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Orleans Parish Jail Settles Prisoner Suicide Suit for $1.75 Million

Article • January 10, 2017 • from PLN January, 2017

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides

Orleans Parish Jail Settles Prisoner Suicide Suit for $1.75 Million by Derek Gilna On March 11, 2016, Orleans Parish jail officials in Louisiana agreed to pay $1.75 million to settle a lawsuit stemming from the 2011 suicide of a mentally ill detainee. The suit, filed against Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin …

Too Little, Too Late: Prosecutor Remorseful for Sending Innocent Man to Death Row

Article • January 10, 2017 • from PLN January, 2017

Filed under: Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Racial Discrimination, Prosecutors, Juries, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty, Death Row, Racial Profiling

Too Little, Too Late: Prosecutor Remorseful for Sending Innocent Man to Death Row by David Reutter The district attorney who prosecuted Glenn Ford, a Louisiana man exonerated after spending 30 years on death row, called capital punishment “an abomination that continues to scar the fibers of this society.” That statement …

Kissinger v. LeBlanc, LA, Complaint, Retaliation for Media Contact, 2017

Brief • January 9, 2017

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct, Retaliation, Retaliation for Media Contact, Excessive Force, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Media

Kissinger v. LeBlanc, LA, Complaint, Retaliation for Media Contact, 2017 Case 3:17-cv-00011-JWD-EWD Document 1 01/09/17 Page 1 of 20 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA WILLIAM KISSINGER, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) JAMES LEBLANC, BURL CAIN, ) DARRYL VANNOY, SETH SMITH, ) ROBERT TANNER, TIM …

Lewis v. Cain, LA, Memo in Support of Motion, Systemic Medical Neglect, 2017

Brief • January 6, 2017

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Systemic Medical Neglect, Eighth Amendment, Americans with Disabilities Act

Lewis v. Cain, LA, Memo in Support of Motion, Systemic Medical Neglect, 2017 Case 3:15-cv-00318-BAJ-RLB Document 192-1 01/06/17 Page 1 of 21 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA JOSEPH LEWIS, JR., KENTRELL PARKER, FARRELL SAMPIER, REGINALD GEORGE, JOHN TONUBBEE, OTTO BARRERA, CLYDE CARTER, CEDRIC EVANS, EDWARD GIOVANNI, RICKY …

Kentrell v. Cain, LA, Memorandum, 2017

Brief • January 6, 2017

Filed under: Expert Witnesses

Kentrell v. Cain, LA, Memorandum, 2017 Case 3:15-cv-00318-BAJ-RLB Document 192-1 01/06/17 Page 1 of 21 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA JOSEPH LEWIS, JR., KENTRELL PARKER, FARRELL SAMPIER, REGINALD GEORGE, JOHN TONUBBEE, OTTO BARRERA, CLYDE CARTER, CEDRIC EVANS, EDWARD GIOVANNI, RICKY D. DAVIS, LIONEL TOLBERT, and RUFUS WHITE, …

Reforms at New Orleans Jail Slow to Materialize; Death Reporting Problematic

Article • December 8, 2016 • from PLN December, 2016

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Prison Reform, Failure to Treat, Failure to Protect (General), Jail Specific, Settlements, Disclosure of Records, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Suicides

Reforms at New Orleans Jail Slow to Materialize; Death Reporting Problematic by David Reutter Federal monitors overseeing implementation of a consent decree concerning conditions at the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) in New Orleans said they were “very concerned” about the lack of progress in implementing the agreement’s provisions. Forty-nine prisoners …

Fifth Circuit Holds Louisiana Prisoner May Sue Over Failure to Credit Good Time

Article • December 7, 2016 • from PLN December, 2016

Filed under: Sentencing, Good Time, Qualified Immunity, Due Process

Fifth Circuit Holds Louisiana Prisoner May Sue Over Failure to Credit Good Time by Matthew Clarke On January 1, 2016, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Louisiana prisoner may sue prison officials for failing to credit him with good conduct time which would have shortened his sentence. …

Prison Rodeos: A Bunch of Bull?

Article • December 7, 2016 • from PLN December, 2016

Filed under: Prison Labor, Failure to Protect (General), Prison Tourism/Consumerism, Prisoner Privileges, Art, Commissary

Prison Rodeos: A Bunch of Bull? by David Reutter Rarely does the public find anything entertaining about a person who has been convicted of a crime and sent to prison. That is not the case with prison rodeos, however, which draw people from all over the U.S. and even other …

Hacker v. Cain, LA, Statement of Interest, Cataract Removal, 2016

Brief • December 7, 2016

Filed under: Workplace Injury, Systemic Medical Neglect, Vision, Eighth Amendment

Hacker v. Cain, LA, Statement of Interest, Cataract Removal, 2016 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA JASON HACKER, Plaintiff, v. Case No. 3:14-00063-JWD-EWD N. BURL CAIN, et al., Defendants. STATEMENT OF INTEREST OF THE UNITED STATES Plaintiff Jason Hacker alleges that officials at the …

Fifth Circuit Holds Four Decades in Solitary Confinement Implicates Liberty Interest; Last Angola 3 Member Finally Released

Article • November 7, 2016 • from PLN November, 2016

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Release and Reentry, Due Process, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

