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Third Circuit Upholds BOP Early Rule against APA Challenge

Article • May 15, 2011

Filed under: Parole, Habeas Corpus, Administrative Procedures Act (Federal), Mental Health, Drug Treatment/Rehab

Third Circuit Upholds BOP Early Rule against APA Challenge by On October 26, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit joined the Eighth Circuit in holding that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) did not violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in categorically excluding certain offenders from early …

Questionable New Jersey Halfway House Funding Benefits CEC

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

Filed under: Work Release, Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Government Misconduct

Questionable New Jersey Halfway House Funding Benefits CEC by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie insisted on budget cuts in 2010, except when it came to funding treatment centers, formerly called halfway houses. Gov. Christie wanted to increase funding for treatment centers by $3.1 million, …

Report: New Jersey DOC Should Upgrade Prisoner Reentry Programs

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

Filed under: Prisoner Privileges, Education, Rehabilitation/Recidivism

Report: New Jersey DOC Should Upgrade Prisoner Reentry Programs by Derek Gilna A report by Rutgers University released in January 2010 concluded that the New Jersey Department of Corrections could be doing more to help prisoners successfully reintegrate into society upon their release. The report was based on the results …

New Jersey Prison Supervisory Officials Found Liable for Prisoner Abuse Claims

Article • December 15, 2010 • from PLN December, 2010

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Lockdowns, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Dogs, Supervisory Liability

New Jersey Prison Supervisory Officials Found Liable for Prisoner Abuse Claims by Derek Gilna Three prison officials were found liable in abuse claims stemming from a month-long lockdown at Bayside State Prison following the killing of prison guard Frederick Baker in 1997, according to former federal judge John W. Bissell, …

Limitations Period in Suit Over Delay in Providing Surgery Begins When Prisoner is Recommended for Surgery

Article • October 15, 2010 • from PLN October, 2010

Filed under: CMS, Medical, Systemic Medical Neglect, Surgery, Limitations

Limitations Period in Suit Over Delay in Providing Surgery Begins When Prisoner is Recommended for Surgery by Brandon Sample The statute of limitations in a lawsuit claiming medical negligence by prison officials in delaying a prisoner’s surgery begins to accrue when the prisoner is first recommended for surgery by a …

Third Circuit Reverses $642,398.57 Attorney Fee Award for RFRA Claim by Immigration Prisoner

Article • October 15, 2010 • from PLN October, 2010

Filed under: Esmor/CSC, Totality of Conditions, Attorney Fee Awards, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Immigration, Religious Freedom, Religious Practices

Third Circuit Reverses $642,398.57 Attorney Fee Award for RFRA Claim by Immigration Prisoner by The Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an immigration detainee’s $642,398.57 attorney fee award, finding that “the District Court’s degree of success inquiry under § 1988 was based on an impermissible reconstruction of the jury verdict.” …

New Jersey Prison Guards Fake Electrocution

Article • September 15, 2010 • from PLN September, 2010

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct

New Jersey Prison Guards Fake Electrocution by Brandon Sample Three New Jersey guards accused of faking the electrocution of a prisoner at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel have been suspended. Sergeants Mark Percoco and Steven Russo received 105-day suspensions without pay following the October 3, 2009 incident, …

New Jersey’s Riverfront Prison Demolished

Article • August 15, 2010 • from PLN August, 2010

Filed under: News

New Jersey’s Riverfront Prison Demolished by Justin Miller The Riverfront State Prison in Camden, New Jersey is no more. Despite protests from prison employees and the union that represents them, which objected to the loss of jobs, the prison – which had drawn considerable criticism over the years as a …

New Jersey DOC Agrees to Let Prisoner Preach

Article • July 15, 2010 • from PLN July, 2010

Filed under: RLUIPA, Religious Freedom, Clergy

New Jersey DOC Agrees to Let Prisoner Preach by In November 2009, the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC) settled a lawsuit brought under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). The suit, filed by the ACLU on behalf of a New Jersey state prisoner, alleged the DOC …

New Jersey: Class-Action Status Granted in Suit Challenging Conditions of Confinement at Passaic County Jail

Article • June 15, 2010 • from PLN June, 2010

Filed under: Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Totality of Conditions, Fire Hazards, Food, Overcrowding, Exposure to Cold, Clothing, Sanitation, Exposure to Heat, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Dogs, Class Certification, Religious Freedom, Denial of Religious Services

New Jersey: Class-Action Status Granted in Suit Challenging Conditions of Confinement at Passaic County Jail by Michael Brodheim On May 28, 2009, a U.S. District Court granted class-action status to prisoners seeking declaratory and injunctive relief for unconstitutional conditions of confinement at the Passaic County Jail (PCJ) in Paterson, New …

Gloucester County, New Jersey Settles Jail Strip Search Class Action for $4 Million

