The Good, The Bad and The Mad - Westword article by Alan Prendergast by Alan Prendergast What happens to the mentally ill in the justice system is just crazy. By Alan Prendergast Published: May 29, 2008 On a bitter winter morning four years ago, Heather Gooch stood in her apartment …
Tenth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Federal Prisoner's Medical Suit by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's dismissal of a federal prisoner's suit, finding that the prisoner had adequately exhausted his administrative remedies and stated a cognizable deliberate indifference claim. Former Japanese Red Army member Yu Kikumura …
Proceedings Ordered After Colorado DOC Ignored Information Request From Segregated Prisoner by Colorado State pro se prisoner Bobbie Pruitt appealed his court-dismissed information request from the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA). The trial court ruled that the information was not "public record." On …
Signed Policy, Compelling Interest Permits Colorado County Employee’s Sexually Explicit Email's Disclosure by Arapahoe County (Colorado) Clerk and Recorder, Tracy Baker, and Deputy Clerk Leesa Sale, appealed the court-ordered disclosure of 622 emails and an investigative sexual harassment report. 570 of the emails contained sexually explicit messages between Baker and …
Colorado Courts Have No Statutory Duty To Alter Records For Inspection in Electronic Format by The Office of the Colorado State Court Administrator (SCA) appealed the court-ordered release of magnetic computer tapes containing civil and criminal information on people to Background Information Services (BIS). The order was reversed because the …
Investigative Evidence Seized From Colorado Homes Subject To CCJRA, Not CORA Provisions by Colorado resident parents of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (parents) challenged a Colorado appellate ruling that seized murder preparation recordings made by their sons were governed by the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) and not the Colorado …
Colorado Police Statutorily Entitled To Own Promotion Exam's Disclosure by Denver (Colorado) policeman John Pinder appealed the denial of his action to compel the Civil Service Commission's (CSC) production of his promotional exam results when denied sergeant status. The denial was reversed to comply with mandated statutory production. Pinder's 1987 …
Colorado Coroner Entitled To Ambulatory Records For Requisite Autopsy Report by The City of Littleton (Colorado) appealed the court-ordered production of ambulatory records to Jefferson County Coroner Nancy Bodelson. The statutorily-mandated production was affirmed. Due to a victim's death in the absence of an attending physician, the coroner requested the …
City and Contractor Liable for Policy of Arresting and Seizing “Potentially Intoxicated” People by City and Contractor Liable for Policy of Arresting and Seizing "Potentially Intoxicated" People The plaintiffs were seized by the police and detained in a private detoxification facility in a different town, sometimes for days; they include …
Colorado law Denying Bail to Criminal Aliens Unconstitutional by A statute requiring that criminal aliens detained for deportation hearings be held without bond denies due process on its face because, substantively, it is a deprivation of liberty and is not narrowly tailored to meet valid legislative goals, and procedurally, denies …
Federal Prisons Not Subject to ADA by The hearing-impaired plaintiff complained of his treatment in a Wackenhut facility while awaiting deportation. Since he has now been deported, his claim about conditions is moot, and the court lacks jurisdiction to overturn his deportation even though he says he elected not to …
ADX Media Visit Staged To Dispel "Myths And Rumors" by Bob Williams On the sixth anniversary of the 9-11 World Trade Center attacks, Ron Wiley, warden of the Federal Supermax known as ADX, staged a tightly controlled first-ever media visit at the Federal stronghold. Its stated purpose was an education …
Colorado Farms Out Prisoners to Replace Immigrant Farm Workers by Colorado is renting its prisoners to local farmers to replace migrant agricultural workers - mostly Mexican and Central American - who have been scared away by the state's restrictive immigration laws. In 2006, the Colorado legislature passed what it trumpeted …
Tenth Circuit OKs First Raising Qualified Immunity on Summary Judgment by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that prison officials did not waive a qualified immunity defense by failing to raise it in responsive pleadings. The district court erred in failing to address the defense in the summary judgment …
Fed Prisoner's Conviction for Possessing Body Armor Affirmed by Carl Patton, a federal prisoner with a violent criminal history, was convicted under federal law of unlawful possession of body armor pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 931. He claimed that the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution didn't authorize Congress to …
The Poisoned Pen of Fort Lyon Prison by Alan Prendergast Bought by the state for a dollar, Fort Lyon is rich in history, asbestos, sick prisoners and trouble. by Alan Prendergast History Lesson #1 In 1829, William Bent headed west to join his older brother in the fur business. William …
BOP Byline Prohibition Unconstitutional by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A Colorado federal district court has held the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) regulation that provides a prisoner may not "publish under a byline" violates the First Amendment. The Court's order prohibits the BOP from punishing any prisoner for violating …
Jordan v. Pugh, CO, Order Granting Motion to Withdraw Pending Motions, 2007 Case 1:02-cv-01239-MSK-KLM Document 406 Filed 12/20/07 USDC Colorado Page 1 of 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Civil Action No. 02-cv-01239-MSK-KLM MARK JORDAN, Plaintiff, v. MICHAEL V. PUGH, et al., Defendants. ORDER The parties’ …
Jordan v. Pugh, CO, Settlement Agreement, First Amendment Violation, 2007 Case 1:02-cv-01239-MSK-KLM Document 402 Filed 12/19/07 USDC Colorado Page 1 of 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF COLORADO Case No. 02-cv-01239-MSK-KLM MARK JORDAN, Plaintiffs, v. MICHAEL PUGH, et al., Defendants. STIPULATED SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT BY AND BETWEEN PLAINTIFF AND DEFENDANTS …
Head Games by Alan Prendergast At least one out of every five Colorado prisoners is mentally ill -- some violent, some undetected or untreated. How did the Big House become the Bug House? By Alan Prendergast Talk all you want about bad men and madmen. The truly scary ones are …
