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Allocation of Fault Required in Verdict Regarding Alaska Detainee’s Suicide; Case Settles for $900,000
Loaded on Nov. 7, 2016
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2016, page 30
Filed under:
Guard Misconduct,
Failure to Protect (General),
Qualified Immunity,
Suicides.
Location:
Alaska.
In September 2015, the Alaska Supreme Court vacated a $1,078,233 judgment in a lawsuit alleging the City of Hooper Bay was liable in the suicide of a 21-year-old detainee in a police holding cell. The reversal was based on an improper jury instruction regarding allocation of fault.
Louis …
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More from this issue:
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- Local Jails Increasingly Refuse to Comply with ICE Detainers, by Joe Watson
- Maryland DOC Suspends Volunteer, Drops Literature Program
- Oregon “Incorrigible Masturbator’s” Life Sentence Unconstitutionally Disproportionate, by Mark Wilson
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- Maryland Prisoner’s Death Occurs Under Unusual Circumstances
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- Alabama Prisoner Exonerated after Serving 30 Years on Death Row
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- Mold-infested Prisons Sicken Guards and Prisoners
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- Company Offers Educational Tablets to Prisoners, with Mixed Results, by Matthew Clarke
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- Full Senate Report on CIA Torture Remains Classified, Largely Unread, by Matthew Clarke
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- CDCR Drug-sniffing Dog Trainer Resigns Over Switch to “Passive” Dogs, by Joe Watson
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- Pennsylvania: Former Cop Indefinitely Jailed for Failure to Supply Passwords
- Justice Policy Institute Report Challenges Reformers to Focus on Violent Crimes, by Derek Gilna
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- Federal Judge Sanctions Idaho DOC for Misleading Special Master in Balla Case, by Matthew Clarke
- Illinois Jail Detainee’s Inadequate Food and Contaminated Water Claims Survive Initial Dismissal
- Preliminary Injunction Granted in Class-action Suit Challenging Private Probation Services in Tennessee, by David Reutter
- Eleventh Circuit Reverses Finding that Seizure of Prisoner’s Legal Mail Stated Claim
- Wisconsin: Prison Hunger Strike Reaches Crisis Point
- Settlement Comprehensively Overhauls Solitary Confinement in New York Prisons, by Matthew Clarke
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- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- News in Brief
More from these topics:
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- Three Prisoners Killed in Fight at Georgia Prison, Feb. 1, 2026. Prison/Jail Murders, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Eighth Amendment, Staffing.
- The St. Louis Jails Are Running Out of Guards, Feb. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, Hygiene Supplies, Suicides.
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- Sixth Circuit Reinstates Lawsuit Over Failure to Properly Classify Violent Prisoners at Kentucky Jail, Feb. 1, 2026. Failure to Protect (General), Fourteenth Amendment, rights, Pretrial Detention and Detainees, Monell Liability, Prison Classification.
- Amid ‘Catastrophic’ Shortage, Psychologists Flee Federal Prisons in Droves, Feb. 1, 2026. Staffing, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Inadequate Health Care Facilities.
- Ninth Circuit: Notice of Appeal of Order Denying Qualified Immunity Must Be Filed Within 30 Days of Entry, Feb. 1, 2026. Liberty Interests, Evidence, Qualified Immunity, Fourteenth Amendment, rights.
- Georgia Grand Jury Dings Augusta Jail for Overcrowding Days Before Violent Detainee Assault, Feb. 1, 2026. Private Contractors, Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding, Staffing, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Tenth Circuit Reverses Summary Dismissal of Claim Over Prisoner’s Suicide in Oklahoma Jail, Feb. 1, 2026. Failure to Train/Supervise, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Suicides, Staff Training, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights.
- Punished for Bleeding: How Periods in Prison Become a Trap, Feb. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Gender Discrimination -- Women, Strip Searches, Hygiene Supplies, Discrimination (Transgender).

