31,000 Criminal Cases Under Review After Detroit Crime Lab Closes by After the police crime lab in Detroit, Michigan was found to have provided faulty firearm ballistics evidence in criminal cases, the lab was closed in 2008. A subsequent review of around 31,000 firearm-related prosecutions was deemed “admittedly impossible work,” …
Two Charged with Scamming $2.6 Million from Prisoners and Prisoners’ Families by Two Michigan men have been charged with defrauding thousands of prisoners and their families nationwide out of an estimated $2.6 million. Their scheme targeted black and Hispanic prisoners with direct mailings that offered to provide legal and appellate …
Sixth Circuit: “Security Threat Group” Designation Does Not Warrant Due Process Protections by In 2005, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court's rulings against Michigan prisoner Keith Harbin-Bey, who in 2003 had filed a pro se civil rights lawsuit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that, …
Muthana v. Hofbauer, MI, R&R, Destruction of Mail Written in Arabic, 2012 Case 2:11-cv-00132-GJQ-TPG Doc #41 Filed 01/11/12 Page 1 of 13 Page ID#635 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN NORTHERN DIVISION ALI MUSAID MUTHANA, Plaintiff, v. Case No. 2:11-cv-132 Honorable Gordon J. Quist GERALD HOFBAUER …
Essex v. County of Livingston, MI, Order Granting Plts' Motion to Compel, Sexual Assault by Jail Transport Guard, 2011 2:09-cv-11095-AJT-PJK Doc # 132 Filed 12/02/11 Pg 1 of 6 Pg ID 1733 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION CUREN ESSEX, ALICIA BULKO, ELIZABETH ZUBOR, SUSAN COOK …
Incarceration Alone Insufficient to Terminate Parental Rights in Michigan by In addition to finding that a lower court committed legal errors in terminating a prisoner’s parental rights, the Michigan Supreme Court held that incarceration alone is not a sufficient reason for termination of parental rights. While serving a prison sentence …
Sixth Circuit Upholds $2.5 Million Jury Award for Wrongly Convicted Women by Matthew Clarke By Matt Clarke On April 12,2011, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion upholding the $2.5 million jury award and $250-per-hour attorney-fees award to two women who were wrongly convicted of felonies. Kimberly Sykes …
Former Michigan Prisoner Awarded $1.27 Million for False Arrest and Malicious Prosecution by A Michigan federal jury awarded a former prisoner $1.27 million in a malicious prosecution lawsuit. After she was robbed at gunpoint, Tevya Urquhart was arrested, found guilty and sentenced to prison. After her successful appeal, Urquhart filed …
Sixth Circuit: Prisoner Must be Allowed Direct Appeal When Prison Delayed Appeal Mailings by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The Sixth Circuit held that Michigan had to allow the appeal of a prisoner’s criminal conviction when prison officials had delayed the mailing of his appeal documents until after the filing …
Michigan DOC Cannot Cancel Parole Discharge by David Reutter By David M. Reutter The Michigan Supreme Court has held that the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) does not have authority to cancel a parole discharge once granted, and that courts have no authority to modify a sentence in response to …
PLN Files Censorship Suit Against Michigan Jail over “Postcard Only” Policy by On August 9, 2011, Prison Legal News filed a federal lawsuit against Livingston County, Michigan and the county’s sheriff, Bob Bezotte, alleging First and Fourteenth Amendment violations due to improper censorship at the Livingston County Jail. The suit …
Michigan Prisoner’s Failure to Protect Case Settles for $100,000 by The State of Michigan has agreed to pay a prisoner $100,000 to settle a failure to protect lawsuit filed in federal court. In 2007, Joseph Lyons, 42, was serving a larceny sentence at a Jackson, Michigan prison. He was forced …
Smith v. Wayne County, MI, Complaint, Jail Suicide, 2011 2:10-cv-14257-NGE-PJK Doc # 51 Filed 09/12/11 Pg 1 of 37 Pg ID 1111 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION GLORIA H. SMITH, individually and as CoPersonal Representative of the Estate of Jason Lewis Smith, and CAMILLE MITCHELL, …
Michigan Auditor Finds Prisoner Health Care Delivery Inadequate by David Reutter By David M. Reutter The Michigan Department of Corrections’ (MDOC) efforts to comply with the requirement to deliver medical services are not effective. That is the conclusion drawn in an audit report issued in March 2008 by Michigan’s Office …
Placement in Maximum Security Facility May Trigger Due Process Protections; Religious Diet Claims Remanded by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has reversed a district court’s grant of summary judgment to Michigan prison officials in a procedural due process and religious diet lawsuit. Lamont Bernard Heard received …
Sixth Circuit Reinstates Michigan Prisoner’s Denial of Toothpaste Suit by On May 6, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed the dismissal of a Michigan prisoner’s federal civil rights lawsuit in which he claimed he was denied toothpaste for nearly a year. In January 2005, while …
Prison Legal News v. Bezotte, Livingston County Jail Censorship Complaint, 2011 2:11-cv-13460-DPH-MAR Doc # 1 Filed 08/09/11 Pg 1 of 7 Pg ID 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION PRISON LEGAL NEWS, a project of the Human Rights Defense Center, Plaintiff, v Case No. 11-cv-13460 …
Low Rates in Michigan DOC Phone Contract Demonstrate Actual Cost of Prison Phone Services by Alex Friedmann PLN’s April 2011 cover story detailed the results of our comprehensive multi-year research project on prison phone services, including a state-by-state comparison of prison phone rates, commission (kickback) percentages, and the amounts of …
6th Circuit: County Prosecutor Protected by 11th Amendment by In a decision filed on July 30, 2009, the 6th Circuit affirmed a ruling of a Michigan court granting summary judgment to Arenac County and Arenac County Prosecutor, Curtis G. Broughton. The complaint was brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 …
