PHS Responsible For Deaths Of New York Prisoners by by Michael Rigby Prison Health Services (PHS) has killed another patient. According to a highly critical 10-page report released by the New York State Commission of Correction on June 23, 2004, the 2001 death of Brian Tetrault, a prisoner in the …
$195,900 in Damages, Fees/Costs Awarded in Prison Sexual Abuse Case; PLRA Fee Caps Inapplicable to Former Prisoners by A federal court in New York awarded a former prisoner $179,900 in attorney's fees and costs, against the prison guard who sexually assaulted her. The court concluded that the fee cap provisions …
PHS Medical Care at Rikers Fails in Evaluation by Paul von Zielbauer PHS Medical Care At Rikers Fails In Evaluation by Paul Von Zielbauer A recent evaluation of the company in charge of prisoner health care at Rikers Island, coming months after it was awarded a new $300 million contract, …
New York Appeals Court Upholds Former Senator’s Return To Rikers by The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, First Department, has ordered former state senator Guy J. Velella and four others (the petitioners) back to jail. In reaching this decision the court found that the petitioners had been …
New York City Settles False Imprisonment Suit For $1.25 Million by On September 23, 2004, New York City agreed to pay $1.25 million to a man who was falsely arrested and imprisoned for 15 months. Bernie Pollard, a 28-year-old construction worker, was arrested at his Brooklyn home on July 22, …
$12,003.74 in Fees/Costs Awarded in Excessive Force Use; PLRA Fee Cap Inapplicable to Stipulated Set by $12,003.74 in Fees/Costs Awarded in Excessive Force Use; PLRA Fee Cap Inapplicable to Stipulated Settlements A federal court in New York awarded attorneys' fees of $10,858 and costs of $1,144.95 for a total of …
New York Legislator Pays For CSC-Chauffeured Rides by A New York State Assemblyman has been sentenced to three years probation and ordered to pay $5,000 in fines and restitution for unlawfully billing the state for rides he got for free from Correctional Services Corporation (CSC). The sentence was imposed after …
Exhaustion of Administrative Remedy Requirement May be Excused by The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the failure to exhaust administrative remedies may be excused in limited circumstances and should be excused in this case. This civil rights action arose from events that occurred while Ivan Rodriguez was …
Destruction of Exculpatory Disciplinary Evidence May Violate Due Process Clause by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York's order denying prison officials' motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds in a prison discipline case. …
New York Jail Settles Strip-Search Suit For $2.7 Million by On March 10, 2004, the parties involved in a class action lawsuit over unlawful strip-searches performed during intake at the Rensselaer County (New York) Jail agreed to settle the case for $2.7 million. On various occasions between June 26, 1999 …
New York Jail's Strip Search Policy Permanently Enjoined by A federal court in New York held that the Orange County Correctional Facility's (OCCF) strip search policy violated the Fourth Amendment by authorizing strip searches without individualized reasonable suspicion that a detainee possessed contraband. The court found that the balance of …
Harsh Pre-trial Conditions of Confinement Justify Reduced Federal Sentence by Harsh Pre-trial Conditions of Confinement Justify Reduced Federal Sentence by Matthew T. Clarke A New York federal court has held that harsh pre-trial conditions of confinement justify a downward departure in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Jubelequis Mateo, a New York …
New York Prisoner Awarded $105,000 for Shoulder Injury by New York Prisoner Awarded $105,000 For Shoulder Injury On December 15, 2003, a court of claims in Syracuse, New York, awarded $105,000 plus interest to a state prisoner who suffered a torn rotator cuff as the result of a construction accident. …
New York's Felon Disenfranchisement Law Not Saved By Federal Voting Rights Act by John E Dannenberg New York's Felon Disenfranchisement Law Not Saved By Federal Voting Rights Act by John E. Dannenberg The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that New York Election Law § 5-106, which disenfranchises [i.e., …
Report Lambastes New York Lockdowns by Michael Rigby by: Michael Rigby Emotional and physical distress...restricted diets... "greeting beatings" ...high rates of mental illness...a reliance on warehousing instead of treatment. This is the troubling reality of disciplinary confinement in New York, according to a 54-page report released on October 22, 2003, …
Rikers Island Gunshot Victims' Suit Dismissed by A New York state court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by two men who claimed they were shot while asleep at the Rikers Island prison in New York City. Bronx Judge Alison E. Tuitt dismissed the suit on May 21, 2004four days into …
Muntaqim v. Coombe, NY, Amicus Brief - Center for Constitutional Rights, Voting, 2005 01-7260 IN THE United States Court of Appeals FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT ________________________ JALIL ABDUL MUNTAQIM, a/k/a ANTHONY BOTTOM, Plaintiff — Appellant, — v. — PHILLIP COOMBE, ANTHONY ANNUCCI, LOUIS F. MANN, Defendants — Appellees. ______ ON …
Ex-Rikers Island Chief Indicted by Anthony Serra, formerly the second in command at the New York City Department of Corrections (DOC), has been indicted for felony grand larceny and 145 counts of misdemeanor violations of the Conflict of Interest Law. He faces up to 15 years in prison for the …
New York Prisoner's Retaliation Suit Remanded for Trial by The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a district court's grant of summary judgment to guards in a prisoner's retaliation suit. This action was filed by New York prisoner Anthony Bennett, alleging he was retaliated against for successfully prosecuting a …
Qualified Immunity Granted for Warrantless Parole Search by The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that parole officers' warrantless entry into a homeowner's residence was per se unreasonable and violated the homeowner's Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches. The court further held, however, that the officers were …
