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Louisiana Guards' Conviction Upheld in Prisoner's Beating

Article • August 15, 2003 • from PLN August, 2003

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Louisiana Guards' Conviction Upheld in Prisoner's Beating by A jury's conviction of three guards at the Louisianan State Penitentiary at Angola in the assault and beating of prisoner Raymond Jackson has been affirmed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Sergeant Harrison Daniels was convicted in the assault, and denying …

Rehabilitation Act, Title II of ADA, Held Unconstitutional

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Boot Camps, Civil Procedure, Defenses, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Eleventh Amendment Immunity

Rehabilitation Act, Title II of ADA, Held Unconstitutional by In two separate rulings the courts of appeal for the Fourth and Fifth Circuits have held that section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (RA), 29 U.S.C. §794(a), and, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §12312, do …

U.S. Torture: A Sordid History Of Official And Systematic Abuse

Article • March 15, 2003 • from PLN October, 2004

Filed under: Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

U.S. Torture: A Sordid History Of Official And Systematic Abuse by G. Flint Taylor by G . Flint Taylor The brutal and sadistic torture by U.S. military prison guards, military intelligence officers, and CIA interrogators which is being revealed daily in the mainstream media has brought protestations from President Bush, …

Louisiana Prisoners May Access Savings Funds Exceeding $250

Article • March 15, 2003 • from PLN March, 2003

Filed under: Money/Property, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Louisiana Prisoners May Access Savings Funds Exceeding $250 by by Matthew T. Clarke The Supreme Court of Louisiana has held that all state prisoners have a statutory right to transfer savings accounts funds exceeding $250 to their drawing accounts. Walter Burnette, a Louisiana state prisoner serving a 99-year sentence, filed …

Louisiana Sheriff Pays $1.35 Million Settlement in Death of Diabetic Prisoner

Article • December 15, 2002 • from PLN December, 2002

Filed under: Diabetes, Wrongful Death, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Louisiana Sheriff Pays $1.35 Million Settlement in Death of Diabetic Prisoner by On January 6, 2002, Orleans Parish criminal sheriff Charles Foti agreed to pay $1.35 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a diabetic female prisoner who died at the parish prison in April 1999. JoAnn …

Louisiana's Administrative Remedy Procedure Unconstitutional

Article • September 15, 2002 • from PLN September, 2002

Filed under: Workplace Injury, Civil Procedure, Administrative Exhaustion, Limitations

Louisiana's Administrative Remedy Procedure Unconstitutional by by Matthew T. Clarke The Supreme Court of Louisiana has declared that the Corrections Administrative Remedy Procedure (CARP), La.Rev.Stat. 15:1171-1179, when applied to tort claims, violates article V,16 of the Louisiana constitution. Michael Wayne Pope, a Louisiana state prisoner, was severely injured on his …

News in Brief

Article • August 15, 2002 • from PLN August, 2002

Filed under: Private Prisons, Esmor/CSC, Financing, CMS, Youth Services International, Contractor Misconduct, Vision, Boot Camps, Staffing, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Immigration, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

News in Brief by Roger Hummel Alaska: On April 11, 2002, Cynthia Cooper, the head prosecutor in the state attorney general's office, resigned after being judicially admonished for pursuing felony charges against a public defender who crashed his car into a light pole. Anchorage prosecutors had agreed to a misdemeanor …

Angola Prisoner Wins $1.5 Million Verdict Against Five Guards for Assault

Article • April 15, 2002 • from PLN April, 2002

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Damages, Appeals

Angola Prisoner Wins $1.5 Million Verdict Against Five Guards for Assault by Lonnie Burton In January 2001, pro se prisoner John Poullard won a $1.5 million judgment against five guards who beat him in retaliation for other lawsuits and complaints he had previously filed. Poullard, who is serving time at …

PLRA Bars Mental and Emotional Damages for Asbestos Exposure

Article • December 15, 2001 • from PLN December, 2001

Filed under: Asbestos, PLRA, Physical Injury Rule, Damages, Complaints

PLRA Bars Mental and Emotional Damages for Asbestos Exposure by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a prisoner may not recover damages for mental and emotional injuries due to his exposure to asbestos and other health-threatening prison conditions. Johnny Ray Herman, a Louisiana state prisoner, filed suit …

PAMII Act Requires Release of Mental Health Records

Article • September 15, 2001 • from PLN September, 2001

Filed under: Medication, Medical Records, Injunctions, Disclosure of Records, Federal Statutory Law, PAMII Act

