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Pelican Bay $600,000 Wrongful Death Settlement
Loaded on March 15, 1998
published in Prison Legal News
March, 1998, page 26
California taxpayers coughed up another $600,000 to settle a use-of-force lawsuit at Pelican Bay State Prison. The biggest chunk of the award goes to the family of Jesse Castillo, who was shot and killed by guards while engaged in a fistfight on Pelican Bay's "A" Yard. "It was an unjustifiable …
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More from this issue:
- Kafka in the Desert: Palestinian Detainees Struggle
- Israeli Soldier Jailed for Refusing to Guard Palestinian Detainees
- Tales from the Washington IMU Crypt, by M L
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Reaching the Breaking Point, by M L
- Fingers in the PIE, by D.H.
- BJS Reports on Sentencing and Imprisonment
- Doing Life: Reflections of Men and Women Serving Life Sentences. Portraits and Interviews, by Dan Pens
- Peruvian Lawyers Arrested
- Pro Se Tips and Tactics, by John Midgley
- California Irradiates Prison Visitors
- WSP Mail Rules Upheld
- Washington Porn Ban Challenged
- BOP Porn Ban Held Unconstitutional
- Struggle at Folsom, by Willie Wisely
- Spanish Speaking Prisoners Entitled to Interpreters
- Court Questions PLRA IFP Provisions
- Attorney Fee Award in Smoking Suit Affirmed
- Arizona Court Fee Law Upheld
- AZ Jail's Discriminatory Treatment of Muslims Requires Trial
- Slavery in South Carolina, by Dan Pens
- Ohio Death Row Uprising
- West Virginia Jailers Sentenced to Prison
- Turning the Screws in California, by Willie Wisely
- Sixth Circuit Discusses Habeas IFP
- Tax Court Required to Assist in Witness Subpoena
- News in Brief
- Ad Seg May Require Due Process
- Snitch Jacketing States 8th Amendment Claim
- Supervisors Liable for Excessive Force
- Ohio Students Rally in DC
- Health Care Contractor Subject to Monell Liability
- Evidence Must Support Disciplinary Ruling
- Survivors Manual
- Zain Fallout Continues
- Failure to Protect Informant Violates 8th Amendment
- Class Action Certification Clarified
- New Jersey DOC Required to Follow Own Rules
- Pelican Bay $600,000 Wrongful Death Settlement
More from these topics:
- Massachusetts Settles Lawsuit with Promise to Release Jail Voting Data, April 1, 2026. Voting, Advocacy, Settlements, Voting Rights, Felon Disenfranchisement Statute.
- Virginia Jail Suicide Results in $950,000 Settlement, Claims Against Wellpath still Pending, April 1, 2026. Private Contractors, Medical Records, Settlements, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Suicides.
- Ohio Supreme Court Awards Prisoner $1,000 for Denied Records Request, April 1, 2026. Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Damages, Public Records, Public Records Act.
- $300,000 Class-Action Settlement at California Jail Includes Policy Changes; Agreements with Aramark and Wellpath Reached Confidentially, March 1, 2026. Food, Sanitation, Settlements, Class Certification, Monell Liability.
- South Dakota Sobriety Program Participants Will No Longer Be Jailed for Non-Payment of Fees, March 1, 2026. Settlements, Class Certification, Fourteenth Amendment, rights, Unlawful Detention, Ability to Pay.
- Ninth Circuit Reinstates Wheelchair-Bound Washington State Prisoner’s Suit Over Failure to Accommodate Disabilities During Transport, Feb. 1, 2026. Transportation, Excessive Force, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Deliberate Indifference.
- $4,652 for Jewish Nevada Prisoner Denied Passover Meal, Jan. 1, 2026. Religious Discrimination, Food, Settlements, First Amendment, rights, Dismissal.
- HRDC Sues New Mexico County for Violating 10-Year-Old Settlement of Censorship Suit, Jan. 1, 2026. Settlements, Publications/Books, Due Process, Censorship, First Amendment.
- $4 Million Settlement Reached in Class Action Challenge to Conditions at Shuttered St. Louis “Workhouse” Jail, Dec. 1, 2025. Totality of Conditions, Jail Specific, Settlements, Class Certification.
- $6.49 Million Settlement for 600,000 Prisoners in Massive CorrectCare Data Breach Class Action, Dec. 1, 2025. Private Contractors, Medical Records, Damages, Settlements, Privacy Act/Rights.

