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Paraplegic Louisiana Prisoner Requires Transportation in Vehicle with Wheelchair Lift and Restraints Under ADA

Article • July 15, 2009

Filed under: Transfers, Disabled Prisoners, Civil Procedure, Consent Decrees, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Premises Liability

Paraplegic Louisiana Prisoner Requires Transportation in Vehicle with Wheelchair Lift and Restraints Under ADA by To settle a prisoner’s federal civil complaint filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (LDOC) has entered into a consent judgment. …

No Tort Liability for Louisiana Employer Accused of Negligence in Death of Prisoner on Work Release

Article • July 15, 2009

Filed under: Work Release, Workplace Injury, Workers' Compensation, State Law Claims, Sovereign Immunity, Wrongful Death, Accidents

No Tort Liability for Louisiana Employer Accused of Negligence in Death of Prisoner on Work Release by Louisiana prisoners injured while in work release may not pursue a tort action against the prisoner’s employer, the Court of Appeal of Louisiana, 2nd District, decided April 30, 2008. Instead, the exclusive remedy …

Sexual Abuse by Prison and Jail Staff Proves Persistent, Pandemic

Article • May 15, 2009 • from PLN May, 2009

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Cornell Corrections, GRW Corp., Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Criminal Prosecution

Sexual Abuse by Prison and Jail Staff Proves Persistent, Pandemic by Gary Hunter Sexual assault, rape, indecency, deviance. These terms represent reprehensible behavior in our society. They also represent recurring themes in our nation’s prisons – not only by prisoners, but also by guards and other staff members. PLN’s August …

Slavery Haunts America's Plantation Prisons, by Maya Schenwar

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Work, Prison Labor, Totality of Conditions

Slavery Haunts America's Plantation Prisons, by Maya Schenwar by Maya Schenwar by Maya Schenwar, Truthout On an expanse of 18,000 acres of farmland, 59 miles northwest of Baton Rouge, long rows of men, mostly African-American, till the fields under the hot Louisiana sun. The men pick cotton, wheat, soybeans and corn. …

$275,000 Settlement to Louisiana Man for Excessive Force by Police

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Damages, Settlements, Police, False Arrest, Excessive Force (Police)

$275,000 Settlement to Louisiana Man for Excessive Force by Police by The police department in Lousiana’s St. James Parish has agreed to pay $275,000 to Daniel Moody, who claimed that police officer Andre Cavalier used excessive force when arresting him. Cavalier had come to a residence where a group of …

Lab Technician Denied Qualified Immunity In Former Prisoner’s Lawsuit

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: DNA Testing/Samples, Crime Labs, Sentencing, Wrongful Conviction, Qualified Immunity, Municipal Liability

Lab Technician Denied Qualified Immunity In Former Prisoner’s Lawsuit by In 1984, Dennis Patrick Brown was convicted of rape and sentenced to life in prison. With the assistance of The Innocence Project, the DNA tests were repeated in 2003 and revealed Brown was innocent. Brown was released and the City …

Williams v. East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff, LA, Plf Orig Complaint, Housing Assoc Misappropriations, 2009

Brief • March 18, 2009

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Government Misconduct

Williams v. East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff, LA, Plf Orig Complaint, Housing Assoc Misappropriations, 2009 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA ROBIN WILLIAMS and TRACE WILLIAMS, Plaintiffs, )( V. )( CIVIL ACTION: ______________ )( (JURY TRIAL) )( EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE; SHERIFF …

Torture at Angola Prison: President Obama promises to close Guantanamo, but a court proceeding in Louisiana exposes brutality closer to home

Article • March 15, 2009 • from PLN March, 2009

Filed under: Threats by Staff, Self Incrimination, Criminal Prosecution, Prison/Jail Murders, Escapes, Conditions of Confinement, Strip Cells, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Shootings, International Law, Death Penalty, Military Prisons

Torture at Angola Prison: President Obama promises to close Guantanamo, but a court proceeding in Louisiana exposes brutality closer to home by Jordan Flaherty Torture at Angola Prison: President Obama promises to close Guantanamo, but a court proceeding in Louisiana exposes brutality closer to home by Jordan Flaherty The torture …

Organizing for Freedom: Resistance at Angola State Penitentiary, Louisiana’s Last Slave Plantation

Article • January 15, 2009 • from PLN January, 2009

Filed under: Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Political Prisoners, Work, Prison Labor, Prison/Jail Murders

Organizing for Freedom: Resistance at Angola State Penitentiary, Louisiana’s Last Slave Plantation by Jordan Flaherty Organizing for Freedom: Resistance at Angola State Penitentiary, Louisiana’s Last Slave Plantation by Jordan Flaherty At the heart of Louisiana’s prison system sits the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, a former slave plantation where little …

