UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

DATE:
REPl..VTO
ATTN OF:

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m~rhordhdum

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1
David R. Essig, Regional
egion· - .' "Federal Bureau of Prisons, 'hiladelphla, Pa. 19106
January 24, 1996

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cO~.-NOrt;.hea~t;.

SUBJECT:

Quarterly Report - October 1, 1995 through December 31, 1995
TO:

Wallace H. Cheney, General Counsel and Assistant Director
Federal Bureau of Prisons, Washington, D.C.
20534
Attached are the statistics requested for the quarterly 'report
for the first quarter of FY 1996.
I am also enclosing a
diskette with a copy of this rep~rt.
The following is a synopsis of the significant cases in
litigation during the quarter:
SIGNIFICANT DECISIONS, HEARINGS OR TRIALS
1.

Malik v. Wilkerson, No. 94-1606 (3d Cir. October 20, 1995)

In the above decision, ,the Third Circuit reversed a district
court order granting a mandamus petition filed by In~ate
Adbul-Jabbor Malik, 80768-054. The District Court had ordered
expunction of thre'e DHO findings from June 1993, two for
assault on staff, and one for threatening staff.
The incidents occurred in May 1992 when Malik was a New York
state inmate held at Fcr Otisville facing federal prosecution.
On May 4 and 5, 1992, Malik received five separate incident
reports. After UDC hearings, but before the DHO hearings,
Malik was returned to state authorities on May 8, 1992.
In
absentia DHO hearings were not held. Malik completed his
state sentence and was released to his federal sentence on
May 27, 1993. On June 3, 1993, Malik was received at his
designated institution, FCI McKean. After in person DHO
hearings on June 10, 1993, Malik was found guilty of three of
the infractions. The other two incident reports were
expunged.
In a February 28, 1994 decision, Judge Padova held that the
failure to conduct the in absentia hearings (required by
regulation), coupled with the failure to have a staff
repre~entative from FCI Otisville (not required by
regulation), and the delay in the hearing (caused by Malik's
return to the state), impacted Malik's ability to defend
himself at the DHO hearings. The district court ordered the
three incident reports expunged.

OPTIONAl.. FORM NO .• 0
tREV ,-e01
GSA F'PMR (4' CFR) .01.' 1.1

SOlo-114

2819

-2-

On October 20, 1995, the Third Circuit reversed.
In a Not for
Publication decision, the Court of Appeals held that, under
Sandin v. Conner, 115 S.Ct. 2293 (1995), there were no
constitutional violations in this case.
The mandate has been
issued from the Third Circuit and we are returning the DHO
findings to be reinstated in the inmate's file.
2.

Deutsch v. United States, 67 F.3d 1080 (3d Cir. 1995).

Inmate Melvin Deutsch, 97217-024, filed for in forma pauperis
(IFP) status in conjunction with a Federal Tort Claims Act
complaint in which he alleged that Bureau of Prisons staff
took his pens worth $4.20. The Dist~ict Court granted IFP
status, but dismissed the complaint as frivolous since it only
sought a "trifle," and was not worth consideration by the
court. Deutsch appealed. The Third Circuit affirmed.
The
Court of Appeals noted that IFP status results in the waiver
of the filing fee of $120. The Court of Appeals noted that a
reasonable paying litigant would not have paid the court costs
to bring an action for $4.20. The Third Circuit was careful
to note that the district court is required to assess each
case on a case by case basis (i.e., don't automatically
dismiss all FTCA complaints filed by persons seeking IFP
status in which the damages sought are less than $120.).
.....'\.
I

"

3. United States v. S .... , Crim. No. ------

(E.D.N.Y.)

A ·se.ntenced inmate was sent to MCC New York on a writ of
habeas corpus ad prosequendum.
Intelligence reports show that
there is an open contract on his life by the five organized
crime families in New York. The Warden denied the inmate a
meeting with his co-defendants because of fear for his safety.
A motion was filed with the criminal trial judge to permit
codefendant meetings. After a hearing on October 26, 1995,
the trial judge ordered that the inmate be permitted to attend
co-defendant meetings. The judge felt that such meetings were
necessary for the inmate to prepare a defense at the ·trial.
Dominique Raia represented the Bureau. The judge left the
security a.rrangements to the MCC NY.