PAMII Act Requires Release of Mental Health Records by A federal district court in Louisiana has held that federal law requires prison officials to release a prisoner's mental health records for investigation of claims of mistreatment. Prisoner William Ford sent a letter to the Advocacy Center complaining that he has …

Durham v. Stalder, LA, Report and Recommendation, Wrongful Death and Summary Execution, 2001

Brief • August 15, 2001

Filed under: Wrongful Death

Durham v. Stalder, LA, Report and Recommendation, Wrongful Death and Summary Execution, 2001 Case 3:00-cv-00195-RET Document 45 08/15/2001 Page 1 of 13 Case 3:00-cv-00195-RET Document 45 08/15/2001 Page 2 of 13 Case 3:00-cv-00195-RET Document 45 08/15/2001 Page 3 of 13 Case 3:00-cv-00195-RET Document 45 08/15/2001 Page 4 of 13 Case …

Court to Determine if Louisiana Must Treat Male and Female Prisoners Equally

Article • July 15, 2001 • from PLN July, 2001

Filed under: Discrimination, Gender Discrimination -- Men, Prison Labor, Shelter, Exposure to Heat, Prisoner Privileges

Court to Determine if Louisiana Must Treat Male and Female Prisoners Equally by The court of appeals for the Fifth Circuit has held that the issue of whether Louisiana violated the Equal Protection Clause by treating female prisoners more favorable than male prisoners cannot be resolved at the motion to …

PLRA-Based Garnishment Used to Collect Court Costs for Defendant

Article • June 15, 2001 • from PLN June, 2001

Filed under: PLRA, Filing Fees (PLRA), Costs, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

PLRA-Based Garnishment Used to Collect Court Costs for Defendant by The court of appeals for the Fifth Circuit has held that the method for garnishing a prisoner's trust fund set forth in the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) and codified at 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(f)(2)(A), (B) and (b)(2), may be …

Louisiana Prison Activist Freed

Article • June 15, 2001 • from PLN June, 2001

Filed under: Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Political Prisoners, Organizing

Louisiana Prison Activist Freed by On February 8, 2001, Robert King Wilkerson, one of the prisoners known as the Angola 3, was released from the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana after spending twenty-nine years in solitary confinement for a crime he did not commit. Wilkerson, 57, was convicted of …

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 …

Zamani v. LAPD, CA, Appellant Brief, Racial Profiling, 2001

Brief • March 28, 2001

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Racial Discrimination, Racial Profiling

Zamani v. LAPD, CA, Appellant Brief, Racial Profiling, 2001 1. STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION This is an action brought originally in the United States District Court, Central District of California, brought by plaintiff under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to vindicate his rights under the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment to the …

Louisiana Abandons Private Juvenile Prisons

Article • February 15, 2001 • from PLN February, 2001

Filed under: Private Prisons, GEO Group/Wackenhut, Contractor Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Criminal Prosecution, Food, Clothing, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

Louisiana Abandons Private Juvenile Prisons by The state of Louisiana agreed to a settlement in federal court September 7, 2000 designed to radically alter the way it operates its juvenile prisons. The agreement was intended to settle several lawsuits against the state, including one by the U.S. Dept. of Justice, …

Tide Turns Against Prison Privatization

Article • February 15, 2001 • from PLN February, 2001

Filed under: Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Financing, Cornell Corrections, Contractor Misconduct, State Legislation

Tide Turns Against Prison Privatization by North Carolina, Georgia, Utah and Louisiana are among states that experimented with private prisons and because of problems encountered have eliminated them altogether or scaled back plans for future privatization. North Carolina officials converted both of the state's private prisons to public operation, and …

Louisiana Prison System Exceeds Administrative Statutory Authority

Article • January 15, 2001 • from PLN January, 2001

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Legality of Rules, Sanctions (Disciplinary Hearings), Good Time

Louisiana Prison System Exceeds Administrative Statutory Authority by The Court of Appeals of Louisiana for the First Circuit has held the Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPSC) exceeded its statutory authority when it referred prisoners to a "Special Court" for the additional forfeiture of good time when they had …

Administrative Remedies Exhaustion Tolls LA Statute of Limitations

Article • November 15, 2000 • from PLN November, 2000

Filed under: Medical, Skeletal Injury, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Limitations

Administrative Remedies Exhaustion Tolls LA Statute of Limitations by Ronald Young By Ronald Young The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that state administrative proceedings a prisoner was required to exhaust tolled Louisiana's one-year prescriptive period for filing a civil rights claim. The court also held that the …