Jury Awards $500,000 to Massachusetts Jail Guard Harassed for Breaking Code of Silence by by Matthew T. Clarke A Boston federal jury has awarded $500,000 to a guard who was harassed at work by other jail employees after he reported misconduct by another guard. Bruce S. Baron, a former guard …
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Massachusetts Court Enjoins Sheriff from Charging Jail Prisoners Assorted Fees by Michael Rigby Massachusetts Court Enjoins Sheriff from Charging Jail Prisoners Assorted Fees by Michael Rigby The sheriff of Bristol County, Massachusetts, has been enjoined from gouging prisoners and their families on jail service fees in accordance with his Inmate …
A Death in Custody: Massachusetts DOC Wracked by Scandal by Peter Costanza On August 23, 2003, the 26 men in Unit J-1 at SBCC, a "supermax" prison in Shirley, Massachusetts, were finishing lunch. It was just before noon. There was one guard in the unit, a prison guard named David …
Federal Halfway House Litigation by Todd Bussert by Todd Bussert, Esq.* In Decemberr 2002, a shock wave reverberated through the federal prison system, when the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) announced radical changes in its policy on when it will allow prisoners to serve some or all of their sentences in …
Prisons Nationwide Fail to Treat HCV Epidemic by John E Dannenberg Prisons Nationwide Fail To Treat HCV Epidemic by John E. Dannenberg The JeopardyTM answer is: "The national average treatment rate for HCV-infected prisoners." The winning question is: "What is approximately 1%?" With HCV [Hepatitis-C] infection rates in state prisons …
Prisoners and Guards Charged With Murder as Drugs and Brutality Plague State Prisons by Vermont: Four prisoners died in the custody of the Vermont Department of Corrections during a five week period between April and May 2003. Only one died of natural causes. [Editor's Note: PLN contributing writer James Quigley …
Massachusetts Jail Guards Assault Mentally Disabled Prisoner by Michael Rigby Massachusetts Jail Guards Assault Mentally Disabled Prisoner by Michael Rigby Six Essex County jail guards were suspended and one fired after they assaulted a mentally challenged prisoner in the jail infirmary by forcing him to eat cake while handcuffed. Author …
First Circuit Applies Mailbox Rule to § 1983 Complaints by by Matthew T. Clarke The First Circuit has held that the PLRA's exhaustion of remedies requirement is an affirmative defense, not jurisdictional, and failure to include proof of exhaustion of state remedies will not support sua sponte dismissal. The court …
Massachusetts Constitution Entitles Prisoners to Wear Kufi Caps by Massachusetts Constitution Entitles Prisoners to Wear Kufi Caps A Massachusetts Appellate Court has held Article 46, §1 of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution allows prisoners to possess and wear kufi caps. Saifullah Abdul-Alazim, a prisoner at the Massachusetts Correctional Facility …
Deportation to Uganda Doesn't Violate Torture Treaty by United Nations Convention Against Torture would not be violated by removal to Uganda, notwithstanding evidence that prison conditions are "harsh and life threatening," with "high mortality rates from overcrowding, malnutrition, diseases spread by unsanitary conditions, and HIV/AIDS." (95) Under INS regulations, torture …
Guards Abusing Prisoners in Boston Leads to Jury Awards and Disciplinary Action by by Matthew T. Clarke Widespread reports of guards having sex with, raping, and beating prisoners in Suffolk County (MA) jails have led to the indictment of guards, firing of guards, disciplinary action against-guards, and jury awards against …
DSU-Like Conditions in Massachusetts Prison Trigger Due Process Protection by DSU-Like Conditions in Massachusetts Prison Trigger Due Process Protection by Matthew T. Clarke The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has held that the Massachusetts Commissioner of Corrections (MCOC) may not avoid previously ordered due process review of prisoners placed in …
Massachusetts Jury Awards $175,000 to Beaten Ex-Prisoner by On August 28, 2002, a Worcester (MA) Superior Court jury awarded $175,000 to a former Massachusetts state prisoner who sued the Department of Correction (DOC). The jury also found that the DOC negligently hired and supervised a guard with a known propensity …
Jury Awards $20,000 to Nurse Stuck by Needle from HIV Positive Prisoner by On November 26, 2003, a Massachusetts jury awarded a nurse at a medical center, which treated prisoners from a nearby Worcester County prison, $20,000 for emotional distress that resulted from being stuck by a needle from an …
Sex, Drugs, and Beatings at Boston Jails by by Matthew T. Clarke A pattern of sexual abuse, bru-tality, drug smuggling, improper guard/prisoner relationships, and other official malfeasance at the jails in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, has raised serious questions about the leadership abilities of Suffolk County Sheriff Richard J. Rouse. Sex, …
Boston Jail Strip Searches Unconstitutional by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg A Boston City Police Department (BPD) policy of invasive and degrading strip-searching of all female detainees, regardless of the cause of their detention, while not similarly treating male detainees, violated the unreasonable search provisions of the Fourth …
$10 Million Settlement in Boston Strip Search Suit by On July 8, 2002, both Suffolk County and the City of Boston entered into a settlement agreement to pay $10 million for violating the equal protection rights of female detainees at the Suffolk County Jail who, unlike similarly situated male detainees, …
Denial of Wheelchair Claims Survive Summary Judgment by A federal court in Massachusetts held that issues of material fact concerning the extent of a prisoner's injuries precluded summary judgment. The court also held that the corrections commissioner was not entitled to qualified immunity related to the denial of a wheelchair …
CMS Overdoses Five Boston Jail Prisoners by Five prisoners at Boston's Suffolk County jail in Massachusetts were rushed to a nearby hospital after receiving the wrong medication. Jail guards found the five prisoners unconscious on the morning of September 23, 2001, after other prisoners alerted the guards by raising a …
