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DOJ Sues Wackenhut Juvenile Prison

Article • August 15, 2000 • from PLN August, 2000

Filed under: GEO Group/Wackenhut, Contractor Misconduct, Guard Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Food, Guard Brutality/Beatings

DOJ Sues Wackenhut Juvenile Prison by Gary Hunter In March, 2000, six teenage boys, brutalized by guards in a Wackenhut prison in Jena, Louisiana, were removed by the judge who sentenced them. State Judge Mark Doherty of Orleans Parish Louisiana was so appalled by their treatment that he made a …

Wackenhut Wracked by Sexual Abuse Scandals

Article • August 15, 2000 • from PLN August, 2000

Filed under: Work Release, Staff-Prisoner Assault, GEO Group/Wackenhut, Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Contractor Misconduct, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Gender Discrimination -- Women, Criminal Prosecution, Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, Damages, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death)

Wackenhut Wracked by Sexual Abuse Scandals by Ronald Young Wackenhut Wracked By Sexual Abuse Scandals by Ron Young After a decade as a leading operator of corporate-owned prisons, Wackenhut Corrections has become a prisoner of its own problems. In New Mexico, a 500-page legislative report written by five consultants calls …

Louisiana Sheriff Busted in Private Prison Scheme

Article • July 15, 2000 • from PLN July, 2000

Filed under: Private Prisons, East Carroll Correctional Systems, Contractor Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Criminal Prosecution, Forfeiture

Louisiana Sheriff Busted in Private Prison Scheme by In 1990, Dale Rinicker, then Sheriff of East Carroll Parish (county), Louisiana, saw a lot of money being made in the private "rent-a-jail" business and decided he wanted a piece of the action. So cooked up a scheme that would eventually net …

Louisiana Prosecutors Have "Ties" to Murder

Article • May 15, 2000 • from PLN May, 2000

Filed under: Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Attorneys, Prosecutors, Death Penalty

Louisiana Prosecutors Have "Ties" to Murder by Gary Hunter Lawrence Jacobs Jr. was on trial for first degree murder in Jefferson Parish Louisiana when an assistant district attorney approached him and whispered "We're going to hang you boy." Lawrence Jacobs Sr., who was only in the courtroom to support his …

Two Die during Latest Angola Escape Attempt

Article • April 15, 2000 • from PLN April, 2000

Filed under: Prison Rebellion, Prison/Jail Murders, Escapes, Media, Prisoner Media, Censorship

Two Die during Latest Angola Escape Attempt by Two Die During Latest Angola Escape Attempt by Dan Pens A guard and a prisoner were killed December 28, 1999 at Louisiana's maximum security penitentiary at Angola during a bungled escape attempt that ended after a two hour hostage standoff. The guard, …

Warrant Required Despite Private Prison Contract

Article • April 15, 2000 • from PLN April, 2000

Filed under: Searches, Parole/Probation Searches, Probation

Warrant Required Despite Private Prison Contract by The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a home detainee's contract with a private confinement company allowing warrantless home searches was invalid under Louisiana law. Therefore, any evidence from a warrantless search of his home was properly suppressed. Joshua Francis …

AA v. Wackenhut Corrections Corporation, LA, Class Action Complaint, Juveniles Abusive Condition, 2000

Brief • April 3, 2000

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Juveniles, Failure to Protect (Juveniles), Juvenile Prisons

AA v. Wackenhut Corrections Corporation, LA, Class Action Complaint, Juveniles Abusive Condition, 2000 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA A.A., A.S. B.J., B.W. and D.S., minor juveniles by and through their Guardian ad Litem, ERNESTINE WILLIAMS; C.B., by and through his Tutor, JANICE SANFORD; and C.C., a major …

Drug Seizures Pay for Death Celebrations

Article • January 15, 2000 • from PLN January, 2000

Filed under: Attorneys, Prosecutors, Forfeiture, Death Penalty

Drug Seizures Pay for Death Celebrations by In 1998 the East Baton Rouge District Attorney's Office shelled out $1,291.27 for steak dinners to celebrate three death penalty verdicts. The DA's office used money and other assets seized in drug arrests to bankroll the celebratory dinners at a local steak house. …

Heck Doesn't Apply After Release from Prison

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Disciplinary Litigation, Guilty Pleas

Heck Doesn't Apply After Release from Prison by A federal district court in Louisiana held that prisoners released from prison need not have a court ruling in their favor before challenging prison disciplinary hearings via 42 U. S. C. § 1983. Jimmy White, a Louisiana state prisoner, was infracted for …

No Interlocutory Appeal on Supervisory Liability When Guard Stabs Prisoner

Article • July 15, 1999 • from PLN July, 1999

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Failure to Protect (General), Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Summary Judgment, Appeals, Qualified Immunity, Supervisory Liability

