Army Scientist Paid $5.8 Million to Settle Anthrax Accusations Defamation Suit by In 2002, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft called Army scientist Steven Hatfill a "person of interest" in a deadly 2001 anthrax mailing case. Six years later, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) paid Hatfill $5.8 million to settle …
Maryland: Off-Duty Deputies Liable for Mass Purchase of Newspaper Critical of Sheriff on Eve of Election by In 2004, on remand from the Fourth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland held that neither qualified nor statutory immunity shielded off-duty deputies from liability for damages for making …
Qualified Immunity Upheld in Maryland Prison Employees’ Suit over Strip Search Following Positive Ion Drug Scan by Employees and independent contractors at the Maryland Correctional Center Training Center were subjected to search by a portable ion scanning machine in an attempt to interdict drugs being smuggled into the facility. Eight …
Sharp v. Baltimore City Police Department et al, MD, DOJ letter re Recording Police, seizure of phone for arrest video, 2012 U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division JMS:TDM:RJO DJ 207-35-10 Special Litigation Section - PHB 950 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington DC 20530 May 14, 2012 Mark H. Grimes Baltimore …
State of Maryland v. Brightful et al, MD, Order, Drug Recognition Expert Protocol, 2012 03/05/2012 13:30 From: .A :"~_ #210 P,002/038 I! I Ii ii IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR CARROLL COUNTY II Ii 1j ii' I, "" Ii Ii 11 STATE OF MARYLAND v, IIII II II I' I …
U.S. Supreme Court Limits Edwards Rule by Brandon Sample In Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477 (1981), the Supreme Court held that statements made to police during an interrogation following a request for counsel are presumed invalid. The so-called Edwards rule was designed to protect the safeguards afforded by Miranda …
$11.5 Million Jury Award to Family of Man Wrongfully Killed by Cop by In March 2011, a Prince George’s County jury awarded $11.5 million in damages to the widow and child of a man who was shot to death by a police officer. In August 2008, while moonlighting as a …
Sharp v. Baltimore City Police Department, MD, Complaint, First Amendment, Recording Officers, 2011 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR BALTIMORE CITY, MARYLAND Christopher Sharp, 4938 Stone Shop Circle Owings Mills, MD 21117 Plaintiff~ vs. Baltimore City Police Department, 601 East Fayette Street Baltimore, MD 21211-2908 Civil Action No. - - - …
Sundry Claims Board Only Remedy For Maryland Prisoners Injured On Paid Jobs by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke A Maryland court of appeals has ruled that Maryland state prisoners injured on paid jobs may only seek compensation through the Sundry Claims Board (SCB). Melvin James Dixon, a former Maryland state …
In-Prison Filmmaker Prepares Next Release by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Compact video cameras smuggled into prison have allowed New Jersey prisoner Omar Broadway to become an amateur documentarian of life behind bars. His first video, taken inside a New Jersey state facility in 2004, has been turned into …
Baltimore Jail’s Warden, Seven Guards Suspended Pending Excessive Force Investigation by Pending an investigation into an alleged use of excessive force involving a female detainee, the warden and seven guards at the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center (BCBIC) have been suspended. The detainee, a 26-year-old woman who faced minor …
State Audit Finds Maryland Prison Employees Misused Funds in Prisoner Accounts by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke State lawmakers have registered outrage after a state audit, released in October 2010, revealed that employees of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPSC) at five finance offices in the Baltimore …
Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Retires in Wake of DUI Arrest by by Brandon Sample It is a familiar pattern for many prominent public officials. Get caught breaking the law, express remorse for your actions, and then tender your resignation. But make sure to claim that your resignation had nothing …
Maryland: Convicted Felons Receive Victims’ Compensation by Gary Hunter Since 2003, Maryland’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Board has awarded about $1.8 million to claimants with criminal convictions. In Baltimore, over 120 people who received victims’ compensation had been arrested for selling or manufacturing drugs; more than seventy of those payments went …
Terminally Ill Maryland Prisoner May Refuse Treatment; State’s Highest Court Denies Forced Treatment by Mark Wilson The Maryland Court of Appeals held that prison officials cannot force a terminally ill prisoner to undergo kidney dialysis treatment. In 1995, Troy Reid was sentenced to 40 years in the custody of the …
Maryland Law Counts Prisoners According to Pre-Incarceration Residence by Michael Rigby by Mike Rigby A new Maryland law – the first of its kind – changed the way state prisoners were counted in the 2010 census. Historically, prisoners have been counted according to the location of the facility where they …
$2 Million Award in Maryland Prisoner’s Work Crew Death by A jury in Prince George’s County, Maryland found that state prison and highway officials and the driver of a private dump truck were liable in an accident that killed a prisoner who was picking up trash on the side of …
Registered Sex Offender Remained on City Payroll While Incarcerated by Michael Brodheim Dennis J. McLaughlin, a water maintenance worker for Baltimore’s Department of Public Works (DPW), continued to earn his salary from 2007 to 2008 while serving a prison sentence for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl. McLaughlin, 37, pleaded guilty …
$500,000 Settlement in Maryland Prisoner’s Death from Pepper Spraying by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A half-million dollar settlement was paid to the family of a Maryland prisoner who died when prison officials used excessive pepper spray while extracting him from his cell, and then failed to provide medical …
Prisoner’s Homicide at Maryland Jail Not Prosecuted by Gary Hunter Ronnie White’s death by strangulation will go unpunished. On June 2, 2009, almost a year after White died amid a flurry of controversy at the Prince George’s County Correctional Center in Maryland, state’s attorney Glenn F. Ivey announced there was …
