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Police Harassment Upheld

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Police Misconduct

Police Harassment Upheld by The plaintiff homeowners alleged that police officers verbally harassed them, intimidated them, occupied their property without permission, deliberately lied in official documents, and perjured themselves in official court proceedings in order to do the homeowners harm. This conduct does not "shock the conscience" as required to …

Puerto Rican Prisoner’s Property Suit Dismissed

Article • May 15, 2008

Filed under: PLRA, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Prisoner Property

Puerto Rican Prisoner’s Property Suit Dismissed by Puerto Rican Prisoner?s Property Suit Dismissed The plaintiff sued over lost property He had failed to file an appeal of the adverse ruling on his grievance within the five-day time limit The court buys all the holdings construing "prison conditions" expansively, and does …

Colorado Farms Out Prisoners to Replace Immigrant Farm Workers

Article • February 15, 2008 • from PLN February, 2008

Filed under: Prison Industries, Prison Labor, Immigration, News, State Legislation

Colorado Farms Out Prisoners to Replace Immigrant Farm Workers by Colorado is renting its prisoners to local farmers to replace migrant agricultural workers - mostly Mexican and Central American - who have been scared away by the state's restrictive immigration laws. In 2006, the Colorado legislature passed what it trumpeted …

First Circuit Holds Higher Standard for Prison Riot Claims

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Organizing, Prison Rebellion, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas

First Circuit Holds Higher Standard for Prison Riot Claims by The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, affirming the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, upheld dismissal of a former prisoner's complaint against Puerto Rican prison officials arising from an injury the prisoner received when guards tried …

Federal Probation Officers Can't Order Probationers to Drug Treatment

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Searches, Drug Testing, Parole

Federal Probation Officers Can't Order Probationers to Drug Treatment by Manuel Carrera, a federal prisoner in Puerto Rico, was sentenced to five years' supervised release after completing a 78-month prison sentence for drug sales. As a condition of his release, the district court directed Carrera's probation officer to set up …

Family Lacks Standing to Sue over Prisoner Murder

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Standing, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death)

Family Lacks Standing to Sue over Prisoner Murder by The decedent was stabbed to death in prison and family members sued. The family members lack standing to sue in their personal capacities because these facts don't give rise to a claim for interference with familial relationships. At 309: "State action …

Supervisors Not Liable for Retaliatory Assault

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Immunity/Liability, Supervisory Liability

Supervisors Not Liable for Retaliatory Assault by The plaintiff alleged that he was assaulted by an officer because he had filed previous lawsuits against other officers at the prison. He brought suit against supervisory defendants and not the officer. The fact of the assault does not establish deliberate indifference on …

Non Exhaustion Dismissals without Prejudice

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: PLRA, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA)

Non Exhaustion Dismissals without Prejudice by The plaintiff was injured in a Puerto Rico prison and transferred to a federal institution, from which he filed suit. His claim is dismissed for non-exhaustion. The court distinguishes cases that say exhaustion is not required after release, and cites cases saying exhaustion is …

AIDS Death Complaint Dismissed After Three Amendments

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: HIV/AIDS, Supervisory Liability, Wrongful Death, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

AIDS Death Complaint Dismissed After Three Amendments by The decedent died of AIDS in prison. He was diagnosed on July 31, 1996 with Hepatitis C with symptoms corresponding to initial manifestations of AIDS; tests were ordered, he was referred to the health educator, and was told to come back to …

Bad Faith Allegation Not Required in 1983 Action

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Complaints, Telephones, Telephone Monitoring, False Arrest, Arrest Warrants

Bad Faith Allegation Not Required in 1983 Action by The U.S. Supreme Court held that a plaintiff in a 42 U.S.C. §1983 action is not required to plead the defendant acted in bad faith. Carlos Riviera Gomez, a Puerto Rico police officer, was subpoenaed to testify in a criminal case …

Summary Judgment Precluded By Fact Issues in Jail Killing

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Summary Judgment, Supervisory Liability, Wrongful Death, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death)

