ACLU Report Applauds Michigan’s Efforts to Reduce Prison Population by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A November 2009 report by Elizabeth Alexander, Director of the National Prison Project of the ACLU, explores the history and effects of over-incarceration in Michigan and how the state has managed to reduce its …
Sixth Circuit: RLUIPA Does Not Permit Monetary Damages by The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) does not allow money damages for violations of that statute, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held on April 24, 2009. The Court entered its decision in an appeal …
Phelps v. City of Escorse, MI, Index of Exhibits, Unreasonable Search and Seizure, 2010 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION MICHAEL PHELPS and TAMMY PHELPS, Plaintiffs, vs. THE CITY OF ECORSE, et al Case No. 09-cv-12311 Honorable Nancy G. Edmunds Magistrate Judge Donald A. Scheer INDEX …
Kuslick v. Roszczewski, MI, Appeal Brief, False Arrest, 2010 Case: 10-1082 Document: 006110641141 Filed: 05/30/2010 Page: 1 CASE NO. 10-1082 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT CHERYL ROSE KUSLICK, Plaintiff - Appellee, -vJAMES ROSZCZEWSKI, Michigan State Police Officer, In His Individual Capacity Defendant - Appellant …
$99,999 Settlement for Michigan Prisoner Damaged by Second-Hand Smoke by A Michigan prisoner accepted $99,999 to settle a lawsuit for damages and injuries he suffered as a result of prison officials’ failure to follow medical prescriptions to house him in a non-smoking environment. Prior to being housed at Carson City …
Opening Legal Mail Outside BOP Prisoner’s Presence States Constitutional Claim by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court decision denying qualified immunity to several Bureau of Prisons (BOP) employees accused of opening properly marked legal mail outside a …
Parole Denials Based Upon Assumptions; Tough Policies Threaten Public Safety at Great Cost by David Reutter by David M. Reutter “Inaccurate assumptions about the impact of longer prison stays on reoffense rates generally, and about the future behavior of people who committed assaultive and sex offenses in particular, have led …
Son, Wife of U.S. Congressmen Get Prison Time by Brandon Sample Jeffrey M. Rush, the son of U.S. Representative Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.), was sentenced in October 2008 to serve six months behind bars plus three years on probation for having sex with female prisoners at the Fox Valley Adult …
Michigan Study Shows Incarceration Can Cause Illness in Loved Ones by Gary Hunter A study, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and released in December 2008, concludes that “Incarceration may not only affect those individuals incarcerated, but also those family members and friends left behind in the …
Call Your Attorney from Jail, Go to Prison by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg Jail prisoners in California, Florida, Michigan and Texas have unknowingly had their phone calls to defense attorneys secretly recorded and handed over to prosecutors. The recordings surfaced before trial, when prosecutors were required to divulge …
Failure to Raise Issue in Rule 50 Motion Prohibits Argument on Appeal; $214,000 Verdict Upheld by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a jury’s verdict that found a municipality liable despite there being no finding of liability on the part of the individual defendants. The facts in this …
$245,000 Settlement in Michigan Jail Prisoner’s Death by In what one lawyer described as round one, Michigan’s Lenawee County has paid $245,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging that the deficient medical care at the County’s jail caused a prisoner’s death. The 24 page second amended complaint in the action begins …
$325,000 Settlement in Michigan Jail Prisoner’s Ruptured Appendix Lawsuit by Michigan’s Lenawee County Jail (LCJ) paid $325,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a former prisoner who was denied medical care before and after his appendix ruptured. This is the second such settlement within a month. (See accompanying article.) As …
Failure to Raise Issue in Rule 50 Motion Prohibits Argument on Appeal; $214,000 Verdict Upheld by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a jury’s verdict that found a municipality liable despite there being no finding of liability on the part of the individual defendants. The facts in this …
Prison Health Care, Political Choice and the Accidental Death Penalty in Michigan by Elizabeth Alexander by Elizabeth Alexander1 In Hadix v. Caruso, I represent a class of prisoners in a decades-long case challenging conditions of confinement, including medical care, at various Michigan prison facilities.2 Since August 2006 I have been …
Hadix Litigation Winding Down by David Reutter by David M. Reutter After nearly thirty years, a class-action lawsuit challenging conditions of confinement at the State Prison of Southern Michigan-Center Complex is on the cusp of ending. The end is in sight not because prison officials have fully complied with a …
Eight More Prison Closures in Michigan by Since taking office in 2003, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has closed six prisons. To pare $120 million from the state’s budget, she recently decided to close eight more, including five minimum-security prison camps. The announcement of the closures on June 5, 2009 created …
$100 Million Settlement in Michigan Prisoners’ Sexual Abuse Suit by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A record-breaking settlement has been reached in a 13-year-old class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of female prisoners who were “subjected to sexual abuse, sexual harassment, privacy violations by male [prison] staff ... and/or retaliation …
