHS) was granted a three-year, $366 million no-bid contract renewal to provide medical and mental health care services for New York City’s Rikers Island Jail, notwithstanding the company’s checkered record during its last three-year contract, which resulted in $793,000 in fines for ...
King County, Washington officials violated state law by failing to get competitive bids on a security upgrade project at the King County Correctional Facility, according to a March 12, 2008 state audit. Originally slated at $14.2 million, the cost of the project has skyrocketed to $51.6 million.
A nationally recognized ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 39
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a Michigan “failure to report” escape conviction was not a “violent felony” under 18 U.S.C. § 924, the Armed Career Criminals Act (ACCA).
Anthony Collier was arrested by federal agents in Michigan and charged with being a felon in possession of ...
Jail Nurse Guilty of Forging Doctor’s Order; Forged Orders Common Jail Practice
by Mark Wilson
On August 28, 2008, a Multnomah County, Oregon jury convicted a former jail nurse of forging a drug prescription for a prisoner who died hours later.
Jody Gilbert Norman, 43, was arrested on February 19, ...
$7 Million in Settlements in Colorado Jail Prisoner’s Death from Medical Negligence
by David M. Reutter
The Denver Health Medical Center has settled a claim of negligent care for $4 million after releasing a prisoner with internal injuries who later died. Six months later, the Denver City Council approved an ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 41
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a former jail guard’s criminal convictions for using excessive force on three prisoners.
Michael J. Budd, once second-in-command of the Mahoning County, Ohio Sheriff’s Department, was charged in a four-count indictment with subjecting prisoners to excessive force. Count one alleged conspiracy to ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 42
$1,100,000 Settlement in Juvenile Prisoner Suicide in Union County, New Jersey
On November 15, 2007, Union County settled a lawsuit over the suicide death of a juvenile prisoner at the 42-year-old Union County Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The county agreed to pay $780,000 in damages plus ...
As California deals with a projected $28 billion budget shortfall over the next 18 months, it remains to be seen if the requisite two-thirds of the state legislature has the political courage to make cuts to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) proposed $11 billion annual operating budget.
Democrats ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 43
Second Circuit Recognizes Attorney-Client Privilege in Prisoner’s Journal in Prosecution of Rapist Guard
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that a female prisoner did not waive attorney-client privilege with respect to certain writings in her prison journal.
Nicholas DeFonte, a former guard at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, ...
Rape of Child by Former Washington DOC Director’s Son Spawns Departmental Crisis
by John E. Dannenberg
The Washington State Court of Appeals has upheld the firing of the Department of Corrections’ (WDOC) chief personnel counselor for violating the department’s privacy policies while counseling staff during a crisis caused by salacious ...
by John E. Dannenberg
A former prisoner who posed as an attorney in at least 16 cases in ten federal courts since 2004 has admitted to a federal judge that he is not a lawyer and didn’t graduate from law school as he had claimed. The effect of his faux ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 45
$5 Million Settlement For Illegal Strip Searches In Las Cruces, NM Jail
An estimated 11,000 Doña Ana County Detention Center detainees who were illegally strip searched between March 7, 2003 and March 7, 2006 have settled their class action suit against the county for $5 million. Included in the class ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 46
New Jersey Court Enters Preliminary Injunction Barring Women Prisoners at Men’s Prison
A New Jersey Superior Court has issued a preliminary injunction that prohibits prison officials from transferring women prisoners to the New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), a men’s maximum-security facility. The Court also entered orders certifying the lawsuit as ...
by John E. Dannenberg
The venerated PEW Center on the States reported in February 2008 that one in every 99.1 adult Americans was presently behind bars. For males between ages 20 and 34, the number is 1 in 30. Racially, the numbers are even more disturbing: one in 36 Hispanic ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 47
Maryland DOC Pays $500,000 for Detainee Beaten to Death By Guards
In May, 2008, the State of Maryland settled for $500,000 a lawsuit brought by the family of a detainee who was beaten to death by jail guards at Baltimore’s Central Booking and Intake Center.
Raymond Smoot had been arrested ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 47
$7,025 Award in Slip and Fall From Ohio Prison Bunk
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. ...
Georgia Sheriff Must Give Revenue from Prisoner Phone Calls to County
by David M. Reutter
The Georgia Court of Appeals has held that a sheriff must turn over to the county all revenue from a profit-sharing prisoner telephone contract. The ruling upholds an order of declaratory relief granted to Lincoln ...
Flamboyant and controversial Multnomah County Sheriff Bernie Giusto, head of Oregon’s largest county jail, has retired in the face of an overwhelming vote to strip him of his badge.
Giusto, a lightning rod for criticism, has been under constant fire for the better part of two years. A 2006 investigation ...
by Matt Clarke
On May 19, 2008, at approximately 12:30 p.m., a fight broke out between Native American and black prisoners at the Oklahoma State Reformatory (OSR) in Granite. When the skirmish ended five minutes later, two prisoners were dead and twelve others injured – three of them critically. No ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 50
Arkansas: On July 24, 2008, Joshua Albright, a prisoner in the Johnson county jail, was being transported to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections to serve a 40 year sentence for armed robbery. Deputies stopped at the Johnson county jail so Albright could use the bathroom and he escaped from the ...
Loaded on
Jan. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2009, page 52
Sixth Circuit Now Permits § 1983 Complaint to Proceed Even If Prisoner Did Not Initially Plead Exhaustion Below
The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has vacated its precedent which held that a prisoner had an affirmative burden to plead exhaustion of administrative remedies in a § 1983 complaint. Following ...
