Search | Prison Legal News

Connecticut Prisoner Commits Suicide With COVID-19 Protective Mask

Article • December 1, 2020 • from PLN December, 2020

Filed under: COVID-19, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Suicides

Connecticut Prisoner Commits Suicide With COVID-19 Protective Mask by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss Daniel Ocasio committed suicide on August 12, 2020 at the Corrigan-Radkowski Correctional Center in Uncasville, Connecticut by tying the strings of his protective mask around his throat. His death made national news because it is the …

Connecticut: Summary Judgment Denied in Deliberate Indifference Case Where Facial Lesion Turned Out To Be Skin Cancer

Article • November 1, 2020 • from PLN November, 2020

Filed under: Eighth Amendment, Summary Judgment, Deliberate Indifference

Connecticut: Summary Judgment Denied in Deliberate Indifference Case Where Facial Lesion Turned Out To Be Skin Cancer by Chad Marks by Chad Marks Jeffrey Bardo was a state of Connecticut prisoner at the Willard Cybulski Correctional Institution in Enfield when he submitted a medical request to have an odd spot …

Second Circuit Reverses Summary Dismissal of Connecticut Prisoner’s Failure-to-Protect Lawsuit

Article • November 1, 2020 • from PLN November, 2020

Filed under: Informants, Failure to Protect (General)

Second Circuit Reverses Summary Dismissal of Connecticut Prisoner’s Failure-to-Protect Lawsuit by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On April 15, 2020, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s granting of summary judgment to prison officials in a Connecticut prisoner’s lawsuit over their failure to protect him from retaliation …

Second Circuit Vacates Summary Judgment on Connecticut Prisoner’s Failure to Protect Claim

Article • September 1, 2020 • from PLN September, 2020

Filed under: Failure to Protect (General), Summary Judgment

Second Circuit Vacates Summary Judgment on Connecticut Prisoner’s Failure to Protect Claim by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held on Dec. 6, 2019, that a lower court incorrectly granted guards summary judgment on a prisoner’s failure to protect claim. Connecticut prisoner …

United Nations Official Says Connecticut’s Use of Solitary May Amount to Torture

Article • September 1, 2020 • from PLN September, 2020

Filed under: Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Geneva Convention Rights

United Nations Official Says Connecticut’s Use of Solitary May Amount to Torture by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A United Nations human rights expert has denounced the use of prolonged solitary confinement, which could inflict psychological torture on prisoners. His critique, given at a press conference on February 28, …

Connecticut City Settles Suit Over Prisoner’s Suicide for $1,393,000

Article • July 1, 2020 • from PLN July, 2020

Filed under: Settlements, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Suicides

Connecticut City Settles Suit Over Prisoner’s Suicide for $1,393,000 by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On December 10, 2019, the City of Meriden, Connecticut, settled for $1,393,000 a lawsuit brought by the estate, minor son, and minor daughter of a woman who committed suicide while being held at the Meriden …

Federal Court Allows Lawsuit Over Sexual Assault of Female Connecticut Prisoner to Proceed

Article • July 1, 2020 • from PLN July, 2020

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault

Federal Court Allows Lawsuit Over Sexual Assault of Female Connecticut Prisoner to Proceed by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On October 8, 2019, a federal court denied summary judgment on some claims against seven Connecticut Department of Corrections (DOC) supervisory personnel who Cara Tangreti, a former prisoner at the state’s …

News in Brief

Article • May 1, 2020 • from PLN May, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by California: On March 28, 2020, death row prisoner Lonnie Franklin Jr., 67, aka “Grim Sleeper,” was found unresponsive in his San Quentin cell. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton told reporters, “There were no signs of trauma. They don’t know why he died.” …

Prison Postcards: Prisoners Write About Fears, Incompetence, at Their Facilities

Article • May 1, 2020 • from PLN May, 2020

Filed under: COVID-19

Prison Postcards: Prisoners Write About Fears, Incompetence, at Their Facilities by Ken Silverstein by Ken Silverstein On April 15, President Donald Trump announced that the coronavirus pandemic had peaked in the United States. That same day, nearly 2,300 people in the country died from COVID-19, the disease cause by the …

Connecticut Prisoners Win Lawsuit After Hepatitis Exposure

Article • May 1, 2020 • from PLN May, 2020

Filed under: Medical Misconduct, Diabetes, Hepatitis

Connecticut Prisoners Win Lawsuit After Hepatitis Exposure by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon In May 2019, a final settlement agreement was approved for 15 prisoners who were exposed to Hepatitis C when a Correctional Managed Health Care (CMHC) nurse at MacDougall-Walker State Prison in Suffield, Connecticut, used the same needle …

Preliminary Injunction Sought Over Contaminated Drinking Water at Connecticut Prison

Article • January 10, 2020 • from PLN January, 2020

Filed under: Water

Preliminary Injunction Sought Over Contaminated Drinking Water at Connecticut Prison by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon Stamford, Connecticut attorneys David P. Friedman and Lorey Rives Leddy are representing prisoners at the Osborn Correctional Institution (OCI) over environmental hazards at that facility. Not only are the prisoners routinely exposed to toxic …

