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Sexual Abuse by Prison and Jail Staff Proves Persistent, Pandemic

Article • May 15, 2009 • from PLN May, 2009

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Cornell Corrections, GRW Corp., Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Criminal Prosecution

Sexual Abuse by Prison and Jail Staff Proves Persistent, Pandemic by Gary Hunter Sexual assault, rape, indecency, deviance. These terms represent reprehensible behavior in our society. They also represent recurring themes in our nation’s prisons – not only by prisoners, but also by guards and other staff members. PLN’s August …

Rookie Cop Sues Over Forced Resignation

Article • May 15, 2009

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Police Misconduct, Retaliation, Retaliation against Staff, Whistleblowing, Employee Litigation, Excessive Force (Police)

Rookie Cop Sues Over Forced Resignation by A former rookie Oregon police officer who was forced to resign for reporting her training officer’s egregious misconduct is suing the Portland Police Bureau (PPB). Lindsay K. Hunt realized her dream of becoming a police officer when she was hired by PPB on …

Oregon Jail Oversight Committee Disbanded After Sheriff Resigns

Article • May 15, 2009 • from PLN May, 2009

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Jail Misconduct

Oregon Jail Oversight Committee Disbanded After Sheriff Resigns by Oregon Jail Oversight Committee Disbanded After Sheriff Resigns In 2006, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners in Portland, Oregon responded to a scathing prosecutor’s report about dangerous and costly conditions in the county’s jails by creating a special advisory committee. [See: …

Oregon Jail Suicide Nets $59,422

Article • May 15, 2009 • from PLN May, 2009

Filed under: Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides

Oregon Jail Suicide Nets $59,422 by On March 14, 2008, Multnomah County, Oregon paid $59,422 to the estate of a mentally ill female detainee to settle a suit stemming from her jail suicide. Berta Ray Lee was a 27-year-old mother of three minor children, ages five, seven and nine. She …

Oregon Cops Outraged by Excessive Force Reforms

Article • May 15, 2009

Filed under: Police, Excessive Force (Police)

Oregon Cops Outraged by Excessive Force Reforms by Following several high-profile, controversial incidents, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) is “cracking down” on high excessive-to-arrest ratios, and officers are outraged. In the wake of a fatal 2003 police shooting, the PPB began collecting officer use-of-force data in the summer of 2004, …

Hudson v. City of Salem, OR, SJ Order, False Arrest & Excessive Force, 2009

Brief • May 1, 2009

Filed under: False Arrest, Excessive Force (Police)

Hudson v. City of Salem, OR, SJ Order, False Arrest & Excessive Force, 2009 Case 3:07-cv-00226-ST Document 92 Filed 05/01/2009 Page 1 of 65 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF OREGON TROY HUDSON, SR.; AUTUMN HUDSON; KEVIN HUDSON; and TROY HUDSON, JR., CV-07-226-ST Plaintiffs, OPINION AND …

Court Orders BOP to Recalculate Prisoner’s Good Time

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Sentencing, Good Time, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment

Court Orders BOP to Recalculate Prisoner’s Good Time by On January 10, 2007, U.S. Magistrate Judge Janice M. Stewart granted a habeas corpus petition filed by a federal prisoner who alleged that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) miscalculated his good conduct time (GCT). George Scott Kelly was convicted of felony …

$1 Million Award in Murder for Hire Plot

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Crime, Victims, Conspiracy, Damages, Settlements

$1 Million Award in Murder for Hire Plot by An Oregon jury has awarded a woman who sued her estranged husband for hiring someone to kill her $1,053,783. When Susan Kuhnhausen returned home from her job as a nurse, she was attacked by Edward Dalton Haffey. Susan received blows to …

Oregon Prison Chief’s Pay Raise Revoked; He Must Survive on Only $14,500 a Month

Article • April 15, 2009 • from PLN April, 2009

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Staffing, State Legislation

Oregon Prison Chief’s Pay Raise Revoked; He Must Survive on Only $14,500 a Month by Brandon Sample Oregon Prison Chief’s Pay Raise Revoked; He Must Survive on Only $14,500 a Month by Brandon Sample Crime pays well in Oregon. Just ask Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) Director Max Williams, who …

“Cumulative Failure” Lets Mentally Ill Teen Leap to Death

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Supervisory Liability, Failure to Train/Supervise, Wrongful Death, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Accidents, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Civil Commitment

“Cumulative Failure” Lets Mentally Ill Teen Leap to Death by A “cumulative failure” contributed to the death of an Oregon teenage mental patient, state investigators determined. Eighteen-year-old Heather Williams was a patient at the Blue Mountain Recovery Center, a state-run psychiatric hospital in Pendleton, Oregon. While being transported on December …

Oregon Jailer Avoids Prosecution for Online Assault Boast; Jail Employees Lose Internet Access

