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Articles by David Reutter

Vermont’s Policy of Sending Prisoners Out-of-State Found Unconstitutional

A Vermont Superior Court held the policy of the Vermont Department of Corrections (VDOC) to send hundreds of male prisoners to out-of-state facilities, regardless of whether they have close bonds with their young children, while keeping all women prisoners at in-state facilities, violates the equal protection clause and common benefits ...

Minnesota Civil Detainee Raped by Cellmate Receives $203,000 Settlement

The state of Minnesota agreed to a $203,000 settlement in a lawsuit brought by a civil detainee at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) that alleged a policy or custom of disregarding patient safety, resulting in the detainee suffering “a brutal physical and sexual assault by his roommate.”

MSOP detainee ...

$725,000 Award for Eye Loss Caused by Guard’s Assault

A New York Court of Claims awarded $725,000 to a prisoner who lost an eye after being attacked by a jail guard.

Prisoner Warren Davis, 31, suffers from keratoconus, a congenital eye condition in which the cornea changes from a spherical to a more conical shape, adversely affecting vision. The ...

New York Prisoner’s Retaliation Claim Nets $147,000 in Damages, Fees and Costs

A New York federal jury entered a verdict that awarded a state prisoner $40,002 in a case alleging a First Amendment retaliation claim, and post-trial the court awarded over $107,000 in attorney fees and costs.

New York prisoner Juan Hernandez initiated a pro se civil rights action against “no less ...

$250,000 Settlement for Estate of PA Prisoner Killed by Mentally Ill Cellmate

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PDOC) paid $250,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the estate of an elderly, handicapped prisoner who was killed by his psychotic cellmate at State Correctional Institution Forest.

Elwood Brasswell, 28, had a violent history attributed to his “acute psychotic behavior.” A diagnosis of paranoid ...

Florida Jail Ends Postcard-Only Policy as Part of Settlement

Last year, the Sheriff of Florida’s Flagler County agreed to a settlement that revoked a postcard-only policy at his jail and allowed prisoners to receive and send mail in envelopes.

Jennifer Underwood’s husband was held at the Flagler County Jail, making them subject to the postcard-only policy. The policy required ...

Male Guards’ Videotaping of Female Prisoners Being Strip Searched Results in $675,000 Settlement

In August 2014, a Massachusetts federal district court granted summary judgment to a class of 176 former and current prisoners who challenged a policy at the Western Regional Women’s Correctional Center (WCC) that allowed male guards to videotape female prisoners being strip searched. The court held the policy violated the ...

Florida’s Department of Corrections: A Culture of Corruption, Abuse and Deaths

Florida, with the nation’s third-largest prison system, has a long and sordid history of abusing, neglecting and even killing its prisoners. Because most state prisons are in insular rural areas, the general public, aside from those with incarcerated loved ones or friends, has minimal awareness of what really occurs within ...

Undisclosed Monetary Settlement Follows Abandonment of Defense Blaming Juvenile for Rape

In defending itself against a lawsuit brought by a juvenile who was raped by a guard, Louisiana’s Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Detention Center cast blame for the incident on the 14-year-old victim. The matter was resolved with an undisclosed settlement amount.

At issue were the actions of the guard, Angelo Vickers, ...

Georgia Judge Issues $20,000 Sanction for Whistleblower Suit Discovery Violation

A Georgia state court ordered the state Attorney General and head of the state ethics commission to each pay $10,000 as sanctions for discovery violations in a whistleblower suit filed by the former executive director of the Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission (ethics commission).

While head of the ethics ...