SETTLEMENTS AND AWARDS

1.

Worthington v. Bureau of Prisons, 'Civil No. 89-7048

(SDNY)

This medical malpractice case was discussed in numerous prior
quarterly reports. This FTCA case was brought by former
inmate Robert Worthington, Register No. 12930-054, alleging
improper treatment at FCI Otisville. Worthington was received
/

2820

-3-

at Fe! Otisville on January 8, 1987 with advanced glaucoma in
his left eye.' He eventually lost the vision in his eye
sometime between July 1987 (according to Worthington) and
December 1987 (according to BOP medical records). He was seen
by a contract optometrist (now retired) on two occasions in
1987 but Worthington was not referred to an ophthalmologist
until December 1987. Exposure to United States was
considerable. Case settled for $190,000.
The United States
is to pay $165,000; the contract optometrist is to pay
$25,000.

Enclosures

\
,/

2821

NORTHEAST REGIONAL OFFICE
LITIGATION QUARTERLY REPORT
FROM 10/01/1995 TO 12/31/1995

LOC

NOM

HC

FTC

BIV

OTH

ANS

PEN

CLD

9

41

3

60

540

81

HIT

SET

AWD

3

1

0

MXR
HER

81

28

SER
NCR
SCR
WXR

CO
TOT
NARRATIVE ANALYSIS
DEFINITIONS:
LOC - LOCATION
NOM - NUMBER OF TOTAL LAWSUITS FILED IN QUARTER
HC - NUMBER OF HABEAS CORPUS ACTIONS FILED
FTC - NUMBER OF FTCA ACTIONS FILED
BIV - NUMBER OF BIVENS ACTIONS FILED
OTH - OTHER ACTIONS FILED
ANS - NUMBER OF L~TIGATION REPORTS COMPLETED
PEN - PENDING
CLD - NUMBER OF ACTIONS CLOSED
HIT - NUMBER OF HEARINGS OR TRIALS (INCLUDE INFO IN NARRATIVE)
SET - NUMBER OF SETTLEMENTS (INCLUDE INFO IN NARRATIVE)
AWD - NUMBER OF AWARDS (INCLUDE INFO IN NARRATIVE)
GOvERNMENT ACTION AND DATE OF ACTION - (INCLUDE IN NARRATIVE)

2822

Tort Claims First Quarter - FY96 (October 01, 1995 - December 31, 1995)
,:Loc

I

I

Nurn

I

PP

I

PI

PPPI

I

Med

WD

I

I

Set

I

Amnt

Pen

I

Den

I

I

OD

II

I

A/OI A/PI

MXR

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

a

0

0

0

12

NER

207

171

28

5

0

2

22

4573

322

76

0

0

SER

1

1

a

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

a

NCR

1

1

0

0

0

a

a

a

a

a

.0

a

1221
2°1
21/

SCR

1

1

a

a

a

0

a

0

0

0

0

0

11

WXR

0

0

a

a

a

0

a

0

0

a

0

0

0

C.O.

a

0

a

0

a

0

0

a

a

a

0

a

0

175

28

5

0

2

22

4573

322

76

·0

****

37

~

21i

• Press any key to continue

"'\
\

I

"

2823

NORTHEAST REGIONAL OFFICE
ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES OUARTERLY REPORT
FROM

10/01/1995

TO

12/31/1995

I

IMXR
NER

522

259

13

28

13

0

2

24

366

I
130

0

SER
NCR
SCR

I

I

WXR
TOT

NARRATIVE ANALYSIS
DEFINITIONS
LOC
NYH
DBO
SPH
MED
MH
LE{l
FD
GBT
DEN
PEl!
00

_oLOCA~ION

NUMBER OF TOTAL AD REMEDIES FI~ED
NUMBER OF DHO REMEDIES FILED
NUMBER OF SPECIAL HOUSING UNIT REMEDIES FoILED
NUMBER OF MEDICAL REMEDIES FILED
NUMBER OF MENTAL HEALTH REMEDIES FILED
NUMBER OF LEGAL REMEDIES FILED
NUMBER OF FOOD REMEDIES FILED
TOTAL OF NUMBER OF REMEDIES GRANTED
- TOTAL NUMBER OF REMEDIES DENIED
- TOTAL NUMBER OF REMEDI~S PENDING
TOTAL NUMBER OF REMEDIES OVERDUE
-

