“American Taliban” Wins Injunction Against BOP Religious Worship Restrictions
by Derek Gilna
Federal prisoner John Walker Lindh, better known as the “American Taliban,” who pleaded guilty to fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan and carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony, has won a lawsuit against the warden ...
Former Prisoner Receives $50,000 Settlement for Beating by Ohio Jail Guard
by Derek Gilna
Jordan Sand, 18, previously incarcerated at the Lorain County jail in Elyria, Ohio as a juvenile offender, received a $50,000 settlement from the county after he was brutally assaulted in 2012 by former guard Marlon Taylor. ...
Prisoner Files Lawsuit after Being Pepper Sprayed in Restraint Chair
by Derek Gilna
A Maine state prisoner who was pepper sprayed at close range after being placed in a restraint chair is suing the prison captain who wielded the chemical irritant during a 2012 incident that was captured on video ...
In the hands of a skilled operator, such as the late John Reid of John E. Reid and Associates, one of the early pioneers in the lie detection field, the polygraph can be a useful tool. Reid, along with noted Northwestern Law School criminal law professor Fred Inbau, essentially originated ...
Tenth Circuit Misses Chance to Limit Long-Term Solitary Confinement
by Derek Gilna
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a prisoner’s more than three-decades-long stint in solitary confinement, sidestepping an opportunity to meaningfully address the appropriateness of such long-term isolation.
Thomas Silverstein, 62, has been held in solitary confinement ...
Kentucky Death Row Prisoners Win Appeal on Religious Accommodations
by Derek Gilna
On August 15, 2014, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of five death row prisoners in Kentucky who sued the director of the Department of Corrections (DOC) under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons ...
Lawsuits Over Riot at CCA Prison in Colorado Settle for $600,000
by Derek Gilna
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), confronted with the prospect of a jury trial scheduled to last 25 weeks on the claims of almost 200 current and former prisoners who suffered injuries during a 2004 riot at ...
Ninth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of California ADA Suit Against Parole Officers
by Derek Gilna
In a decision that displayed its displeasure with California parole officers’ disregard for both the spirit and statutory requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal of an ADA Title ...
Wisconsin Prison Guard Union Faces Challenges
by Derek Gilna
A 2013 memo issued by then-incoming Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) Secretary Edward F. Wall, in which he warned DOC employees to stop spreading rumors, was apparently another example of contentious relations between the state and its prison guards, and among ...
Guilty Brazilian Prison Guards Finally Convicted in 1992 Jail Massacre
by Derek Gilna
Justice was slow in coming for the families and friends of some of the 111 Brazilian prisoners at now-demolished Sao Paulo Carandiru prison who were killed during a prison revolt on October 2, 1992. Although prison authorities ...
