Pennsylvania Supreme Court Slows the Hand That State DOC Sticks Into Prisoners’ Pockets by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On December 19, 2023, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled for a prisoner who claimed that the state Department of Corrections (DOC) violated his civil rights by upping the …
Third Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Pennsylvania Jail Guards and PrimeCare in Detainee’s Overdose Death by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On December 6, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed denial of qualified immunity (QI) to defendant officials with Pennsylvania’s Harrisburg Police Department …
“Are You Freaking Kidding Me?” Former BOP Warden Accuses Guards of Recruiting Prisoners for Assaults at Troubled Lockup in Illinois by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Before he retired in July 2023, Warden Thomas Bergami was sent by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to the U.S. Penitentiary (USP) …
Lawsuit Alleges Black ICE Detainee Subjected to Racial Slurs, Choked in Restraint Chair at Pennsylvania Jail by Matthew Clarke by Matthew T. Clarke According to a federal civil rights action filed by Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project attorneys Matthew A. Feldman and Evangeline Wright on November 15, 2023, a Black …
$500,000 Jury Award Cut to $250,000 for Pennsylvania Prisoner Brutally Beaten by Guards by Douglas Ankney Lack of expert testimony halved a $500,000 award made by a federal jury to Pennsylvania prisoner Michael Sherman Allen on November 1, 2023, for injuries sustained in a brutal 2019 beating at the hands …
“Sugar Daddy” Pennsylvania Constable Accused of Recruiting “Sugar Babies” at Jail by Perhaps Timothy Raye “Timbo” Heefner was confused over his role in life. On one hand he was an elected Pennsylvania State Constable—part of the law enforcement community. He was also a self-described pimp and “sugar daddy,” and according …
Autistic Detainee’s Death in Pittsburgh Jail Blamed on “Culture” That Left Him “Punished Instead of Treated” by In a suit filed against Pittsburgh’s Alle­gheny County Jail on October 17, 2023, the survivors of a 57-year-old autistic detainee allege his death in custody was the preventable result of a jail “culture” …
Pennsylvania Jail Warden Fired, Deputy Warden Resigns After Guard Assaults Detainee by Warden Dave Gallagher of Pennsylvania’s Clearfield County Jail was fired and escorted off the job on December 7, 2023, just over a month after Deputy Warden Eric Bush resigned on October 28, 2023. Their departures follow an alleged …
Pennsylvania Detainee Found Four Months After Jail Escape, Five Guards Fired by Almost four months after escaping Blair County Prison, jail detainee Isaiah Tilghman, 33, was arrested on March 22, 2024, while headed into a Planet Fitness gym near Philadelphia, over 200 miles from the western Pennsylvania lockup he fled …
Third Circuit Unhappy with Federal Detainee’s Denied Marriage Request at Pennsylvania GEO Group Lockup by On September 19, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit revived a claim by Brian Davis, a Jamaican national held for four years at Pennsylvania’s Moshannon Valley Correctional Center (MVCC). The prison …
From Prison Cook to Praised Pizza Chef by A former Pennsylvania prisoner is now a chef at a Philadelphia pizzeria, which was named one of the 50 best in the U.S. by the Washington Post on August 31, 2023. Those held in the same cell block with Mike Carter may …
Crawford v. Blair County Prison, PA, Complaint, Discrimination, 2024 Case 3:24-cv-00063-SLH Document 1 Filed 03/27/24 Page 1 of 9 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA BRIAN CRAWFORD, Civil Action Plaintiff, No. 24-63 v. BLAIR COUNTY PRISON, Defendant. JURY TRIAL DEMANDED CIVIL COMPLAINT Plaintiff, Brian …
Hammond v. Pennsylvania Dept of Corrections, PA, Complaint, Solitary Confinement, 2024 Case 2:24-cv-00922 Document 1 Filed 03/04/24 Page 1 of 63 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA KHALIL HAMMOND, DAVID THOMPSON, ANTOINE WALKER, MUWSA GREEN, TYRONE LEONARD, and MALIKA HENDERSON, on their own behalf …
Unsealed Settlement Reveals PrimeCare Medical Paid $337,500 After Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Suicide by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On July 12, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania unsealed the settlement agreement between PrimeCare Medical and the Estate of Charles Freitag. As PLN reported, Freitag, 57, …
Pennsylvania County Found Skimming Prisoner-Designated Funds from ViaPath Kickbacks by After a Pennsylvania newspaper’s investigation revealed that Dauphin County officials diverted money intended for prisoners earned from jail phone call kickbacks—spending it instead on staff perks and private contractors—state lawmakers began looking at ways to stop them. On September 7, …
Third Circuit Revives Claim by Federal Prisoner in Pennsylvania that Delayed Cancer Treatment Cost Him a Testicle by David Reutter by David M. Reutter In a precedential opinion issued on August 21, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that a federal prisoner incarcerated in the …
Estate of David Demharter v. Wexford Health Sources, Inc, PA, Memorandum Order, Wrongful Death-Suicide, 2024 Case 2:23-cv-00087-MPK Document 46 Filed 01/18/24 Page 1 of 5 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA PATRICIA STOLAR-DEMHARTER as Administratrix of the Estate ofDAVID DEMHARTER, Plaintiff, V. WEXFORD HEALTH …
Mass Incarceration-Myths and Facts-Aiming Reform at the Real Problems, Jan 2024 ~ Penn CareyLaW" UNIVERSITY of PENNSYLVANIA Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series Research Paper No. 24-04 “Mass Incarceration” Myths and Facts: Aiming Reform at the Real Problems Paul H. Robinson UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA CAREY LAW SCHOOL Jeffrey …
USA v. Franklin County, PA, Complaint, Discrimination-ADA, 2024 Case 1:24-cv-00034-CCC Document 1 Filed 01/09/24 Page 1 of 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA ) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) FRANKLIN COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA ) o/a ) FRANKLIN COUNTY JAIL, …
Misadventures in Mail Censorship by Robert Schaeffer by K. Robert Schaeffer How an incarcerated writer is fighting a sad new normal of censorship and mail obstruction in Pennsylvania prisons This essay originally appeared in Inquest on October 19, 2023. The original can be found at https://inquest.org/misadventures-in-mail-censorship/ From August into September …
