Medical Experimentation Suits Time Barred by In an unpublished opinion, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that 298 former prisoners waited too long to sue over medical experiments performed on them in jail, between 1961 and 1974. From the 1950s until 1974, prisoners at the Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia, …
When Courts Get it Wrong: Clark v. Beard by Mumia Abu-Jamal by Mumia Abu Jamal When courts decide cases, the most important elements are the law, the facts and how to apply the relevant law to the facts. When courts err in any of these elements the result is usually …
Ongoing Incompetence by Disciplined Doctor Doesn't Establish Indifference by The plaintiff fell and broke his hip. A nurse concluded that he was merely bruised and didn't need to see a doctor. Three days later he saw a doctor at regular sick call who gave him an ace bandage for his …
Denial of HIV/AIDS Treatment Upheld by At 448: A medical need is serious if it is one that has been diagnosed by a physician as mandating treatment or is one that is so obvious that even a lay person would easily recognize the necessity for a doctor's attention.... The serious …
Pennsylvania Lifers' Commutation-Law Ex Post Facto Suit Remanded to Determine Standing by John Dannenberg by John D. Dannenberg In 1997, an amalgam of Pennsylvania prisoners, taxpayers and public interest groups sued the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons (Board) and top state officials in U.S. District Court, challenging restrictive 1997 amendments to …
Cheaper than Chimpanzees: Expanding the Use of Prisoners in Medical Experiments by Greg Dober by Gregory Dober "It is the duty of the doctor to remain the protector of the life and health of that person on whom clinical research is being carried out." Declaration of Helsinki In June 2006, …
Philadelphia City Jails Under Federal Supervision, Again, Temporarily by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A Pennsylvania federal district court has held that the conditions of confinement in the intake units at Philadelphia?s local police districts, the Police Administration Building (PAB), the Philadelphia Prison System (PPS) and the Curran Fromhold …
Settlement Involving Public Funds Discloseable Absent Contractual Confidentiality or Statutorily Protected Provisions by An anonymous Pennsylvania husband (plaintiff) filed a motion to seal his petition for settlement approval resulting from a malpractice suit following his wife's death. The court denied his motion because the information was made public upon the …
PA Prisoner's Civil Rights Action Viable Because Factual Dispute Exists by Vincent Cortlessa, a Pennsylvania state prisoner, sued guards and a private health care company in federal district court after the guards beat him and the health care company didn't provide him with adequate care. He argued that these actions …
3 Strikes And You’re Out - Usually by 3 Strikes And You're Out -- Usually In 2004, Anthony Williams, a Pennsylvania state prisoner, sued a number of guards in a federal district court. He claimed, among other things, that they weren't treating his terminal disease. Williams had three prior suits …
Alleged Inappropriate Delay in Prisoner’s Hep C Treatment States 8th Amendment Claim by Alleged Inappropriate Delay in Prisoner's Hep C Treatment States 8th Amendment Claim Salvatore Chimenti, a Pennsylvania state prisoner, was taken off his medication for Hepatitis C and made to wait over two years for a new drug, …
Police Informant's Identity Protected; Investigation Spurred by Accusation Merit Less by Pennsylvania policeman Mathew Barton appealed the dismissal of his action to compel Inspector Ralph Penco, the Police Commissioner, and the City of Philadelphia to disclose the identity of an informant who accused him of receiving stolen property. No action …
Police Test Scores Disclosure Ordered Under Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law by Pennsylvania newspaper The Times Leader (TTL), a division of Cypress Media, Inc., appealed the dismissal of its action to compel the production of records regarding the test results of police candidates on the list for the City of …
Private Parties Cannot Contract Away Right to Access Public Records by Pennsylvania accounting firm Cogen, Sklar and Levick (Firm) petitioned for declaratory judgment that a settlement agreement's terms of confidentiality exempted the agreement's public disclosure. The insurance department, a party to the agreement, along with the Philadelphia Enquirer, filed preliminary …
Protection from Personal Document's Disclosure Does Not End With Death in Pennsylvania by Temple University law student Hayes Hunt petitioned the court to review the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections' (DOC) 1996 order denying his request for medical and mental health records of executed prisoner Leon Moser. The denial was affirmed …
Psychological Records' Denial Upheld; Specificity in Request Required under Pennsylvania Act by Pro se Pennsylvania state prisoner Amitha Nanayakkara appealed the court's dismissal of his petition for a writ of mandamus to obtain records for use in filing a civil suit in federal court. The denial and dismissal were upheld …
Right to Know Act Not Need Based, Only Statutory Definitions Required by Pro se Pennsylvania state prisoner Christopher Neyhart appealed the State Department of Corrections' (DOC) refusal to produce for inspection his urinalysis reports to prove his parole revocation was unfounded. The court held that Neyhart did not set forth …
Commutation Decision, Not Reasoning, Discloseable Under Act in Board of Pardon's Denial by Pennsylvania state prisoner Frank Senk sought review of the Board of Pardon's (Board) refusal to produce files related to the Board's continuous denial of his application for commutation. The court ruled that disclosure of the requested documents …
Conflicts in Statute Regarding Document Disclosures Yield to Right to Know: Settlement Ordered Released by The Westmoreland County Housing Authority (WCHA) sought review from an appellate order affirming the production of records regarding a settlement agreement between the WCHA's former employee and its insurer. The document was again determined to …
