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Award in Massachusetts Prisoner’s ADA Case Includes Over $410,000 in Attorney Fees, Costs
by David M. Reutter
Following a March 10, 2017 jury award totaling $250,000, a Massachusetts federal district court awarded $410,116.87 in attorney fees and costs in a prisoner’s lawsuit raising Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claims.
Prisoner William Cox, 57, who is mentally disabled, was awarded a …
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More from this issue:
- News in Brief
- DNA: To Collect or Not to Collect?, by Edward Lyon
- Texas Prisoner’s Excessive Heat Death Reveals Continuing Danger, by Matthew Clarke
- Pennsylvania DOC’s New Mail Policy Robs Prisoners of the Personal Touch; Lawsuits Over Legal Mail Settle, by David M. Reutter
- Right to Speedy Trial Not Triggered by Placement in Administrative Segregation, by David M. Reutter
- Court Grants Compassionate Release After BOP Says Prisoner Wasn’t Dying Fast Enough, by Dale Chappell
- GEO Group Cancels Contract to Run New Mexico Private Prison, by Matthew Clarke
- Female Attorneys Denied Access to Clients at Missouri Jail Due to Bras, by Edward Lyon
- Colorado DOC Settles Lawsuit, Agrees to Treat Thousands of Prisoners with HCV, by Dale Chappell
- Settlement in Class-Action Suit Over SMU Conditions at Georgia Prison, by David M. Reutter
- First Step Act Update: Over 1,600 Sentences Reduced, 3,000 Prisoners Released, by Dale Chappell, Douglas Ankney
- Sleeping Guard Who Allowed Suicidal Prisoner to Hang Himself Prompts $507,500 Settlement, by Dale Chappell
- Virginia Jail Not Responding to Problems Cited in Department of Justice Report, by Douglas Ankney
- Mississippi County Pays $27,500 to Settle Lawsuit by Prisoner “Jumped” by Other Prisoners, by Dale Chappell
- New York City May Expand Investment Bar to Prison Service Providers, by Kevin Bliss
- Former Missouri Sheriff Gets Prison Time for Illegal Cell Phone Tracking, by David M. Reutter
- Wisconsin Prisoner Sues After Injury; Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal, by Scott Grammer
- Oregon Faces State and Federal Contempt Proceedings Over Delayed Competency Services for Mentally Ill Defendants – Again, by Mark Wilson
- Dr. Arthur Zitrin, Anti-Death Penalty Advocate and Bioethicist, Dies at 101, by Scott Grammer
- Court Certifies Class of Former Washington State Prisoners Challenging Debit Release Cards in HRDC Case, by Matthew Clarke
- Oklahoma Jail Administrator, Guard Receive 55-Hour Sentence for Prisoner’s Death, by Scott Grammer
- Award in Massachusetts Prisoner’s ADA Case Includes Over $410,000 in Attorney Fees, Costs, by David M. Reutter
- DOJ Probe Finds Alabama Men’s Prisons Overcrowded, Plagued by Ongoing Violence, by David M. Reutter
- No Error When Judge Ignored Iowa Prisoner’s Request for Substitute Appointed Counsel, by Matthew Clarke
- Florida DOC Attorney Resigns After Posting Racially-Charged Comments, by David M. Reutter
- Seventh Circuit Holds Indiana’s Sex Offender Treatment Program Unconstitutional, by Dale Chappell
- Rider Programs in Idaho Offer Prisoners a Second Chance, by Jayson Hawkins
- Permanent Injunction for Hepatitis C Treatment Entered for Florida Prisoners, by David M. Reutter
- Audit Determines Georgia’s State Prisons More Cost Effective than Private Prisons, by David M. Reutter
- Jackson, Mississippi Pays $300,000 to Settle Jail Wrongful Death Suit, by Dale Chappell
- Prisoner’s Activism Leads Colorado DOC to Reverse Ban on Greeting Cards, Postcards and Drawings, by Matthew Clarke
- Stormy Daniels’ Former Attorney Accused of Ripping Off Prisoner, Other Clients, by Edward Lyon
- Illinois Jail Guard Secretly Prosecuted for Assaulting Prisoner, by Scott Grammer
- Over $488,000 Awarded to Former Michigan Prison Warden in Retaliation Suit, by David M. Reutter
- Massachusetts Prisoners and Visitors Challenge Restrictive Visitation Rules, by Bill Barton
- Plans for a New Federal Prison on Coal Mine Site in Kentucky Withdrawn, by Panagioti Tsolkas
- Pennsylvania Police Officer Shoots Unarmed Man in Holding Cell, is “Excused” by DA, by Scott Grammer
- Former Prisoner Named Secretary of Pennsylvania Board of Pardons, by Matthew Clarke
- “Feeling Cute” Social Media Challenge Reveals Brutality of Prison Guards, by Matthew Clarke
- HRDC Files FOIL Petition Against New York State Attorney General’s Office
- Michigan: $9,750 in Damages and Costs in Prison Ramadan Violation Suit, by David M. Reutter