Article • March 15, 2009 • from PLN March, 2009

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Oregon Jailer Avoids Prosecution for Online Assault Boast; Jail Employees Lose Internet Access by Mark Wilson Oregon Jailer Avoids Prosecution for Online Assault Boast; Jail Employees Lose Internet Access by Mark Wilson An Oregon jail guard who bragged in an online forum that he beat a prisoner and then had …

Oregon Prohibits Public Individuals' Cause Of Action Elimination Absent Adequate Substitution

Article • February 15, 2009

Filed under: Damages, Defenses, State Law Claims, Immunity/Liability, Sovereign Immunity

Oregon Prohibits Public Individuals' Cause Of Action Elimination Absent Adequate Substitution by The Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) sought review of an appellate ruling disregarding statutory provisions and allowing claims against the OHSU's individual defendants for neglect causing permanent brain damage to Jordan Clarke in 1998. Clarke's guardian, Sari, sought …

Washington DOC Restarts Private Industry Prison Jobs Following State Constitutional Amendment

Article • February 15, 2009 • from PLN February, 2009

Filed under: Work, Prison Industries, Prison Labor, State Legislation

Washington DOC Restarts Private Industry Prison Jobs Following State Constitutional Amendment by John Dannenberg Washington DOC Restarts Private Industry Prison Jobs Following State Constitutional Amendment by John E. Dannenberg After eliminating private industry prison work programs in response to a Washington State Supreme Court ruling declaring the underlying statute unconstitutional …

Oregon Parolee Negligent Supervision Case Reinstated

Article • February 15, 2009 • from PLN February, 2009

Filed under: Sexual Assault by Parolees, Victims, State Law Claims, Limitations, Immunity/Liability, Parole Liability

Oregon Parolee Negligent Supervision Case Reinstated by The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment against a teenage girl who was raped by a violent parolee. In November 1997, 14-year-old Akilah Johnson was assaulted and raped by a stranger. More than four years later, on …

O'Neil v. Martin, OR, Complaint, Conditions of Confinement, Interstate Corr. Compact, 2009

Brief • February 2, 2009

Filed under: Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding, Eighth Amendment, Interstate Corrections Compact

O'Neil v. Martin, OR, Complaint, Conditions of Confinement, Interstate Corr. Compact, 2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON 9 FOR THE COUNTY OF MARlON 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 …

Oregon Juvenile Facility Warden Indicted; Youth Authority Director Resigns

Article • January 15, 2009 • from PLN January, 2009

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Work, Prison Labor, Juvenile Prisons

Oregon Juvenile Facility Warden Indicted; Youth Authority Director Resigns by Mark Wilson Oregon Juvenile Facility Warden Indicted; Youth Authority Director Resigns by Mark Wilson From 2000 to 2007, Darrin Humphreys served as warden of the RiverBend Youth Detention Center, a 50-bed Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) facility in LaGrande, Oregon. Supervisors …

Beleaguered Oregon Sheriff Steps Down

Article • January 15, 2009 • from PLN January, 2009

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Jail Misconduct

Beleaguered Oregon Sheriff Steps Down by Mark Wilson Flamboyant and controversial Multnomah County Sheriff Bernie Giusto, head of Oregon’s largest county jail, has retired in the face of an overwhelming vote to strip him of his badge. Giusto, a lightning rod for criticism, has been under constant fire for the …

Jail Nurse Guilty of Forging Doctor’s Order; Forged Orders Common Jail Practice

Article • January 15, 2009 • from PLN January, 2009

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Medical Misconduct, Medication, Criminal Prosecution, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Jail Nurse Guilty of Forging Doctor’s Order; Forged Orders Common Jail Practice by Mark Wilson Jail Nurse Guilty of Forging Doctor’s Order; Forged Orders Common Jail Practice by Mark Wilson On August 28, 2008, a Multnomah County, Oregon jury convicted a former jail nurse of forging a drug prescription for …

Violence at Oklahoma Prisons Leaves Two Dead, Twenty-Five Injured

Article • January 15, 2009 • from PLN January, 2009

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Organizing, Prison Rebellion, Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death)

Violence at Oklahoma Prisons Leaves Two Dead, Twenty-Five Injured by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On May 19, 2008, at approximately 12:30 p.m., a fight broke out between Native American and black prisoners at the Oklahoma State Reformatory (OSR) in Granite. When the skirmish ended five minutes later, two prisoners …

Oregon DNA Law Not Unreasonable Search and Seizure

Article • January 15, 2009

Filed under: DNA Testing/Samples, Criminal Prosecution, Sentencing

Oregon DNA Law Not Unreasonable Search and Seizure by Oregon’s highest court has held that the state’s DNA law does not violate state or federal constitutional prohibitions against unreasonable searches and seizures. In 2003, Travis Sanders was convicted of a felony and sentenced to an 18-month term of probation. Pursuant …