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Massachusetts Pretrial Detainee Transfer to State Prison Invalid

Article • September 15, 2011

Filed under: Classification, Transfers

Massachusetts Pretrial Detainee Transfer to State Prison Invalid by The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) held that a lower court lacked authority to order the transfer of pretrial detainees from a county jail to a state prison. On August 16, 2005, the Worcester County District Attorney submitted a written request …

$73,700 Jury Award for Guard’s Sexual Encounters with Massachusetts Prisoner

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

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault

$73,700 Jury Award for Guard’s Sexual Encounters with Massachusetts Prisoner by David Reutter A Massachusetts federal jury has awarded $73,700 in damages to a woman who was repeatedly sexually assaulted while imprisoned at the South Middlesex Correctional Center (SMCC). After being convicted of drug offenses in 2003, Christina Chao, 31, …

Community Education Centers Acquires CiviGenics

Article • August 15, 2011

Filed under: Private Prisons, Civigenics, Community Education Centers

Community Education Centers Acquires CiviGenics by In June, 2007, Roseland, New Jersey-based Community Education Centers, Inc, (CEC), the nation’s largest private provider of re-entry and rehabilitative services combined with Marlborough, Massachusetts-based CiviGenics, Inc., the largest provider of in-prison treatment in the country and the nation’s third-largest operator of private prisons. …

Massachusetts: Court Reduces Jail Officers’ Attorneys’ Fees by 40%

Article • July 15, 2011

Filed under: Attorneys, Attorney Fee Awards

Massachusetts: Court Reduces Jail Officers’ Attorneys’ Fees by 40% by On June 18, 2010, the Hon. R.G. Stearns, Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, issued an order requiring Suffolk County officials to pay attorneys’ fees and costs to the attorneys for a group of 174 …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Clarifies Erroneous Conviction Claims

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

Filed under: Attorneys, Attorney Misconduct, Malpractice (Attorneys), Damages, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Clarifies Erroneous Conviction Claims by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On November 23, 2010, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a pair of opinions that clarify the requirements for suing the state for compensation following an erroneous conviction. Specifically, the Court clarified the requirement that the …

Federal Courts Reject Leniency Pleas from Politically-Connected Defendants

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

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Tax Law

Federal Courts Reject Leniency Pleas from Politically-Connected Defendants by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Despite a prosecutor’s request for a probationary sentence, a Massachusetts federal judge sentenced Patrice Tierney, 60, the wife of U.S. Representative John F. Tierney, to 30 days in prison followed by five months on house …

First Circuit Reverses Finding that Sexual Interest in Adolescents Not Disorder Warranting Civil Commitment

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

Filed under: Mental Health, Civil Commitment

First Circuit Reverses Finding that Sexual Interest in Adolescents Not Disorder Warranting Civil Commitment by Brandon Sample On June 4, 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro ordered the release of a federal prisoner the government had sought to civilly commit as a sexually dangerous person. In ordering the …

Homeless Probationer’s Violation for Failure to Comply with GPS Monitoring Reversed

Article • May 15, 2011 • from PLN May, 2011

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Sentencing, Probation, Parole Conditions

Homeless Probationer’s Violation for Failure to Comply with GPS Monitoring Reversed by On December 21, 2010, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court set aside a probation violation finding where the probationer was unable to accommodate the technological requirements of GPS monitoring equipment while living in a homeless shelter. The Court found …

Summary Judgment for Massachusetts DOC Medical Provider Reversed

Article • May 15, 2011

Filed under: Private Prisons, CMS, Contractor Misconduct, Dental Care, Private Contractors, Malpractice

Summary Judgment for Massachusetts DOC Medical Provider Reversed by Brandon Sample The Appeals Court of Massachusetts has reversed a grant of summary judgment in favor of a Massachusetts Department of Corrections (DOC) contract medical provider, subcontractor and contract staff alleged to have provided inadequate dental care. John Sullivan, a prisoner …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Discharges Man after 16-Year Sentence Execution Delay

Article • May 15, 2011

Filed under: Prompt Hearings, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Discharges Man after 16-Year Sentence Execution Delay by On November 6, 2007, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that a 16-year delay in the execution of sentences for multiple violent and sex offenses precluded execution of the sentences. Vith Ly, an immigrant from Cambodia living …

