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Massachusetts Court of Appeals Reinstates Prisoner’s Dental Negligence Suit

Article • January 15, 2010 • from PLN January, 2010

Filed under: Private Prisons, Correctional Medical Care, Dental Care, Contractor Liability, Sovereign Immunity

Massachusetts Court of Appeals Reinstates Prisoner’s Dental Negligence Suit by Andrew W. Kilburn, a Massachusetts state prisoner, filed suit in state superior court alleging negligence and violation of the Eighth Amendment by Department of Correction (DOC) officials and medical personnel employed by Correctional Medical Services (CMS) and University of Massachusetts …

BOP Fails To Meet Drug Treatment Goals; Lack of Funding Blamed

Article • January 15, 2010 • from PLN January, 2010

Filed under: Good Time, Mental Health, Drug Treatment/Rehab

BOP Fails To Meet Drug Treatment Goals; Lack of Funding Blamed by According to the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) annual report to Congress on substance abuse treatment programs, the BOP will once again fail to provide residential drug treatment services to 100 percent of eligible prisoners. With the BOP’s population …

Georgia Prisoners Must Use Court Promulgated Form to Initiate a Court Action

Article • January 15, 2010 • from PLN January, 2010

Filed under: Court Access, Legal Materials, Complaints

Georgia Prisoners Must Use Court Promulgated Form to Initiate a Court Action by The Georgia Supreme Court has held that a trial court should have dismissed a mandamus petition filed by a prisoner against prison officials because the prisoner failed to use a form promulgated by the Administrative Office of …

Judgment for Guards who Allegedly Sodomized and Burned Prisoner Upheld

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Skeletal Disorder, Failure to Treat, Excessive Force, Burning

Judgment for Guards who Allegedly Sodomized and Burned Prisoner Upheld by On January 27, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a grant of summary judgment for two guards accused of providing deliberately indifferent medical care and a jury verdict in favor of the guards on …

Late Amendment of Pleading Properly Quashed

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Complaints, Parties

Late Amendment of Pleading Properly Quashed by A California Court of Appeals has upheld a trial court’s decision to quash an amended complaint naming several “Doe” defendants. The action, filed by A.N., alleged that A.N. was harmed while at juvenile hall in Los Angeles County. A.N. sought damages for negligence …

Mother of Murdered Son not “Victim” Within Meaning of Crime Victims Rights Act

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Mandamus, Restitution, Federal Statutory Law, Crime Victims Rights Act

Mother of Murdered Son not “Victim” Within Meaning of Crime Victims Rights Act by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has rejected a petition for mandamus filed by the mother of an individual murdered by Columbian paramilitaries. The mother had sought restitution under the Crime Victims Rights …

Nebraska Supreme Court Upholds Civil Commitment Law

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Retroactivity, Sentencing, Ex Post Facto, Sex Offender Treatment, Civil Commitment

Nebraska Supreme Court Upholds Civil Commitment Law by The Nebraska Sex Offender Commitment Act (SOCA) does not run afoul of either the Nebraska or United States Constitutions, the Nebraska Supreme Court decided March 13, 2009. J.R. was convicted of first degree sexual assault of a child. Prior to his release …

New Jersey Open Records Act Applies To County's Settlement of Sexual Harassment Suit

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Staff-Staff Harassment, Civil Procedure, Disclosure of Records, Employee Litigation

New Jersey Open Records Act Applies To County's Settlement of Sexual Harassment Suit by On March 17, 2009, the New Jersey Court of Appeals held that a county's settlement agreement with a former employee who sued over sexual harassment in the workplace was subject to disclosure under the Open Public …

New Trial Ordered After Evidence of Set-Up Excluded

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Crime/Demographics, Informants, Evidentiary Ruling, Appeals, Wrongful Conviction

New Trial Ordered After Evidence of Set-Up Excluded by The Court of Appeals for Missouri has ordered a new trial in a case where a former prisoner alleged that he was set up by police. In 1985, Oren Gamble was charged with burglary based on information provided by Larry McCoy. …

New York City Pays $5.5 Million to Suspect Hit By Cop Car

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Police Misconduct, Premises Liability

