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Wisconsin Enacts Law, Prison Reforms Regarding Sex Assaults

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Criminal Prosecution, State Legislation

Wisconsin Enacts Law, Prison Reforms Regarding Sex Assaults by by Michael Rigby On August 31, 2004, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WDOC) announced it would immediately implement sweeping policy changes in the way it views and handles staff-on-prisoner sexual assaults. The reforms come a year after legislation was enacted criminalizing …

California Establishes Statewide Hepatitis-C Management Program

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Medical, Hepatitis

California Establishes Statewide Hepatitis-C Management Program by by John E. Dannenberg The California Department of Corrections (CDC) Health Care Services Division instituted a statewide Hepatitis-C Clinical Management Program (Program) in March, 2004. The Program draws from the prototype HCV protocol developed under federal court order at Pelican Bay State Prison …

New Jersey County Settles With Imprisoned Deaf Man For $175,000

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Discrimination, Deaf Prisoners, Court Appearances, Interpreters, Municipal Liability

New Jersey County Settles With Imprisoned Deaf Man For $175,000 by On November 20, 2003, Mercer County, New Jersey, agreed to pay $175,000 to a deaf man who was imprisoned at the Mercer County Detention Center (MCDC) without appropriate accommodations and appeared before a county court without an interpreter. The …

Wisconsin County Pays $6.95 Million To Settle Strip-Search Suit

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Searches, Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches, Damages

Wisconsin County Pays $6.95 Million To Settle Strip-Search Suit by by Michael Rigby St. Croix County, Wisconsin, and its insurer has paid $6.95 million to settle a federal class-action lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the county jail's blanket strip-search policy, according to the terms of a February 27, 2004, settlement …

Four Guards Suspended By CCA Following Their Murder of Prisoner in Tennessee Jail

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Contractor Misconduct, Guard Misconduct, Crime/Demographics, Prison/Jail Murders, Attorney Client, Excessive Force

Four Guards Suspended By CCA Following Their Murder of Prisoner in Tennessee Jail by Four Guards Suspended By CCA Following Their Murder of Prisoner in Tennessee Jail by Matthew T. Clarke Four male CCA Guards have been placed on paid administrative leave following their murder of a female prisoner at …

Five Homicides In L.A. County Jail Blamed On Security Lapses; 25 Sheriff's Deputies May Be Disciplined

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Prison/Jail Murders, Informants, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death)

Five Homicides In L.A. County Jail Blamed On Security Lapses; 25 Sheriff's Deputies May Be Disciplined by Five Homicides In L.A. County Jail Blamed On Security Lapses; 25 Sheriff's Deputies May Be Disciplined by Marvin Mentor After investigating five brutal prisoner-on-prisoner slayings in a six month period inside the Los …

PLN Wins Washington DOC Bulk Mail Suit, Again

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Qualified Immunity, Publications/Books, Mail Regulations, Due Process, Postage, Media, PLN Litigation, Censorship

PLN Wins Washington DOC Bulk Mail Suit, Again by John E Dannenberg The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the U.S. District Court's ruling below (and permanent injunction) that the Washington DOC (WA DOC) policy of prohibiting prisoners' receipt of standard rate mail (AKA bulk mail) and catalogs with …

Untreated Dental Infection Kills California Prisoner

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Medical, Dental Care, Medical Expenses, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Untreated Dental Infection Kills California Prisoner by A 41 year-old prisoner at the California State Prison (Solano) in Vacaville died six days after having a tooth extracted, when prison medical staff failed to treat his resulting infection. Anthony Shumake, sentenced to 12 years, 8 months in 2000, had an abscessed …

Nine California Guards Fired For Prisoner Assaults

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Retaliation against Staff, Whistleblowing, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Guard Unions

Nine California Guards Fired For Prisoner Assaults by Nine guards at California's maximum security Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP), including some belonging to the Green Wall" satanic gang of rogue guards, were fired on November 8, 2004 as a disciplinary action for allegedly assaulting a prisoner and then conspiring to …

New Federal Civil Rights Tax Relief Act Ends Double Taxation On Attorney Fee Awards

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Legality of Rules, Sanctions (Disciplinary Hearings), Standard of Proof, Searches, Drug Testing

