Lawsuit Alleges Inadequate BOP Mental Health Treatment in SMU by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A federal class-action suit filed in June 2017 paints the U.S. Penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania essentially as a solitary confinement warehouse filled with prisoners who suffer from serious mental illness. The suit alleges that …
Pennsylvania: $20,000 Settlement for Prisoner’s ADA Claim by A lawsuit alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Rehabilitation Act led the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PDOC) to pay $20,000 and agree to provide “reasonable therapy or reasonable accommodation” to prisoner Donald Scott. Scott suffered a severe stroke …
TRO Requires Pennsylvania Jail to Provide Hormone Treatment by A Pennsylvania federal district court issued a temporary restraining order on July 7, 2017 that required the Lackawanna County Prison (LCP) to provide hormone drugs to treat a transgender prisoner diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Steven Fritz, who identifies as Sparkle Wilson, …
PA Behanna Sexual Assault by Guard -Report Case 2:17-cv-00105-CB-LPL Document 31 Filed 01/22/18 Page 1 of 7 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA MELISSA BEHANNA, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) ALLEGHENY COUNTY d/b/a ALLEGHENY ) COUNTY JAIL; ORLANDO HARPER, ) individually …
Ramsey v. Allegheny County, Complaint, PA, Sexual Harassment, 2018 Case 2:18-cv-00071-CRE Document 1 Filed 01/17/18 Page 1 of 17 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA TANISHA RAMSEY, Plaintiff, Case No. _________________ v. ALLEGHENY COUNTY; JURY TRIAL DEMANDED Defendants. COMPLAINT NOW COMES Plaintiff, Tanisha Ramsey, by and through her …
US v. Wilson, PA, Opinion, Crimes of Violence, 2018 PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _____________ No. 16-3485 _____________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JEROME WILSON, Appellant _______________ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (D.C. No. 2-15-cr-00049-001) District …
$840,000 to Wrongfully Terminated Pennsylvania Jail Official by A federal jury has awarded $842,119 to a former major at the Allegheny County Jail in Pennsylvania. The jury found that Walter Mikulan was fired in 2013 in an effort to get rid of older supervisors and because he was allegedly abusing …
Pennsylvania Class-action Targets Company Providing Inaccurate Background Checks by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna Helen Stokes, a 65-year-old Pennsylvania woman with no criminal record, was nonetheless continually denied credit due to inaccuracies in her background report that a property credit reporting company refused to correct. Consequently, she filed a class-action …
PA Behanna Sexual Assault by Guard -Scheduled Settlement Case 2:17-cv-00105-CB-LPL Document 28 Filed 01/04/18 Page 1 of 2 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA MELISSA BEHANNA, Plaintiff, v. ALLEGHENY COUNTY, et al, Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Civil …
Third Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Pennsylvania Guard's FLSA Suit by Sandra Babcock, a guard at the Butler County Prison in Butler, Pennsylvania, filed a putative class-action in federal court alleging Butler County was in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-209, et seq., for failing to …
BOP Agrees to Pay Attorney's Fees in Failed Attempt to Stop Construction of Private Prison in Pennsylvania by Christopher Zoukis by Christopher Zoukis The federal Bureau of Prisons agreed via stipulation to pay the attorney's fees and costs of the plaintiff who sued to stop construction of a private prison …
Third Circuit Denies Prisoner's Due Process Claim, Upholds Retaliation Claim by Christopher Zoukis by Christopher Zoukis The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has denied a parolable prisoner's due process claim, but upheld his claim of retaliation by a prison guard. The prisoner, Phillip Lee Fantone, was …
Williams v. Papi, PA, Plt. Reply Brief to Disqualify Counsel, Medical Malpractice, 2017 Case 3:13-cv-01151-RDM Document 114 Filed 12/21/17 Page 1 of 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA MELINDA WILLIAMS, as Administrator of the Estate of BRIAN P. WILLIAMS, : : Plaintiff : CIVIL ACTION–LAW V. : …
District Court Held IFP Not Available on Appeal of Third Strike by David Reutter by David Reutter The Third Circuit Court of Appeal denied an indigent prisoner's motion to proceed forma pauperis (IFP) on appeal from dismissal of a third frivolous civil complaint. The court held that the denial was …
Third Circuit Okays Blanket Strip-Search Policy for Juvenile Detainees by In a decision filed September 15, 2015, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that a juvenile detention center policy which required strip searches of all detainees upon intake, regardless of the seriousness of their crimes, did not violate …
Negligent Handling of Property Not Barred by Sovereign Immunity by David Reutter by David Reutter The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania affirmed a trial court's denial of Stephen Palmer's claim of "conversion" of his personal property by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC). It reversed and remanded his claim of negligent …
Third Circuit: No Death Row Confinement after Death Sentences Vacated by Christopher Zoukis by Christopher Zoukis The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled against two Pennsylvania prisoners who were held in solitary confinement on death row for years after their death sentences were vacated. In the course …
Pennsylvania: Philly D.A. Sentenced to Five Years for Corruption, Disbarred by Monte McCoin by Monte McCoin Former Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, who in 2009 drew acclaim as the first African-American D.A. in the city and the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, was sentenced on October 24, 2017 to five years …
Third Circuit Vacates Dismissal of Grievance Threat Retaliation Claim by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that a reasonable fact finder could conclude that a prisoner was issued a misconduct report in retaliation for threatening to file a grievance. Pennsylvania …