New York City Pays $5.5 Million to Suspect Hit By Cop Car by The City of New York agreed to pay an admitted drug user who was hit by a police car while fleeing police one of the highest personal-injury payouts of fiscal year 2009: $5.5 million. Manuel Martinez, 29, …

Prisoners’ Right to Receive Subscription Mail Clearly Established in Ninth Circuit in 2001

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Money/Property, Prisoner Property, Qualified Immunity, Publications/Books

Prisoners’ Right to Receive Subscription Mail Clearly Established in Ninth Circuit in 2001 by Eric K. Dannenberg, a California state prisoner, filed a pro se civil rights suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in federal district court alleging that, while he was incarcerated in the transient section at the Wasco …

Probation Revocation Warrants Do Not Have To Be Executed While In Custody For Another Offense

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Probation, Detainers, Police, Arrest Warrants

Probation Revocation Warrants Do Not Have To Be Executed While In Custody For Another Offense by The state does not waive a probation violation by failing to execute a probation warrant in a timely manner, the Supreme Court of Kansas decided October 31, 2008. Eric Hall sought dismissal of a …

Qualified Immunity Awarded to Guards for Restraint Necessitating Amputation

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Medical, Amputations, Restraints, Qualified Immunity

Qualified Immunity Awarded to Guards for Restraint Necessitating Amputation by The Court of Appeals of Georgia has affirmed the grant of qualified immunity for two Glynn County Detention Center (GCDC) guards accused of violating a prisoner’s civil rights resulting in leg amputation. Diana Whitten was arrested for a probation violation …

Washington DOC Agrees to Pay $450 To Settle Public Disclosure Act Suit

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Disclosure of Records

Washington DOC Agrees to Pay $450 To Settle Public Disclosure Act Suit by On March 1, 2006, the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) agreed to settle a Public Disclosure Act (PDA) suit for $450. The suit, brought by Nicholas Roy, a prisoner at the Airway Heights Corrections Center, alleged that …

Washington Prisoners Have The Right To Seek Divorce

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Court Access, Judiciary, Court Appearances, Family Law

Washington Prisoners Have The Right To Seek Divorce by A prisoner’s due process right of access the courts includes the right to bring actions for dissolution of marriage and related matters, the Supreme Court of Washington decided March 26, 1987. The court’s decision comes in response to an appeal by …

Yankees Settle Suit Over Restrictions On Fans

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Attorneys, Attorney Fee Awards, Required Religious Programming

Yankees Settle Suit Over Restrictions On Fans by The City of New York in conjunction with the New York Yankees baseball team has settled a lawsuit brought by a fan who alleged that the Yankees restricted him and other fans from moving around during the playing of “God Bless America.” …

No Hearing Required for Oregon IMU Confinement

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Out of State Transfers, Discrimination, Gang Policies, Mootness, Habeas Corpus, Ad-Seg Hearings

No Hearing Required for Oregon IMU Confinement by In a unanimous decision, the Oregon Supreme Court has held that state prisoners are not entitled to a hearing when they are confined in the Intensive Management Unit (IMU). The Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) operates two IMUs to segregate “prisoners who …

Attorney General’s SORNA Regulations Violate APA; Law Cannot be Applied to Offenders Convicted Before Its Enactment

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Sex Offender Registration, Civil Procedure, Retroactivity, Administrative Procedures Act (Federal), Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act

Attorney General’s SORNA Regulations Violate APA; Law Cannot be Applied to Offenders Convicted Before Its Enactment by The Sexual Offenders Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) may not be applied to offenders who were convicted of sex offenses before the statute’s enactment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit …

Judge Approves Sherriff Arpaio’s Draconian Postcard-Only Mail Policy

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Mail, Mail Regulations, Postage

Judge Approves Sherriff Arpaio’s Draconian Postcard-Only Mail Policy by On September 24, 2009, U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell entered summary judgment for Sheriff Joe Arpaio on a First Amendment challenge to a mail policy prohibiting prisoners from receiving incoming letters. Due to a purported rise in contraband coming through …

Judge Permits Medical Exam of Prisoner at ADX

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Discovery, Expert Witnesses

Judge Permits Medical Exam of Prisoner at ADX by U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen M. Tafoya has granted in part and denied in part a motion seeking to inspect two federal prisons, and to examine a prisoner incarcerated there. Thomas Silverstein has been in segregation over 22 years for killing Bureau …