Article • May 15, 2010 • from PLN May, 2010

Filed under: Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches, Civil Procedure, Class Notice

Gloucester County, New Jersey Settles Jail Strip Search Class Action for $4 Million by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On September 14, 2009, the parties in a class action lawsuit against Gloucester County, New Jersey over the county jail’s strip search policies filed a settlement agreement in federal district court …

New Jersey Open Records Act Applies To County's Settlement of Sexual Harassment Suit

Article • January 15, 2010

Filed under: Staff-Staff Harassment, Civil Procedure, Disclosure of Records, Employee Litigation

New Jersey Open Records Act Applies To County's Settlement of Sexual Harassment Suit by On March 17, 2009, the New Jersey Court of Appeals held that a county's settlement agreement with a former employee who sued over sexual harassment in the workplace was subject to disclosure under the Open Public …

Megan’s Law Preempts Local New Jersey Sex Offender Ordinances

Article • October 15, 2009 • from PLN October, 2009

Filed under: Discrimination, Sex Offender Residence

Megan’s Law Preempts Local New Jersey Sex Offender Ordinances by The New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s order that invalidated two townships’ ordinances restricting where registered sex offenders could live. The March 24, 2009 ruling held that the statewide Megan’s Law takes precedence over local statutes that impose …

State May Lawfully Punish Sex Offender for Refusing to Participate in Sex Offender Program

Article • September 15, 2009

Filed under: Prisoner Privileges, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Sex Offender Treatment, Involuntary Treatment/Drugging, Civil Commitment

State May Lawfully Punish Sex Offender for Refusing to Participate in Sex Offender Program by Sex offenders may be denied certain privileges for refusing to participate in a sex offender treatment program without running afoul of the First and Fifth Amendments, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit …

Former New Jersey Prison Social Worker’s Abuse Lawsuit Reinstated

Article • September 15, 2009

Filed under: Staff-Staff Harassment, State Law Claims, Failure to Train/Supervise, Guards/Staff, Assaults on Staff, Employee Litigation, Failure to Protect (Staff)

Former New Jersey Prison Social Worker’s Abuse Lawsuit Reinstated by A New Jersey appeals court has reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a former prison health care worker. Angela Hoag was a licensed social worker employed by Correctional Medical Services, Inc. and worked at Southern State …

Positive Correlation between Mental Illness and Prison Victimization

Article • July 15, 2009 • from PLN July, 2009

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Reviews, Failure to Protect (General), Prison Rape Elimination Act

Positive Correlation between Mental Illness and Prison Victimization by Jimmy Franks In September 2008, the Center for Behavioral Health Services & Criminal Justice Research (the Center) published its Policy Brief regarding a recent survey conducted to determine the quality of life for prisoners in New Jersey’s Department of Corrections (DOC). …

Class Claims for Injunctive Relief in HPC Suit Dismissed as Moot

Article • July 15, 2009

Filed under: Hepatitis, PLRA, Injunctions (PLRA), Injunctions, Class Certification

Class Claims for Injunctive Relief in HPC Suit Dismissed as Moot by U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman has dismissed as moot class claims brought by a group of New Jersey prisoners alleged to have been unreasonably exposed to Hepatitis C (HPC). Walter Bennett on behalf of all others similarly …

Protective Order Entered in Hepatitis C Cases

Article • July 15, 2009

Filed under: Medical Records, Hepatitis, Civil Procedure, Disclosure of Records, Discovery

Protective Order Entered in Hepatitis C Cases by U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel B. Rosen has entered a protective order in a group of lawsuits challenging the New Jersey Department of Corrections’ (NJDOC) policies regarding the screening and treatment of Hepatitis C. The protective order was entered with the consent of …

ETS Exposure Suit Allowed to Proceed Despite Facility No Smoking Policy

Article • July 15, 2009

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Smoking, Eighth Amendment, Premises Liability

ETS Exposure Suit Allowed to Proceed Despite Facility No Smoking Policy by U.S. District Judge Joseph A. Greenway, Jr. has denied a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim in an action alleging cruel and unusual punishment in relation to a prisoner’s exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). …

Sheika v. New Jersey Department of Corrections, NJ, Proposed Amended Complaint, Religious Discrimination, 2009

Brief • 2009

Filed under: Religious Discrimination, Religious Freedom, Religious Freedom/Worship

Sheika v. New Jersey Department of Corrections, NJ, Proposed Amended Complaint, Religious Discrimination, 2009 STEPHEN M. LATIMER LOUGHLIN & LATIMER 131 Main Street, Suite 235 Hackensack, NJ 07601 201 487 9797 Attorneys for plaintiff Taysir Sheika, SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY LAW DIVISION plaintiff, MERCER COUNTY vs. DOCKET NO. MER-L-604-08 …