No Interlocutory Appeal on Supervisory Liability When Guard Stabs Prisoner by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction to hear a warden's interlocutory appeal disputing material facts in the case. The court also held that letters from a prisoner alerting supervisory prison officials to …

No Appeal Allowed in Louisiana Consent Decree Dissolution

Article • April 15, 1999 • from PLN April, 1999

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Appeals, Consent Decrees

No Appeal Allowed in Louisiana Consent Decree Dissolution by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction to hear an appeal to a district court ruling that dissolved virtually all consent decrees governing prisons and jails in the state of Louisiana because the plaintiffs did …

Brooks v. Stalder, LA, Judgment, Book Censorship, 1999

Brief • March 30, 1999

Filed under: Banned Book Lists, Censorship

Brooks v. Stalder, LA, Judgment, Book Censorship, 1999 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT ... FILED U.~. :r·1,..,..· -r.:~.,. :-'," r.r:"R ";(J T MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA "~ • I:'. GEORGE BROOKS JR. ,...",:, , --". 99 H,~/? 30 t,!.! .e, I~' '.1. /9 (#112526) !.. . J21CH .--::--.-... CIVIL ACTIoN ~,ttO …

Full Court Overrules Clarke v. Stalder in Part

Article • March 15, 1999 • from PLN March, 1999

Filed under: Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Disciplinary Hearings, Disciplinary Litigation, Legality of Rules, Injunctions

Full Court Overrules Clarke v. Stalder in Part by The court of appeals for the Fifth Circuit, sitting en banc, vacated the original panel decision in Clarke v. Stalder, 121 F.3d 222 (5th Cir. 1997), on rehearing. The majority opinion held that a prisoner was precluded from bringing a claim …

Race Requirement for Religion Struck Down

Article • June 15, 1998 • from PLN June, 1998

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Racial Discrimination, American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Religious Freedom, Religious Practices, Religion Defined

Race Requirement for Religion Struck Down by Afederal district court in Louisiana held that a prison rule allowing only ethnic Native Americans to engage in Native American Religious (NAR) practices was unconstitutional. Seven Louisiana state prisoners housed in a private prison operated by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) on …

Fact Dispute Bars Qualified Immunity Appeal

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Boot Camps, Overcrowding, Ventilation, Toilets, Appeals, Qualified Immunity

Fact Dispute Bars Qualified Immunity Appeal by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction to hear an interlocutory appeal on the denial of qualified immunity to prison officials where the lower court denied qualified immunity due to disputed facts. Two Louisiana state prisoners sued …

No Immunity for Smoke Exposure

Article • April 15, 1998 • from PLN April, 1998

Filed under: Smoking, Immunity/Liability, Qualified Immunity

No Immunity for Smoke Exposure by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that prison officials were not entitled to qualified immunity for exposing a prisoner to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS, AKA second hand smoke). Raymond Rochon, a Louisiana state prisoner, filed suit claiming various prison, state and …

5th Cir. Holds IFP Dismissals Are With Prejudice

Article • April 15, 1998 • from PLN April, 1998

Filed under: PLRA, Filing Fees (PLRA), Frivolous Litigation

5th Cir. Holds IFP Dismissals Are With Prejudice by 5th Cir. Holds IFP Dismissals are With Prejudice The court of appeals for the fifth circuit, en banc, held that cases dismissed under 28 U.S.C. § 1915, the In Forma Pauperis (IFP) statute will now be considered to be with prejudice, …

Dismissal for Derelict Lawyer Reversed

Article • January 15, 1998 • from PLN January, 1998

Filed under: Attorneys, Appointment of Counsel, Attorney Misconduct, Malpractice (Attorneys), Sanctions

Dismissal for Derelict Lawyer Reversed by Arizona prisoner (name withheld) The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that a district court abused its discretion when it dismissed, with prejudice, a prisoner's lawsuit as a sanction for his appointed counsel's dereliction. Tyronne Clofer, a Louisiana state prisoner, filed suit …

Filing Fee Assessed in Dismissed Appeal

Article • October 15, 1997 • from PLN October, 1997

Filed under: PLRA, Filing Fees (PLRA), Appeals

Filing Fee Assessed in Dismissed Appeal by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that under the PLRA prisoner litigants remain responsible for appellate filing fees in cases where the appeal is eventually dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. The court held that under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1) prisoners …

Jury Trial May Require Plaintiffs' Presence

Article • July 15, 1997 • from PLN July, 1997

Filed under: Work, Inability to Work, Retaliatory Discipline, Food, Court Appearances, Juries, Witnesses, Depositions

Jury Trial May Require Plaintiffs' Presence by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that a district court erred in not allowing two pro se prisoner litigants to be present when their case went to a jury trial. The court also found error in the manner in which …