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Wright v. Peters, OR, Complaint, Transgender Care, 2016

Brief • October 17, 2016

Filed under: Discrimination, Gay/Lesbian, Medical Expenses, Failure to Treat, Conditions of Confinement, Clothing, Mental Health, Suicides, Guards/Staff

Wright v. Peters, OR, Complaint, Transgender Care, 2016 Case 6:16-cv-01998-KI Document 1 Filed 10/17/16 Page 1 of 33 Edward J. Reeves, OSB No. 833040 ed.reeves@stoel.com Kennon Scott, OSB No. 144280 kennon.scott@stoel.com Samantha K. Sondag, OSB No. 154244 samantha.sondag@stoel.com STOEL RIVES LLP 760 SW Ninth Avenue, Suite 3000 Portland, Oregon 97205 …

Oregon Federal Court Denies Motion to Dismiss Release Debit Card Suit

Article • October 3, 2016 • from PLN October, 2016

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Prisoner Property

Oregon Federal Court Denies Motion to Dismiss Release Debit Card Suit by Derek Gilna On August 25, 2016, a federal district court in Oregon denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by former prisoner Danica Love Brown, who had filed a class-action complaint naming Stored Value Cards, Inc. d/b/a …

Oregon Post-conviction Judgment Violates State Law

Article • October 3, 2016 • from PLN October, 2016

Filed under: Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Discovery, Due Process

Oregon Post-conviction Judgment Violates State Law by Mark Wilson Last year the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s judgment denying a prisoner’s collateral appeal, because the judgment violated state law. Following the direct appeal of a conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court, …

Safe Alternatives to Segregation Initiative - Findings and Recommendations for ODOC, Vera, 2016

Publication • October 1, 2016

Filed under: Retaliatory Segregation, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Administrative Detention/Segregation

Safe Alternatives to Segregation Initiative - Findings and Recommendations for ODOC, Vera, 2016 October 2016 The Safe Alternatives to Segregation Initiative: Findings and Recommendations for the Oregon Department of Corrections Allison Hastings, Elena Vanko, and Jessi LaChance © 2016 Vera Institute of Justice. All rights reserved. Additional copies can be …

Oregon Habeas Cognizable to Challenge Confinement in Florida and Colorado under Interstate Compact

Article • September 30, 2016 • from PLN October, 2016

Filed under: Out of State Transfers, Transfers, Conditions of Confinement, Grooming Rules, Habeas Corpus, RLUIPA, Religious Grooming

Oregon Habeas Cognizable to Challenge Confinement in Florida and Colorado under Interstate Compact by In a pair of rulings, the Oregon Court of Appeals held that prisoners incarcerated in other states under the Interstate Corrections Compact (ICC) may challenge the conditions of their confinement in habeas corpus actions against Oregon …

Coos County Sheriff's Office Contract Summary With Correct Care Solutions, LLC, 2016

Publication • September 7, 2016

Filed under: Correct Care Solutions

Coos County Sheriff's Office Contract Summary With Correct Care Solutions, LLC, 2016 coos co UNTY FILING COVER SHEET TO: Coos County Clerk - Filing FROM: Office of Legal Counsel COOS COUNTY, OREGON Commissioners' · Journal CJ 2016-000598 09/07/2016 4 :37:24 PM Please file th e attached document in the County …

Oregon DOC Sees Spike in Gang-related Murders

Article • September 2, 2016 • from PLN September, 2016

Filed under: Prison Gangs, Prison/Jail Murders, Statistics/Trends, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death)

Oregon DOC Sees Spike in Gang-related Murders by Mark Wilson “This is a systemic problem,” said attorney Dennis Steinman, who represented the widow of an Oregon prisoner murdered in his cell. “This is not only about Snake River. This is about the prisons statewide.” Steinman appears to be correct, given …

Appeal Doesn’t Stay ODOC’s “Second Look” Release Plan Obligation

Article • September 2, 2016 • from PLN September, 2016

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Release and Reentry, Juveniles

Appeal Doesn’t Stay ODOC’s “Second Look” Release Plan Obligation by Mark Wilson The en banc Oregon Supreme Court held on October 22, 2015 that appealing a trial court order conditionally releasing a juvenile murderer who had served half his minimum sentence did not relieve prison officials of their statutory obligation …

Mentally Ill Oregon Prisoner’s Wrongful Death Suit Settles for $7.4 Million

Article • September 2, 2016 • from PLN September, 2016

Filed under: Corizon, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Malpractice, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides

Mentally Ill Oregon Prisoner’s Wrongful Death Suit Settles for $7.4 Million by Mark Wilson The family of a mentally ill Oregon prisoner who died due to complications from an untreated broken neck received $7.4 million to settle their claims. In 2012, the Lane County Jail (LCJ) in Eugene, Oregon entered …

Oregon Prosecutor & Defense Attorney Face Discipline for Illegal Confinement of Mentally Ill Defendant

