$50,001 Verdict for Pennsylvania Prisoner in Failure to Protect Suit by A federal jury awarded $50,001 to a Pennsylvania state prisoner who claimed guards ignored his requests to be protected from his cellmate. After SCI Fayette prisoner Robert E. Ivory, Jr. was involved in a fight with his cellmate, Russell …
Pennsylvania Jail Pays $3 Million to Settle Class-Action Strip Search Suit by A $3 million settlement was reached in a class-action civil rights complaint that challenged the blanket strip search policy at Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County Jail (ACJ). The class, which was certified in June 2008, includes almost 13,000 people who …
$75,000 Settlement in Pennsylvania Jail Beating by A $75,000 settlement has been reached in a lawsuit brought by a former prisoner who was beaten by guards at Pennsylvania’s Westmoreland County Prison (WCP). In June 2009, James P. Edwards, 28, was arrested on a parole violation. He was on parole following …
Pennsylvania Prisoners’ Civil Rights Action Against TV Reality Stars Dismissed as Frivolous by By David M. Ruetter The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of a Pennsylvania prisoner lawsuit alleging violations under 42 U.S.C. §1983 and state law claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent …
Subjective Knowledge that Object is a “Weapon” Not Required to Convict Federal Prisoner of Violating Contraband Statute by On June 7, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a federal prisoner’s conviction for possessing a weapon while in prison. Eric Holmes was charged with violating 18 …
Summary Judgment Denied in an Unconstitutional Strip Search by A Pennsylvania Federal District Court denied defendant’s summary judgment in a lawsuit alleging an unconstitutional strip search that violated a prisoner’s Fourth Amendment rights. Upon being booked into the Chester County Jail on September 13, 2007 for DUI and other traffic …
Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Negligence Claim Denied by On March 19, 2008, Pennsylvania prisoner John McCool filed a medical negligence claim against the Pennsylvania DOC and various officials and employees for their improper treatment of his medical condition. The district court sua sponte dismissed his complaint on June 4, 2008 partially under …
Pennsylvania DOC Agrees to Pay $110,000 to Settle Sex Abuse Suit by On August 27, 2007, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) agreed to pay $110,000 to settle a lawsuit by a female prisoner who alleged that she was forced to perform sex acts on another prisoner while another guard …
Philadelphia Settles Diabetes Suit by On March 13, 2003, the City of Philadelphia agreed to settle a suit over the adequacy of care provided to diabetic prisoners at Philadelphia jails. The terms of the settlement require the city to establish policies related to the treatment of prisoners with diabetes. For …
Third Circuit Says Asthma May be Physical Injury by The Third Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a lower court’s dismissal of a federal prisoner’s Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) negligence claim for failing to show a sufficient physical injury under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). Federal prisoner Mike Perez …
Motion to Dismiss in Eighth Amendment Suit Denied in Part by U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner has granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss filed by four Bureau of Prisons (BOP) defendants accused of Eighth Amendment violations. David Lee Womack sued D. Scott Dodrill, Harley Lappin, …
Abuse and Assaults Continue at Pennsylvania Jail by David Reutter by David M. Reutter An attorney representing a prisoner who suffered a near-fatal attack by another prisoner at Pennsylvania’s Lackawanna County Prison (LCP) has claimed that the incident demonstrates a pattern of mistreatment by staff at the facility. Prisoner Nicholas …
Mucha v. Boehm, PA, Complaint, Willful Failure to Protect Gang Beating, 2011 Case 5:11-cv-00624-TR Document 1 Filed 01/28/11 Page 1 of 22 IN TIlE liN U) STATES lllSTRICT conn FOR nUl EASTERN DlSTllICT OF PENNSYLVANIA JOliN H'litS MI'l'iIA. ;~ \I ~ PI;l1nufr '_, Lilli JAMI'S IlUIIIM. TOI 1!l1l1 iSl,mK. WILLIAM …
The Graying of America’s Prisons by James Ridgeway Frank Soffen, now 70 years old, has lived more than half his life in prison, and will likely die there. Sentenced to life for second-degree murder, Soffen has suffered four heart attacks and is confined to a wheelchair. He has lately been …
Crouse v. Allegheny County, PA, Complaint, Inmate Suicide, 2010 Case 2:09-cv-01221-DSC Document 47 Filed 12/11/10 Page 1 of 21 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA BEVERLY CROUSE, as Administrator of ) the Estate of Shiva Lal Acharya, deceased, ) on behalf of the estate …
Galarza v. Szalczyk, PA, Complaint, ICE Detention US Citizen, 2010 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA ERNESTO GALARZA, CIVIL ACTION Plaintiff, No. 10-_ _ _ __ v. MARK SZALCZYK, STEPHANIE FRITZGES, ICE DOES 1-5, ALLENTOWN DOES 6-10, LEHIGH COUNTY DOES 11-15, individually and in …
Allison v. GEO Group, PA, Order granting Settlement, strip search, 2010 10/20/2010 18:08 2158511420 REED SMITH 26 S Case 2:08-cv-00467-JD Document 74 Filed 10/22/10 Page 1 of 2 PAGE IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA PENNY ALLISON and ZORAN HOCEVAR, individually and on behalf …
Gartrell v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, PA, Complaint, Muslim Prayer Policy, 2020 Case 1:10-cv-02160-WWC-PT Document 1 Filed 10/20/2010 Page 1 of 23 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA ISADORE GARTRELL, Plaintiff, v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS; HOWARD HUFFORD, individually and in his official capacity …
Pennsylvania Prisoner Awarded $185,000 in Civil Rights Claim; Harassment Continues by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A Pennsylvania federal jury has awarded $185,000 to a prisoner in a civil rights action alleging conspiracy, retaliation, obstruction of access to the courts and defamation of character. Pennsylvania state prisoner Andre Jacobs …
Thou Shalt Not: Sexual Misconduct by Prison and Jail Chaplains by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Traditionally, the role of a chaplain in the correctional setting is to serve as a spiritual advisor to prisoners and help them meet the requirements of their religious faiths. Equally traditionally, chaplains have …
