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Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rules No Privacy Right Exists for Jail Phone Calls

Article • May 15, 2010

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Self Incrimination, Evidence, Telephone Monitoring

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rules No Privacy Right Exists for Jail Phone Calls by On September 11, 2009, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that jail prisoners had no right to privacy with respect to the recording of the non-legal phone calls they made while in jail, and the …

First Circuit Upholds Prison Regulation Banning Sexually Explicit Materials

Article • May 15, 2010

Filed under: Publications/Books, Sexually Explicit Materials, Mail Regulations, Media, Censorship

First Circuit Upholds Prison Regulation Banning Sexually Explicit Materials by The First Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment to prison officials, which upheld a prison regulation banning prisoners’ receipt of publications that feature “nudity” or are “sexually explicit” and the display of “semi-nude, …

Swine Flu Scare Leads to Unrest at Overcrowded Massachusetts Jail

Article • April 15, 2010 • from PLN April, 2010

Filed under: Prison Rebellion, Failure to Treat, Conditions of Confinement, Overcrowding

Swine Flu Scare Leads to Unrest at Overcrowded Massachusetts Jail by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On July 5, 2009, prisoners at the Middlesex County Jail in Cambridge, Massachusetts staged a disturbance after 11 prisoners and 2 guards presented flu-like symptoms and the hospital discharge papers for one prisoner indicated …

First Circuit Upholds $101,750,000 in Damage Awards in FBI Misconduct Case

Article • March 15, 2010 • from PLN March, 2010

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Crime/Demographics, Informants, Damages, Wrongful Conviction, Federal Tort Claims Act

First Circuit Upholds $101,750,000 in Damage Awards in FBI Misconduct Case by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On August 27, 2009, the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an almost $102 million judgment in a lawsuit filed against the federal government after the FBI helped an informant secure the convictions …

$3.1 Million Settlement to Wrongly Convicted Massachusetts Prisoner

Article • March 15, 2010 • from PLN March, 2010

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Police Misconduct, Damages, Wrongful Conviction

$3.1 Million Settlement to Wrongly Convicted Massachusetts Prisoner by On July 28, 2009, within weeks of settling a similar wrongful conviction lawsuit that resulted in a $3.4 million payment to the estate of Kenneth Waters, the town of Ayer, Massachusetts agreed to pay $3.1 million to settle a federal complaint …

Massachusetts GPS Program Upheld by State Supreme Court

Article • March 15, 2010 • from PLN March, 2010

Filed under: Home Detention, Searches, Mechanical Searches/Scanners

Massachusetts GPS Program Upheld by State Supreme Court by Mark Wilson The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court vacated a lower court order which found that a sheriff had violated state law when he released sentenced prisoners on a GPS-monitoring program. On March 8, 2007, Edward Donohue was convicted of his third …

Ramos v. Flynn, MA, Appeal Brief, Medical Neglect, 2010

Brief • February 26, 2010

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Treat

Ramos v. Flynn, MA, Appeal Brief, Medical Neglect, 2010 United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Case No. 09-2179 JESUS RAMOS, Plaintiff-Appellant v. JOHN M. FLYNN, Former Sheriff of Worcester County; THOMAS R. PATNAUDE, M.D., Worcester Internal Medicine, Inc.; CHRIS LARAMEE, Correctional Officer; TODD HILL, Correctional Officer; WORCESTER …

Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board Member Brags About Bias

Article • February 15, 2010 • from PLN February, 2010

Filed under: Discrimination, Sex Offender Registration

Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board Member Brags About Bias by Tyson Lynch is a hearing examiner for the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board; his job responsibilities include determining which convicted sex offenders pose a threat to the community. Yet it wasn’t long after he was hired in October 2008 that …

Prison Supervisors Can be Liable for Guard’s Sexual Abuse

Article • February 15, 2010 • from PLN February, 2010

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Civil Procedure, Limitations, Qualified Immunity, Supervisory Liability

Prison Supervisors Can be Liable for Guard’s Sexual Abuse by David Reutter by David M. Reutter In denying a motion to dismiss, the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts held on July 1, 2009 that prison supervisors could be held liable for the sexual abuse of a prisoner because they failed …

Massachusetts Court of Appeals Reinstates Prisoner’s Dental Negligence Suit

Article • January 15, 2010 • from PLN January, 2010

Filed under: Private Prisons, Correctional Medical Care, Dental Care, Contractor Liability, Sovereign Immunity

Massachusetts Court of Appeals Reinstates Prisoner’s Dental Negligence Suit by Andrew W. Kilburn, a Massachusetts state prisoner, filed suit in state superior court alleging negligence and violation of the Eighth Amendment by Department of Correction (DOC) officials and medical personnel employed by Correctional Medical Services (CMS) and University of Massachusetts …

