Mental Illness Prevalent Among County Jail Prisoners, Especially Women by Gary Hunter A random sampling of 2,000 prisoners in five county jails found that, on average, nearly 15 percent of male prisoners and 31 percent of female prisoners suffer from serious mental illness. The study was headed by Dr. Henry …
$42,500 Settlement By City of Baltimore in Excessive Force Arrest Suit by The City of Baltimore, Maryland paid $42,500 to settle the excessive use of force claim during arrest brought by Anthony E. Chase. On December 3, 2005, around midnight, Chase was arrested by officer Eric L. Thomas and another …
$100,000 Settlement in Tort Suit Over Assault by Baltimore Police Officer by The City of Baltimore, Maryland, paid $100,000 to settle a tort claim of assault and assault and battery for injuries sustained by teenager Donald Kosh during a foot chase and subsequent arrest. While on patrol on January 27, …
Maryland Prisoners Make Flags by Made in the U.S.A. got a whole new meaning with the passage of a recent Maryland law that requires all Maryland and United States flags to be produced in the United States. For many years in Maryland, all but one flag that flies at the …
Maryland Prisoners Receive Kosher Food by Brandon Sample Beginning on April 9, 2009, The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) started providing kosher meals to state prisoners with religious dietary needs. The decision to provide kosher food came after a meeting between the Secretary of the DPSCS …
15 Guards Charged with Assaulting Maryland Prisoners by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Maryland Attorney General’s Office has charged 15 former prison guards with assaulting prisoners. The charges come nearly a year after the guards were fired from the North Branch Correctional Institution and Roxbury Correctional Institution; another …
Jury Awards $1.8 Million for False Arrest and Malicious Prosecution by In April, 2008, five Maryland men were awarded more than $1.8 million in compensatory and punitive damages in a civil rights suit alleging false arrest and malicious prosecution by Baltimore police officer Robert Cirello. Plaintiffs' attorneys, James L. Rhodes …
Prisoner’s Death, Abusive and Incompetent Guards Give Black Eye to Maryland Prisons & Jails by Gary Hunter Prisoner’s Death, Abusive and Incompetent Guards Give Black Eye to Maryland Prisons & Jails by Gary Hunter On June 27, 2008, Ronnie L. White, 19, was arrested for the death of Maryland State …
Executioner Banned in Missouri but Available for Hire Elsewhere by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg A former Missouri prison doctor and participant in lethal injections, who was banned from performing executions in that state, is still for hire to conduct executions in other jurisdictions. With over 40 death sentences …
Dismissal of Suit Challenging Loss of Diminution Credits Upheld by On May 8, 2008, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld the dismissal of a prisoner suit challenging the loss of diminution credits. Alfred Fraction and Gregory Nutter, Maryland prisoners, sued the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and …
Baltimore Settles Officers’ Lawsuit in Rogue Unit Scandal by The City of Baltimore has issued an apology and agreed to a $290,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed by two Baltimore police officers wrongfully accused of illegal acts related to a rogue police unit. The City’s rare public apology was a …
Entire Texas Prison System Locked Down to Search for Phones; Prison Cell Phone Problem is Pandemic by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On October 20, 2008, Texas Governor Rick Perry placed all 112 prisons and 155,000 prisoners in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) on lockdown to search for …
Maryland Prison Employees Strip Searched After False Alert by Drug Scanning Machine by Derick Limberg Maryland Prison Employees Strip Searched After False Alert by Drug Scanning Machine by Derek Limburg Nine prison employees at the Maryland Correctional Training Center (MCTC) received the same treatment as prisoners upon their arrival at …
Georgia Judges, Other Officials Indicted on Corruption and Human Trafficking Charges by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Federal authorities have been investigating Georgia state court judges and county officials for the past several years. The result thus far is numerous indictments and three guilty pleas on charges ranging from …
Maryland DOC Pays $500,000 for Detainee Beaten to Death By Guards by Maryland DOC Pays $500,000 for Detainee Beaten to Death By Guards In May, 2008, the State of Maryland settled for $500,000 a lawsuit brought by the family of a detainee who was beaten to death by jail guards …
Youth Services International Not Liable for Child’s Rape by Cellmate by The plaintiff alleged that he was sexually assaulted by his roommate in a privately operated juvenile facility. The corporation is entitled to summary judgment in the absence of evidence of a corporate policy supporting liability. Its policy was to …
Unlawful Maryland Strip Search Suit Settles for $285,000 by Kent County, Maryland high school students Heather Gore and Jessica Bedell received a total of $285,000 and apologies in a settlement for nefarious strip searches conducted in 2004. The Kent County Sheriff’s Dept. brought drug sniffing canines into the school in …
Maryland Juvenile Justice Official Resigns Over Past Abuse Allegations by David Reutter Just seven months after he was hired as director over Maryland’s juvenile detention facilities, Chris Perkins, 38, resigned his $76,000 a year position when a Montana judge unsealed a report that found Perkins had abused children at a …
$215,000 Settlement in Maryland False Arrest Case by Daniel Miller was paid $215,000 to settle a civil rights action after he was falsely arrested and spent 19 days in jail in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The Associate County Attorney said the settlement did not reflect any wrongdoing. The case stemmed …
No Safety or Security for Maryland Prisoners by Michael Rigby Twenty-five guards have been fired amid allegations that they beat prisoners at two Maryland prisons. The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) initially terminated the employment of eight guards on April 4, 2008. Another nine were fired …
