Private Youth Prison Gouging Michigan Taxpayers by Five years after beginning its first flirtation with for-profit prisons, Michigan is learning an invaluable lesson: Despite the hype, private prisons are not cost-effective. In the months following its 1999 opening, the Michigan Youth Correctional Facility (MYCF) was criticized over assaults, staff turnover, …
Sixth Circuit Clarifies "Verifying Medical Evidence" Requirement Of Napier by Sixth Circuit Clarifies "Verifying Medical Evidence" Requirement Of Napier The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that when a prisoner's medical malady is so obviously serious that even a layman would easily recognize the need for medical attention, …
Battle Over Judicial Secrecy Continues by by Michael Rigby As the trend towards secrecy in the U.S. judiciary continues to grow, so does the constitutional debate over such practices as sealing cases, hiding proceedings, and conducting clandestine searches. Recent decisions by the D.C. and Second Circuits have been favorable, but …
Recharacterization Requires Notice Or Opportunity To Withdraw by The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Michigan prisoner's improperly filed medical claim should not have been recharacterized without his consent or an opportunity to withdraw, nor should it have been dismissed with prejudice. Eric Martin, a Michigan state …
Michigan Prisoner Awarded $376,525 For Back Injury Sustained In Crash by A Michigan prisoner has been awarded $376,525 for back injuries sustained in a prison van crash. Lorenzo Johnson, a 40-year-old state prisoner, was being transferred from one prison to another when the van he was riding in hit a …
Michigan's Restrictive Placement Of HIV+ Prisoners Enjoined; $2 Million Damages Awarded by by John E. Dannenberg Winning a fifteen year state court battle, Michigan prisoners who tested positive for HIV (AIDS virus), and who were otherwise eligible to serve their time in community residential programs, camps or farms, gained the …
Qualified Immunity Denied In Failure To Protect And Delay of Emergency Treatment by Bob Williams Qualified Immunity Denied In Failure To Protect And Delay of Emergency Treatment by Bob Williams The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that guards are not entitled to qualified immunity for failing to segregate …
Alabama Settles Class Action Medical Suit; Institutes HCV Treatment Protocol by John E Dannenberg Alabama Settles Class Action Medical Suit; Institutes HCV Treatment Protocol by John E. Dannenberg In a major milestone along the Southern Poverty Law Center's (SPLC) march towards gaining humane medical care in Alabama's prisons, a Settlement …
Uprisings at CCA Prisons Reveal Weaknesses in Out-of-State Imprisonment Policies by by Matthew T. Clarke States strapped by tight budgets and pressed by a swell of prisoners are faced with the Hobson's choice of releasing prisoners early to ease overcrowding or building prisons they can ill afford to construct and …
Prisoner Stated Deliberate Indifference Claim, But Summary Judgment Denial Reversed by Prisoner Stated Deliberate Indifference Claim, but Summary Judgment Denial Reversed In a case with a long, unusual procedural history, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a federal district court's denial of prison officials' motion to dismiss for …
Michigan Prison Art Project by Buzz Alexander 176 original plays created by prisoners in 18 Michigan prisons, another 107 in 4 juvenile facilities. 39 readings of original work in the prisons, 16 in the juvenile facilities, 40 anthologies. 9 Annual Exhibitions of Art by Michigan Prisoners: in the most recent, …
Settlement Brings Alabama DOC's Diabetic Treatment into 21st Century by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) agreed on January 15, 2004, to settle a lawsuit brought by diabetic prisoners by upgrading their medical care. The agreement sets a precedent for management and care of …
Denial of Dentures States Eighth Amendment Claim by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed a lower court's grant of summary judgment favoring an Alabama state prison dentist who did not timely furnish a prisoner with dentures. When Dean Farrow arrived at Alabama's Easterling Correctional Facility in …
Michigan Grievances Exhausted Upon Fair Notice of Claim by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a district court erred when it found that a Michigan prisoner failed to exhaust available administrative remedies and dismissed his § 1983 action on that basis. Michigan prisoner Ronnie Burton brought suit against …
Overcrowding Forces Alabama Prisoners Into Private Prison Web by Gary Hunter Court orders have forced Alabama to reduce the number of prisoners in its county jails and send half of its prison population to two other states. Until recently the Alabama Department of Corrections (DOC) had crammed 28,000 prisoners into …
Michigan Supreme Court Allows Seizure of Prisoner's Pension Despite ERISA by by Matthew T. Clarke The Supreme Court of Michigan (SCM) upheld a court's ordering a prisoner to have his pension benefits deposited in his prisoner account so that the state can seize a large portion of it to reimburse …
Pro Se Tips and Tactics by John Midgley The Supreme Court recently decided another in a series of cases about when prisoners can sue directly under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, versus when they must first employ habeas corpus proceedings, to challenge actions by prison officials. The difference is very important …
Suits in Michigan and New Jersey Seek to Force HCV Treatment by A groundswell of prisoner litigation is taking aim at states to force them to comprehensively and meaningfully address HCV in prison. These suits, often brought as class actions, seek to mandate a protocol for HCV detection and treatment …
Preliminary Injunction Automatically Expired in 90 Days for Alabama Women Prisoners by Bob Williams The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama has brought to a halt prospective relief from unconstitutional conditions at an Alabama state women's prison because a previously entered preliminary injunction was allowed to expire …
Common Fund Required for Incentive Award by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held a named class representative may not receive an incentive award unless a common fund is established. Prisoner C. Pepper Moore, who was named a class representative in 1988 in Hadix v. Johnson, which was a class …
