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Articles by David Reutter

Colorado Court Finds Book Limitation Policy Violates Prisoner’s Religious Rights, but Case Reversed on Appeal

A federal district court held that a Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) policy which limits prisoners in administrative segregation to having no more than two personal books at a time violates the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). The court limited its ruling to the plaintiff’s as-applied claim, ...

PLN Intervenes, Unseals Settlement in CCA Fair Labor Standards Act Case

PLN’s intervention in a federal lawsuit alleging Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) had improperly classified supervisors at two Kentucky prisons as being exempt from overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Kentucky’s Wage and Hour Act resulted in the court unsealing the settlement in the case.

The ...

Georgia: $453,000 Jury Verdict against Private Jail Medical Contractor

Georgia: $453,000 Jury Verdict against Private Jail Medical Contractor

by David Reutter

A Georgia federal jury awarded $452,917.50 to a former detainee for injuries that resulted from inadequate medical care at the Hart County Jail.

Monica Robinson was on probation for a criminal offense on April 20, 2012 when she ...

Michigan: Private Prison More Costly than State-Run Prison, Attracts Out-of-State Contracts

Michigan: Private Prison More Costly than State-Run Prison, Attracts Out-of-State Contracts

by David Reutter

The GEO Group, one of the nation’s largest for-profit prison companies, has signed contracts with Vermont and Washington State to house prisoners at a GEO prison in Michigan, after a review by Michigan officials determined it ...

Privatized Prisoner Transportation Service Poses Problems

Privatized Prisoner Transportation Service Poses Problems

by David M. Reutter

Several lawsuits against the self-proclaimed “nation’s largest prisoner extradition company and one of the largest international transporters of detainees” have cast a harsh light on a contractor hired to fulfill the traditional government role of transporting prisoners from place to ...

Michigan: Former Prisoners Must Repay Lawsuit Cash Advance Company

Michigan: Former Prisoners Must Repay Lawsuit Cash Advance Company

by David Reutter

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a district court’s ruling that required eight former prisoners to repay a company that purchased a contingent portion of their lawsuit settlement.

The appellate decision affirmed the judgment of a ...

Lawsuit Challenges Dental Care in Michigan Prisons

Lawsuit Challenges Dental Care in Michigan Prisons

by David Reutter

A lawsuit alleging the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) fails to provide prisoners with adequate and constitutional dental care was filed in federal court in April 2014.

“How do you eat with one tooth?” asked Daniel E. Manville, director of ...

Second Federal Lawsuit Filed Over Abuses at Pennsylvania County Prison

Second Federal Lawsuit Filed Over Abuses at Pennsylvania County Prison

by David Reutter

A second federal lawsuit has been filed by a former prisoner at Pennsylvania’s York County Prison, alleging that his civil rights were violated by a pattern of abuse by guards that included forcing prisoners to fight each ...

Racial Discrimination Costs Michigan DOC Over $1 Million

Racial Discrimination Costs Michigan DOC Over $1 Million

by David Reutter

Last year, the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) paid more than $1 million in damages in two lawsuits that accused the department of failing to take action despite having knowledge of blatant racism by an MDOC supervisor.

Faced with ...

Miami-Dade Sex Offender Residency Ordinance Unsuccessfully Challenged

Miami-Dade Sex Offender Residency Ordinance Unsuccessfully Challenged

by David M. Reutter

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) recently challenged the constitutionality of a Miami-Dade County, Florida ordinance that, according to the organization, forces sex offenders on probation into homelessness by imposing residency restrictions so harsh there is literally no place ...