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Articles by Michael Rigby

Arkansas County Pays $40,000 To Handicapped Man Raped In Jail

On May 22, 2006, Saline County, Arkansas, agreed to pay $40,000 to a deaf man who was raped by other prisoners in the Saline County Detention Center.
Johnny Jones, a deaf man who is unable to speak, was arrested and charged with rape in May 2002. He was subsequently booked ...

EMSA, Florida County to Pay $500,000 for Untreated Ectopic Pregnancy

Broward County, Florida, and EMSA Correctional Care, Inc., must pay $500,000 to a county prisoner who suffered permanent injury and weeks of unnecessary pain because jail medical personnel failed to diagnose or treat her ectopic pregnancy, a federal jury decided on January 8, 2004.

Charleen Foree, 38, was imprisoned in ...

Michigan Prisoner Wins $20,000 on Failure to Protect Claim

On March 29, 2006, a federal court in Michigan awarded $20,000 to a state prisoner who was attacked and cut with a razor after prison officials repeatedly ignored his requests for protection.

Reggie Williams, a prisoner serving 2 to 15 years in the Massachusetts Department of Corrections since 1999, claimed ...

Massachusetts Prisoners Battle MRSA, Untreated Hepatitis C

Kerry M. Castello is infected with hepatitis C, a disease that is slowly destroying his liver. But because Massachusetts prison officials are short on funds, he cant get the treatment he desperately needs.

Castello, 41, was first diagnosed with hepatitis C by prison doctors in 2001. In 2003 doctors placed ...

Beaten Texas Prisoner Who Was Denied Safekeeping Awarded $87,500

On March 20, 2006, a federal jury awarded $87,500 to a Texas prisoner who was beaten by gang members after his request for transfer to protective custody was denied.

While imprisoned at the McConnell Unit in southeast Texas on March 10, 2003, Robert Clark, 23, formally requested removal from the ...

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ordered to Pay Prisoner $500 For Misconduct

On April 6, 2005, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas levied a $500
sanction award against two Assistant U.S. Attorneys for their unethical, unprofessional, and
dishonest conduct in a prisoner lawsuit.

Plaintiff Brandon Sample filed a pro se federal lawsuit on May 19, ...

Kentucky County Jail Settles Lawsuit Alleging Overcrowded Conditions

On November 30, 2005, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky tentatively
approved the settlement of a class action lawsuit alleging unconstitutionally overcrowded
conditions at the Campbell County Jail in Newport, Kentucky.

Built in 1991, the Campbell County Detention Center was designed to hold 135 prisoners. It ...

Virginia Sheriffs Pay for Christian Ministries

Several Virginia sheriffs have used public money to pay for services from Christian groups that
minister to prisoners, the Virginia-Pilot reported on March 2, 2006. The payments have drawn
criticism from some watchdog groups that advocate for a strong separation of church and state.
Portsmouth Sheriff Gary Waters has paid ...

$75,000 Settlement for Untreated Wisconsin Methadone Patient

Outagamie County, Wisconsin, has agreed to pay $75,000 to a man whose withdrawal from
methadone went untreated at the county jail.

Richard Foelker was participating in a methadone treatment program for heroin addiction when
he checked himself into the Outagamie County Jail on April 27, 2000, to serve a sentence ...

Sexually Abused Texas Prisoner Loses Federal Lawsuit, Returns To Prison

Roderick Keith Johnson, a prisoner who garnered national attention with allegations that Texas
prison officials allowed him to be bought and sold as a sex slave, has lost his federal lawsuit
against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). Following the October 2005 verdict,
Johnson was returned to prison for ...