Police Only Responsible If They Know Danger Of Jail Suicide by On July 27, 1982, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that city police officers could only be held responsible for the suicide of a jail prisoner if they knew or reasonably should have known he was suicidal. Joseph …
Injuries from Falling Ice Nets $3,000 for Massachusetts Prisoner by A Massachusetts prisoner was paid $3,000 to settle claims of injuries from ice falling from a building rooftop. Mr. Simmonds was a Massachusetts prisoner when he was hit by ice that fell from a rooftop, suffering bruises and lacerations to …
Prisoner Awarded $3.50 in Product Liability for Defective Shower Shoes by A Massachusetts Superior Court awarded David Jackson, a prisoner at the state prison in Walpole, $3.50 for a products liability claim related to a pair of plastic “deluxe” shower shoes Jackson bought from the prison canteen. The private canteen …
Massachusetts Prison Official's Ordered To Improve Prisoners' Treatment by Massachusetts State corrections officials (appellants) challenged a court order requiring better treatment for prisoners at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution (MCI) at Walpole claiming that the court exceeded it's statutory authority. The order was affirmed and no separation of powers doctrine violation …
Massachusetts Correctional Institution's BX Unit Ruled Inhumane by Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Bridgewater (MCI) representative, Frank Hall, and other officials objected to a magistrates report finding unconstitutional conditions of confinement at MCl's BX Unit (Unit). The report was adopted and remanded for the magistrate's remedial instruction as Special Master. The …
Massachusetts Woman's Nonproductive Informant Based Vaginal Drug Search Ruled Non Actionable by Massachusetts resident Shirley Rodriques petitioned for review of a 1986 appellate summary judgment grant to defendants for qualified immunity in her action for her unproductive vaginal drug search. The Supreme Judicial Court, sua sponte, assumed jurisdiction and affirmed …
$3,101,876 Awarded Deceased FBI Informant's Estate After Former Agent Revealed Identity by Emily Mclntyre, as administratix of her deceased son's estate, sued former FBI Agent John Connolly for proximately causing the informant's 1984 death by revealing his identity to mobsters. The estate was awarded $3,101,876. A fisherman and FBI informant, …
PLN Sues Massachusetts DOC Over Book Ban, Added to Approved List One Week Later by For the past five years Prison Legal News has been unable to sell or distribute books to prisoners in Massachusetts because PLN was not on the Dept. of Correction’s (DOC) approved vendor list. Massachusetts prisoners …
Massachusetts DOC Denial of Ramadan Food to Prisoner in Seg Upheld by In an earlier opinion, 44 F.Supp.2d 400 (D.Mass. 1999), the court denied summary judgment to defendants on the request of the Muslim plaintiff, serving 10 years in segregation, that he be provided cereal, peanut butter, etc., three days …
Court Terminates MA Civil Commitment Center Injunction by The Massachusetts Treatment Center for Sexually Dangerous Persons is not a "prison" and persons civilly committed to it are not "prisoners" for purposes of the PLRA judgment termination provisions Persons committed to it received indeterminate sentences of one day to life to …
No Liability for Shooting Suicidal, Armed Jail Prisoner by The plaintiff was arrested and tried to kill himself. He was handcuffed to a wall on the police station booking area for observation, and set fire to his clothing while so restrained. He expressed more suicidal thoughts at the hospital where …
Subjective Knowledge Required for Punitive Damages by Under the Supreme Court's Kolstad decision, there must be proof of evil motive or reckless or callous indifference, meaning subjective knowledge that the defendant may be acting in violation of federal law. As a result, prior law holding that in civil rights cases …
Concealment of Medical Experiments Tolls Statute of Limitations by The plaintiffs sued over medical experiments ("boron neutron capture therapy") performed on their terminally ill relatives in the 1950s and then covered up. The right of access to courts is violated when government officials wrongfully and intentionally conceal information crucial to …
No Cause of Action Under International Law for Medical Experiments by Plaintiffs complaining about being subjected to medical experiments in a mental hospital "have not established a cause of action for civil responsibility for crimes against humanity." (42) Although international law "is an inseparable part of American jurisprudence and as …
Massachusetts Jail Releases Prisoners to Meet Court-Ordered Population Levels by A modified consent decree order entered by a Massachusetts federal district court has resulted in the release of at least 100 prisoners from the Worcester County House of Correction (WCHC). The order came in a class action lawsuit filed by …
Hudson v. Dennehy, MA, Order, Religious Rights Violation, 2008 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS CIVIL ACTION NO. 01-CV-12145-RGS MAC HUDSON AND DERRICK TYLER v. KATHLEEN DENNEHY, in her official capacity as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction FINDINGS OF FACT, RULINGS OF LAW, AND ORDER AFTER A …
Overdetention: When Completing a Prison Sentence Just Isn’t Enough by David Reutter Overdetention: When Completing a Prison Sentence Just Isn't Enough by David M. Reutter One of the most basic functions of a prison system is releasing prisoners when their sentences expire. In April 2007, the Massachusetts Department of Correction …
Spectrum Health Systems Pays Massachusetts $7.5 Million for Fraud in Concert with Civigenics by To settle charges that it misused state money, Spectrum Health Systems, Inc. has agreed to pay the State of Massachusetts $7.5 million. Spectrum is a nonprofit organization that provides treatment for substance abusers; the settlement was …
First Circuit Upholds Ex-Boston Guard’s 46-Month Prisoner-Abuse Sentence by Matthew Clarke First Circuit Upholds Ex-Boston Guard's 46-Month Prisoner-Abuse Sentence by Matthew T. Clarke The First Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a 46-month prison sentence imposed on a former guard at the Nassau Street Jail in Boston, Massachusetts for beating …
First Circuit Upholds $500,000 Award for Whistle-Blowing Boston Guard by Matthew Clarke by Matthew T. Clarke On March 29, 2005, the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a $500,000 jury award in favor of a former guard at a Boston jail who was harassed by fellow guards after he reported …
