Conflicting State Statutes Require Reversal of Massachusetts Riot Convictions by Defendant Randall Spearin and co defendant Gualter M. Camara, both Massachusetts State prisoners, appealed their convictions from a 2001 uprising at the Bristol County House of Corrections (Bristol), where they were incarcerated and led a riot. When they filed an …
Federal Statute Requiring Supervised Releasee to Submit DNA Sample Unconstitutional by A Massachusetts federal district court has entered a preliminary injunction barring the federal probation office from requiring a person on supervised release to submit a DNA sample. The Court's order comes after it found that Leo Weikert, Jr., who …
SJ Reversed on Massachusetts Religious Diet Claims; MA Constitution Affords Greater Protections than U.S. Constitution by In a unanimous decision, Massachusetts' highest court reversed summary judgment on Muslim prisoners' claims that they were denied halal meat, which is required by their faith. Muslim prisoners Rashard Rasheed and Nathaniel Bilal Ahmad …
Police Documents Sought under Public Records Act Exempt for Irreparable Harm Probability by The Chronicle Publishing Company, dba Worcester Telegram and Gazette (T&G), motioned for a preliminary injunction in 1999 to obtain records regarding internal police reports from Worcester Chief of Police Edward Gardella and the City. The City refused, …
Records Requested by Victim Ordered When Police Failed to Justify Lawful Exemption by Massachusetts resident Tameeka Messier filed a motion to compel to acquire documents from the Boston Police Department, Area D 14 (BPD), regarding an injury she allegedly suffered in 1997 during a concert. The BPD failed to present …
Documents Exempt from Viewing under Public Records Act Allowed with Confidentiality Agreement by Because of an underlying civil action brought in Massachusetts against the Bright Horizons Children's Center, Inc. (the Center), alleging sexual abuse of a minor child, the Center sought records of the completed investigation from the district attorney …
MA Prison Conditions Might Amount to Cruel and Unusual Punishment by Richard Smith, a Massachusetts state prison at MCI-Concord, sued 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 claim that …
$35,000 Jury Award in Massachusetts Prisoner’s Assault by Guards by $35,000 Jury Award in Massachusetts Prisoner's Assault by Guards A jury awarded a prisoner at the Massachusetts Correctional Facility at Walpole $35,000 for guards' negligence for failing to intercede to stop an excessive use of force. After one guard began …
Most Serious Sex Offenders in Boston Living in Homeless Shelters by Efforts in Massachusetts to keep a close eye on released sex offenders have apparently failed. Rather than having such offenders in stable living environments where law enforcement officials can monitor them, 65 percent of the state?s most dangerous sex …
$250,000 Settlement Received in Massachusetts Police Beating by After mediation with a federal magistrate, a Boston man agreed to drop his excessive force suit against Worcester City, Massachusetts in exchange for $250,000 in 2006. Charles Evangelista sued the city and six police officers after suffering a ruptured bladder while being …
Massachusetts’ Corrections Commissioner Has Duty to Comply with Court’s Transfer Order by Massachusetts' Corrections Commissioner Has Duty to Comply with Court's Transfer Order The First Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a district court has authority to order a Corrections Commissioner to transfer prisoners to create constitutional conditions. That …
MA Prisoner’s Rights Not Violated by Strip Searches by MA Prisoner's Rights Not Violated by Strip Searches In 1987, William Langton, a Massachusetts state prisoner, was strip searched every time he left or returned to his cell. Since he was never found in possession of contraband, he believed the searches …
MA Man’s Blood Test from Hospital Admissible in Drunk Driving Trial by MA Man's Blood Test from Hospital Admissible in Drunk Driving Trial Michael Dube, defendant in a Massachusetts state court proceeding for drunk driving, went to the hospital after being in a car wreck. His blood alcohol level was …
$250,000 Settlement Received in Police Beating by After mediation with a federal magistrate, a Boston man agreed to drop his excessive force suit against Worcester City, Massachusetts in exchange for $250,000. Charles Evangelista sued the city and six police officers after suffering a ruptured bladder while being beaten on March …
Prison Drinking Water and Wastewater Pollution Threaten Environmental Safety Nationwide by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg Aging infrastructure concerns are not limited to America's highways, bridges and dams. Today, crumbling, overcrowded prisons and jails nationwide are bursting at the seams -- literally -- leaking environmentally dangerous effluents not just …
Dennison v. City of Worcester, MA, Order on Ptf's Motion to Unseal Depo, Police Excessive Force, 2007 Document 35 Filed 10/19/2007 Page 1 of 2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS ) RAYMOND E. DENNISON, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) SERGEANT RONALD T. LAPOINTE, OFFICER JOHN …
Massachusetts Guard Accused of Throwing Feces Entitled to Workman’s Compensation by Massachusetts Guard Accused of Throwing Feces Entitled to Workman's Compensation A former Massachusetts prison guard accused of putting feces in a prisoner's cell is entitled to workman's compensation for emotional distress, the state Department of Industrial Accidents Reviewing Board …
Massachusetts District Court: FBI Ordered to Pay $101.7 Million for Malicious Prosecution by Michael Rigby A federal judge in Massachusetts has awarded $101.7 million to four innocent men who were framed by the FBI for a murder they did not commit. In a scathing 228-page decision entered on July 26, …
Clarification: by The July 2007 issue of Prison Legal News reported Sarsfield v. City of Marlborough, $13,655,940 Award for False Massachusetts Rape Conviction and Gregory v. City of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky Settles with Wrongly Imprisoned Man for $3.9 Million. Barry Scheck was lead counsel for both plaintiffs, but while he …
Dennison v. City of Worcester, MA, Ptf's Motion to Unseal Police Depo, Police Excessive Force, 2007 Case 4:06-cv-40100-FDS Document 33 Filed 09/28/2007 Page 1 of 9 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA U.S. DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS CIVIL ACTION NO. 06-40100FDS _____________________________________ RAYMOND E. DENNISON, ) Plaintiff ) ) v. ) …