Massachusetts Prisoner Suicides More Than Four Times National Average

Article • May 15, 2011 • from PLN May, 2011

Filed under: Statistics/Trends, Staffing, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides

Massachusetts Prisoner Suicides More Than Four Times National Average by Mark Wilson Massachusetts has a relatively low state prison population, with approximately 11,000 prisoners. Yet its annual prisoner suicide rate has topped an alarming 71 suicides per 100,000 prisoners – more than four times the national average of 16 per …

Adams v. Bureau of Prisons, MA, Settlement, Transexual Prisoner Denied Medical Care, 2011

Brief • May 13, 2011

Filed under: Transgender Medical Procedures

Adams v. Bureau of Prisons, MA, Settlement, Transexual Prisoner Denied Medical Care, 2011 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS ) VANESSA ADAMS, legal name Nicholas Adams, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) ) v. ) FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS; FEDERAL ) BUREAU OF PRlSONS DIRECTOR HARLEY ) G. LAPPIN, in …

First Circuit Enters Stay to District Court Proceedings Following Interlocutory Appeal

Article • April 15, 2011

Filed under: Searches, Videotaping, Appeals, Qualified Immunity

First Circuit Enters Stay to District Court Proceedings Following Interlocutory Appeal by On August 4, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit stayed district court proceedings in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit following an interlocutory appeal by three Boston police officers who were sued in their …

Massachusetts Strip Search Class-Action Nets $1,162,468

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

Filed under: Searches, Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches

Massachusetts Strip Search Class-Action Nets $1,162,468 by Mark Wilson Massachusetts has agreed to pay $1,162,468 to settle a class-action suit on behalf of 486 detainees who were strip searched without cause at the Franklin County Jail. The sheriff maintained a policy of routinely strip searching all detainees who were admitted …

Morbidity Reports Not Protected From Disclosure

Article • April 15, 2011

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Disclosure of Records, Discovery

Morbidity Reports Not Protected From Disclosure by By Brandon Sample State privilege laws that protect mortality and morbidity reports from disclosure during discovery do not apply in federal court, Timothy S. Hillman, U.S. Magistrate Judge, recently decided. The Plaintiff in a wrongful death action served a notice of deposition and …

Adams v. FBOP, MA, Settlement Agreement and Claim Release - Gender Identity Disorder Treatment (2011)

Brief • April 1, 2011

Filed under: Transgender

Adams v. FBOP, MA, Settlement Agreement and Claim Release - Gender Identity Disorder Treatment (2011) UNITED STA TES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS ) VANESSA ADAMS, legal name Nicholas Adams, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) ) v. ) FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS; FEDERAL ) BUREAU OF PRlSONS DIRECTOR HARLEY ) …

Massachusetts: Wrongful Conviction Suit Settled for $3.25 Million

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

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Searches, DNA Testing/Samples, Settlements, Wrongful Conviction

Massachusetts: Wrongful Conviction Suit Settled for $3.25 Million by The City of Boston has agreed to pay $3.25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for 18 years for a series of rapes he did not commit. Ulysses Charles was convicted in …

Expert Report Not Required for Primary Care Physician to Testify

Article • March 15, 2011

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Expert Witnesses, Witnesses

Expert Report Not Required for Primary Care Physician to Testify by A physician who treated a patient plaintiff may testify concerning his consultation or treatment of a patient without providing an expert report, U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor recently decided. Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26., Judge Ponsor concluded that …

Judge Refuses to Dismiss Suit against BOP after BOP Started Hormone Therapy for Prisoner with Gender Identity Disorder

Article • March 15, 2011

Filed under: Transgender, Transgender Medical Procedures

Judge Refuses to Dismiss Suit against BOP after BOP Started Hormone Therapy for Prisoner with Gender Identity Disorder by On June 7, 2010, U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro denied a motion to dismiss filed by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in a suit by a prisoner suffering from Gender Identity …

$240,001 Verdict in Boston Jail Beating Suit

Article • February 15, 2011 • from PLN February, 2011

Filed under: Exposure to Cold, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

$240,001 Verdict in Boston Jail Beating Suit by Brandon Sample On February 23, 2009, a federal jury returned a $240,001 verdict in favor of a man who was violently beaten by a guard at the Suffolk County House of Correction (SCHC). Rodney Chaney ended up at the SCHC in August …