Public, Private Prison Escapes in Ohio by Gary Hunter On May 11, 2006, Ohio state prisoner Marrion P. Smith was shot in the head by prison guard Gary Myers during a foiled escape attempt. Smith had been transported from the Mansfield Correctional Institution to the Ohio State University Medical Center, …
Female Ohio Guards Awarded $475,000 For Gender Discrimination Regarding Assignment, Promotion by Seven female Ohio guards brought federal suit against the Trumbull County Sheriff's Department (Department) for emotional distress due to unfavorable assignments and lack of promotion. The court awarded them collectively $475,000. The guards claimed sex discrimination because their …
Harassment By Prisoners Cannot Create a Hostile Work Environment by Evidence that the plaintiff ex-prison employee "cried a lot" and the inmates and co-workers "got on her nerves" do not establish that she has a disability; she may have been depressed or anxious but submitted no medical evidence or evidence …
Ohio Probation Violator Entitled to Credit for Time Served in Halfway House by The Ohio Court of Appeals held that after a convicted prison guard violated his probation, he was nonetheless entitled to credit for time served earlier in a halfway house, since it amounted to "confinement." Guard Richard Holda …
Ohio Prisoner’s Entitled to Notice of Post-Release Control at Sentencing by Ohio Prisoner's Entitled to Notice of Post-Release Control at Sentencing The Ohio Supreme Court has held that the Ohio Adult Parole Authority (APA) has no authority to place a prisoner on post-release control when the sentencing court failed to …
Ohio Attorney Suspended from Law Practice for Two Years after Misconduct by The Columbus Bar Association charged Attorney Derek Farmer with violating the Code of Professional Responsibility in 2004 for misconduct. The Supreme Court of Ohio's Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline appointed an investigative panel and the court …
Prison Drinking Water and Wastewater Pollution Threaten Environmental Safety Nationwide by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg Aging infrastructure concerns are not limited to America's highways, bridges and dams. Today, crumbling, overcrowded prisons and jails nationwide are bursting at the seams -- literally -- leaking environmentally dangerous effluents not just …
Reformed Dental Care Will Have Ohio Prisoners Smiling by Michael Rigby The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) will hire dozens of dental health care providers, revise policies and procedures governing prisoner dental care, and implement oral health care education programs as part of a settlement agreed to in …
Ohio Juvenile Wards Entitled to Attorneys to Pursue 1983 Actions by by John E. Dannenberg In an important denial-of-access-to-the-courts ruling, a U.S. District Court (S.D. Ohio) held that a juvenile ward who was denied access to the courts after suffering injury from an Ohio Department of Youth Services (ODYS) guard …
Final Report on Ohio Prisoner Reentry Study by G.A. Bowers by G. A. Bowers The Urban Institute?s Justice Policy Center released in April 2007 One Year Out, the final report of its Returning Home study of nearly 300 former prisoners living in Cleveland, Ohio, one year after their release from …
Ohio Lawyer Suspended for Bilking Prisoners’ Families by Ohio Lawyer Suspended for Bilking Prisoners' Families On November 1, 2006, Ohio's Supreme Court suspended attorney Derek A. Farmer from the practice of law for two years. Admitted to the bar in 1999, Farmer became known as a prisoners' lawyer, maintaining a …
Columbus, Ohio Jail’s Seclusion Turns Parole Into Death March by Columbus, Ohio Jail's Seclusion Turns Parole Into Death March Columbus, Ohio's main incarceration facility has a fatal flaw. It is located so remote from public transportation--requiring walking miles along a dangerous freeway -- that prisoners happily paroled, but unable to …
Excessive Force And Medical Negligence Death In Youngstown, Ohio Arrest Settles For $350,000 From Police, $100,000 From PHS by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The death of a Youngstown, Ohio arrestee who was severely beaten by police and negligently treated by Prison Health Services? (PHS) contract jail medical staff …
Ohio Supreme Court Finds Sex Offender Labeling Without Hearing Constitutional by The Ohio Supreme Court has held that labeling a sex offender as a "sexually oriented offender" without a hearing does not violate the Confrontation Clauses or Due Process Clauses of the United States or Ohio Constitutions. In 1997, Ohio's …
Pennsylvania Prisoner Has Right to Diversity Jurisdiction to Ensure Access to Courts by The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, erred when it dismissed a prisoners suit for lack of jurisdiction. A prisoner serving a life …
Tape Recorded Deposition Discretionary by A federal district court in Ohio has held that granting an application to record the deposition of witnesses by tape recorder is within the Court's discretion under Fed. R.Civ.P. 30(b)(4). The Court granted the plaintiff's motion if: (1) a neutral party coordinates deposition by swearing …
Ohio Prisoner Mail Censorship Rule Violates Due Process by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an Ohio prison regulation authorizing the censorship of incoming prisoner mail was not unconstitutionally overbroad on its face but that it did violate due process. An Ohio prisoner's incoming mail, written on Ku …
Cincinnati's Ban on Travel in "Drug Exclusion Zones" Struck Down by Cincinnati's Ban on Travel in "Drug Exclusion Zones" Struck Down The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, affirming the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, held that a Cincinnati, Ohio, municipal ordinance banning persons convicted of …
Deliberate Indifference Survives Summary Judgment by The U.S. Southern District Court of Ohio determined a prisoner's claim of deliberate indifference should survive summary judgment. Morris Gulett, a white supremacist and pre-trial detainee, was housed in an eleven-man tank in the Montgomery County jail in Ohio. Each prisoner was confined to …
Appeals Court Vacates, Remands Dismissal of Prisoner's Property Action by The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded an Ohio federal district court's dismissal of a federal prisoner's suit for return of property. Litho Range, a federal prisoner convicted of drug conspiracy, lost $3,042.13 from a forfeiture proceeding. …
