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State of Maine-An Act to Prohibit Excessive Telephone Charges in Maine Jails and Prisons, 2022

Publication • April 15, 2022

Filed under: Telephones

State of Maine-An Act to Prohibit Excessive Telephone Charges in Maine Jails and Prisons, 2022 APPROVED CHAPTER APRIL 15, 2022 615 BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW STATE OF MAINE _____ IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO _____ H.P. 853 - L.D. 1175 An Act To Prohibit Excessive Telephone …

$170,000 in Attorney’s Fees, Solitary Confinement Reforms Achieved in Settlement of Maine Prisoner’s Lawsuits

Article • April 1, 2022 • from PLN April, 2022

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Settlements, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

$170,000 in Attorney’s Fees, Solitary Confinement Reforms Achieved in Settlement of Maine Prisoner’s Lawsuits by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke In July 2021, the Maine Department of Corrections (DOC) settled state and federal lawsuits brought by a prisoner kept in solitary confinement for 22 months without seeing any evidence of …

Dinsmore v. State of Maine, ME, Complaint, Discrimination, 2022

Brief • February 11, 2022

Filed under: Discrimination, Gender Discrimination -- Women

Dinsmore v. State of Maine, ME, Complaint, Discrimination, 2022 Case 1:21-cv-00194-JAW Document 21 Filed 02/11/22 Page 1 of 48 PageID #: 332 United States District Court District of Maine Autumn Dinsmore, ) ) Plaintiff ) ) v. ) ) State of Maine, Department of ) Corrections; Joel Parsons; and ) …

HRDC Appeals Denial of Public Records Request for Documentation of Secret Settlement in Maine Jail Prisoner’s Excessive Force Lawsuit

Article • February 1, 2022 • from PLN February, 2022

Filed under: Public Records, Appeals/Appellate Jurisdiction, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), HRDC Litigation

HRDC Appeals Denial of Public Records Request for Documentation of Secret Settlement in Maine Jail Prisoner’s Excessive Force Lawsuit by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On July 6, 2021, the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), publisher of Prison Legal News and Criminal Legal News, filed an appeal in Maine state …

Reese v. Liberty, ME, Settlement Agreement, Excessive Force, 2021

Brief • September 10, 2021

Filed under: Excessive Force

Reese v. Liberty, ME, Settlement Agreement, Excessive Force, 2021 RELEASE AGREEMENT 1. In exchange for a payment of $115,000 and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby aclmowledged, Geoffrey Reese ("Releasor"), on behalf of himself and his successors, assigns, heirs, and agents, hereby releases …

News in Brief

Article • September 1, 2021 • from PLN September, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A former guard at the Mobile Metro Jail was scheduled to be arraigned on May 19, 2021, after being indicted for his role in an alleged scheme to smuggle cellphones into the Alabama lockup in exchange for bribes. According to a report by local TV …

Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting v. York County, ME, Complaint, Public Records, 2021

Brief • August 2, 2021

Filed under: Public Records, Public Records Act, Recordings

Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting v. York County, ME, Complaint, Public Records, 2021 PretiFlaherty Portland,ME Augusta,ME Concord,NH SiqmundD. Schutz Boston,MA sschutz@preti.com 207.791.3247 Washington,DC August 2, 2021 VIA HAND DELIVERY Michele Lumbert, Clerk Kennebec County Superior Court 1 Court Street, Suite 101 Augusta, ME 04330 Re: The Maine Center for …

News in Brief

Article • August 1, 2021 • from PLN August, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: On June 9, 2021, a former guard at the Federal Correctional Institution in Aliceville, Alabama, agreed to plead guilty to federal charges that he had sexual intercourse with a prisoner in the laundry room at the women’s prison west of Tuscaloosa. According to the Birmingham …

HRDC v. Kennebec Co, et al, ME, Appeal, Public Records.

Filing • July 27, 2021

Filed under: Public Records, PLN Litigation, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

HRDC v. Kennebec Co, et al, ME, Appeal, Public Records.

