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Questionable Kentucky Courthouse Construction Practices Lead to Court Official’s Resignation, Audit, Settlement

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Judicial Misconduct

Questionable Kentucky Courthouse Construction Practices Lead to Court Official’s Resignation, Audit, Settlement by Michael Brodheim On February 25, 2009, after questions were raised about the failure of his office to fully insure courthouse construction projects, Garlan VanHook resigned from his position as executive director of the Dept. of Facilities for …

North Carolina Courts, Legislature Take Steps to Resume Executions

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Death Penalty, News, State Legislation

North Carolina Courts, Legislature Take Steps to Resume Executions by Michael Brodheim The North Carolina judiciary and legislature have both taken steps to clear the way to resume executions, which have remained dormant in the state for the past three years. On May 1, 2009, a split North Carolina Supreme …

Human Rights Study Shows That Decades Later Blacks Still Incarcerated More

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Discrimination, Racial Discrimination, Statistics/Trends

Human Rights Study Shows That Decades Later Blacks Still Incarcerated More by Gary Hunter In March 2009 a report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) organization indicated that blacks continue to be arrested at disproportionately high rates in this country’s war on drugs. The study spanned almost three decades and …

PLN Sues Virginia DOC Over Censorship, Due Process Violations

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Publications/Books, Mail Regulations, Due Process, Media, PLN Litigation, Censorship

PLN Sues Virginia DOC Over Censorship, Due Process Violations by On October 8, 2009, Prison Legal News filed suit in U.S. District Court against Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) Director Gene M. Johnson and other prison officials, claiming that the VDOC had violated PLN’s rights under the First and Fourteenth …

Problems Persist at Lucas County, Ohio Jail

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct, Criminal Prosecution, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Problems Persist at Lucas County, Ohio Jail by Last month, PLN reported that four officials with the Sheriff’s Office in Lucas County, Ohio, including Sheriff James Telb, had been indicted on federal charges related to the June 1, 2004 death of jail prisoner Carlton Benton. [See: PLN, Oct. 2009, p.48]. …

1 in Every 31 Adults Under Some Form of Correctional Restraint

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Statistics/Trends

1 in Every 31 Adults Under Some Form of Correctional Restraint by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A 2008 report by the Pew Center on the States reported that for the first time that 1 in every 100 adults in the United States was confined behind bars. In a …

Divided Ninth Circuit Holds Prison Officials Entitled to Qualified Immunity for Prolonged Deprivation of Outdoor Exercise

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Prison Rebellion, Conditions of Confinement, Exercise, Lockdowns, Qualified Immunity

Divided Ninth Circuit Holds Prison Officials Entitled to Qualified Immunity for Prolonged Deprivation of Outdoor Exercise by A divided Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that California prison officials were entitled to qualified immunity for denying outdoor exercise to prisoners during extended lockdowns, when the lockdowns were precipitated by assaults …

California Death Row Court Monitoring Discontinued

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Consent Decrees (PLRA), Civil Procedure, Consent Decrees, Death Row

California Death Row Court Monitoring Discontinued by Michael Brodheim Almost thirty years after it began, federal court supervision over conditions at San Quentin’s death row – the nation’s largest, now housing 685 condemned prisoners – came to an end in April 2009. A group of death-sentenced prisoners filed suit in …

Medical Care Mismanaged at Orange County, California Jail

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Medical, Systemic Medical Neglect, Private Contractors

Medical Care Mismanaged at Orange County, California Jail by Michael Brodheim A $36 million program designed to provide medical care to jail prisoners in Orange County, California is severely mismanaged, according to an internal performance audit. The audit found that the county Health Care Agency (HCA), which administers the jail’s …

California’s Lethal Injection Protocol Invalidated for Failure to Comply with APA

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Death Penalty, State Statutes, Administrative Procedures Act (State)

California’s Lethal Injection Protocol Invalidated for Failure to Comply with APA by Michael Brodheim Sustaining a legal challenge filed by prisoners Michael A. Morales and Mitchell Sims, both on death row, the California Court of Appeal has held that the state’s lethal injection protocol, contained in San Quentin’s Operational Procedure …

