Prisoners Have Right to Send Letters to News Media by The First Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a prisoner has a right to send letters to the news media. This action was filed by two prisoners at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Walpole, challenging the prison's total ban …
US Supreme Court Held Plaintiffs Have A Right To Amend Complaints by The US Supreme Court held that it is entirely contrary to the spirit of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) for decisions on the merits of a case to be avoided on the basis of technicalities. The …
Confinement Held Unjustified by The Supreme Court of Massachusetts held that a prisoner at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute (M.C.I.) at Walpole was confined in the Departmental Segregation Unit (D.S.U.) without being afforded the procedural safeguards required by the regulations of the department and the federal and state constitutions. The prisoner …
Massachusetts: Confinement In Disciplinary Unit Constitutional by The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that conditions of confinement in a disciplinary housing unit did not violate prisoners' Constitutional or statutory rights. Plaintiffs, prisoners housed in or previously housed in the department disciplinary unit (DDU) of the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at …
No Preliminary Inunction for Firing of Prisoner Law Clerks by The First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Massachusetts federal district court's order denying prisoners at MCI-Cedar Junction a preliminary injunction seeking to reinstate them to their law clerk positions at the prison. The prisoners argued they were terminated in …
SAMs Valid, Requiring Defense Attorneys' Affirmation Invalid by A U.S. District Court held that Special Administrative Measures (SAMs) were valid as to the detention of a pretrial detainee, but defense attorneys need not give affirmation as to their acknowledgment of the SAMs. 28 C.F.R. §501.3(a) (Prevention of acts of violence …
Costs of Deposition Copy Not Waivable by A New York federal district court has held that an indigent plaintiff can not be allowed to take a deposition of witnesses without pre-paying the costs thereof, and that the defendants can not be compelled to advance the costs of the deposition. To …
US Supreme Court Defines Standard For Consent Decree Modification by The US Supreme Court held that the Swift "grievous wrong" standard does not apply to requests to modify consent decrees that come from institutional reform litigation. The flexible standard adopted by the Supreme Court in this case states that a …
Massachusetts Prisoners' Chemical Toilet Claim Proceed to Trial for Damages by A Massachusetts federal district court has granted in part and denied in part prison officials' motion for summary judgment in a class action by prisoners formerly incarcerated at the Southeast Correctional Center (SCC). PLN previously reported proceedings in this …
Massachusetts: City Potentially Liable For Officer's Negligence by In this case involving a university police officer who was injured by an escaped prisoner, the Superior Court of Massachusetts denied summary judgment to the City of Worcester. The Court held that a jury could find the City's officer was grossly negligent …
Failure to Protect Federal Informant's Wife Not Actionable by A Massachusetts's federal district Court held the U.S Government cannot be held liable for a decision of whether to protect or how to protect an individual. This action was brought by the wife of a federal informant who was serving the …
Administrative Exhaustion for Kidney Transplant Habeas by Petitioner filed a habeas petition to get a furlough so he could get a kidney transplant. The court dismisses for non-exhaustion without commenting on the fact that this is a habeas proceeding, whether it is a proper habeas proceeding, whether the PLRA should …
MA DOC Refuses to Process Civil Rights Grievances by The practice of what is grievable is shown to diverge from the written policy. At 77-78: From the proceedings that transpired below on remand, it appears that the Massachusetts Department of Corrections had no grievance procedure available for complaints of the …
Target Shooting Not Protected Free Speech by Plaintiffs challenged a statute that, inter alia, forbade Class A gun clubs--those that made large capacity weapons available to those who don't have licenses to possess them--to "permit shooting at targets that depict human figures, human effigies, human silhouettes or any human images …
Attorney Fees Available for Nursing Home Settlement Monitoring by Buckhannon does not control the compensability of post-judgment monitoring efforts in this case, since the settlement itself provides for monitoring. The plaintiffs' counsel's obligation to protect the interests of the class did not evaporate when the settlement was reached. The court …
Guard's Sentence Enhanced for Beating Disabled Prisoner by The criminal defendant pled guilty to conspiracy to violate the civil rights of detainees under his supervision, conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, and four counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. He received a sentence of 46 months …
No Opportunity to Earn Good Time Claim Dismissed by The plaintiff challenged a disciplinary proceeding. The sanctions of six weeks' loss of visiting, transfer to a higher security prison, and loss of his position as Minority Camp Co-Chairman with its accompanying opportunity to earn good time, did not amount to …
$90,000 Awarded to Massachusetts Prisoner for Inadequate Medical Care After Beating by $90,000 Awarded to Massachusetts Prisoner for Inadequate Medical Care After Beating A Massachusetts prisoner, Robert M. Layne, escaped from prison and shot two cops. When captured he was badly beaten and then denied medical treatment for his injuries. …
First Circuit Affirms Massachusetts Guard's Sentence in Prisoner Beating by by Michael Rigby On May 3, 2005, the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a guard's 41-month federal prison sentence for assaulting a prisoner at the Nashua Street Jail in Boston, Massachusetts, and then conspiring to cover it up. …
$100,000 Awarded Hospital Guard Injured In Escape by While seeking medical treatment for a prisoner at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, an officer from the City of Worcester Police Department became distracted by something outside the window. The prisoner, incorrectly secured by the wrists with leg shackles, slipped free …
