Ohio Prison Doctor Liable in Asthma Death by A federal district court in Ohio held that factual disputes required a trial to determine if Ohio DOC medical staff were liable in the death of a prisoner who died from an asthma attack. Ernest Davis was an Ohio state prisoner with …
Tensions Rise in Ohio Prisons by A PLN subscriber wrote to describe a "mini riot" which occurred June 3, 1997, in one of the dorms at the North Central Correctional Institution in Marion, OH. He reported that six prisoners and two guards were injured. The disturbance "was brought on by …
A Day at the Human Zoo by Alice Lynd My husband and I toured the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, a new "private prison" that is soon to open in Youngstown. Near the entrance there is a bulletin board with the words, "Yesterday's Closing Stock Price," a reminder that the Corrections …
CCA Prison Off to a Rocky Start by In its first five weeks of operation, the CCA-owned and operated Northeast Ohio Correctional Center (NOCC) in Youngstown was locked down three times. According to warden Willis Gibson, the first lockdown occurred on May 30 after 50 Washington D.C. prisoners, apparently unhappy …
Administrative Exhaustion Requirements Not Retroactive by The court of appeals for the sixth circuit held that 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), which requires prisoners to exhaust administrative remedies before filing suit in federal court do not apply to cases pending on April 24, 1996, when the PLRA was signed into law, …
6th Circuit Upholds PLRA IFP Provisions by The court of appeals for the sixth circuit rejected the first extensive constitutional challenge made to the In Forma Pauperis (IFP) provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). The PLRA changes to 28 U.S.C. § 1915, the IFP statute, were detailed in …
Lucasville Uprising: $4.1 Million Settlement by In January, 1997, a settlement was filed in federal court in the three-year-old class action based on injuries stemming from the 1993 Easter Day uprising and 11-day siege at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) at Lucasville, OH. The settlement establishes a $4.1 million …
PLRA Confuses Courts; Applies Only to Prisoners by To illustrate how poorly written the PLRA is, the court of appeals for the sixth circuit held that 28 U.S.C. § 1915 still "allows individuals who are not prisoners to litigate a case without the prepayment of filing fees." In their haste …
Ohio Jail Construction Corruption? by Questions arise as to whether a contract for the Franklin County jail renovation was legal. The county commissioners awarded the unbid contract in May 1995 to Voinovich-Sgro Architects, Inc., a subsidiary of the Voinovich Group, owned by Paul Voinovich, the brother to Governor George Voinovich. …
Ohio "Eases" Prison Overcrowding by On June 30, 1996, Ohio had the second- or third-most overcrowded prison system in the country with prisoners packed in at 170.1 percent of capacity. At the stroke of midnight, however, like magic, that figure dropped to 138.3 percent, placing the state eighth or ninth …
Supreme Court Closes Double Jeopardy Door by Jeffrey Steinborn "Counsel, are you trying to show contempt for this court?" "No, your honor, I'm doing my best to conceal it." -- Attributed to Clarence Darrow in the Scopes "Monkey Trial" He had a point. Some days it's tough to conceal it. …
Photocopies Required for Court Access by A federal district court in Ohio held that a prison policy which charges prisoners 35 cents per copy and does not allow a credit system violates prisoners' right of access to the courts. Scott Giles, an Ohio state prisoner, filed suit challenging the Ohio …
Jury Power in Action by A single mother in Cleveland, Ohio went on trial for welfare fraud. She was charged with "stealing" $11,000 in cash and food stamps over a two-year period. Between June 1988 to January 1990 she is accused of working at a $6,000-a-year part time job emptying …
Exploitation of Ohio Prison Labor by William Ridenour Ohio Penal Industries (OPI) in recent years has stepped up their campaign to entice local industry into using Ohio's cheap prison labor force to manufacture their products. Their efforts have been met with considerable success. A number of Ohio companies have voiced …
$460,800 Verdict in Ohio Beating Affirmed by A district court in Ohio denied prison officials' motion for a new trial and affirmed a jury verdict of $460,800 to two Ohio state prisoners who had been beaten by prisoner guards. In the January, 1995, issue of PLN we reported the jury …
US Supreme Court Grants Review in Forfeiture Cases by On January 12, 1996, the US supreme court granted certiori and agreed to rule on a trilogy of forfeiture cases. The cases are: Degen v. U.S ., Case No. 95-173, which involves the question of whether a foreign property owner waives …
Ohio Update by John Perotti At Mansfield Correctional Institution (MANCI) the warden, Dennis Baker, Major Mack, the Business Manager, and two guards were placed on administrative leave while the FBI and State Highway Patrol (SHP) investigated allegations they accepted gratuities and kickbacks from a prisoner, J. Crow, whom they allowed …
Direct Action in Ohio by Ohio Prisoner by an Ohio Prisoner In January of 1992, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) announced plans to build a federal prison in Columbiana County, Ohio. They planned to take over land owned and farmed by local families for generations. Local farmers and working …
Ohio Mental Health Decree Entered by A far reaching consent decree governing the delivery of mental health care to Ohio prisoners was entered on 10 July 1995. The consent decree resulted from a §1983 suit filed in 1993 and certified as a class action on June 7, 1995. The prisoner …
Ohio Prison Doctor Imprisoned by Harry Schutte was the medical director at the Marion Correctional Institution in Marion, OH when his license to practice medicine was suspended after he was arrested and convicted for forging prescriptions. Schutte, who was addicted to the drug Stadol and synthetic morphine, did not notify …
