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Henning v. Town of New Milford, CT, Ruling and Order on Motions for Summary Judgment, Wrongful Conviction, 2023

Brief • July 21, 2023

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction

Henning v. Town of New Milford, CT, Ruling and Order on Motions for Summary Judgment, Wrongful Conviction, 2023 Case 3:20-cv-01790-VAB Document 161 Filed 07/21/23 Page 1 of 84 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT RALTH BIRCH AND SHAWN HENNING, Plaintiffs, v. No. 3:20-cv-1790 (VAB) [rel. No. 3:20-cv-1792 (VAB)] TOWN …

Birch v. Town of New Milford, CT, Ruling and Order on Motions for Summary Judgment, Fabricating Evdience, 2023

Brief • July 21, 2023

Filed under: Evidence - Destruction/Fabrication/Manipulation of

Birch v. Town of New Milford, CT, Ruling and Order on Motions for Summary Judgment, Fabricating Evdience, 2023 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT RALTH BIRCH AND SHAWN HENNING, Plaintiffs, v. No. 3:20-cv-1790 (VAB) [rel. No. 3:20-cv-1792 (VAB)] TOWN OF NEW MILFORD et al., Defendants. RULING AND ORDER ON …

Birch v. Town of New Milford, CT, Ruling and Order on Motions for Summary Judgment, Wrongful Conviction, 2023

Brief • July 21, 2023

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction

Birch v. Town of New Milford, CT, Ruling and Order on Motions for Summary Judgment, Wrongful Conviction, 2023 Case 3:20-cv-01790-VAB Document 161 Filed 07/21/23 Page 1 of 84 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT RALTH BIRCH AND SHAWN HENNING, Plaintiffs, v. No. 3:20-cv-1790 (VAB) [rel. No. 3:20-cv-1792 (VAB)] TOWN …

Birch v. Town of New Milford, CT, Ruling and Order on Motiion for Summary Judgment, Fabrication of Evidence, 2023

Brief • July 21, 2023

Filed under: Fabrication of Evidence

Birch v. Town of New Milford, CT, Ruling and Order on Motiion for Summary Judgment, Fabrication of Evidence, 2023 Case 3:20-cv-01790-VAB Document 161 Filed 07/21/23 Page 1 of 84 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT RALTH BIRCH AND SHAWN HENNING, Plaintiffs, v. No. 3:20-cv-1790 (VAB) [rel. No. 3:20-cv-1792 (VAB)] …

Third Connecticut Prison Lockdown in Five Months

Article • July 15, 2023 • from PLN July, 2023

Filed under: COVID-19, Sanitation, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Third Connecticut Prison Lockdown in Five Months by Kevin Bliss by Kevin W. Bliss When an apparently intoxicated prisoner allegedly assaulted a guard at Connecticut’s largest prison on June 13, 2023, the lockup was put on lockdown. It was at least the third time this year that a state Department …

News in Brief

Article • June 15, 2023 • from PLN June, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: A private prison guard in Arizona was picked up on drug charges in California on April 18, 2023, as he made his way back from Mexico with his wife and kids – along with almost 53 pounds of meth and heroin stashed in the gas …

Second Circuit Upholds Connecticut Prison Porn Ban, Sets Up Circuit Split Over “Vagueness” Test

Article • June 15, 2023 • from PLN June, 2023

Filed under: Censorship, Vagueness/Overbreadth, Pornography/Pornography Laws

Second Circuit Upholds Connecticut Prison Porn Ban, Sets Up Circuit Split Over “Vagueness” Test by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett On October 3, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to issue a writ of certiorari to hear an appeal by a group of Connecticut prisoners, who lost a challenge to …

Second Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity for Connecticut Cops who Sicced K-9 on Suspect in His Holding Cell

Article • March 1, 2023 • from PLN March, 2023

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Dogs, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified

Second Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity for Connecticut Cops who Sicced K-9 on Suspect in His Holding Cell by Casey Bastian by Casey J. Bastian When attempting to keep a detainee from hurting himself, are jailers entitled to injure him with impunity? On September 26, 2022, the U. S. Court of …

Cox v. City of New Haven, CT, Complaint, Excessive Force, 2023

Brief • January 6, 2023

Filed under: Excessive Force

Cox v. City of New Haven, CT, Complaint, Excessive Force, 2023 Case 3:22-cv-01209-MPS Document 44-1 Filed 01/06/23 Page 1 of 30 E X H IB IT A Case 3:22-cv-01209-MPS Document 44-1 Filed 01/06/23 Page 2 of 30 Case 3:22-cv-01209-JBA Document 1 Filed 09/27/22 Page 1 of 29 UNITED STATES DISTRICT …

