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Closing Washington's Window of Parole Liability

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Victims, Damages, Settlements, Parole, Supervisory Liability, Parole Liability, Wrongful Death, Murder by Parolees, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Employee Litigation

Closing Washington's Window of Parole Liability by Paul Wright In addition to almost $50 million in settlements and verdicts assessed against the Washington DOC in recent months, the Washington DOC has paid an additional $20.6 million to settle 25 parole liability cases and pay one jury verdict since 1994. Apparently, …

From the Editor

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Eulogies, Editorials, Sentencing, Pardons/Clemency, PLN Litigation

From the Editor by Paul Wright Welcome to PLN's 132nd consecutive issue. May 2001, marks PLN's eleventh anniversary. In that time period PLN has grown from a 10 page, hand typed, photocopied newsletter to its current magazine format and size. As reported in last month's editorial, things at PLN have …

Private Prison Contractor Not Entitled to Immunity

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Private Prisons, Youth Service Systems, Contractor Liability, Suicides

Private Prison Contractor Not Entitled to Immunity by A State court of appeals in West Virginia has held that a private contractor of youth incarceration services is not entitled to immunity under the Governmental Tort Claims and Insurance Reform Act (the Act), W.Va. Code §§ 2912A1 to 18. Tracy Galloway …

Washington DOC Hit with almost $50 Million in Verdicts and Settlements in Parole Victim Suits

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Malicious Prosecution, Witnesses (Disciplinary Hearings), Hearing Officers, False Charges (Disciplinary Hearings), Criminal Prosecution, Court Access, Court Appearances, Qualified Immunity

Washington DOC Hit with almost $50 Million in Verdicts and Settlements in Parole Victim Suits by A federal district court in New York has reinstated the malicious prosecution claim in Scott v. Coughlin and allowed trial to proceed on the issue of whether the denial of three requested witnesses at …

Warden Fired over Riot at New Mexico CCA Prison

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Out of State Transfers, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Prison Rebellion, Guards/Staff, Assaults on Staff

Warden Fired over Riot at New Mexico CCA Prison by Warden Fired Over Riot at New Mexico CCA Prison Corrections Corporation of America officials fired the warden and chief of security at the Torrence County (New Mexico) Detention Facility just three weeks after a November 11, 2000 prisoner uprising involving …

Kentucky Phone Rate Ruling

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Injunctions, Telephone Rates, Immunity/Liability, Municipal Liability, Contractor Liability

Kentucky Phone Rate Ruling by A federal district court in Kentucky held that the filed rate doctrine barred any claims for money damages against Phone Company and county jail defendants. However, injunctive relief was still available. The court questioned the legality of an exclusive service provider contract. In the August, …

Eight Prisoner Deaths in California Women's Prison

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Medical Misconduct, Gender Discrimination -- Women, HIV/AIDS, Cancer, Parole, Wrongful Death, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, State Legislation

Eight Prisoner Deaths in California Women's Prison by Silja JA Talvi Eight Prisoner Deaths In California Women's Prison Revive Concerns About Medical Care, Availibility Of Compassionate Release by Silja J.A. Talvi The deaths of eight female prisoners within a seven-week period at a California women's prison have sparked a new …

Disciplinary Hearing Reversed for Failure to View Videotape

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Evidentiary Ruling (Disciplinary Hearings), Standard of Proof

Disciplinary Hearing Reversed for Failure to View Videotape by In two separate rulings a U.S. District Court set aside an Indiana State Prison Conduct Adjustment Board's (CAB) findings of guilt and punishment after determining that the CAB violated a prisoner's due process rights when it denied his request to review …

New York Strip Search Punitive Damage Award Vacated

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Searches, Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches, Body Cavity Searches, Damages, Municipal Liability

New York Strip Search Punitive Damage Award Vacated by The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the award of $5 million in punitive damage award against the City of New York for an unlawful strip and body cavity search of a misdemeanant arrestee. The court held that punitive …

New York Strip Search Suit Settled for $50 Million

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

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

New York Strip Search Suit Settled for $50 Million by On January 9, 2001, it was announced that New York City would pay $50 million to settle a class action lawsuit involving the suspicionless strip searches of some 58,000 people arrested on minor charges. For ten months in 1996 and …

