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Summary Judgment Denied in Oklahoma Jail Beating

Article • November 15, 2001 • from PLN November, 2001

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Skeletal Injury, Injury -- Misc., Private Contractors, Brain Injury, Conditions of Confinement, Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding, Qualified Immunity, Municipal Liability, Contractor Liability, Marriage

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

Article • September 15, 2001 • from PLN September, 2001

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Medication, Mental Health

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

Article • August 15, 2001 • from PLN August, 2001

Filed under: Escapes, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

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

Article • July 15, 2001 • from PLN July, 2001

Filed under: Sanctions (Disciplinary Hearings), Sentencing, Ex Post Facto, Good Time, Habeas Corpus

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by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an amended Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) regulation that rescinded earned good time credits violates the Ex Post Facto Clause.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

Article • April 15, 2001 • from PLN April, 2001

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Prison/Jail Murders, Assaults on Staff, Guard Unions, Failure to Protect (Staff)

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 …

Riot at CCA Prison Hospitalizes 15 Guards

Article • March 15, 2001 • from PLN March, 2001

Filed under: Out of State Transfers, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Prison Rebellion, Guards/Staff, Assaults on Staff

Riot at CCA Prison Hospitalizes 15 Guards by Gary Hunter A minor riot on July 15 2000, left fifteen guards and one prisoner injured at the North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre, Oklahoma. Six guards were sent to area hospitals where they were treated for minor cuts and bruises. One …

Hepatitis C, A 'Silent Epidemic' Strikes U.S. Prisons

Article • January 15, 2001 • from PLN January, 2001

Filed under: Medical, Systemic Medical Neglect, Hepatitis, Veterans

Hepatitis C, A 'Silent Epidemic' Strikes U.S. Prisons by Silja JA Talvi It's been called the nation's most insidious virus. A "silent epidemic" that has swept the nation, hepatitis C is now the most common, chronic, bloodborne infection in the U.S. Because the virus often causes no noticeable symptoms for …

Escape Costs Oklahoma Private Prison $304,375

Article • October 15, 2000 • from PLN October, 2000

Filed under: Private Prisons, Cornell Corrections, Escapes, Contractor Liability

Escape Costs Oklahoma Private Prison $304,375 by Gordon Flud's April 12, 2000, escape from a Hinton, Oklahoma rent-a-jail didn't end well for him--or for his prison. Flud, 44, jumped fences, avoided razor wire and climbed down the Great Plains Correctional Facility administration building's rainspout in his bid for freedom. But …

OK Private Prison Fined $168,750

Article • October 15, 2000 • from PLN October, 2000

Filed under: Cornell Corrections, Contractor Misconduct, Medical, Systemic Medical Neglect, Medical Records

OK Private Prison Fined $168,750 by On March 5,2000, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC) fined the Great Plains Correctional Facility (GPCF) in Hinton, Oklahoma, $168,750 for failing to provide adequate medical care to the 812 Oklahoma prisoners housed in the prison. GPCF is owned by the Hinton Economic Development …

Mailbox Rule Applies to Section 2254/2255 Motions

Article • July 15, 2000 • from PLN July, 2000

Filed under: Appeals, Habeas Corpus, Mail, Legal Mail

Mailbox Rule Applies to Section 2254/2255 Motions by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a prisoner's pleadings were filed at the time he mailed them, even though he used the prison's regular mail system instead of its legal mail system. While incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in …

Claim For Prospective Relief Moot Upon Release

Article • May 15, 2000 • from PLN May, 2000

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Injunctions, Mootness, Parole, Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Claim For Prospective Relief Moot Upon Release by Ronald Young The court of appeals for the Tenth circuit held that when a prisoner's claim for perspective injunctive relief regarding conditions of confinement becomes moot, the prisoner's parole or supervised release status does not, absent some exceptional showing, bring that claim …

Riots Rock CCA Prison in Oklahoma

Article • December 15, 1999 • from PLN December, 1999

Filed under: Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Prison Rebellion