Colorado Officials Increasingly Rely on Lockdowns to Manage Prison Violence

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Organizing, Prison Rebellion, Lockdowns

Colorado Officials Increasingly Rely on Lockdowns to Manage Prison Violence by Michael Brodheim According to statistics released by Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) Director Ari Zavaras in a briefing to state lawmakers in February 2009, state prisons saw an increase in levels of violence among prisoners in fiscal year 2007-08 …

Revised List of ICE Detainee Deaths Still Incomplete, Updated Again

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Crime/Demographics, Statistics/Trends, Immigration, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Revised List of ICE Detainee Deaths Still Incomplete, Updated Again by Mark Wilson At least 92 detainees died in immigration detention facilities between October 2003 and February 2009, according to an updated list compiled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The list, which was obtained by the New York Times …

$73,000 Settlement for Denial of Pain Medication to Wisconsin Prisoner

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Retaliation against Staff, Whistleblowing, Medication, Pain, Guards/Staff, Employee Litigation

$73,000 Settlement for Denial of Pain Medication to Wisconsin Prisoner by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On January 6, 2009, Wisconsin settled a lawsuit brought by a state prisoner who complained of guards preventing him from receiving his pain medication when he was in intense pain, then retaliating against him …

Former North Dakota State Psychologist Who Treated Sex Offenders Busted for Child Porn

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Medical Misconduct, Criminal Prosecution, Mental Health, Sex Offender Treatment

Former North Dakota State Psychologist Who Treated Sex Offenders Busted for Child Porn by Facing a sentence ranging from 5 to 30 years, Joseph Belanger, a North Dakota psychologist who treated sex offenders at the State Hospital in Jamestown, was sentenced on January 28, 2009 to 84 months in federal …

U.S. Senator John Ensign, Author of Ensign Amendment, Falls From Grace

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Government Misconduct, Commentary/Reviews, Federal Legislation

U.S. Senator John Ensign, Author of Ensign Amendment, Falls From Grace by Brandon Sample There is nothing like a good sex scandal to get things stirred up in Washington, and it’s even better when the scandal involves the likes of U.S. Senator John Ensign, a conservative Republican and member of …

Florida Jail Death Ruled a Homicide; Investigations Pending

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Excessive Force, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Restraints, Wrongful Death

Florida Jail Death Ruled a Homicide; Investigations Pending by The Florida Medical Examiner’s Office called the March 31, 2009 in-custody death of 62-year-old Nicholas Christie at the Lee County Jail a homicide, finding that restraint methods and pepper spray were contributing factors in his death. “You could tell immediately there …

Pennsylvania Private Juvenile Prison Scandal Results in Guilty Pleas

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, Judicial Misconduct, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Attorney Misconduct, Juvenile Prisons

Pennsylvania Private Juvenile Prison Scandal Results in Guilty Pleas by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On June 9, 2009, attorney Robert J. Powell of Hazeltown, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to charges related to an illegal scheme involving two for-profit juvenile facilities – PA Child Care in Luzerne County and Western PA …

Terms of Parole Injunction Supersede Conflicting Provisions of California Voter Initiative

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole

Terms of Parole Injunction Supersede Conflicting Provisions of California Voter Initiative by Michael Brodheim In the latest chapter of a 15-year-old class-action lawsuit, a U.S. District Court held that the passage of Proposition 9 by California voters on November 4, 2008 could not override a stipulated permanent injunction entered four …

Ohio Prison Guards Party, Federal Stimulus Funds Save Their Jobs

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, News

Ohio Prison Guards Party, Federal Stimulus Funds Save Their Jobs by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Only weeks before ordering $640 million in spending cuts, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland paid more than 800 employees of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DORC) to attend a “Year End Review” …

Orange County Sheriff Sentenced to 5½ Years in Prison

Article • November 15, 2009 • from PLN November, 2009

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Jail Misconduct, Criminal Prosecution, Crime, Conspiracy

Orange County Sheriff Sentenced to 5&#189; Years in Prison by Gary Hunter Orange County Sheriff Sentenced to 5½ Years in Prison by Gary Hunter “I need a sheriff I can trust. Lying will not be tolerated in this courtroom, especially by the county’s highest-ranking law enforcement officer.” That was what …