Software Glitch Frees Washington Probationers

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Searches, Computer Searches, Probation, Restitution

Software Glitch Frees Washington Probationers by A computer error at the Washington state Department of Corrections prematurely released about 70 people from criminal supervision or restitution payments. People convicted of crimes such as robbery, drug possession and assault were suddenly freed from supervision on April 21, 2000, said DOC spokesman …

Two Louisiana Death Row Prisoners Freed

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Death Penalty, Death Row

Two Louisiana Death Row Prisoners Freed by Three days after Christmas, 2000, Michael Ray Graham walked off death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. He was wearing a prison issue denim jacket and carried all of his worldly possessions in two manila envelopes tucked under one arm. After …

Peaceful Protest at Mount Olive Prison

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Prison Labor, Work Strikes, Probation, Prisoner Property, Guards/Staff, American Correctional Association

Peaceful Protest at Mount Olive Prison by Gary Hunter Limits on personal property sparked a peaceful protest by prisoners at Mount Olive Correctional facility in Fayette County, West VA. On October 2nd over a fourth of the 867 residents gathered on the recreation yard with 16 demands for warden Howard …

CCA Faulted in Texas Jail Escape

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Contractor Misconduct, Escapes, Staffing

CCA Faulted in Texas Jail Escape by Staff shortages, unwatched video surveillance monitors, unlocked doors, untrained staff and a security alarm that was ignored by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) employees contributed to the August 27, 2000 escape from the Bartlett State Jail near Austin, Texas. Sixteen problems, the biggest …

Corrections Corporation of America Hit with $3 Million Abuse Verdict

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Contractor Misconduct, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Restraints, Damages, Contractor Liability

Corrections Corporation of America Hit with $3 Million Abuse Verdict by Lonnie Burton On Dec 14, 2000, a federal jury in South Carolina awarded a 14-year-old boy more than $3 million in damages after finding Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) guilty of physically abusing the Charleston, SC teen-ager. In …

New York Jury Awards $900,000 for Jail's Failure to Protect

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, Civil Procedure, Jury Instructions, New Trial Motions, Municipal Liability

New York Jury Awards $900,000 for Jail's Failure to Protect by A federal jury awarded judgment of $900,000 against the County of Nassau and the Sheriff of Nassau for failing to protect prisoner Steven W. Arnold from being assaulted and severely beaten while detained in the Nassau County Jail. PLN …

PLRA Vacated Consent Decrees Can't Be Enforced in State Court

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Consent Decrees (PLRA), Civil Procedure, State Law Claims

PLRA Vacated Consent Decrees Can't Be Enforced in State Court by PLRA Vacated Consent Decrees Can't be Enforced in State Court The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that consent decrees terminated under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) cannot be enforced as private contracts in state court. …

PLRA Attorney Fee Cap Doesn't Apply After Release; Texas County Liable in Attack

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Failure to Protect (General), PLRA, Attorney Fees (PLRA), Municipal Liability

PLRA Attorney Fee Cap Doesn't Apply After Release; Texas County Liable in Attack by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that a Texas county was liable for failing to protect an arrestee from assault in its jail. The court also held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act …

Change in AIDS Medication States Claim

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Medical, HIV/AIDS, Medication, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA)

Change in AIDS Medication States Claim by Change In Aids Medication States Claim A Virginia federal district court ruled prisoner Terry Lee Taylor stated a claim under 42 U.S.C. §1983 where a prison doctor order a change in Taylor's AIDS medication without notification. The new medication caused Taylor to suffer …

Damages Awarded in New York Retaliation Suit

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Retaliatory Transfers, Retaliation for Organizing, Work, Prison Labor, Work Conditions/Safety, False Charges (Disciplinary Hearings), Education, Damages, New Trial Motions, Qualified Immunity

Damages Awarded in New York Retaliation Suit by Damages Awarded In New York Retaliation Suit A Federal District Court in New York awarded a prisoner $4,221.40 for back wages and educational costs, but denied punitive damages in a successful retaliation suit. The court later denied the defendants' motion for reconsideration. …