Summary Judgment Precluded By Fact Issues in Jail Killing by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that material issues of fact precluded summary judgment in favor of jail officials who were being sued by the family of a murdered prisoner. After William Arena Cortes was killed …

Political-Party Discrimination Rampant in Puerto Rico; Damage Award Upheld

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Government Misconduct, Political Prisoners

Political-Party Discrimination Rampant in Puerto Rico; Damage Award Upheld by In 2000, Mirla Rodriguez-Marin (Marin) and Ana Escobar-Pabon (Pabon) were high-ranking officers in Puerto Rico's Administration of Corrections (AOC). Both were members of the New Progressive Party (NPP). That year's incumbent Governor was a member of the Popular Democratic Party …

Ad Seg for Death-Eligible Detainee Is Unconstitutional

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: PLRA, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Death Penalty, Death Row, Ad-Seg Hearings

Ad Seg for Death-Eligible Detainee Is Unconstitutional by A federal court in Puerto Rico held that confinement of a federal pretrial detainee in segregation solely because he faced the death penalty was unconstitutional punishment. It also held that the exhaustion requirement of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, (PLRA) was inapplicable …

Puerto Rican Prison System Unconstitutional

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Eighth Amendment, Injunctions

Puerto Rican Prison System Unconstitutional by In two separate orders published as one case, a federal district court in Puerto Rico found the entire island's prison system to be unconstitutional and found prison officials to be "not credible." Overcrowding was 3-5 times rated capacity, with prisoners sleeping in closets, covering …

Puerto Rican Prisons' Attempt to Evade Injunction Denied by Court

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Eighth Amendment, Injunctions

Puerto Rican Prisons' Attempt to Evade Injunction Denied by Court by A federal district court in Puerto Rico held that Puerto Rican prison officials were attempted to avoid complying with injunctive relief previously ordered by the court, see 497 F. Supp. 14 (D PR 1980) and 672 F. Supp. 591 …

Puerto Rican Prison Officials in Contempt of Overcrowding Order

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Overcrowding, Civil Procedure, Injunctions, Contempt (Civil Procedure)

Puerto Rican Prison Officials in Contempt of Overcrowding Order by A federal district court in Puerto Rico held that the governor of Puerto Rico and island prison officials were in contempt of court for violating an injunction requiring that prisoners be given first 35 square feet, then 50 ft. then …

Puerto Rican Jail Ordered Closed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Totality of Conditions, Overcrowding, Civil Procedure, Injunctions

Puerto Rican Jail Ordered Closed by A federal district court in Puerto Rico ordered a jail closed within 20 days. The jail was a former military fort built in 1848 and was used as a county jail. The jail was a leaking fire trap with leaking plumbing and roofs, exposed …

No Immediate Appeals for Injunction Clarifications

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Medical, Systemic Medical Neglect, Private Contractors, Injunctions (PLRA), Settlements, Injunctions, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Appeals

No Immediate Appeals for Injunction Clarifications by by Matthew T. Clarke This appeal involves the latest round in a Byzantine conditions-of-confinement class-action civil rights suit by Puerto Rico prisoners which has been pending since 1979. At issue was the transition of the prisoner health care system from the jurisdiction of …

$36,150 Award of Attorney Fees in Puerto Rico Prisoner's Death

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Wrongful Death

$36,150 Award of Attorney Fees in Puerto Rico Prisoner's Death by A Puerto Rico federal District Court awarded $36,150.10 in attorney fees to a law firm that secured a jury award on constitutional violations of $250,000 in compensatory damages, $250,000 in punitive damages and $500,000 on a tort cause of …

Request at Trial Seeking Funds for DNA Expert Too Late; BOP Guard Convicted of Rape

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, DNA Testing/Samples, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Expert Witnesses

Request at Trial Seeking Funds for DNA Expert Too Late; BOP Guard Convicted of Rape by Request at Trial Seeking Funds for DNA Expert Too Late; BOP Guard Convicted of Rape The First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction of a Puerto Rico Federal Bureau of Prison guard's conviction …