New York City Pays $75,000 for 28.5 Days False Imprisonment by On September 8, 2005, the City of New York, New York, settled for $75,000 a prisoner's lawsuit alleging 28.5 days false imprisonment. Plaintiff William Perocier, Jr., a 31 year old tow truck driver, was sentenced to six months in …
From the Editor by Paul Wright In addition to PLN's own censorship litigation for prisoners we also undertake advocacy and support for prisoner rights on behalf of prisoners in other court cases. In the current supreme court term, PLN submitted an amicus brief in Goodman v. Georgia, a case involving …
Georgia DOC Settles Failure-To-Protect Suit for $15,000 by Michael Rigby In September 2004, the Georgia Department of Corrections (CDOC) settled for $15,000 a prisoner lawsuit alleging that understaffing at the maximum-security Georgia State Prison (GSP) compromised prisoner safety. The GDOC also agreed to increase staffing levels in prisoner housing areas …
Company Uses Prison Slave Labor for $100 Million Military Contract by The prison and military industrial complexes have collided, with a private military contractor poised to make millions off the sweaty backs of prisoners. Pennsylvania-based Woolrich Inc. plans to use the labor of federal prisoners to fulfill two multi-million-dollar contracts …
Georgia Prison Warden Proper Defendant In § 1983, ADA Suit by by Michael Rigby The U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Georgia prison warden was suable under the Eighth Amendment and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Plaintiff Tracy Miller is a wheelchair-bound paraplegic …
Lewis v. Prison Health Services, GA, Medical Death Suit, 2005, Complaint Case 1:05-cv-02434-TWT Document 1-1 b Filed 09/19/2005 Page 1 of 30 R I G I Ni' ,'_ IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA ATLANTA DIVISION .' i I Jonah Lewis, the child of Raymond Austin, …
Georgia Sheriffs Illegally Profit From Captive Workforce by by Michael Rigby The great thing about being a county's top lawman is having a cadre of free labor for your own personal use. Or so many Georgia sheriffs think. Although it is a felony under state law to use prisoner labor …
Georgia Prison Official Immune, Prison Nurse Not, in Prisoner's Suicide by by Robert H. Woodman The Court of Appeals of Georgia, Second Division, affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the Gwinnett Superior Court in a case brought against a prison official, a prison nurse, and other …
Fulton County Jail under Federal Control by by David M. Reutter For the second time since 1999, Georgia Federal District Judge Marvin H. Shoob has taken over supervision of the Fulton County Jail. Fulton County Jail Sheriff, Jacquelyn H. Barrett, told the court to go ahead, telling the court that …
BOP Ad-Seg Rules Create a Liberty Interest by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Eleventh Circuit court of Appeals has held that BOP administrative segregation policies create a liberty interest. The Court reversed a Georgia federal district court's order granting prison officials' motion to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for …
Doctors of Death and the Medicalization of State Murder by Michael Rigby Doctors of Death and the Medicalization of State Murder by Michael Rigby Prisoners often wonder if prison medical personnel really have their best interests at heart. But in the case of Sanjeeva Rao, a Georgia prison doctor, there …
Williams v. Clinch County, GA, Reply in Support of Class Cert., Jail Fees, 2005 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA VALDOSTA DIVISION WILLIE FLOYD WILLIAMS, JR., and MICKLE JERMAINE JACKSON Plaintiffs, v. CLINCH COUNTY, GEORGIA; WINSTON PETERSON, Sheriff of Clinch County, in his official …
PLRA Fee Cap Upheld, Applied to Parole Case; Allows Fees-on-Fee Award by David Reutter The Eleventh Circuit Court held the attorney fee cap of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) applies to parole cases and is constitutional and allows a fees-on-fees award. Georgia prisoner Coleman Jackson filed a joint motion …
Manipulation of Crime Statistics and Use of Tax Dollars for Campaigning Revealed by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The public entrusts its law enforcement officials to protect it from crime and to use the tax dollars it provides to fulfill that duty. The manipulation of that trust has come …
Georgia Sheriff as "Arm of the State" Entitled to Eleventh Amendment Immunity by Bob Williams Ruling 6-5 en banc in a case of first impression, the Eleventh Circuit has found that Georgia sheriffs act as "arms of the state" and thus as state actors are entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity …
Court Continues Oversight and Orders Corrections in Georgia Jail by David Reutter by David M. Reutter "The Court is totally out of patience with the assurances and promises that compliance will be achieved" with the Final Settlement Agreement signed on January 24, 2000. So said Judge Shoeb, U.S. District Court …
County Liable for Sheriff's Failure to Remove Invalid Warrant From Computer by The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that Georgia Sheriffs are a county policymaker regarding their duties in the maintenence and recall of criminal warrants thus making the county liable in a § 1983 action for the Sheriff's …
PHS Redux: Sued In A Dozen States, Contract Losses, Stock Plummets, Business Continues by by John E. Dannenberg Prison Health Services (PHS), a subsidiary of America Service Group, Inc. (ASG), continues to face lawsuits and lose contracts for its deplorable record of prisoner health care gaffes in a dozen states. …