Oklahoma "Civil Death" Statute Does Not Preclude Prisoner Tort Actions by Oklahoma "Civil Death" Statute Does Not Preclude Prisoner Tort Actions The Oklahoma Supreme Court held that a state statute declaring all persons serving a felony sentence to be "civilly dead" does not preclude them from filing a civil action …
CCA Closes Oklahoma Prison, Settles Tax Lawsuit Over Ohio Prison by Michael Rigby The turbulent economy of the past decade has led many communities across America to foolishly seek prisons as a recession proof industry and rural welfare program for poor whites. But prisons can be a double edged sword, …
Feces Flinging Prisoners Receiving Lengthy Sentences by An emerging trend of sentences reveals that courts are imposing lengthy sentences on prisoners who throw bodily fluids on guards. In recent years, State Legislators have created new felony offenses that heavily penalize anyone who flings bodily fluids on guards. The philosophy behind …
Frivolous Litigator Must Prepay Appellate Filing Fees by Frivolous Litigator Must Prepay Appellate Filing Fees A divided Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that a prisoner who had been labeled a "three strikes" frivolous litigator could raise a jurisdictional appellate question, but he could not gain an appellate ruling …
Oklahoma Prisoner/Paupers May Be Required to Pay Partial Filing Fee by Oklahoma Prisoner/Paupers May Be Required to Pay Partial Filing Fees The Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld a trial court order directing an indigent prisoner to pay partial filing fees from future prison labor earnings. Eugene Smith, an Oklahoma prisoner, petitioned …
Oklahoma Jail Pays $385,000 Settlement in Baby's Death by Oklahoma Jail Pays $385,000 Settlement in Baby's Death On December 11, 2002, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma agreed to settle a medical neglect suit by paying $385,000 to Deborah Smith, 31, a former prisoner in the Oklahoma county jail. While imprisoned in the …
CCA Pays $54 Million to IRS and Settles Gender Discrimination Complaint by On October 28, 2002, Corrections Corp. of America, (CCA) settled its 1997 federal taxes after an audit by the Internal Revenue Service for the sum of $54 million. The IRS challenged the validity of the tax deductions that …
FLSA Inapplicable to Oklahoma Prisoners in Private Prisons by An Oklahoma appellate court held that the Fair Labor Standards Act, (FLSA) does not apply to prisoners in private prisons. Michael Washington, a prisoner of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, (ODOC), was transferred to the Great Plains Correctional Facility, (GPCF), a …
Oklahoma Rejects Prisoner Mail Box Rule by The Oklahoma State Court of Ap peals held that the "Prisoner Mail Box Rule" is not available to Oklahoma prisoners and that "filing" means when a proper petition is delivered to the proper court. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals certified a question …
Oklahoma Jailhouse Informants Settle Failure to Protect Suit for $80,000 by Federal prisoners Curtis Sherfield and Hugh Grayson, who were being held at the Oklahoma County jail on federal drug charges, were given a total of $80,000 in December 2001 to settle their lawsuit against the county after they were …
Two Federal Courts Grant Injunction for HCV Treatment by A federal court in Oklahoma issued an unpublished opinion granting a preliminary injunction ordering prison officials to provide prescribed medications for a prisoner's liver disease. Another federal court in Ohio issued an unpublished opinion granting a preliminary injunction ordering prison officials …
Hawaiian Women Prisoners File Suit Over Sex Abuse, Torture in Oklahoma Private Prison by Lonnie Burton When the State of Hawaii opted in 1998 to send its female prisoners to a privately run Oklahoma prison, it had no idea what was in store for these women. What ensued over the …
$400,000 Settlement in Oklahoma Jail Failure to Protect Suit by On April 19, 2001, the insurer for the Garfield county jail in Oklahoma agreed to pay $400,000 to a former jail prisoner who was attacked and beaten by his cellmate. On April 26, 1998, Larry Thomas, then 58, was imprisoned …
Former CCA Captain and Texas Probation Officer Pleads Guilty by On October 25, 2001, Jason Driskell, 27, a former captain at the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) operated Whiteville Correctional Facility (WCF) in Tennessee, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges in federal court. Driskell admitted that in 1999 he …
Family of BOP Prisoner Awarded $1.1 Million in Wrongful Death Suit by Ronald Young A federal judge in Oklahoma City ruled in May 2001 that the government was negligent in the death of federal prisoner Kenneth Michael Trentadue and ordered the family to be paid $1.1 million for emotional distress. …
Summary Judgment Denied in Oklahoma Jail Beating by A federal district court in Oklahoma has denied summary judgment against a pretrial detainee's failure to protect and deliberate indifference to medical needs claims. On September 5, 1995, John Winton was booked into the Tulsa County Jail on shooting charges that were …
Oklahoma Governor Takes Entrepreneur's Bribe by Oklahoma officials are investigating the propriety of $240,000 in cash gifts given to that State's governor, Frank Keating. Jack Dreyfus, an entrepreneur who hopes to convince Oklahoma prison officials to use Dilantin (a seizure medication) to control violent prisoners, made the gifts. After receiving …
Two Escape from Oklahoma Control Unit by Two Escape From Oklahoma Control Unit Two maximum security prisoners escaped on January 15, 2001, from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary's notorious Hunit, an underground control unit, only to be recaptured two days later. The escaped prisoners were identified by ODOC spokesman Jerry Massie …
Oklahoma Good Time Rule Violates Ex Post Facto by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an amended Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) regulation that rescinded earned good time credits violates the Ex Post Facto Clause. Prisoner Steve A. Smith filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging …
Oklahoma Guard Killed by On June 6, 2000, Joe Gamble, 29, a prison guard at the Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite, Oklahoma, died from stab wounds allegedly inflicted by prisoner Dorhee McKissick. The stabbing occurred on June 5 when Gamble saw another guard, William Callaway, being attacked by McKissick. Gamble …
