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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:
- When Prison is Not Enough: The Rise (and Perhaps the Fall) of the Supermax Prison
- 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
- Ohio Federal Court Dismisses Suit Against Doctor Over Prisoner’s Suicide
- Maryland Prisoner’s Death Occurs Under Unusual Circumstances
- Rare Corporate Prosecution: West Virginia’s “King of Coal” Sentenced for Conspiracy in Mine Deaths
- Alabama Prisoner Exonerated after Serving 30 Years on Death Row
- Former Pennsylvania Prison Doctor Sentenced for Fraud; Accomplices Convicted
- Mold-infested Prisons Sicken Guards and Prisoners
- Nevada Attorney General Investigates Shooting of Two Handcuffed Prisoners, by Derek Gilna
- Company Offers Educational Tablets to Prisoners, with Mixed Results, by Matthew Clarke
- United Kingdom: Prison Book Ban Overturned, by Derek Gilna
- Full Senate Report on CIA Torture Remains Classified, Largely Unread, by Matthew Clarke
- Corrections Corporation of America, Rocked by Setbacks, Changes its Name, by Derek Gilna
- CDCR Drug-sniffing Dog Trainer Resigns Over Switch to “Passive” Dogs, by Joe Watson
- Colorado’s “Make My Day” Law No Longer Applies to Prisoners, by David Reutter
- Canadian Solitary Confinement Deaths Result in Rare Lawsuits, Eventual Reforms, by Mark Wilson
- Pennsylvania: Former Cop Indefinitely Jailed for Failure to Supply Passwords
- Justice Policy Institute Report Challenges Reformers to Focus on Violent Crimes, by Derek Gilna
- Arkansas Secretary of State Issues Faulty Felon Data, Thousands Purged from Electoral Rolls
- 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
- Inquisitorial Telephonic Hearing to Screen Civil Rights Case Deemed Unlawful
- The Rape Victims Silenced by Their Prison Cells
- Arkansas Court of Appeals Upholds Civil Forfeiture Ruling
- Southern Health Partners to Face Liability in Kentucky Pre-trial Detainee’s MRSA Death
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- Book Review: Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy
- Federal Prisoner Tells President “No Thanks” to Offer of Clemency with RDAP Condition, by Derek Gilna
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- Allocation of Fault Required in Verdict Regarding Alaska Detainee’s Suicide; Case Settles for $900,000
- Federal Court Upholds New York Prison System’s Denial of Motorized Wheelchairs; Second Circuit Reverses, by Matthew Clarke
- Oregon Parole Board Incorrectly Prohibited Legal Assistant from Speaking at Parole Hearing, by Mark Wilson
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- Class-action Certified in Challenge to Treatment of Mentally Ill Mississippi Prisoners, by David Reutter
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- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- News in Brief
More from these topics:
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- Wave of Staff Arrests Exposes Persistent Misconduct at South Carolina Jail, Sept. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Obstruction of Justice.
- Mississippi DOC Held Mentally Unwell Prisoners in Solitary, Many Died Because of It, Sept. 1, 2026. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Staff Training, Deliberate Indifference.
- $800,000 Settlement Reached in Hawai‘i Jail Suicide Case, Sept. 1, 2026. Staffing, Failure to Train/Supervise, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides.
- Eight Circuit Reverses Denial of Partial Qualified Immunity in Detainee’s Pepper Ball Claim, Remands Excessive Force Claims, Sept. 1, 2026. Guard Brutality/Beatings, Stun Guns/Tasers, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Qualified Immunity, Wrongful Use of Force.
- Fourth Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity in Strip Searches Resulting from Anonymous Tips, Sept. 1, 2026. Strip Searches, Qualified Immunity, Fourth Amendment, rights, Suspicionless Searches.
- Four Massachusetts Guards Face Charges for Assault on Prisoners During Brawl, Sept. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings.
- Last of 11 Guards Sentenced in Death of New York Prisoner, Sept. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), False Statements/Perjury, Obstruction of Justice.
- Rising Deaths in Los Angeles County Jail Linked to Longer Stays, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Drug Overdose, Statistics/Trends, Suicides, Reduction of Prison Population.
- What 911 Calls Reveal About Jail Operations, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Statistics/Trends, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, Staff Training.