HRDC v. Kennebec Co, ME, Appeal, FOIA, 2021

Brief • July 27, 2021

Filed under: Public Records, PLN Litigation, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

HRDC v. Kennebec Co, ME, Appeal, FOIA, 2021

Maine Prisons Expand Medication Assisted Treatment

Article • July 1, 2021 • from PLN July, 2021

Filed under: Medication, Drug Treatment/Rehab

Maine Prisons Expand Medication Assisted Treatment by David Reutter by David Reutter The Maine Department of Corrections (MDOC) announced on February 12, 2021, that it is expanding medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for prisoners with opioid-use disorder. The move is an expansion of a pilot project that started from an executive order issued …

News in Brief

Article • July 1, 2021 • from PLN July, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: According to a report by the Alabama Political Reporter, a state prisoner was fatally stabbed by another man incarcerated with him at Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore on May 4, 2021—just one day before his scheduled release, which would also have been his twenty-fourth birthday. …

Maine Supreme Judicial Court Holds Courts Have Authority to Enjoin DOC from Unconstitutional Segregation Practices

Article • July 1, 2021 • from PLN July, 2021

Filed under: Retaliatory Segregation, Good Time

Maine Supreme Judicial Court Holds Courts Have Authority to Enjoin DOC from Unconstitutional Segregation Practices by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On November 5, 2020, the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine (SJC) held that a trial court had the authority to enjoin the Maine Department of Corrections (DOC) from engaging …

News in Brief

Article • May 1, 2021 • from PLN May, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: In February 2021, Huntsville TV station WHNT reported a delay in the trial on theft and ethics charges of Mike Blakely, sheriff of Limestone County, Alabama. According to the report, retired Colbert County Circuit Judge Pride Tompkins, who had been appointed to hear the case …

Congress Tackles Restoring Voting Rights to Felons, Makes Remarkable Progress

Article • March 28, 2021

Filed under: Voting Rights Act, Felon Disenfranchisement Statute

Congress Tackles Restoring Voting Rights to Felons, Makes Remarkable Progress by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell  More and more states across the country have been coming around and allowing those with felony records to vote, some even allowing prisoners to vote. Now Congress has jumped on-board, the House of Representatives …

Maine Jail Gets a Pass for Using Pepper Spray on Mentally Ill Prisoners

Article • December 1, 2020 • from PLN December, 2020

Filed under: Failure to Protect (General), Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Mental Health

Maine Jail Gets a Pass for Using Pepper Spray on Mentally Ill Prisoners by Kevin Bliss, Daniel A. Rosen by Kevin Bliss and Daniel A. Rosen In a June 2020 report, an official with the Maine Department of Corrections (DOC) determined that employees at the Cumberland County Jail (CCJ) in …

Maine Superspreader: Few Masks at Wedding Lead to Big Problems at Prison

Article • December 1, 2020 • from PLN December, 2020

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, COVID-19, Failure to Protect (General)

Maine Superspreader: Few Masks at Wedding Lead to Big Problems at Prison by Jayson Hawkins by Jayson Hawkins An August 2020 wedding in Millinocket, Maine, turned into the state’s largest super spreader event for the coronavirus. Within the next two months, over 170 cases and eight deaths could be traced …

Reese v. Liberty, ME, Complaint, Excessive Force, 2020

Brief • November 2, 2020

Filed under: Excessive Force

Reese v. Liberty, ME, Complaint, Excessive Force, 2020 Case 1:18-cv-00421-JDL Document 70 Filed 11/02/20 Page 1 of 19 PageID #: 462 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MAINE GEOFFREY REESE, Plaintiff, v. RANDALL LIBERTY, as Maine Department of Corrections Commissioner, MATTHEW MAGNUSSON, as Maine State Prison Warden; and MICHAEL BURNS, …

Maine DOC, Medical Provider, Pay $250,000 Settlement Due to Excessive Force on 11-Year-Old

Article • September 1, 2020 • from PLN September, 2020

Filed under: Dental Care, Private Contractors, Excessive Force, Juveniles

Maine DOC, Medical Provider, Pay $250,000 Settlement Due to Excessive Force on 11-Year-Old by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson The state of Maine and medical provider CorrectCare Solutions (now Wellpath) paid a 14-year-old $250,000 after two guards at a juvenile detention center “bashed” his face into a metal bed frame, …

COVID-19 Changes the Face of Education in the Nation’s Prison Systems

Article • July 1, 2020 • from PLN July, 2020

Filed under: COVID-19, Education

COVID-19 Changes the Face of Education in the Nation’s Prison Systems by Kevin Bliss by Kevin W. Bliss The COVID-19 pandemic has forced prisons across the country to alter the educational programs they offer. The change has highlighted the inequality in available technology between different state prison systems and revealed …