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 …
Maryland State Damages Cap Trumps Federal Awards For 11 Year Old Paraplegic by Davita Carter, an 11 year old resident of Illinois and a Marine veteran's daughter, appealed the damages reduction awarded her in 2000 after surgery left her a paraplegic. The federal court's award was dictated by Maryland State …
Prison Health Services Physician’s Assistant License Revocation Upheld by On June 2, 2005, a Maryland court of appeals upheld the revocation of a Prison Health Services (PBS) Physician’s Assistant (PA) certificate for fraudulently procuring prescriptions for his adult son. Carl F. Oltman, Sr., was a PA, employed by PHS, contracted …
Maryland Prisoner Wins $230,144 in Police Brutality Suit by Charles Totten, a Maryland state prisoner, tried to escape Baltimore cops John Burns and Stephen Kolackovsky on foot. When they caught him, they cuffed him, slammed his head into the street in a "pile driven" fashion and threw him in the …
Maryland Settles Suit Over Guard Wearing Dreadlocks by On 05-24-04, Maryland settled a suit brought by a prison guard who was disciplined for failing to cut his dreadlocks. Jonathan Booth was a 35-year old, married, black Maryland prison guard when he was ordered to cut his dreadlocks. Booth, who is …
Massachusetts Court of Appeals: Instructional Videotape Not Learned Treatise by On March 15, 1990, a Massachusetts court of appeals ruled that an instructional medical videotape was not a learned treatise and was therefore inadmissible as evidence in a medical malpractice case. Stanley G. Simmons, 69, was a patient of Dr. …