New Federal Civil Rights Tax Relief Act Ends Double Taxation On Attorney Fee Awards by California Drug Possession" Disciplinary Satisfied By Positive Urine Test The California Court of Appeal held that a positive urine test for THC (marijuana) was some evidence" sufficient to uphold a prison disciplinary finding of possession" …

Phone Companies Gouge California Jail Prisoners' Families

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates, Attorney Calls

Phone Companies Gouge California Jail Prisoners' Families by by John E. Dannenberg In a scenario reminiscent of the Spy versus Spy" cartoon, phone companies are gouging California jail prisoners' families with outlandish collect call rates, while prisoners are defrauding the phone companies by taking advantage of new computerized phones to …

New Federal Civil Rights Tax Relief Act Ends Double Taxation On Attorney Fee Awards

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Damages, Tax Law, News, Federal Legislation

New Federal Civil Rights Tax Relief Act Ends Double Taxation On Attorney Fee Awards by by John E. Dannenberg On October 22, 2004, President Bush signed into law the Civil Rights Tax Relief Act (CRTRA), enacted as section 703 of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. While the CRTRA …

California Criminal Fine Surcharges Ruled Ex Post Facto

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Sentencing, Ex Post Facto

California Criminal Fine Surcharges Ruled Ex Post Facto by The California Court of Appeals determined that surcharges on fines levied upon criminal convictions were ex post facto where the laws establishing the surcharges were punitive and were enacted after the crimes had been committed. Daniel High was convicted of property …

Concubine and Children Cannot Sue for Wrongful Death of Federal Prisoner

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Cancer, Parties, Federal Statutory Law, Federal Tort Claims Act, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Marriage

Concubine and Children Cannot Sue for Wrongful Death of Federal Prisoner by The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a concubine and her children could not sue for damages resulting from the cancer death of federal prisoner Jose Miguel Ruiz. This action was brought under the Federal Tort …

New York Legislator Pays For CSC-Chauffeured Rides

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Private Prisons, Esmor/CSC, Contractor Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Criminal Prosecution, State Legislation

New York Legislator Pays For CSC-Chauffeured Rides by A New York State Assemblyman has been sentenced to three years probation and ordered to pay $5,000 in fines and restitution for unlawfully billing the state for rides he got for free from Correctional Services Corporation (CSC). The sentence was imposed after …

California Awards MCI WorldCom Another Sole-Source Prisoner Phone Contract

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

California Awards MCI WorldCom Another Sole-Source Prisoner Phone Contract by by Marvin Mentor The California Department of Corrections (CDC) awarded a sole-source contract to MCI WorldCom (MCI) for all CDC prisoner phones. The October 29, 2004 agreement covers four years, with options for up to two one-year extensions. Significantly, CDC …

California Youth Authority Fires Six For Pummeling Prisoners And Filing False Reports

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Juveniles, Guard Unions

California Youth Authority Fires Six For Pummeling Prisoners And Filing False Reports by On September 10, 2004, six California Youth Authority (CYA) Correctional Counselors (guards) were fired for using excessive force" in beating two prisoners at a Stockton, California youth prison on January 20, 2004, and then falsifying the reports. …

Louisiana Jail Settles Suicide Suit For $3 Million

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Mental Health, Suicides

Louisiana Jail Settles Suicide Suit For $3 Million by On June 10, 2004, the City of Shreveport, Louisiana, agreed to pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit arising from the suicide death of a prisoner in. the city's jail. Frances Loggins, 48, was arrested for public drunkenness and taken to …

Court Holds Florida's Administrative Processing Fee is Constitutional

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Standing, Money/Property, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Court Holds Florida's Administrative Processing Fee is Constitutional by by David M. Reutter On December 21, 2004, Florida's Leon County Circuit Court held that a 2004 law that imposed an administrative processing fee on monies deposited into prisoner accounts does not violate the Florida Constitution's single-subject rule. The December 2004 …

Florida's Faith-Based Programs Under Watchful Eyes

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Required Religious Programming

Florida's Faith-Based Programs Under Watchful Eyes by David Reutter by David M. Reutter With budget cuts eliminating its substance abuse programs and most educational programs in its prisons, the State of Florida is turning to religious groups to rehabilitate its prisoners. Since 1995, Florida's prison population has exploded from 62,000 …