First Circuit Holds $177,729.96 Award for Attorney Fees and Expenses Not Excessive by On April 24, 2008, five Massachusetts jail guards were awarded more than $17,000 in compensatory damages and over $175,000 in attorney's fees and expenses to be paid by Bristol County, Massa¬chusetts Sheriff Thomas Hodgson. Hodgson had accused …
Restriction On Rated R and NC-17 Rated Movies Constitutional by On January 16, 2008, U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris upheld the Massachusetts Department of Correction’s prohibition on the showing of R and NC-17 rated movies to prisoners. Anthony Gaskins, a prisoner at MCI-cedar Junction, sued the Massachusetts DOC alleging …
Massachusetts Federal Jury Awards Ex-Police Chief $770,000 for Military Employment Discrimination by On June 18, 2008, a federal jury awarded former Winohendon, Massachusetts Police Chief Robert N. Harrington, Jr. $770,000 in a federal lawsuit that alleged the town and Town Manager James M. Kreidler, Jr. discriminated against him because he …
Prison Legal News v. MADOC, MA, Settlement Agreement, censorship, 2009 05/12/2003 PAGE LEGAL 5177277403 15:14 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT This SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT is entered into by and bet.'een PRISON LEGAL NEWS ("PLN") and the MF.SSACHUSETTS DEP7IRTMENT OF CORRECTION (" DEPARTMENT"), on behalf of itself and HAROLD OLARKE, JAMES BENDER, JOHN ~lARSHALL, WHEREAS, …
Institutionalized Policy to Deprive Appeal of Confiscated Mail Violates Constitution by A Massachusetts federal district court denied summary judgment to prison officials who confiscated a prisoner’s mail and took actions that deprived him of his right to appeal that confiscation. The civil actions complaint was filed by MCI-Walpole prisoner Michael …
Massachusetts Suicide Prevention Procedures Found Lacking by David Reutter Massachusetts Suicide Prevention Procedures Found Lacking by David M. Reutter An independent study of suicide prevention practices within the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (MDOC) has found serious deficiencies in the care of prisoners at risk of suicide. Since 2000, there have …
$3.1 Million Awarded to FBI Informant's Family by On October 16, 2008, the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the September 2006 findings of the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts in awarding approximately $3.1 million to the estate of an FBI informant, John McEntyre, who was murdered after the …
Ashcroft, Justice Department Campaign to Expand Capital Punishment by by Michael Rigby During his four years as head of the U.S. Justice Department, Attorney General John Ashcroft has led a sinister campaign to force the federal death penalty in states that have either abolished capital punishment or rarely impose it. …
$885,437.24 Award for CMS Massachusetts Jail Nurse Barred for Reporting Prisoner Abuse by $885,437.24 Award for CMS Massachusetts Jail Nurse Barred for Reporting Prisoner Abuse A Massachusetts federal court awarded $885,437.24 in compensatory damages, punitive damages, costs, attorney fees and electronic litigation support fees to a Correctional Medical Services (CMS) …
Massachusetts DOC Ordered to Provide Vegan Meals to Buddhist Prisoner by Massachusetts DOC Ordered to Provide Vegan Meals to Buddhist Prisoner On June 11, 2008, following a non-jury trial in an action brought under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a U.S. District Court directed the Commissioner …
Massachusetts Jail Conditions Unconstitutional Says U.S. Department of Justice by Gary Hunter A report released by the U.S. Justice Department (USJD), on May 1, 2008, concluded that conditions in the Worcester County Jail and House of Correction (HOC) in Massachusetts violated the constitutional rights of prisoners in its custody. The …
Segregated Massachusetts Nation of Islam Prisoners Entitled to Halal Menu and Jum’ah Prayers; $237,299.25 in Attorney Fees Awarded by The U.S. District Court for Massachusetts granted declaratory relief to two maximum-security Nation of Islam (NOI) prisoners who had sued for a Halal (Muslim religious dietary) menu and participation in daily …
Massachusetts’ Mental Health Treatment Policies Prove Deadly for Public, Prisoners by David Reutter by David M. Reutter As America’s prisons continue their transformation into mental health institutions, little thought is given to mentally ill prisoners who languish within the harsh confines of prison environments with little if any treatment. That …
Local and State Legislators Entitled to Immunity by Local legislators, like state legislators, are absolutely immune from suit under 1983 for their "legislative activity." Although the distinction is not made completely clear, apparently this holding applies to personal liability for damages; injunctive claims are not mentioned. Whether an activity is …
ADA Does Not Allow Individual Liability by Title VII of the Americans with Disabilities Act does not permit individual liability. The court cites the weight of authority, including the Second Circuit, and also analogizes to Title VII. Accord, Corr v. MTA Long Island Bus, 27 F.Supp.2d 259 (E.D.N.Y. 1998). The …
Massachusetts Family Awarded $600,000 for Police Harassment and City's Negligence by A Massachusetts family (the Kennedy's) brought a federal civil rights action against Billerica police in 2004 for harassment that began in 1991. A jury awarded the family $600,000. Policeman Frank Mackenzie answered a domestic dispute call at the family's …
Suit Challenging Massachusetts Parole Procedures Dismissed by Prisoners' claim that a state parole statute is unconstitutionally vague and that the parole board denies due process by allowing crime victims and their families to speak at parole hearings while refusing to permit the plaintiffs' families and friends to be heard need …
MA Prison Conditions Might Amount to Cruel and Unusual Punishment by Richard Smith, a Massachusetts state prison at MCI-Concord, filed suit against prison officials after being disciplined for fighting. He sued numerous guards and administrators in state court alleging a multitude of constitutional and statutory violations. Among them was a …
Massachusetts Action to Compel Medical Treatment Dismissed; Lacked Eighth Amendment Claim, Diagnosis by Massachusetts State pro se prisoner Kenneth Mocks brought an action to compel the State Department of Corrections Director of Health Services, John Noonan, to provide allegedly needed medical care. Also named as a defendant, but judicially dismissed, …
$50,000 Jury Award To Massachusetts Nurses Wrongfully Discharged By Correctional Medical Services by Two Massachusetts nurses, Fitzgerald and Landry, brought suit against Correctional Medical Services (CMS) for defamation of character after being fired over baseless accusations of one alleged eyewitness. The jury awarded them $50,000 collectively. After holding a door …
