Supreme Court Restricts ADA by Roger Smith The U.S. Supreme Court overruled an Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision allowing disabled persons to sue State employers for money damages in federal court under Title I of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). 42 U.S.C. § 12112. The 54 majority held …
Guards Use Shotguns to Control Riot by Guards Use Shotguns To Control Riot Guards used shotguns loaded with rubber pellets to break up a riot at Wallens Ridge Prison in Virginia. On Sunday December 3rd, in a deliberate violation of prison procedure, prisoners returning from lunch left the sidewalk and …
Change in AIDS Medication States Claim by Change In Aids Medication States Claim A Virginia federal district court ruled prisoner Terry Lee Taylor stated a claim under 42 U.S.C. §1983 where a prison doctor order a change in Taylor's AIDS medication without notification. The new medication caused Taylor to suffer …
DC Prisoners Sue VA Over Restraints by Since 1998, about 1,200 District of Columbia prisoners have been caged at the Sussex II highsecurity state prison in Virginia when D.C. closed its aging Lorton Correctional Complex. On August 29, 2000 a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of those prisoners claims …
PLRA Attorney's Fees Cap Applies to Nonprisoner Intervenors by The Fourth Circuit has held that a publisher who intervened in a law suit filed by prisoners is subject to the attorney fees cap of the Prison Litigation Reform Act. Virginia state prisoners Donald Hodges and Michael Flores sued Keen Mountain …
CMS Fined Nearly $1 Million in Virginia by Dan Pens Correctional Medical Services (CMS) contracts with the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) to provide medical care to some of its 30,000 prisoners. In a 13-month period starting in January 1999 the VDOC levied nearly $1 million in fines against CMS …
Stun Gun Death in VA Prison by After being electrocuted repeatedly by a stun gun, Lawrence James Frazier was strapped to a bed where he lapsed into a coma and never recovered. During a struggle with guards, Frazier was electrocuted 3 times by an Ultron II stun device that delivers …
Withholding Interest Does Not Violate Takings Clause by A federal district court in California held that prison officials did not violate the Takings Clause by failing to pay interest on funds deposited by prisoners into non-interest bearing "Inmate Trust Accounts" (ITAs). The court also held that: applying interest earned on …
Race-Based Religious Policy Violates Equal Protection Clause by A federal district court in Virginia held that a race-based prison policy preventing non-Native American prisoners from obtaining Native American spiritual items violated the Equal Protection Clause. The court issued an injunction enjoining the application of the policy, based solely on race. …
Attorney Fee Award Against Prisoner Reduced by A federal court in Virginia reduced an attorney fees award against a prisoner who filed a factually frivolous suit from $28,719 to $900. John McGlothin, a Virginia state prisoner, filed a civil rights suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the warden and …
VA Warden Fired in Foodbank Theft by On October 13, 1999, Vanessa Crawford was fired as warden of the Pocahontas Correctional Unit. Two other unidentified Virginia DOC employees were also fired. The firings stemmed From the theft of food at the Central Virginia Foodbank (CVF). CVF was started in 1995 …
Virginia Court Requires Pro Se Prisoner Plaintiff to Appear Via Video Conference by by Matthew T. Clarke A federal district court in Virginia has held that a pro se prisoner must present his civil rights case to the jury via video conferencing. Michael S. Edwards, a Virginia state prisoner, filed …
Virginia DOC Says 'No Pattern' of Sexual Abuse by In 1999 the Virginia Department of Corrections conducted an internal review of 44 complaints of sexual assault, harassment and fraternization between prisoners and staff of the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women, all since the prison opened in April 1998. Even though …
Abuse of Force at Virginia's Supermax by Dan Pens Shoot 'Em if They Step Out of Line by Dan Pens Shortly after publication of the July PLN, cover article: "Strip Mining Human Rights in Virginia's Supermax Dungeons", PLN received a letter from a prisoner at Red Onion, one of Virginia's …
BOP Can't Keep Prisoner Who Refuses to Pay Fine Indefinitely by A federal district court judge in Virginia held that a prisoner's refusal to sign an agreement to pay a court ordered fine does not allow the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to keep him imprisoned indefinitely. This ruling amply illustrates …
Virginia Juvenile Dies of Accidental Heart Attack by Dan Pens The state police were phoned and asked to send a trooper to formally charge Dandridge with assault. Meanwhile, Oak Ridge officials say, the youth was observed every five minutes through his cell door window. Nobody went into the cell to …
Prisoner Withstands Summary Judgment on Cell Condition Claim by A federal district court in Virginia held that a genuine issue of material fact as to whether a prisoner's cell was adequately heated, had bedding and was maintained in a sanitary condition, precluded summary judgment. Virginia Department of Corrections prisoner Robb …
Evidentiary Hearing Allowed in PLRA Consent Decree Terminations by The court of appeals for the Fourth circuit reaffirmed that the Prison Litigation Reform Act's (PLRA) consent decree termination provisions are constitutional and also held that the PLRA provides no avenue for district courts to make after the fact findings to …
Strip Mining Human Rights in Virginia's Supermax Dungeons by Dan Pens Red Onion State Prison stands out like a hideous scar among southwest Virginia's otherwise beautiful, rolling and wooded hills. Viewed from the air it looks like a mountain whose crown was hacked off and leveled flat. I remember looking …
Virginia Prison "Fire Trap" Finding Reversed by Virginia Prison "Fire Trap" Finding Reversed Virginia's state fire marshal overruled an inspector's recommendation to close a prison "fire trap" after reinspecting the building himself at the request of the warden, according to an Associated Press report. Carolyn R. Williams, a state fire …
