$200,000 Settlement in Pennsylvania County Prison Unsafe Conditions Case by Matthew Clarke On August 17, 2012, a federal lawsuit over a guard allowing prisoners to be beaten by other prisoners at a county prison and officials generally allowing unsafe and violent conditions at the prison was settled for $200,000. John …
$400,000 Award against PHS in Pennsylvania Prisoner's Medical Negligence Suit by On February 17, 2012, a Pennsylvania jury awarded a former prisoner 8400,000 in a suit over medical negligence resulting in serious injury to him. Derrick Jones was a Pennsylvania state prisoner incarcerated at SCI Albion on March 12, 2006, when …
Sixth Circuit: Requiring Admission of Guilt to Participate in Mandatory-for-Parole SOTP No Fifth Amendment Violation by Matthew Clarke On April 4, 2012, the Third Circuit court of appeals held that requiring an admission of guilt to participate in an in-prison sex offender treatment program (SOTP) did not violate the Fifth …
Pennsylvania Jail Fires Guard Major Accused of Beating Prisoner by On October 29, 2011, James M. Donis, who had been major of the guards and the third-highest-ranking official at the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was fired from his $68,631/year position. Donis had worked at the jail since 1989. …
Fifth Amendment Right Waived, If Not Invoked During Polygraph Test by Pennsylvania parolee David S. Knoble served his sentence for endangering the welfare of a child, conspiring with his wife for her to engage in sexual intercourse with his 14-year old son and then placed on four-year probation. He was …
BOP Settles Guard's Racial Discrimination Complaint for $5,000 by David Eugene Weaver, who is black, filed a grievance with the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaining that a former supervisor discriminated against him on the basis of race while he was a GS-7 …
$15,000 Settlement in Case Manager's EEOC Action by On December 4, 2002, the federal Bureau of Prisons entered into a settlement agreement that paid a correctional treatment specialist (case manager) at the United States Penitentiary Lewisburg (USP) $15,000, restored him to his previous job and made other concessions. After Prison …
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Finds Miller v. Alabama Not Retroactive by Mark Wilson The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that the United States Supreme Court's ban on mandatory juvenile life without parole (LWOP) sentences does not apply retroactively. In 1999, seventeen year old Ian Cunningham shot and killed Daniel Delarge Jr., during …
Pennsylvania Arrest for Videotaping Cops Denied Qualified Immunity by Mark Wilson A Pennsylvania federal court held that police were not entitled to qualified immunity for "entering a family's home and arresting its owner for doing nothing more than attempting to videotape the officers' overreaction on her own property." Kia Gaymon, …
Deaths of Two Pennsylvania Jail Prisoners Being Investigated By Amnesty International by David Reutter Amnesty International is investigating the deaths of two prisoners at Pennsylvania’s Burlington County Jail (BCJ). The Prosecutor’s Office took the unusual step of responding to a letter from Amnesty upon conclusion of its own investigation. The …
Results from Seven States Shows Program-Driven Recidivism Reduction by The National Reentry Resource Center has published a new study of seven states showing that with proper pre-release programming, recidivism rates can be reduced by a significant amount. The study, which covered the states of Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, …
Prison Chief Blames Rising Prison Budget on Pennsylvania Legislators by David Reutter When Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives forced Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel to appear before them for the annual round of grandstanding about prison costs, Wetzel turned the tables and placed the blame where it belongs: on the legislature. …
Jail Called to Scrutinize Detox Procedure in Wake of Increased Deaths by David Reutter The second death in six months of a pre-trial detainee at Pennsylvania’s Buck County prison has raised questions about its detox procedures. The scrutiny of such procedures should be a focal point for jail administrators throughout …
Gangwal v. Folster, PA, Motion to Stay Deadlines, Excessive Force Leg Sweep, 2016 Case 1:14-cv-02002-JEJ-SES Document 44 Filed 08/10/16 Page 1 of 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA SUDHIR GANGWAL, Plaintiff, v. Civil Action No.: 1:14-cv-02002-JEJ-SES (Filed: October 16, 2014) District Judge: John …
Gangwal v. Folster, PA, Suggestion of Death, Excessive Force Leg Sweep, 2016 Case 1:14-cv-02002-JEJ-SES Document 43 Filed 08/09/16 Page 1 of 2 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA SUDHIR GANGWAL, Plaintiff, v. Civil Action No.: 1:14-cv-02002-JEJ-SES (Filed: October 16, 2014) District Judge: John E. …
Inmate Mail and Incoming Publications, PA DOC, 2011 POLICY STATEMENT Commonwealth of Pennsylvania • Department of Corrections Policy Subject: Policy Number: Inmate Mail and Incoming Publications Date of Issue: December 2, 2011 Authority: Signature on File DC-ADM 803 Effective Date: December 23, 2011 John E. Wetzel I. AUTHORITY The Authority …
Philadelphia Man Awarded $65,000 in Police Assault by A Philadelphia state court jury awarded $65,000 to a man after finding two police officers liable for assault and battery and malicious prosecution. At issue was the April 2, 2013, arrest of Phillip Easley, 30, who walked to a store and offered …
Porn and Referral Fee Scandals Force Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice’s Retirement by David Reutter In the midst of a pornographic email scandal, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus P. McCaffery retired. That move came just a week after his colleagues issued an order suspending him from all judicial work and instructing …
Pennsylvania Blames Prison Clerk for Her Rape by Prisoner by David Reutter In response to a female secretary who was raped by a prisoner at Pennsylvania’s State Correctional Institution – Rockview in 2013, the State Attorney General’s office filed a pleading that blamed the woman for her rape. As PLN …
Law Forbidding the Shackling of Pregnant Women Fails to End Practice by David Reutter Four years after Pennsylvania passed legislation prohibiting the shackling of pregnant prisoners after their second trimester, the law is frequently disobeyed. As a result, many prisoners are enduring “barbaric” shackling while in labor. PLN previously …
