Massachusetts Court Releases Mental Health Detainee After State Blows Deadline by Derek Gilna The Supreme Judicial Court for the county of Suffolk, Massachusetts dismissed the case of David Gangi, confined pursuant to G.L. c 123A, Section 13(a) to determine whether or not "probable cause exists to believe that the person …
Massachusetts Prisoners Receive Refunds for Illegal Fees Imposed by Sheriff by A class of prisoners at the Bristol County House of Correction in Massachusetts has received settlement checks from a lawsuit challenging an illegal $5-a-day fee imposed by the sheriff for room-and-board. The checks were mailed out on May 3, …
Transgender Prisoner’s Lawsuit Sparks BOP Policy Change by Derek Gilna A lawsuit filed by a tranmasssgender federal prisoner in Massachusetts has resulted in the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) making appropriate medical care available “to [prisoners] who believe they are the wrong gender,” according to a May 31, 2011 memo issued …
The Other Death Sentence: More than 100,000 Americans are destined to spend their final years in prison. Can we afford it? by James Ridgeway The Other Death Sentence: More than 100,000 Americans are destined to spend their final years in prison. Can we afford it? by James Ridgeway William “Lefty” …
$47,500 Awarded to Massachusetts Prisoner Held in Segregation Without Hearing by On January 27, 2012, a Massachusetts U.S. District Court awarded $47,500 to a prisoner for due process violations that resulted in 375 days of solitary confinement. Massachusetts state prisoner Albert Ford filed a civil rights action alleging that his …
1st Circuit Permits Massachusetts X-ray Drug Search by The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a Massachusetts district court decision permitting an x-ray search of defendant Shane Spencer under the aegis of a search warrant and dismissed his 1983 action. Spencer had been arrested in 2005 by Worcester, Massachusetts …
Appeals Court Reverses Summary Judgment in Malicious Prosecution and Evidence Concealment Case against Boston Police Department by Derek Gilna By Derek Gilna In a well-reasoned opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has permitted a Section 1983 action against the Boston Police Department (BPD) to continue. James …
Massachusetts Supreme Court Rules Prison Mail Regulations Vague & Overbroad by Massachusetts Supreme Court Rules Prison Mail Regulations Vague & Overbroad The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that a prison policy governing censorship of incoming mail was unconstitutionally vague and overbroad. The court also held that another policy requiring …
Disability Law Center v. Massachusetts DOC, MA, Order Approving Settlement, Failure to Treat Mental Health, 2012 Case 1:07-cv-10463-MLW Document 260 Filed 04/12/12 Page 1 of 33 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS DISABILITY LAW CENTER, Plaintiff, ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) v. MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF …
Lachance v. Commissioner of Correction, MA, Amicus Brief - ACLU, Mentally Ill Solitary Confinement, 2012 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT ESSEX, ss. No. SJC-11057 EDMUND LACHANCE, JR., Plaintiff-Appellee v. COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION & OTHERS, Defendants-Appellants, ON APPEAL FROM AN ORDER OF THE SUPERIOR COURT FOR ESSEX COUNTY DENYING DEFENDANTS’ …
New Prison HIV Medication Rules Subject of Massachusetts Suit by Cost reduction is the “real reason” behind a new policy in Massachusetts prisons that prohibits prisoners from receiving their HIV medication through the Keep On Person (KOP) program, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit. Under the policy, HIV-positive prisoners …
Medina v. Holt, MA, Plff's Memo on Mots, Officers Assault Homeless Man, 2012 Case 1:11-cv-10256-NMG Document 39 Filed 02/24/12 Page 1 of 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS CARLOS MEDINA, Plaintiff, CIVIL ACTION NO. 11-10256-NMG v. CHRISTOPHER HOLT and TIMOTHY LENANE Defendants. PLAINTIFF’S MEMORANDUM IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANTS’ …
Massachusetts: Guards Suspended, Accused of Threatening to Kill Escaped Prisoner in Scheme to Generate Overtime by Two Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC) officers were suspended in May 2011, one with pay, in connection with anonymous, threatening phone calls made to a hospital where a critically wounded prisoner was being held, …
$96,000 Settlement in Massachusetts Conditions of Confinement Suit by Following a Massachusetts Superior Court’s award of nominal damages and attorney fees in a prison conditions case, and with an appeal pending, the parties entered into a settlement agreement. The settlement resulted from a lawsuit that sought damages for “disgusting and …
A System Master Plan for Massachusetts Corrections, MA Division of Capital Asset Management, 2011 STV Incorporated Carter Goble Lee FINAL REPORT A System Master Plan for Massachusetts Corrections MASSACHUSETTS DIVISION OF CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT CORRECTONS MASTER PLAN The Corrections Master Plan The Final Report DOC 0801ST1 STV Incorporated in association …
Massachusetts Highest Court Upholds Damages Awards to State Prisoners Unlawfully Transferred to Federal Prisons by In 1989, the Supreme Judicial Council of Massachusetts affirmed the award of damages to eight state prisoners who were unlawfully transferred to federal out-of-state institutions without the procedural protections afforded to them under departmental regulations. …
Unremembered Massachusetts Police Station Beating Actionable Under Fourth Amendment by On November 24, 2010, a Massachusetts federal court ruled that a man who couldn't remember the circumstances of his being beaten in a City of Worcester, Massachusetts police station holding cell could nonetheless sue the police officer he suspected of …
Glik v Cunniffe, MA, Opp Defense Mtn for PO, police IA censorship, 2011 Case 1:10-cv-10150-LTS Document 52 Filed 10/19/11 Page 1 of 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS __________________________________________ SIMON GLIK, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 10-10150 LTS ) JOHN CUNNIFFE, PETER J. …
