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Articles by John Dannenberg

Of 426 California Prisoner Deaths in 2006, 66 Found to be Preventable

by John E. Dannenberg

In August 2007, former California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) federal healthcare Receiver Robert Sillen issued a report titled Analysis of CDCR Death Reviews, prepared by the CDCR’s Death Review Committee (DRC). The 11-page “public version” of the report analyzes the causes of all prisoner ...

Failure to Treat Immigrant Detainee’s Fatal Penile Cancer Ruled “Beyond Cruel”

Failure to Treat Immigrant Detainee’s Fatal Penile Cancer Ruled “Beyond Cruel”

by John E. Dannenberg

A U.S. District Court (C.D. Cal.) has ruled that the repeated failure of U.S. immigration authorities over an eleven-month period to provide medical testing and treatment for a detainee’s cancerous penile lesion that ultimately proved ...

Deal to Reconsider 1,000 Paroles Scotched When New York Governor Capitulates Over Cop Killer’s Case

by John E. Dannenberg

Faced with a pending federal class action lawsuit brought by New York state prisoners seeking relief from being denied parole based solely on the nature of their crimes, then Governor Elliot Spitzer was ready to order the Parole Board to reconsider the cases of 1,000 Class-A ...

Fifth Circuit: Federal Prisoner Loses Retaliation Suit but U.S. Attorney Sanctioned

by John E. Dannenberg

A federal prisoner in Texas sued prison officials for retaliating against him for filing grievances. While the court found for the defendants, it nonetheless sanctioned two Assistant U.S. Attorneys $500 for procedural discovery errors, payable to the plaintiff. On appeal the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ...

Over $6 Million Awarded in Oakland, California Parolee’s False Arrest Suit

by John E. Dannenberg

A federal jury awarded $6,058,000 in damages to a parolee and his girlfriend for outrageous conduct by Oakland, California city police (OPD) when they broke into his residence, told him they had a non-existent warrant, falsely claimed they found a firearm, and caused him to be ...

Washington Inter-Prison Property-Shipping-Fee Class Action Suit Settles For $1,262,500

by John E. Dannenberg

Between 1995 and 2005, Washington State Department of Corrections (WADOC) policy 440.000 required prisoners who were being transferred between WADOC prisons to pre-pay the shipping costs of their personal property in excess of two boxes, or forfeit the property. A class-action lawsuit brought by four WADOC ...

Unlocking America, Why and How to Reduce America’s Prison Population, The JFA Institute, November 2007, 32 pp.

Reviewed by John E. Dannenberg

Unlocking America is a study on how to approach the task of reducing America’s prison population (“decarceration”) without compromising public safety. Key factors recommended to accomplish this include reducing the number of persons sent to prison, shortening the terms of those who are, and decreasing/eliminating ...

Complaint Against Utah DOC for Non-Delivery of PLN Fails Because Defendants Only Negligent; Jail Publication Ban Illegal

by John E. Dannenberg

The Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has rejected several Utah-based civil rights complaints concerning the denial of reading material to prisoners, including issues of Prison Legal News. In a case involving the Salt Lake County Jail, suit was brought regarding the constitutionality of the jail’s ...

Floor-Sleeping at Los Angeles County Jail Ruled Unconstitutional

by John E. Dannenberg

On September 21, 2007, a California U.S. District Court granted summary judgment in favor of a class of prisoners who had been required to sleep on the floor of the Los Angeles County Jail (“Jail”) between December 18, 2002 and May 17, 2005, ruling that such ...

Whistle-blowing California Sheriff’s Deputy Settles Retaliation Suit For $150,000

by John E. Dannenberg

Butte County, California officials settled a decade-old $1.2 million lawsuit brought by a former county jail deputy who blew the whistle on a jailhouse beating of a child molester ordered by three other deputies, and who was then subjected to a retaliatory bogus prosecution on unrelated ...