Massachusetts Man’s Estate Resolves Wrongful Conviction Suit for $14.1 Million

Article • December 15, 2009 • from PLN December, 2009

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Attorney Fee Awards, Damages, Sentencing, Wrongful Conviction, Municipal Liability

Massachusetts Man’s Estate Resolves Wrongful Conviction Suit for $14.1 Million by David Reutter In July 2009, the estate of a man who served over 18 years in Massachusetts prisons for a murder and robbery he did not commit reached a $3.4 million settlement with 5 of the 6 insurers for …

Massachusetts Prison Officials Assault Prisoner With Feces, Settle Lawsuit for $5,000

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

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Showers, Sewage, Sanitation, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints

Massachusetts Prison Officials Assault Prisoner With Feces, Settle Lawsuit for $5,000 by In January 2009, Eric Bargoot, a Massachusetts prisoner who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and panic disorder, as well as a heart condition, settled his § 1983 lawsuit for damages arising from events in September 2004, during which …

In Re Woodman, MA, Export Report, Wrongful Death Police Excessive Force, 2009

Brief • October 28, 2009

Filed under: Police--Excessive Force

In Re Woodman, MA, Export Report, Wrongful Death Police Excessive Force, 2009 Report on the Death of David J. Woodman Appointed by Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis Submitted by: Donald K. Stern Barry W. Mawn Nancy J. McGillivray Jennifer L. Stewart October 28, 2009 Acknowledgements The death of David 1. …

“Habeas Hints”

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

Filed under: Confrontation, DNA Testing/Samples, Sentencing, Habeas Corpus

“Habeas Hints” by Kent A. Russell by Kent Russell This column provides “habeas hints” to prisoners who are considering or handling habeas corpus petitions as their own attorneys (“in pro per”). The focus of the column is on habeas corpus under AEDPA, the 1996 habeas corpus law which now governs …

BOP Warden Does Not Have Authority to Reduce Prisoner’s Sentence Under Rule 35(b)

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

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Informants

BOP Warden Does Not Have Authority to Reduce Prisoner’s Sentence Under Rule 35(b) by Brandon Sample A federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) warden does not have authority to reward a prisoner’s cooperation with prison officials with a reduced sentence under Fed.R.Crim.P. Rule 35(b), the First Circuit held on May 23, …

First Circuit Upholds $3.1 Million FTCA Award Against FBI for Revealing Informant

Article • October 15, 2009

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Police Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Federal Tort Claims Act, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Informants (Failure to Protect)

First Circuit Upholds $3.1 Million FTCA Award Against FBI for Revealing Informant by On October 16, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld a $3.1 million award under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) to the family of an informant whose identity was released by an …

Waters v Town of Ayer, MA, Memo and Order, overdetention, 2009

Brief • September 17, 2009

Filed under: Overdetention

Waters v Town of Ayer, MA, Memo and Order, overdetention, 2009 Case 1:04-cv-10521-GAO Document 248 Filed 09/17/2009 Page 1 of 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS CIVIL ACTION NO. 04-10521-GAO BETTY ANNE WATERS, as Administratrix of the Estate of KENNETH WATERS, Plaintiff, v. TOWN OF AYER, NANCY TAYLOR-HARRIS, …

Title IX Does not Preclude § 1983 Action for Gender Discrimination

Article • September 15, 2009

Filed under: Discrimination, Gender Discrimination -- Women, Gender Discrimination -- Men, Limitations, Title IX

Title IX Does not Preclude § 1983 Action for Gender Discrimination by Title IX Does not Preclude § 1983 Action for Gender Discrimination The U.S. Supreme Court has held that Title IX does not preclude a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging unconstitutional gender discrimination in schools. The action stems …

Massachusetts Federal Court Dismisses DOC from Prisoner's Rape Suit; Amendment Allowed

Article • September 15, 2009

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, State Law Claims, Complaints, Administrative Exhaustion, Immunity/Liability, Eleventh Amendment Immunity, Supervisory Liability, Sovereign Immunity

Massachusetts Federal Court Dismisses DOC from Prisoner's Rape Suit; Amendment Allowed by On October 24, 2008, a Massachusetts federal court dismissed the claims against prison official defendants (defendants) by a former Massachusetts Department of Corrections (DOC) prisoner who allegedly had between 50 and 100 sexual encounters with a former guard. …

Guard-Former Prisoner Relationships not Protected Association

Article • September 15, 2009

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Guards/Staff, Employee Litigation

Guard-Former Prisoner Relationships not Protected Association by The First Circuit Court of Appeal has affirmed a federal district court’s order dismissing the civil rights action filed by a Massachusetts Department of Corrections (MDOC) guard who was fired for conducting a romantic relationship with a former prisoner, in violation of Department …