Fifth Circuit Holds Four Decades in Solitary Confinement Implicates Liberty Interest; Last Angola 3 Member Finally Released by Matthew Clarke On December 17, 2014, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that holding a prisoner in solitary confinement for almost 40 years implicated a liberty interest, and that prison officials …

Hemstad v. Smith, LA, Complaint, 2016

Brief • October 19, 2016

Filed under: Jail Specific, Excessive Force, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights

Hemstad v. Smith, LA, Complaint, 2016 Case 2:16-cv-15706-MVL-KWR Document 1 Filed 10/19/16 Page 1 of 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA BRYCE HEMSTAD * * * VERSUS * * RANDY SMITH, * ST. TAMMANY PARISH SHERIFF; * JACK STRAIN, FORMER * ST. TAMMANY PARISH SHERIFF; * DEP. …

White v. Lasalle Corrections Inc, LA, Complaint, Wrongful Death and Survival Action, 2016

Brief • October 16, 2016

Filed under: Eighth Amendment, Attorney Fee Awards, Fourteenth Amendment, rights

White v. Lasalle Corrections Inc, LA, Complaint, Wrongful Death and Survival Action, 2016 Case 3:16-cv-01405 Document 1 Filed 10/06/16 Page 1 of 14 PageID #: 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA MONROE DIVISION LARA J. WHITE, Individually and On Behalf of Her Minor Child, V. R. W., …

New Orleans Sheriff Ends Oversight of Electronic Monitoring Program

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

Filed under: Sentinel, Corrections Audits, Cost of Prison Systems, Electronic Monitoring, Probation, Alternative Sentencing

New Orleans Sheriff Ends Oversight of Electronic Monitoring Program by David Reutter The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office’s (OPSO) administration of New Orleans’ Electronic Monitoring Program (EMP) was an almost “total failure,” according to the city’s Inspector General, Ed Quatrevaux, who found deficiencies in the program compromised public safety and wasted …

Sex Offender Registration Requirement of Louisiana Crimes Against Nature by Solicitation Statute Unconstitutional

Article • September 8, 2016

Filed under: Sex Offender Registration, Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Sex Offender Residence, Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act

Sex Offender Registration Requirement of Louisiana Crimes Against Nature by Solicitation Statute Unconstitutional by Matthew Clarke On March 29, 2012, a Louisiana federal court held that the sex offender registration requirement of the Louisiana Crimes Against Nature by Solicitation (CANS) statute, La.R.S. 14:89(B), was an unconstitutional violation of the Equal …

Judge Denies Motion to Nullify Orleans Parish Prison Health Care Contract

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

Filed under: Correct Care Solutions

Judge Denies Motion to Nullify Orleans Parish Prison Health Care Contract by David Reutter The Louisiana federal district court overseeing the consent decree related to conditions at the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) has denied a motion by the City of New Orleans to nullify a contract to provide prisoner health …

Louisiana Sheriff Faces Recall Petition, Federal Indictments

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

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Conditions of Confinement, Failure to Protect (General), Eighth Amendment, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Failure to Train/Supervise, Wrongful Death, FBI

Louisiana Sheriff Faces Recall Petition, Federal Indictments by Organizers hope that a petition circulating throughout Louisiana’s Iberia Parish will result in the recall of Sheriff Louis Ackal. According to Donald Broussard, the activist who started the petition, a “dark cloud is being cast over Iberia Parish” due to corruption attributed …

Fifth Circuit: Louisiana Prisons Can't Ban Nation of Islam Newspaper

Article • August 22, 2016

Filed under: Publications/Books, Censorship, First Amendment, Religious Freedom

Fifth Circuit: Louisiana Prisons Can't Ban Nation of Islam Newspaper by In 2005, Louisiana prison officials instituted a statewide ban on "The Final Call, a newspaper published by the Nation of Islam. The ban was based solely on the content of a statement of beliefs called "The Muslim Program" located …

Guard’s Suspension for Dragging Injured Maine Pretrial Detainee Upheld

Article • August 10, 2016

Filed under: Telephones, Cell Phone Access

Guard’s Suspension for Dragging Injured Maine Pretrial Detainee Upheld by David Reutter Louisiana officials are resorting to unconventional tactics to combat the “international” problem of cellphones within its jails and prisons. Prisoner use of the contraband phones has become so widespread that rarely a day goes by that guards fail …

Louisiana Prisoner Phone Charge Scandal Pushed to Closed Door Session

Article • August 10, 2016

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, Telephones, Telephone Rates

Louisiana Prisoner Phone Charge Scandal Pushed to Closed Door Session by The Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) voted to keep the discussion about fines for companies that illegally placed surcharge fees on prisoner telephones behind closed doors. City Tele Coin serves about 30 parish and municipal jails around Louisiana. In …

60% of Louisiana Prison Doctors Disciplined by Medical Board

Article • August 10, 2016

Filed under: Medical Misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Misdiagnosis, Failure to Treat, Malpractice

60% of Louisiana Prison Doctors Disciplined by Medical Board by Matthew Clarke Of the fifteen physicians employed by the Louisiana prison system, nine have received medical board disciplinary sanctions. Of those nine, two have served time in federal prison, five are on probation, two have their practice limited to "institutional …