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Problems at North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab

Article • January 15, 2012 • from PLN January, 2012

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Malicious Prosecution, Crime Labs, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment

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

Article • January 15, 2012 • from PLN January, 2012

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, DOC/BOP misconduct, Criminal Prosecution

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

Article • January 15, 2012 • from PLN January, 2012

Filed under: Excessive Force, Stun Guns/Tasers, Police--Excessive Force

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

Article • November 15, 2011

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Wrongful Death, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death)

$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

Article • November 15, 2011

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Witnesses (Disciplinary Hearings), Parole

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

Article • October 15, 2011 • from PLN October, 2011

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Excessive Force, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas

$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

Article • September 15, 2011 • from PLN September, 2011

Filed under: Sentencing, Good Time

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

Article • September 15, 2011 • from PLN September, 2011

Filed under: Medical, Tuberculosis, Contagious Disease -- Misc.

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

Article • August 15, 2011

Filed under: Medical, Brain Injury, Guard Brutality/Beatings

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

Article • July 15, 2011

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Failure to Protect (General)

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

Article • July 15, 2011 • from PLN July, 2011

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Civil Commitment, News, Federal Legislation

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

Article • July 15, 2011 • from PLN July, 2011

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Mental Health, Suicides

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

Brief • June 20, 2011

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Medical, Rehabilitation/Recidivism

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 …

Controversy Involving North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab

Article • June 15, 2011 • from PLN June, 2011

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, Malicious Prosecution, Sentencing, Wrongful Conviction

Controversy Involving North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke Crime lab analysts and agents with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) have been accused of pushing the limits of accepted science and police procedures to provide pro-prosecution results. The accusations appeared …

Savings from North Carolina Prisoner Slave Labor Result in Additional Prison Beds

Article • June 15, 2011 • from PLN June, 2011

Filed under: Prison Labor, Conditions of Confinement, Overcrowding

Savings from North Carolina Prisoner Slave Labor Result in Additional Prison Beds by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Touting its 140-year history of using prisoner slave labor, the North Carolina Department of Correction (NDOC) announced in January 2011 that it will save taxpayers $27 million when building more than …

Anarchists Claim Attack on NC Department of Correction

Article • June 15, 2011 • from PLN June, 2011

Filed under: Organizing, Protests

Anarchists Claim Attack on NC Department of Correction by On November 24, 2010, the tires of six vehicles belonging to the North Carolina Department of Correction (DOC) were slashed in a parking lot in Asheville, North Carolina, and an adjacent building housing a DOC office was defaced. The total damage …

Billing Medicaid Would Save NC $11.5 Million in Prison Medical Care Costs

Article • April 15, 2011 • from PLN April, 2011

Filed under: Medical Expenses, Money/Property, Social Security

Billing Medicaid Would Save NC $11.5 Million in Prison Medical Care Costs by Mark Wilson The North Carolina Department of Corrections (NCDOC) “could save about $11.5 million a year by requiring hospitals and other medical service providers to bill Medicaid for eligible inmate inpatient hospital and professional services,” according to …

North Carolina Prisoner Prevails in Claim Related to Paruresis, AKA “Shy Bladder”

Article • March 15, 2011 • from PLN March, 2011

Filed under: Searches, Drug Testing

North Carolina Prisoner Prevails in Claim Related to Paruresis, AKA “Shy Bladder” by The North Carolina Department of Correction (NDOC) has agreed to settle a prisoner’s lawsuit that accused NDOC officials and guards of exhibiting deliberate indifference to his medical diagnosis of “paruresis.” The settlement includes a monetary payment, attorney …

Fontenot v. Taser International,Inc, NC, Declaration of Gary M. Vilke, Taser, 2011

Publication • February 25, 2011

Filed under: Stun Guns/Tasers

Fontenot v. Taser International,Inc, NC, Declaration of Gary M. Vilke, Taser, 2011 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA 3 CHARLOTTE DIVISION NO. s:10-cv-125 4 5 6 7 T.AIVWY LOU FONTENOT, as Administratrix of the Estate of DARRYL WAYNE TURNER, deceased, Plaintiffs, 8 …

North Carolina Prison Censorship Class Action Suit Settled

Article • January 15, 2011 • from PLN January, 2011

Filed under: Discrimination, Gay/Lesbian, Settlements, Publications/Books, Censorship

North Carolina Prison Censorship Class Action Suit Settled by A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit that challenged the way the North Carolina Department of Corrections (NCDOC) administers its policies related to the receipt of books and magazines by prisoners. The suit sought to enforce the First …