First-time Burglary Offender Eligible for Pennsylvania DOC’s Recidivism Program by The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that a first-time offender convicted of burglary was entitled to participate in the Recidivism Risk Reduction Incentive (RRRI) Act. The decision came in an appeal filed by Sean Cullen-Doyle, who pleaded guilty to several …
Contempt Motion Filed after Pennsylvania Officials Refuse to Release Detainee by Officials at Pennsylvania’s York County Prison face a contempt motion filed by an attorney on behalf of a terminally ill pre-trial detainee. The motion claims the officials refused to comply with a court order for the prisoner’s release. Thomas …
PLRA Strikes Accruing After Notice of Appeal Do Not Count to Determine IFP Eligibility by The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held on August 4, 2017 that in determining a prisoner’s in forma pauperis (IFP) motion, a court must look to the date a pleading is filed – and not …
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 …
