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 …
Court Formulates New "Use of Force" Standard by While pretrial detainees are imprisoned against their will and in many cases are similar in circumstance to convicted detainees they are legally innocent of any crime. This is an important distinction when it comes to detainees litigating jail conditions. PLN regularly reports …
Two Strikes and You're Out - of Prison Space by In past issues of PLN we have reported on Georgia's "two-strike" law. Before the November, 1994, elections both Governor Zell "Zig Zag" Miller and Corrections Commissioner Allen Ault assured the GA legislature and voters that the state had enough prison …
$50,000 Awarded in Groin Kneeing by Fred Culver is a mentally disabled alcoholic. He was arrested by city police in Sparta, Georgia and taken into custody. Once in the jail he began slapping at one of the policemen. In an ensuing melee Culver was twice kneed in the groin. He …
No Liberty Interest in GA Parole Rules by In the April, 1994, issue of PLN we reported Sultenfuss v. Snow, 7 F.3d 1543 (l1th Cir 1993). Stephen Sultenfuss is a Georgia state prisoner serving sentences for two drug convictions. Under the rules of the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole …
BOP Guard Killed by A report in the Atlanta Journal Constitution states that the US penitentiary in Atlanta is the most dangerous federal prison in the country with five prisoners killed in a year. During a May, 1994, tour by BOP director Kathleen Hawk, one prisoner stabbed and killed another. …
One and Two Strike Laws Passed by Paul Wright By Paul Wright In the June, 1994, issue of PLN, my article "Three Strikes Racks 'em Up" made reference to then pending proposals to pass a "Two Strikes" law in Georgia and a "One Strike" law in California for sex offenders. …
No Immunity for Delay of Medical Care by Willie Harris was a pretrial detainee in the Coweta County, Georgia, jail. When he was arrested his hand was injured by tight handcuffs. Upon arrival at the jail, on September 6, 1990, he requested treatment for the injury. He was seen by …