Supreme Court: Death Penalty for Child-Rape Barred as Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Article • November 15, 2008 • from PLN November, 2008

Filed under: Discrimination, Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Death Penalty

Supreme Court: Death Penalty for Child-Rape Barred as Cruel and Unusual Punishment by by John E. Dannenberg A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on June 25, 2008 that a Louisiana statute imposing the death penalty for rape of a child, absent murder or an intent to kill, was unconstitutional …

Jail Prisoners Get Rapid HIV Tests

Article • October 15, 2008 • from PLN October, 2008

Filed under: Medical, HIV/AIDS, Medical Experiments/Exploitation

Jail Prisoners Get Rapid HIV Tests by A relatively new rapid HIV test has been used on over 31,000 jail prisoners in four different states. The testing was made possible by grants from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The grants were part of a project to expand the use …

ADA Upheld by Fifth Circuit

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Americans with Disabilities Act, Immunity/Liability, Eleventh Amendment Immunity

ADA Upheld by Fifth Circuit by The ADA is a permissible exercise of Congress' authority under the Fourteenth Amendment to override the Eleventh Amendment. Under City of Boerne, the court must assess whether there is "congruence and proportionality" between the injury to be remedied and the means adopted. That standard …

Rule Banning Litigation “Threats” May be Unconstitutional

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Disciplinary Litigation, Legality of Rules, Good Time

Rule Banning Litigation “Threats” May be Unconstitutional by The plaintiff lost good time for violating a rule that prohibited inmates from threatening employees with litigation during "confrontation situations." The panel opinion, 121 F.3d 222 (5th Cir. 1997), held that the claim concerning the disciplinary proceeding is barred by Preiser and …

Fifth Circuit Discusses Class Certification Requirements

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Parties, Class Certification

Fifth Circuit Discusses Class Certification Requirements by A class of 100 to 150 is sufficiently numerous for class certification (this range "generally satisfied the numerosity requirement" (624); the members were geographically dispersed and unavailable for joinder; some class members might fear retaliation. At 625: "The test for commonality is not …

Beating, Pepper Spraying of Prisoners on Bus Ride Upheld

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Transportation, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Civil Procedure, Injunctions

Beating, Pepper Spraying of Prisoners on Bus Ride Upheld by The plaintiff was "subdued" after protesting the treatment of another prisoner in the yard. The next day, he and other inmates were put shackled on a bus for transfer, and some of the prisoners created a disturbance on the bus. …

Louisiana Sheriff Immune When Litter-Crew Prisoners Injured

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Work, Workplace Injury, Injury -- Misc., Municipal Liability

Louisiana Sheriff Immune When Litter-Crew Prisoners Injured by On April 5, 2006, a Louisiana Court of Appeals held that a prisoner who was injured while working on a litter-abatement crew for the sheriff could not sue the sheriff unless he proved gross negligence or an intentional act by the deputy …

Junk Bonds to Junk Science? Drug Treatment Program Questioned

Article • June 15, 2008 • from PLN June, 2008

Filed under: Medical, Medication, Medical Experiments/Exploitation, Judiciary, Probation, Drug Treatment/Rehab

Junk Bonds to Junk Science? Drug Treatment Program Questioned by Greg Dober by Gregory Dober What was worth approximately $554 million in 2007 and is valued at about $94 million today? The correct answer is the stock market value of a firm formerly known as Alaska Freightways Inc., a shell …

Defunct Louisiana Juvenile Private Prison Reactivated by GEO for Immigrants

Article • June 15, 2008 • from PLN June, 2008

Filed under: GEO Group/Wackenhut, International, Immigration

Defunct Louisiana Juvenile Private Prison Reactivated by GEO for Immigrants by A Jena, Louisiana private prison with a troubled past will experience rebirth as an immigrant detention center. The facility, built by the failed N-Group Securities company as part of a scam run by Patrick and Michael Graham, once held …

Ninth Circuit Upholds Discipline of Immigration Prisoner; PLRA Does Not Apply

Article • May 15, 2008

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Notice of Rules, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Immigration

Ninth Circuit Upholds Discipline of Immigration Prisoner; PLRA Does Not Apply by The plaintiff, an immigration detainee, was in the law library when some visitors came in, and he made some disparaging remarks about the institution, handed them a flyer, and suggested they could not believe what officials told them. …

Louisiana Work-Release Prisoners Used by Sheriff in Chop Shop

Article • February 15, 2008 • from PLN February, 2008

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Work, Prison Industries, Prison Labor, Criminal Prosecution, Crime

Louisiana Work-Release Prisoners Used by Sheriff in Chop Shop by Gary Hunter In February 2005, Louisiana sheriff Ronald ?Gun? Ficklin was indicted on 22 counts of conspiracy, trafficking in motor vehicles with removed or altered Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs), removing or altering VINs, aiding and abetting the possession of a …