Georgia Officials Receive Prison Sentences in Charge-Fixing Scheme by Two former DeKalb County, Georgia officials have been sentenced to federal prison for their involvement in a criminal charge-fixing scheme. In 2008, an unidentified defendant arrested on a drug offense was told by DeKalb County pretrial officer Keith C. Hughes and …
DNA Exonerations in Georgia Result in Disparate Compensation Awards by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The disparity in compensation awards for prisoners exonerated by DNA evidence in Georgia demonstrates the need for evenhanded compensation laws. Five wrongly convicted prisoners, Clarence Harrison, Robert Clark, Douglas Echols, Samuel Scott and Willie …
Eleventh Circuit Reverses/Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity in Retaliation Case by On June 22, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s denial of qualified immunity for four Georgia prison officials accused of retaliation. Danny Hicks sued Warden …
Georgia’s Privatized Probation System Traps the Poor by David Reutter by David M. Reutter As the prison industrial complex has continued to grow, critics of privatization have adamantly warned that it would lead to financial incentives for for-profit companies to keep people ensnared in the criminal justice system. The privatized …
Georgia Jail Settles PLN Censorship Suit, Pays $149,759.21 in Damages, Attorney Fees by On April 22, 2010, Prison Legal News announced that it had settled a First Amendment censorship suit against Fulton County, Georgia and former Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman. The lawsuit, filed by PLN in October 2007, claimed …
Georgia Law Creates Homeless Sex Offender Colony by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Georgia’s sex offender residency restrictions have led some offenders to live in the woods because they have no legal place to stay. Reminiscent of leper colonies, they are forced to camp out on the fringes of …
Georgia Grand Jury Critical of Ticket-Fixing Scam by A Grand Jury in Georgia’s DeKalb County found that the County Recorder’s Court suffered from “a leadership competency issue.” The Grand Jury’s review of the court followed a scandal that cost the county millions of dollars plus the court’s credibility and reputation. …
Eleventh Circuit Finds Administrative Remedies Unavailable When Prison Official Threatens Retaliation by The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a prison official’s threat to retaliate against a prisoner for use of the institutional grievance procedure made the prisoner’s administrative remedies unavailable. The appellate ruling came in a civil …
Georgia Prisoners Must Use Court Promulgated Form to Initiate a Court Action by The Georgia Supreme Court has held that a trial court should have dismissed a mandamus petition filed by a prisoner against prison officials because the prisoner failed to use a form promulgated by the Administrative Office of …
Qualified Immunity Awarded to Guards for Restraint Necessitating Amputation by The Court of Appeals of Georgia has affirmed the grant of qualified immunity for two Glynn County Detention Center (GCDC) guards accused of violating a prisoner’s civil rights resulting in leg amputation. Diana Whitten was arrested for a probation violation …
Georgia Mail Policy Limiting Who Can Send Internet Material Upheld, then Changed by On December 4, 2007, Chief U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson upheld a Georgia Department of Corrections (DOC) policy that prohibited prisoners from receiving materials printed from the Internet from persons other than publishers, vendors, or attorneys. Danny …
Prison, Jail and Law Enforcement Corruption Continues in Georgia by David Reutter by David M. Reutter As the number of people in prison and jail in Georgia has increased, so too has the number of corruption cases involving detention and police officials. One of every 13 Georgians are under the …
Georgia Attorneys Abandoning Indigent Defendants by David Reutter by David M. Reutter For almost 50 years, following the Supreme Court’s 1963 decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, criminal defendants have had a constitutional right to legal representation. However, Georgia lawmakers have decided that as a result of the state’s budget shortfall …
No Damages for Georgia Prisoner Left Paraplegic After Prisoner Attack by A former Georgia prisoner won a liability claim against a guard at the Ware State Prison, but was not awarded damages. While serving a life sentence, Henry Leroy Martin was told by guard Timothy Bagley to remove another prisoner’s …
Innocent Georgia Man Receives $500,000 as Compensation for Rape Conviction by The State of Georgia paid $500,000 to a man who spent 28 years in prison for a rape he did not commit. John Jerome White was arrested in 1979 after an elderly woman identified him during a police line …
Eleventh Circuit Unpublished Decision on PLRA Administrative Exhaustion Requirements Trumped by Published Ruling by In an unpublished ruling, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that summary judgment, rather than a motion to dismiss, was the proper procedure to determine whether a prisoner had exhausted administrative remedies under the Prison …
State, Not County, Required to Pay Attorney Fees in Georgia Death Penalty Cases by On March 9, 2009, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s order holding the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council (“Council”), in contempt for refusing to pay two defense lawyers in a death penalty case. The …
Georgia Sheriffs are Not County Employees, Allowing Suit by Estate of Court Reporter Killed by Prisoner to Proceed by A county sheriff in Georgia is not a “county employee” for workers’ compensation purposes, the Georgia Court of Appeals decided June 26, 2008. This ruling clears the way for a tort …
Prisoner’s Free Speech Rights Violated by Legal Mail Opened Outside His Presence; Qualified Immunity Denied by David Reutter Prisoner’s Free Speech Rights Violated by Legal Mail Opened Outside His Presence; Qualified Immunity Denied by David M. Reutter The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that prison officials who open legal …
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 …