Man Mistakenly Released 13 Years Ago Won’t Have to Return to Prison

Article • November 6, 2019 • from PLN November, 2019

Filed under: Release and Reentry, Wrongful Release, Post-release, ex-offender, re-entry

Man Mistakenly Released 13 Years Ago Won’t Have to Return to Prison by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney Connecticut man arrested for his unintentional failure to serve a 13-year-old federal prison sentence was released from custody in March 2019. Philadelphia native Demetrius Anderson had not only remained free for those …

Tangreti v. Semple, CT, Judgment, Sexual Assault of Prisoner, 2019

Brief • October 8, 2019

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Sexual Harassment, Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Eighth Amendment, Failure to Protect (Staff), 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights

Tangreti v. Semple, CT, Judgment, Sexual Assault of Prisoner, 2019 Case 3:17-cv-01420-MPS Document 63 Filed 10/08/19 Page 1 of 52 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT CARA TANGRETI, No. 3:17-cv-01420 (MPS) Plaintiff, v. SCOTT SEMPLE, DAVID MCNEIL, STEPHEN FAUCHER, ANTHONY CORCELLA, STEVEN BATES, CHRISTINE BACHMANN, DOUGLAS ANDREWS, and MODIKIAH …

Connecticut Prison Writing Program Leads to Lawsuits

Article • October 7, 2019 • from PLN October, 2019

Filed under: Education

Connecticut Prison Writing Program Leads to Lawsuits by David M. Reutter by David M. Reutter Wally Lamb was an English teacher when he published his first novel, She’s Come Undone, in 1992. It became a huge hit after Oprah Winfrey selected it for her book club. In 1999, Lamb began …

Connecticut DOC Settles Calendar Lawsuit for $1,500, Policy Changes

Article • August 6, 2019 • from PLN August, 2019

Filed under: Settlements, Publications/Books, Censorship

Connecticut DOC Settles Calendar Lawsuit for $1,500, Policy Changes by The Connecticut Department of Correction (DOC) has agreed to pay a $1,500 settlement in a lawsuit filed by state prisoner Jeremy Barney, who alleged his First Amendment right to receive publications was violated when the warden at Osborn Correctional Institution …

After Needless Prisoner Deaths, Connecticut DOC Takes Over Prison Healthcare

Article • August 6, 2019 • from PLN August, 2019

Filed under: Medical Misconduct, Medical

After Needless Prisoner Deaths, Connecticut DOC Takes Over Prison Healthcare by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke For 17 years, Correctional Managed Health Care (CMHC), part of the University of Connecticut, held a no-bid contract – worth $100 million annually – to provide medical services for around 13,400 prisoners incarcerated in …

Connecticut - banned books list (2019)

Publication • 2019

Filed under: Publications/Books, Banned Book Lists, Censorship

Connecticut - banned books list (2019) CONNECTICUT DOC DISAPPROVED PUBLICATIONS LIST - JUNE 2019 Id 1 1 4 Publication Name Maxim Maxim XXL Issue Text - Original Oct 2015 Sept 2015 JuneJuly 2014 4 XXL 9 9 Publication Author Publication Type Magazine/Newspaper Magazine/Newspaper Magazine/Newspaper Review Date 2015/09/15 2015/08/18 2014/05/20 Review …

Connecticut police officer decertifications

Publication • 2019

Filed under: Police Misconduct

Connecticut police officer decertifications LIST OF DECERTIFIED OFFICERS BY POLICE OFFICER STANDARDS AND TRAINING COUNCIL AND PREDECESSOR MUNICIPAL POLICE TRAINING COUNCIL IN THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT Revised 3/10/2017 NAME ABELING, Paul H. ANCONA, Michael A. BEERS, Justin R. BOURQUE, David L. BREVETTI, Francis P. BRYANT, III, Charles M. CAMACHO, Julio …

$25,000 Settlement Over Connecticut False Arrest and Malicious Prosecution Claims

Article • April 22, 2019

Filed under: Malicious Prosecution, Police, False Arrest, Fourth Amendment, rights, Fourteenth Amendment, rights

$25,000 Settlement Over Connecticut False Arrest and Malicious Prosecution Claims by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson The City of Norwalk, Connecticut, paid $25,000 to settle false arrest and malicious prosecution claims against a Norwalk Police Department (NPD) detective. On October 3, 2013, Robert Ragsdale complained to the NPD that he …

Connecticut Sued to End Prison Gerrymandering

Article • April 2, 2019 • from PLN April, 2019

Filed under: Voting

Connecticut Sued to End Prison Gerrymandering by Scott Grammer by Scott Grammer The NAACP and other plaintiffs have sued the State of Connecticut to put a stop to a “statewide practice of counting incarcerated people as residents of the legislative districts where they are held, rather than in their home districts.” This …