North Carolina Governor Pardons Wilmington 10 by In 1971, during a time of racial unrest in Wilmington, North Carolina, shortly after schools were integrated and amid protests and race-based violence, a white-owned business, Mike’s Grocery, was firebombed. Responding firefighters claimed they were targeted by gunfire from unknown shooters at a …
New North Carolina DOC Hospital Promises Better Healthcare for Prisoners by Joe Watson With crowded prisons and an increasing percentage of prisoners age 50 and older, the North Carolina Department of Corrections (NCDOC) opened a $153.7 million medical complex at the Central Prison in Raleigh in November 2011. The new …
Fourth Circuit Upholds North Carolina Sheriff’s Bribery Conviction by On November 7, 2011, former Buncombe County, North Carolina Sheriff Bobby Lee Medford’s conviction on federal bribery and conspiracy charges was upheld by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The decision highlighted a scheme in which Medford and his co-conspirators misused …
Dennis v. City of Greenville, SC, Complaint, Police Restraints Wrongful Death, 2012 6:12-cv-01767-JMC Date Filed 06/27/12 Entry Number 1 Page 1 of 23 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA Beatriz Torres Dennis as Personal Representative of the Estate of Andrew Orval Torres, deceased, Plaintiff, …
Civil Commitment Must be Challenged through Commitment Proceedings Instead of Habeas Corpus by Brandon Sample A federal prisoner challenging his or her civil commitment detention under the Adam Walsh Act (Act) as a “sexually dangerous person” may not resort to habeas corpus for such challenges, the U.S. Court of Appeals …
BOP's Motion to Dismiss Religious Discrimination Case Denied by A North Carolina District Court has denied the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) motion to dismiss prisoners Lascelles Somie and Oral Malcolm's complaint alleging that the BOP failed to permit them to exercise their Twelve-Tribe Rastafarian religion. The plaintiffs had claimed …
Heyer v. Holder, NC, 1st Amended Complaint - ASL for Deaf Inmates, 2012 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA WESTERN DIVISION __________________________________________ ) THOMAS HEYER ) and ROBERT BOYD, ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) ) ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., in his official capacity ) as Attorney …
Problems at North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab by Recent revelations of shoddy blood analysis at the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) crime lab led to an investigation that uncovered at least 190 cases of serious blood work errors in criminal cases. Those cases included three …
North Carolina Warden Charged With Obstruction in Beating Coverup by Richard L. Neely, the former warden at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, was charged in April 2011 with obstruction of justice, a Class H felony, for withholding or ordering the destruction of evidence relevant to an investigation at the prison. Neely became …
North Carolina Jury Awards $10 Million in Wrongful Death Suit Against Taser by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On July 19, 2011, a federal jury in North Carolina awarded $10 million to the parents and estate of a teenager who died after being shocked with a Taser fired by a …
$430,000 Settlement in North Carolina Police Department’s Failure to Enforce Protective Order by North Carolina’s Jonesville Police Department paid $430,000 to a lawsuit filed by Vernatta Cockerham, who claimed the police department failed to enforce a restraining order she had taken out against her estranged husband, Richard Ellerbee, on November …
No Sixth Amendment Right to Confront Witnesses at Parole Revocation Hearings by Brandon Sample By Brandon Sample The Sixth Amendment’s right to confront witnesses does not apply to parole revocation proceedings, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit decided November 24th, 2010. The U.S. Parole Commission revoked Bruce …
$10,000 Settlement in North Carolina Prisoner’s Pepper Spraying by The North Carolina Department of Corrections (NCDOC) paid a prisoner $10,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming guards used excessive force by pepper spraying him. Lanesboro Correctional Institution prisoner Bill Rayburn had been asking guards to move him away from another prisoner …
North Carolina Prisoner’s First-Degree Murder Conviction is Valid Basis to Deny Awarding Good Time Credits by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On August 27, 2010, North Carolina’s Supreme Court reversed a grant of habeas corpus relief to a prisoner serving a life sentence for first-degree murder, holding that prison …
North Carolina Jail Prisoner Housed with TB Infected Cellmate Receives $2,250 Settlement by The defendants in a lawsuit related to a tuberculosis (TB) outbreak at North Carolina’s Brunswick County jail have agreed to settle the case for $2,250. The suit was filed in June 2010 by former prisoner Frank Baldwin, …
Mentally Ill NC Prisoner “Becomes Ill,” Quadriplegic; Billy Club Impressions Found 30 Hours Later by Mark Wilson By Mark Wilson “I lock in the hole now the staff say I die at Alexander” Correctional Institution (ACI), wrote mentally ill North Carolina prisoner Timothy Helms on June 20, 2008. Fifteen days …
Fourth Circuit Reverses §1915A Dismissal of Failure to Protect Suit by Mark Wilson Fourth Circuit Reverses §1915A Dismissal of Failure to Protect Suit By Mark Wilson The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a lower court erred in dismissing a North Carolina prisoner’s failure to protect suit for failing …
Fourth Circuit Upholds Federal Civil Commitment Statute Against Constitutional Challenge by The procedures for civil commitment of “sexually dangerous” federal offenders do not violate due process, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held on December 6, 2010. In 2006, the United States initiated civil commitment proceedings against …
Deaths of Three North Carolina Prisoners Raise Suspicions by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke and David M. Reutter The deaths of two prisoners at the Maury Correctional Institution (MCI), a 1,000-bed close-security prison for men located in Greene County, North Carolina, have raised suspicions due to questionable circumstances surrounding those …
Heyer v. BOP, NC, Complaint - ASL Interpreters for Deaf Inmates, 2011 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA RALEIGH DIVISION __________________________________________ ) THOMAS HEYER ) and ROBERT BOYD, ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) ) UNITED STATES BUREAU OF PRISONS, ) ) THOMAS R. KANE, in his …
