Tennessee Prisoners Suing Private Prisons Not Required to File in Local Venue
by David Reutter
The Tennessee Supreme Court has held that a state statute requiring a local venue for lawsuits filed by indigent prisoners does not apply to actions that accrued while a prisoner “was housed …
Kentucky Jail Prisoners Make Mattresses
by David Reutter
The Daviess County Detention Center (DCDC) in Western Kentucky has a program that uses prisoners to manufacture mattresses. The program is expected to save the 700-bed facility $10,000 a year and provide a service to the local community.
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Notorious Psych Ward at Miami-Dade Jail Finally Shuttered
by David Reutter
In a historic culmination to decades of “horrific” living conditions and a pattern of constitutional violations, the Miami-Dade County Jail in Florida has finally closed the “Forgotten Floor” – the notorious ninth floor at the facility …
Nebraska Law Unconstitutionally Forfeits Good Time for Refusal to Submit DNA Sample
by David M. Reutter
The Nebraska Supreme Court has held that a retroactive state law which requires prisoners to submit DNA samples violates the Ex Post Facto Clause for increasing “the quantum of punishment” when …
Alaska High Court Reaffirms Negligence Standard to Protect Prisoners from Harm
by David Reutter
The Alaska Supreme Court, in a negligence suit filed by a former prisoner, reaffirmed its standard that a jailer has a duty to protect prisoners from all reasonably foreseeable harm. As to the …
$1.15 Million for Florida Pretrial Detainee’s Death
by David M. Reutter
A Florida federal jury awarded $975,000 to the estate of a woman who was denied medical and mental health treatment while held at the Pinellas County Jail (PCJ), and the parties later settled the case for …
Virginia Must Improve Prison Medical Care Under Proposed Class-action Settlement
by David Reutter
The Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) has agreed to let a court-appointed monitor examine medical policies at all state prisons, and to allow a third-party physician to oversee health care at the Fluvanna Correctional …
Jury Awards $12,000 to Connecticut Prisoner for Unsanitary Mattress
by David M. Reutter
A Connecticut federal jury awarded $12,000 in damages to a prisoner who was forced to sleep on an unhygienic mattress that was missing much of its stuffing.
The case involved a civil rights …
Peer-Review Reports Must be Disclosed in Philadelphia Jail Conditions Suit
by David Reutter
A Pennsylvania federal district court held on November 4, 2014 that medical care contractor Corizon Health has to produce mortality and sentinel event reviews in a class-action suit filed by prisoners in the Philadelphia …
$3,000 Jury Award to Arizona Prisoner Denied Prostate Care
by David M. Reutter
An Arizona federal jury awarded $3,000 to a prisoner in a case involving the delay or denial of medical care. Post-trial, the district court awarded $3,908.25 in attorney fees and costs, but found reductions …
