Guard Socked for $37,500 in Vendetta by A federal jury awarded $37,500 to a Massachusetts prisoner who said a man he shot in the head in 1991 became a prison guard, sought him out, and became his worst nightmare. Zeferino DePina, 24, claimed that prison officials did nothing while the …
Strip Searched Massachusetts Women Settle Suit for $80,000 by On December 12, 1997, the Massachusetts DOC settled a lawsuit filed by women prisoners for a total of $80,000 plus attorney fees. The class action suit was filed in Suffolk county superior court on behalf of 112 female prisoners by Massachusetts …
Consent Decree Termination Upheld by In the June, 1997, issue of PLN we reported Inmates of Suffolk County Jail v. Sheriff of Suffolk County , 952 F. Supp. 869 (D MA 1997) in which a federal district court in Massachusetts upheld 18 U.S.C. § 3626, the PLRA provision which allows …
Prison Phones Discussed by As more and more prison systems use automated phone systems that automatically record and monitor conversations there are increased questions about the legality of such systems. This ruling arose from an indirect challenge to the Massachusetts Inmate Telephone System (MITS). The MITS requires prisoners to obtain …
MA and WA Parole Suits Not Cognizable Under § 1983 by The first and ninth circuit courts of appeal have applied Edwards v. Balisok , 117 S.Ct. 1584 (1997)[ PLN , July, 1997] to bar section 1983 actions challenging decisions by state parole boards, holding the § 1983 claims are …
PLRA Doesn't Apply to Habeas by The court of appeals for the first circuit held that the filing fee provisions of the PLRA do not apply to habeas corpus petitions. In doing so, the first circuit joined the other eleven circuits that have held likewise. At this point all circuit …
Prisoner PAC Announces Formation by We are proud to announce the creation of the Massachusetts Prisoners Association, a newly registered Political Action Committee working on behalf of the more than 20,000 prisoners currently confined within the Massachusetts Prisons and Houses of Correction and their family members, addressing the concerns of …
Massachusetts Prisoner PAC Assailed by Governor, DOC by Dan Pens In mid-August, Acting Massachusetts Governor Paul Cellucci personally directed prison guards to conduct a shakedown of several state prisons. And what contraband were the guards instructed to root out? Weapons? Drugs? No, something much more sinister and threatening to public …
Massachusetts Court Avoids Ruling on Consent Decree Termination by A federal district court in Massachusetts avoided ruling on the constitutionality of the Prison Litigation Reform Act's (PLRA) provisions requiring immediate termination of jail and prison consent decrees, 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)(2), by refusing to vacate a jail consent decree but …
Massachusetts Prisoners Awarded Back Pay by A Mass. superior court judge ruled the state owes 2,253 current and former state prisoners about $1 million because they were not given a pay raise mandated by DOC regulations. In April 1991, new DOC regulations were issued that raised the top rate for …
No Double Jeopardy in Massachusetts Disciplinary Hearings by In the October, 1995, issue of PLN we reported that a state trial court in Massachusetts, in an unpublished ruling, had dismissed criminal indictments against twelve prisoners because the indictments were brought after the prisoners had already been subjected to prison disciplinary …
Denial of Disciplinary Witnesses Upheld by The court of appeals for the first circuit vacated and remanded a Massachusetts district court ruling that had held that a prison policy denying witnesses from the prison's general population to segregated prisoners' disciplinary hearings was unconstitutional. Brendan McGuinness is a Massachusetts state prisoner …
Massachusetts Phone Injunction Affirmed by The court of appeals for the first circuit affirmed a district court's contempt finding against prison officials concerning the monitoring and taping of prisoners' phone calls. In 1979 William Langton and David LeBlanc filed suit against Massachusetts prison officials over the interception and monitoring of …
Chemical Toilets May Violate Eighth Amendment in Massachusetts Class Action by A federal district court in Massachusetts has set for trial a class action suit by state prisoners claiming that chemical toilets pose a health hazard that violates the eighth amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Also to be …
Court Access in Massachusetts DDU Challenged by Afederal district court in Massachusetts expressed severe reservations about the court access afforded to prisoners confined in that state's control unit, or Departmental Disciplinary Unit (DDU). Manuel Ferreira was placed in the DDU after being infracted for allegedly leading a group demonstration. He …
Denying Witnesses in Disciplinary Hearings Illegal by A federal district court in Massachusetts has held that a prison policy denying witnesses from the prison's general population to segregated prisoners' disciplinary hearings was unconstitutional. Brendan McGuinness is a Massachusetts state prisoner who was infracted for allegedly getting into a fight with …
Asbestos Exposure States Claim by A district court in Massachusetts has held that a suit claiming exposure to asbestos states a claim for violation of the eighth amendment. County jail prisoners filed suit claiming they were exposed to "raw, open and dry asbestos fibers" on exposed pipes within the jail. …
Disciplinary Segregation Bars Criminal Prosecution by PLN rarely reports unpublished court rulings but we do so occasionally when such rulings have a news value to readers or state a novel legal theory. This is such a case. A superior court in Norfolk County Massachusetts has held that filing criminal charges …
MA DOC Uses New Phone System by Paul Wright By Paul Wright As part of the nationwide trend towards more restrictive and more expensive prison phone systems, the Massachusetts DOC signed a contract with NYNEX on January 27, 1994, for the provision of phone services to Massachusetts prisons. The new …
The Scandal of Prison "Management" by Jill Brotman By Jill Brotman Throughout the AFSC's decades of prison work it has encouraged reconciliation and nonviolent alternatives to conflict. But Massachusetts Governor William Weld has declared that a stay in prison should replicate a tour of the circles of hell. Current prison …