Second Circuit: No Qualified Immunity for Wardens Accused of Violating Religious Freedom of Muslim Prisoners in Connecticut

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Religious Discrimination, Religious Freedom, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified, Religious Freedom/Worship, Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA)

Second Circuit: No Qualified Immunity for Wardens Accused of Violating Religious Freedom of Muslim Prisoners in Connecticut by Benjamin Tschirhart by Benjamin Tschirhart On June 17, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a lower court’s decision denying qualified immunity (QI) to federal prison wardens in …

New Connecticut Law Restricts Use of Solitary Confinement

Article • January 1, 2023 • from PLN January, 2023

Filed under: Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

New Connecticut Law Restricts Use of Solitary Confinement by Keith Sanders, David Reutter by David M. Reutter and Keith Sanders A law that severely limits the use of solitary confinement in Connecticut jails and prisons took effect July 1, 2022. It also creates an ombudsman position within the state Department …

Guards Nabbed for Worker’s Comp Fraud in Illinois and Connecticut

Article • November 29, 2022

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Workers' Compensation, Fraud and Deceit

Guards Nabbed for Worker’s Comp Fraud in Illinois and Connecticut by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott On November 15, 2022, a guard at Illinois’ McLean County Jail was arrested and charged with worker’s compensation fraud after he allegedly lied about a work-related injury to goose his payout from …

News in Brief

Article • August 1, 2022 • from PLN August, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: On June 3, 2022, a guard was arrested for having sex with a prisoner at Alabama’s Pickens County Jail, according to a report by WTVA in Tupelo, Mississippi. The guard, Marquita Booker, 28, was fired after her arrest, which followed an investigation that earlier in …

Connecticut Supreme Court Requires Special Credibility Instruction for Jailhouse Informant Even If Defendant Allegedly Confessed Elsewhere

Article • June 15, 2022

Connecticut Supreme Court Requires Special Credibility Instruction for Jailhouse Informant Even If Defendant Allegedly Confessed Elsewhere by Douglas Ankney By Douglas Ankey In a decision released on December 1, 2020, the Supreme Court of Connecticut held that a special credibility instruction is required for a jury when hearing testimony from …

Settlement Finally Reached in Prisoners’ Hep-C Class-Action Against Connecticut DOC

Article • June 1, 2022 • from PLN June, 2022

Filed under: Hepatitis, Settlements

Settlement Finally Reached in Prisoners’ Hep-C Class-Action Against Connecticut DOC by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon Nearly four years after a group of Connecticut prisoners sued the state Department of Corrections (DOC) for denying treatment for their infection with the Hepatitis-C virus (HCV)—and a year after the parties reached a …

State of Connecticut Substitute Senate Bill No. 459-Public Act No. 22-18 (Isolated Confinement), 2022

Publication • May 10, 2022

Filed under: Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

State of Connecticut Substitute Senate Bill No. 459-Public Act No. 22-18 (Isolated Confinement), 2022 Substitute Senate Bill No. 459 Public Act No. 22-18 AN ACT CONCERNING THE CORRECTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE, THE USE OF ISOLATED CONFINEMENT AND TRANSPARENCY FOR CONDITIONS OF INCARCERATION. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of …

Connecticut Supreme Court Rules That Prisoner Was Denied Due Process with Sex Offender Classification

Article • May 1, 2022 • from PLN May, 2022

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Denial of Due Process

Connecticut Supreme Court Rules That Prisoner Was Denied Due Process with Sex Offender Classification by Harold Hempstead by Harold Hempstead On July 17, 2021, the Supreme Court of Connecticut held that when the state Department of Corrections (DOC) classified him as a sex offender despite not having a conviction on …

News In Brief

Article • April 1, 2022 • from PLN April, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News In Brief by Arizona: After two escaped prisoners were recaptured and returned to the Arizona State Prison in Florence on January 31, 2021, Phoenix station KNXV reported that at least part of the blame for their escape was assigned to short-staffing of guards at the state Department of Corrections …

$1.65 Million Settlement Reached in Connecticut Prisoner’s Death from Untreated Lupus

Article • April 1, 2022 • from PLN April, 2022

Filed under: Settlements, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

$1.65 Million Settlement Reached in Connecticut Prisoner’s Death from Untreated Lupus by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On July 7, 2021, the Connecticut Department of Corrections (DOC) paid $1.65 million to settle a lawsuit alleging medical personnel failed to diagnose and treat a 19-year-old state prisoner who died of …

News in Brief

Article • March 1, 2022 • from PLN March, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: In Mobile on January 21, 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama announced that an 18-month federal prison sentence for bribery had been handed down by a federal court to Lakerdra Shanta Snowden, 31, a former guard at the Escambia County …