- GEO Group Under Pressure from Shareholders on Human Rights Policy, by David M. Reutter, Kevin Bliss
- Arizona Prison Scandal: Cell Doors that Don’t Lock, Maintenance Funds Misused, by Matthew Clarke
- Maine: Female Detainee Raped by Jailer Wins Lawsuit, by Edward Lyon
- Texas Passes Laws to Preserve Dignity of Women Prisoners, by Matthew Clarke
- Jails in Oregon and Washington State Have High Prisoner Death Rates, by Matthew Clarke, Mark Wilson
- Book Excerpt: Lessons of “The Birdman”, by Marc Mauer, Ashley Nellis
- Federal Court Dismisses GEO Group’s Defenses in Lawsuit Over Pay for Immigrant Detainees, by Matthew Clarke
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- When Going to Jail Means Giving Up the Meds that Saved Your Life, by Beth Schwartzapfel
- Opioid Epidemic Impacts Prisons and Jails, by Steve Horn
More from David M. Reutter:
- Class Action Certified in Lawsuit Alleging Raw Sewage Presence in Washington Jail, Oct. 1, 2026
- South Carolina Supreme Court Reverses Class Action Status in Prisoners’ Sexual Assault Lawsuit, Oct. 1, 2026
- Second Circuit Rules Eighth Amendment Governs Claims of Excessive Force Brought by Parole Violator, Oct. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit: Qualified Immunity Granted to Guard in Delayed Treatment for Prisoner who Suffered Heart Attack, Oct. 1, 2026
- New Mexico Supreme Court Announces Reasons-for-Delay Analysis Must Assess State’s Own Responsibility Rather Than Compare Parties’ Delay and Abrogates Precedent Employing Party-to-Party Offsets, Oct. 1, 2026
- Report Finds State Prison Systems Fail to Provide Adequate Assistance to Obtain Release Documentation, Oct. 1, 2026
- Eleventh Circuit Affirms Refusal to Expand Bivens to Claim Alleging Federal Prisoner Died from Denial of Treatment for Hepatitis C, Oct. 1, 2026
- Ninth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Prisoner’s ADA Complaint Alleging Denial of Toileting and Hygiene Services, Oct. 1, 2026
- Virginia Report Finds Deaths Increasing as Prison Population Ages, Oct. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Holds Kentucky Deficient-Counsel Belated-Appeal Procedure Tolls Federal Habeas One-Year Limitations Period, Sept. 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- Maryland Pays $314,000 for Stonewalling Public Records Requests in Prisoner’s Dehydration Death, Oct. 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Water, Attorney Fee Awards, Settlements, Public Records Act.
- Disabled Prisoners in New York Aren’t Receiving Entitled Accommodations, Oct. 1, 2026. Disabled Prisoners, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Failure to Treat, Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Ninth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Prisoner’s ADA Complaint Alleging Denial of Toileting and Hygiene Services, Oct. 1, 2026. Disabled Prisoners, Hygiene Supplies, Summary Judgment, Americans with Disabilities Act, Deliberate Indifference.
- GAO Report on ICE Jail in Fort Bliss Finds Independent Failures, Sept. 1, 2026. Contractor Misconduct, Overcrowding, Security Systems, Americans with Disabilities Act, Immigration Detention.
- $3 Million Settlement Reached with BOP for Attorney’s Fees in Sex Abuse Class-Action from Now-Shuttered California “Rape Club”, Aug. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Attorney Fee Awards, Settlements, Consent Decrees, Class Actions.
- $1.2 Million for Elderly Detainee Shoved Out the Door of Sacramento Jail by Guard, Aug. 1, 2026. Guard Brutality/Beatings, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights.
- Virtual Reality Intervention Improves Police-Interaction Skills for Autistic Individuals, Aug. 1, 2026. Discrimination, Americans with Disabilities Act, Staff Training.
- $250,000 Paid by Maine to Former Prisoner Held in Solitary Confinement—Which the State DOC Says Doesn’t Exist, June 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Americans with Disabilities Act, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- California Spends $300 Million Each Year Incarcerating Senior Citizens in Women’s Prisons, April 1, 2026. Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Totality of Conditions, Parole, Life without Parole (LWOP), Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Constitutional Challenge to Louisiana Prison “Farm Line” Granted Class Certification, March 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Exposure to Heat, Injunctions (PLRA), Class Certification, Americans with Disabilities Act.

