$330,000 Verdict in MI Beating by On October 8, 1999, a federal jury deliberated four hours before returning a $330,000 verdict in favor of Richard Johnson. Johnson, a Michigan state prisoner, had been imprisoned at the Ionia Correctional Facility. While being moved to a different cell, Johnson was shoved from …
No Qualified Immunity for Alabama Blanket Strip-Search Policy by A federal district court in Alabama held that a County Sheriff was not entitled to qualified immunity for a policy of strip-searching all jail admittees, regardless of personal circumstances. DeAngela Wilson, an 18-year-old high school student, was arrested at a drivers' …
Alabama Ad Seg Publication Ban Struck Down by On March 20, 2000, a Federal Magistrate recommended declaratory relief striking down a ban on subscription publications in the Alabama Department of Corrections' (DOC) Administrative Segregation (Ad Seg) unit. This recommendation follows a previous ruling where the Court held, after a bench …
Pubic Hair Search of Released Jail Detainee Unconstitutional by A federal district court in Alabama held that a sheriff's policy of searching prisoners' pubic hair as they were released from jail was unconstitutional. The court also held that jail officials were entitled to qualified immunity from money damages for strip …
En Banc Sixth Circuit Addresses Mental Health Care by By Matthew T. Clarke Anthony Wade was a Michigan state prisoner who committed suicide by taking an overdose of anti-depressant Sinequan (Doxepine) pills. During the year Wade was in presentencing incarceration at the Wayne County Jail (WCJ), he suffered from depression …
Alabama Officials Guilty in Phone Scam by A former Alabama state auditor, County commissioner and another man pleaded guilty in July 1999 to federal charges stemming from a prison pay phone scam operated in Alabama and Louisiana by Global Tel*Link, a Mobile-based company. Former state auditor Terry Ellis pleaded guilty …
MI Hearing Officer Fired for Following Law by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that fact issues existed as to whether a major misconduct decision maker employed by the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) was retaliated against and fired, for failing to maintain a 90% misconduct conviction rate and …
Family Wins $12.9 Million Award in Michigan Jail Death Suit by Ronald Young By Ronald Young Eddie B. Swans Sr., the personal representative of the estate of Edward Swans, brought a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights action against the City of Lansing, Michigan. The Chief of Police Jerome Boles, …
Sex Offender Label May Require Due Process by The Eleventh Circuit ruled that absent a conviction for a sex related crime, classification of a state prisoner as a sex offender (and requiring him to register as a sex offender) implicates a liberty interest under the Due Process Clause. Jeffery Kirby …
$53,000 Settlement in AL Conditions Suit by On April 8, 2000, the Alabama Department of Corrections settled a conditions lawsuit by agreeing to pay eight prisoners $53,000 in damages and establish basic standards of care at the Loxley Community Work Center in Mobile, Alabama. In August, 1997, eight prisoners were …
Vincent v. Martin, MI, Judgment, Right to Counsel, 2000 2:99-cv-71416-AC Doc # 82 Filed 08/28/00 Pg 1 of 1 ~' AO 450 (Rev. 5/85) Judgment In 1 Clvll C.. Pg ID 296 • ~nii£h ~ta:i£s c!§l istrirt Qlourt ~~~~~~-E=A:..:.:.ST-=-=E~RN:..;_~~~~~DISTRJCTOF~~~M-I_C_H_I_G_A_N~~~~~~~~~ JOHN VINCENT, SR., and JOHN VINCENT, JR.,. Plaintiffs, JUDGMENT IN A …
Sixth Circuit Terminates Glover v. Johnson by In 1977, two groups of female prisoners of the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) brought two separate §1983 civil complaints against the MDOC and various staff alleging Equal Protection and First Amendment violations with regard to educational and vocational programming (female prisoners sought …
Right to Counsel Violated by Intrusive Guards by A federal district court ruled that a criminal defendant's right to counsel was violated by the refusal of guards to allow unmonitored communication between him and his attorney. On January 26, 1990 David Lakin and four other prisoners abducted two guards while …
AL DOC Settles PLN Gift Subscription Lawsuit by On March 29, 2000, the Alabama Department of Corrections (DOC) settled a lawsuit filed by Prison Legal News and Alabama prisoner Aven Cotton. The Alabama DOC had previously required its prisoners to purchase books, magazines and newspaper subscriptions using funds from their …
Sixth Circuit Orders Retrial of Retaliation Suit by by Matthew T. Clarke The Sixth Circuit court of appeals has ordered the retrial of a lawsuit by the surviving mother of a deceased ex-prisoner against a guard who allegedly retaliated against her son because the mother requested the guard's name and …
$200,000 Awarded in Michigan Jail Wrongful Medication Suit by On June 22, 1999, a Macomb county jury in Michigan awarded $200,000 in damages to David Dempsey after he was wrongly medicated in the Macomb county jail. Dempsey suffers from bipolar disorder. While imprisoned on the psychiatric floor of the Macomb …
PLN in Court by Paul Wright Since PLN started in 1990 we have been censored in prisons and jails around the country. We have always attempted to resolve censorship issues administratively, but in cases where the goal was to keep PLN out of prison at any cost, that obviously wasn't …
Retaliation Claim Satisfied by Existence of Major Misconduct Citation by John E Dannenberg Retaliation Claim Satisfied by Existence of Major Misconduct Citation by John E. Dannenberg The Sixth Circuit US Court of Appeals held that the "substantial or motivating factor" element required satisfying a Michigan prisoner's protected speech First Amendment …
Vincent v. Martin, MI, Memo and Order, Right to Counsel, 2000 2:99-cv-71416-AC Doc # 81 Filed 04/28/00 Pg 1 of 14 Pg ID 178 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION JOHN VINCENT, Sr. and JOHN VINCENT, Jr., Plaintiffs, Case No. 99-CV-71416 V. HONORABLE AVERN COHN BILL …
HIV+ Prisoners Not Qualified For Rehabilitation Act Benefits by James Quigley The U.S. court of appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, sitting en banc, held that because prisoners infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV+) pose a "significant risk" of transmission to uninfected prisoners, they are not "otherwise qualified," as required under …