Article • August 25, 2016

Filed under: Attorney Misconduct, Overdetention, Civil Commitment

Oregon Prosecutor & Defense Attorney Face Discipline for Illegal Confinement of Mentally Ill Defendant by The Oregon State Bar has voted to pursue disciplinary action against the Washington County District Attorney and a mentally ill criminal defendant's attorney for causing the man's illegal confinement. Donn Thomas Spinosa stabbed his wife …

Oregon Guard Fellatio Nets Probation, Prosecutor Blames Victim

Article • August 25, 2016

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Specific

Oregon Guard Fellatio Nets Probation, Prosecutor Blames Victim by On September 25, 2012, a former Oregon jail guard was sentenced to just two years of probation for sexually abusing a female prisoner. Prosecutors defend the light sentence by blaming the victim. As we've previously reported, guard Eddie James Miller's 21-year …

Assaultive Oregon Jail Guard Quits for Prisoner-Lover

Article • August 25, 2016

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Jail Specific

Assaultive Oregon Jail Guard Quits for Prisoner-Lover by "I crushed a dude's eye socket from repeatedly punching him in it, then I charged him with menacing and harassment," bragged Oregon jail guard David B. Thompson in one of more than 1,700 internet gaming site postings in eight months while at …

Repeated Oregon Sex Scandals Cost $2 Million and Nine Staff Prosecutions

Article • August 25, 2016

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Staff-Prisoner Harassment

Repeated Oregon Sex Scandals Cost $2 Million and Nine Staff Prosecutions by It is deja vu all over again, and again, and again, as yet another employee at Oregon's only women's prison was arrested for sexually abusing a prisoner, continuing a disturbing trend across the nation that we report on …

BOP Admits to Email Destruction Policy; Discovery of Policy Compliance with FRA Allowed

Article • August 25, 2016

Filed under: Disclosure of Records, Discovery, Public Records, Freedom of Information Act

BOP Admits to Email Destruction Policy; Discovery of Policy Compliance with FRA Allowed by A federal court in Oregon held that a party to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) action was entitled to discovery regarding the record retention/destruction policy of the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). In November 2008, …

New Wrongful Death Trial Prompts Potential $600,000 Settlement; Judge Gave Faulty Jury Instructions, Finds Excessive Force

Article • August 25, 2016

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Settlements, Jury Instructions, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

New Wrongful Death Trial Prompts Potential $600,000 Settlement; Judge Gave Faulty Jury Instructions, Finds Excessive Force by On December 5, 1999, 29 year-old Damon Lowery’s life came to a tragic and, in police custody.  Now, more than five years later, the new trial looming, Portland, Oregon, officials are considering paying …

State Pays $1 Million to Settle Sex Claims; Jury Finds Against Juvenile Prison Chaplain

Article • August 25, 2016

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Juveniles, Failure to Protect (Juveniles), Juvenile Prisons

State Pays $1 Million to Settle Sex Claims; Jury Finds Against Juvenile Prison Chaplain by Following an eleven-day trial, a Portland, Oregon jury awarded two men $1,400,000 on claims that they were sexually abused by a chaplain at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in the 1970s. Fourteen men brought suits …

Guard’s Internet Boasts Expose Jail’s “Culture of Violence”

Article • August 25, 2016

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Stun Guns/Tasers, Internet

Guard’s Internet Boasts Expose Jail’s “Culture of Violence” by “Seeing someone get TASER’d is second only to being the guy pulling the trigger. That is money. Puts a smile on your face—My job is sweet sometimes,” wrote Multnomah County Jail Deputy David B. Thompson on an Internet gaming site called …

Oregon Nurse Resigns Over 2-Year Affair with Mental Patient

Article • August 24, 2016

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Mental Health

Oregon Nurse Resigns Over 2-Year Affair with Mental Patient by A registered nurse at the Oregon State Hospital (OSH) sexually abused a mental patient for two years, according to a recently released state investigation report. While employed at OSH, registered nurse Jennifer Barren appears to have engaged in a long-term …

Oregon Judges Implicitly Authorized to Order Involuntary Psychotropic Medication

Article • August 24, 2016

Filed under: Involuntary Treatment/Drugging

Oregon Judges Implicitly Authorized to Order Involuntary Psychotropic Medication by In a case of first impression, on March 20, 2014, the En Banc Oregon Supreme Court held that Oregon law implicitly authorizes trial courts to order involuntary psychotropic medication to restore a criminal defendant’s trial competency. The Court held, however, …

Oregon Court Improperly Holds Library Denial Claim is Heck-Barred

Article • August 24, 2016

Filed under: Law Library Access/Adequacy

Oregon Court Improperly Holds Library Denial Claim is Heck-Barred by On July 31, 2014, an Oregon federal court erroneously dismissed a denial of law library claim, as barred by Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994). On August 2, 2002, Seth Edwin Koch was convicted of two counts of Aggravated …