Riots Rock CCA Prison in Oklahoma by In Nov. 1998 Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) opened the Diamondback Corr. Facility in Watonga, OK and filled it with prisoners from Indiana and Hawaii. According to a prisoner housed at the facility there was a great deal of tension between the two …

Sheriff Liable for Inadequate Staffing and Refusing Medical Treatment to Assaulted Prisoner

Article • November 15, 1999 • from PLN November, 1999

Filed under: Injury -- Misc., Crime/Demographics, Informants, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, Parties, Municipal Liability, Failure to Train/Supervise

Sheriff Liable for Inadequate Staffing and Refusing Medical Treatment to Assaulted Prisoner by The Tenth Circuit court of appeals held that a sheriff may be liable for insufficient jail staffing and refusing medical treatment to a prisoner who was beaten by other prisoners. Genaro Lopez was a prisoner in the …

Wisconsin Prisoners Stage Food Protest

Article • July 15, 1999 • from PLN July, 1999

Filed under: Classification, Out of State Transfers, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Hunger Strikes, Food

Wisconsin Prisoners Stage Food Protest by On January 18 and 19, 1999, Wisconsin prisoners housed at a private prison in Sayre, Oklahoma, refused to show up at the prison's chow hall for meals. John Wisener, chief of security at the North Fork Correctional Center, said that only 75-80 of the …

BOP Exceeds Statutory Authority in Denying Sentence Reductions

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Good Time, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Mental Health, Drug Treatment/Rehab

BOP Exceeds Statutory Authority in Denying Sentence Reductions by Afederal district court in the District of Columbia held that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) had exceeded its statutory authority by defining "violent" offenses to preclude a sentence reduction for convictions the courts have consistently defined as "non-violent." In 1994 congress …

Tenth Cir. Upholds IFP Provisions

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Filing Fees (PLRA), Mail, Publications/Books, Religious Property

Tenth Cir. Upholds IFP Provisions by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit held that the PLRA's IFP provisions, requiring full payment of all filing fees, were constitutional. All circuit courts to consider the issue have held likewise. The court also upheld the censorship of the magazine Muhammad Speaks …

Trial Required in Oklahoma Beating Case

Article • February 15, 1998 • from PLN February, 1998

Filed under: Injury -- Misc., Guard Brutality/Beatings, Civil Procedure, Summary Judgment, Injunctions, Discovery, Mootness, Magistrates, Recusal, Supervisory Liability

Trial Required in Oklahoma Beating Case by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit held that a prisoner's claim for declaratory and injunctive relief are mooted once he is released from incarceration and that questions of fact regarding the application of force by guards precludes summary judgment in their …

Oklahoma Pulls Out of TX Rent-A-Jail

Article • November 15, 1997 • from PLN November, 1997

Filed under: Out of State Transfers, Private Prisons, Capital Correctional Resources Inc, Contractor Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas

Oklahoma Pulls Out of TX Rent-A-Jail by The state of Oklahoma announced in July that it would pull 500-plus prisoners out of the Limestone County Detention Center, in part because of a conflict over the use of pepper spray on "unruly inmates." Limestone County, Texas, contracts with a private firm, …

Suit Seeks to Expose BOP 'Suicide' Cover-up

Article • July 15, 1997 • from PLN July, 1997

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Excessive Force, Wrongful Death, Suicides

Suit Seeks to Expose BOP 'Suicide' Cover-up by A former U.S. Congressman and his organization are offering a $10,000 reward in the death of Kenneth Michael Trentadue. Congressman George Hansen says the U.S. Citizens Human Rights Commission is offering the money for the identification, indictment and conviction of the people …

US Supreme Court: Oklahoma Pre-Parole Program Requires Hearing Before Removal

Article • May 15, 1997 • from PLN May, 1997

Filed under: Work Release, Disciplinary Hearings, Liberty Interests, Parole

US Supreme Court: Oklahoma Pre-Parole Program Requires Hearing Before Removal by by Paul Wright On March 18, 1997, justice Clarence Thomas released a ruling for a unanimous U.S. supreme court holding that an Oklahoma "pre-parole" program designed to relieve prison overcrowding was sufficiently similar to parole to require a due …