Private Probation Companies Prove Corrupt in Tennessee by Gary Hunter Criminal Court Judge Chris Craft claimed private probation companies have "created a nightmare" in the Memphis, Tennessee probation system. Judge Craft, who is also chairman of the Private Probation Services Council, said that probation companies currently charge probationers fees "that …
Tennessee Supreme Court Holds No Procedural Protection Needed for $5 Fine by Tennessee Supreme Court Holds No Procedural Protection Needed for $5 Fine by Matthew T. Clarke On August 23, 2003, the Supreme Court of Tennessee (SCTN) held that 30-days punitive segregation followed by administrative segregation of unstated duration were …
Tennessee Officials Pay $450,000 to Settle Lawsuit in Detainee's Murder by Guards by David Reutter Tennessee Officials Pay $450,000 to Settle Lawsuit in Detainee's Murder by Guards by David M. Reutter Wilson County and City of Lebanon, Tennessee, jail officials agreed to pay the widow of Walter Steven Kuntz $450,000 …
CCA Packs Positions With High-Profile Politicians by Michael Rigby CCA Packs Positions With High-Profile Politicians by Michael Rigby In an ongoing effort to make up for what it lacks in prison management skills, Corrections Corporation of America continues to place high profile politicians with inside knowledge of state and federal …
Tennessee Prisoner Wrongly Denied Medical Records by LaTasha Marie Whittington-Barrett (Barrett), a transsexual Tennessee state prisoner, asked guards at the Northeast Correctional Complex to allow her to review and copy her medical and psychiatric files in conjunction with a lawsuit she intended to file. She was allowed access to only …
Tennessee Prisoner Libel Proof by The Tennessee Court of Appeals held that a prisoner's conviction resulting in incarceration for 99 years renders any reputation he may have virtually valueless," and that he was, in the eyes of the law, libel proof." This action was filed by a prisoner convicted of …
Mediation Costs Not Taxable in §1983 Suit by Mediation Costs Not Taxable in §1983 Suit The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that state officials named as defendants in a prisoner's civil rights suit could not be taxed costs for mediation. The decision reverses the U.S. District Court for …
No Right to Renounce Citizenship - U.S. Not "at War" by No Right to Renounce Citizenship - U.S. Not "at War" Judge Bernice B. Donald of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee has denied habeas corpus relief to a Wisconsin prisoner seeking to renounce his …
CCA Pays $54 Million to IRS and Settles Gender Discrimination Complaint by On October 28, 2002, Corrections Corp. of America, (CCA) settled its 1997 federal taxes after an audit by the Internal Revenue Service for the sum of $54 million. The IRS challenged the validity of the tax deductions that …
Prison Disciplinary Boards Not "Courts" for Habeas Corpus Purposes by Prison Disciplinary Boards not "Courts" for Habeas Corpus Purposes The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held conclusively that prison disciplinary boards lacking a true judicial review process are not "courts" within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. §2254(d), as amended …
CCA Conditions Claim Not Frivolous by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a Tennessee Federal District Court's dismissal of a prisoner's 42 U.S.C. §1983 claims as frivolous, vacating and remanding part of the lower court's decision with instructions. David Dellis is a Wisconsin prisoner who was for a …
$377,500 Awarded in Tennessee Jail Death by In September 2001, a federal jury in Memphis, Tennessee, awarded $377,500 in damages to the estate of a mentally ill jail prisoner killed by guards. In November 1996, Calvin Shaw, a paranoid schizophrenic, was arrested on sexual assault charges and imprisoned at the …
Jailhouse Lawyering Protected; Frivolous Claims Are Not by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that a prisoner could not maintain an access to the courts claim based on an action that has been dismissed as frivolous, but the plaintiff can …
CCA Gets Tangled in Financial Quagmire by Ronald Young CCA Gets Tangled In Financial Quagmire Corrections Corporation of America said it is contesting an $8.1 million request for payment from Merrill Lynch & Company related to its hiring of the investment firm in late 1999 for advice on a company …
CCA Medical Cost-Saving Contract Unconstitutional by A Tennessee federal district judge as found an incentives contract between the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and a private doctor unconstitutional and must be stopped. The contract provided for financial incentives for the physician to reduce costs, which motivated him to reduce medical …
$235,000 Awarded to CCA Prisoner in Medical Suit by On March 23, 2001, a federal jury in Memphis, Tennessee, awarded Tennessee state prisoner Charles Degan $235,000 in damages in a medical neglect suit against Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the world's largest private, for profit, prison company. In 1998 Degan's …
$9.5 Million Awarded in Prisoner Van Fire Death by $9.5 Million Awarded In Prisoner Van Fire Death In late February 2001, Kathryn Catalano received a $9.5 million jury award in a Tennessee U.S. District Court. She sued after her father died in an extradition van fire. Federal Extradition Agency (FEA) …
$3 Million Award Not Excessive in Prisoner Beating Death by The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld a $778,000 verdict and $2.2 million punitive damage award against Shelby County, Tenn. deputy sheriff Rhett Shearin and life prisoner Jerry Ellis in a county jail beating death where Shearin …
$40,000 Awarded in Tennessee Jail Failure to Protect Suit by A U.S. District Court in Tennessee ordered Shelby County to pay $40,000 to Jacob Miller for injuries suffered in an attack by fellow prisoners at Shelby County Correctional Center (SCCC). Miller arrived at SCCC in December 1995 to serve a …