-

-

-

2824

January 24, 1996
David R. Essig, Regional Counsel, Northeast Region
Federal Bureau of Prisons, Philadelphia, Pa. 19106
Quarterly Report - October 1, 1995 through December 31, 1995
Wallace H . Cheney, General Counsel and Assistant Director
20534
Federal Bureau of Prisons, Washington, D.C.
Attached a re the statistics requested for the quarterly report
for the first quarter of FY 19 96.
I a m also enclosing a
diskette with a copy of this report .
The following is a synopsis of t he significant cases in
litigation during the quarter:
CASES OF INTEREST
1.

Malik v. Wilkerson, No. 94-1606 (3d Cir. October 20, 1995)

The Third Circuit reversed a di strict court order granting a
mandamus petition filed by Inmate Adbul-Jabbor Malik, 80768054. The District Court had ordered expunction of three DHO
findings from June 1993, two for assault on staff, and one for
threatening staff. In a Not for Publication decision, the
Court of Appeals held that, under Sandin v. Conner, 115 S.Ct.
2293 (1995), there were no constitutional violations in this
case.
2.

Deutsch v. United States, 67 F.3d 1080 (3d Cir. 1995).

Inmate Deutsch filed for in forma pauperis (IFP) status in
conjunction with a Federal Tort Claims Act complaint in which
he alleged that Bureau of Prisons staff took his pens worth
$4.20. The District Court granted IFP status, but dismissed
the complaint as frivol ous since it only sought a "trifle"
amount of damages, and was not worth consideration by the
court. The Third Circuit affirmed. The Court of Appeals
noted that a reasonable paying litigant would not have paid
the court costs to bring an action for $4 . 20 and that the
district court is required to assess each case on a case by
case basis.

SETTLEMENTS AND AWARDS

1.

Worthington v. Bure au of Prisons, Civi l No. 89 - 7048

(SDNY)

This FTCA case was brought by former inmate Robert
Worthington, Register No. 12930-054, alleging improper medical
treatment at Fcr Otisville. Worthington was received
at Fcr Otisville on January 8, 1987 with advanced glaucoma in
his left eye and eventually lost the vision in his eye. The
case settled for $190,000 . The United States is to pay
$165,000; the contract optometrist is to pay $25,000.
Enclosures

NORTHEAST REGIONAL OFFICE
ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES OUARTERLY REPORT
FROM

I

LOC

I MXR
I
I NER

10/01/1995

I NUM I DHO I SPH I MED I MH
259

522

13

28

0

TO

12/31/1995

I LEG I FD
13

2

I GRT I DEN I PEN I 00
24

366

SER

I
I
I
I
I

WXR

I

TOT

NCR
SCR

I

NARRATIVE ANALYSIS
DEFINITIONS
LOC
NUM
DHO
SPH
MED
MH
LEG
FD
GRT
DEN
PEN
OD

-

LOCATION
NUMBER OF TOTAL AD REMEDIES FILED
NUMBER OF DHO REMEDIES FILED
NUMBER OF SPECIAL HOUSING UNIT REMEDIES FILED
NUMBER OF MEDICAL REMEDIES FILED
NUMBER OF MENTAL HEALTH REMEDIES FILED
NUMBER OF LEGAL REMEDIES FILED
NUMBER OF FOOD REMEDIES FILED
TOTAL OF NUMBER OF REMEDIES GRANTED
TOTAL NUMBER OF REMEDIES DENIED
TOTAL NUMBER OF REMEDIES PENDING
TOTAL NUMBER OF REMEDIES OVERDUE

130

0

Tort Claims First Quarter - FY96 (October 01, 1 995 - December 31, 1995)
Loc

Num

PP

PI

PPPI

WD

Med

Set

Arnnt

Pen

Den

OD

A/O

A/ P

MXR

1

1

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

12

NER

207

171

28

5

a

2

22

4573

322

76

a

a

122

SER

1

1

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

20

NCR

1

1

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

21

SCR

1

1

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

11

WXR

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

0

a

a

a

a

a

C.O.

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

175

28

5

a

2

22

4573

322

76

a ****

37

Sum

211

~

Press any key to continue