$250,000 FTCA Beating Judgment Reversed by The court of appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that the discretionary function exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) shields the United States from liability for injuries sustained by a federal prisoner, as a result of an attack by another prisoner. A …
Georgia Prison Officials Take Taxpayers for a Long Ride by Georgia prison officials used $23,602 from state prison industries profits to attend a conference on prisons in Israel tied to the country's 50th anniversary celebration. DOC chief Wayne Garner defended the trip, saying he has been a" good steward of …
New Trial After Magistrate Conducts Jury Selection by The court of appeals for the Eleventh circuit held that a magistrate presiding over jury selection, when the plaintiff objects, constitutes reversible error and is not subject to a harmless error analysis. Albert Thomas, a Georgia state prisoner, sued state prison officials. …
Georgia Brutality Suit Settled for $283,500 by In a brief hearing on April 23, 1998, U.S. district judge Harold Murphy finalized an agreement that allowed 14 prisoner plaintiffs and their attorneys to receive $283,500. After approving the settlement judge Murphy was quoted as saying, "The settlement is fair, responsible and …
Georgia DOC Turns to Private Prisons by Alex Friedmann According to a report by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, by July 2003 the state will have just 42,000 prison beds for a projected 55,000 state prisoners. This imbalance is primarily due to a "two strikes" law that took …
The Buck Stops Where? by Alex Friedmann When Georgia prisoner Stanley Reed filed a federal habeas petition in January 1997 he probably didn't expect the response he received: The warden refused to answer the petition, raising the possibility that Reed might be released by default. The reason? Reed, although a …
Bob Bensing, Hero, Dies Suddenly by The world lost a hero in the struggle for human rights on February 3, 1998. Southern Center for Human Rights lawyer Bob Bensing, 42, was returning to Atlanta, GA, from Valdosta State Prison after meeting with two prisoner plaintiffs. His car reportedly hydroplaned and …
Health Care Contractor Subject to Monell Liability by The court of appeals for the eleventh circuit held that private companies performing traditional government functions are liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 but enjoy the protection of Monell v. Dept. Of Social Services of New York , 436 U.S. 658, 98 …
The Abuse of U.S. Women Prisoners by Julia Lutsky It is really like this dirty little secret that everyone in corrections knows about and doesn't want to talk about. It is a huge problem." The words are those of Brenda Smith, senior counsel of the National Women's Law Center quoted …
Georgia Prison Guards Speak Out by Dan Pens Shortly after Wayne Garner took over as Georgia's Corrections Commissioner in December 1995, he addressed the state legislature wherein he quipped, "...thirty to thirty-five percent [of GA prisoners] ain't fit to kill, and I'm going to be there to accommodate them." [See: …
Get More Georgia Prison Information by For those interested in learning more about the current wave of human and civil rights abuses in the Georgia DOC the Prison and Jail Project, a non profit grassroots group in Georgia, has published a 45 page booklet titled "Stop Human Rights Abuses in …
Senior DOC Officials Implicated by After lower ranking guards crossed the blue line, Hays state prison Lt. Ray McWhorter offered a stunning account of events -- including allegations that senior GA DOC officials not only witnessed the massive shakedown, but were instrumental in igniting the firestorm of brutality. McWhorter admitted …
Managed Care Infects Prison Health Services by by Adrian Lomax In September, 1996, Melody Bird complained to guards at Florida's Pinellas County Jail that she was experiencing severe chest pains and having trouble breathing. Nurses at the jail, finding no discernible blood pressure, concluded that Bird was suffering a heart …
Lawsuits Target Georgia Prison Abuse by Robert Bensing by Robert Bensing, Esq. Prisoners in Georgia have recently filed two lawsuits, challenging the Georgia Department of Corrections' (GDC) shakedowns of Georgia prisons. A shakedown entails a search of an entire prison's prisoner population and prisoner living areas. While the shakedowns are …
Georgia Prisoners Retain Right to Safety by The Georgia state supreme court ruled that prisoners retain a right to protection and safety from other prisoners. Marvin Yizar, a Georgia state prisoner, is a former Atlanta policeman serving a life sentence for murder. Yizar had previously arrested and prosecuted many of …
Beating Shackled Prisoners States Claim by A federal district court in Georgia held that the eighth amendment prohibits the beatings of handcuffed and shackled prisoners. Federal prison employees are not immune to state law claims of assault and battery. The case involves two federal prisoners at the US Penitentiary in …
USP Atlanta Locked Down by Prisoners at U.S.P. Atlanta are now on lockdown and are seeking assistance of counsel - pro bono - to represent their interests in litigation against the BOP and warden Willie Scott. On Thursday, January 18, 1996, a guard working in the education department was stabbed …
Georgia Prisons Enter Dark Ages by According to a PLN reader in Georgia, "Our ex-[Prisons] Commissioner, Dr. Allen Ault, got into a battle with Zig-Zag Zell Miller [Georgia's Governor]. Miller ordered him to cut-off TV's and phones during the day, cut the phone time to 10-minutes per call, and take …
Atlanta Jail Official Arrested by Asenior Atlanta City Jail official was suspended from her job after being arrested on federal charges of attempting to hire a hit man to kill her boyfriend (the father of her young son), and the boyfriend's wife. Rosetta Lee Soares, deputy director of Atlanta's Department …
Georgia Prisoner Strangled by Guards by On September 12, 1995, a guard at the Lee Arrendale Correctional Institution in Alto, Georgia, told 22-year-old prisoner, Samuel Rivers to clean his cell. Rivers had shredded newspapers and 'carpeted" his cell with them. When he refused to clean up the cell, five guards …
