Court Orders Disclosure of Witness' Information Regarding Lethal Injection Executions in Pennsylvania by Pennsylvania death row prisoner Michael Travaglia appealed the Department of Corrections' (DOC) 1996 refusal to disclose to his attorney, Mark Lesco, various documents regarding lethal injection procedures and the selection process and identities of witnesses to executions. …
Disclosure of Drug Detecting Devices and Specific Operation Details at Prison Prohibited by Pro se Pennsylvania state prisoner George Vargo petitioned for review of documents regarding drug detection equipment after the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) denied disclosure in 1998. The court affirmed the denial as to specific methods used …
Documents Explaining $145 Million Paycheck from Commonwealth Public Funds Not Discloseable by Pennsylvania Senators Gerald Lavalle and Richard Kasunic (Senators) appealed a court's ruling denying them access to a report involving disbursement of public funds. The funds were used to settle an action against the Commonwealth for breech of contract. …
Municipal Agreements with Contract Insurance Agencies are Public Record by Westmoreland County Housing Authority (WCHA) appealed a 2001 order of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania requiring them to disclose a settlement agreement to the Tribune Review Publishing Company (Tribune) under the state's Right to Know Act (Act). The WCHA claimed …
Pennsylvania DOC's Nondisclosure of Documents Regarding Chemical Incident Upheld by Court by Pennsylvania state prisoner Christopher Heffran petitioned for review of the Department of Corrections' (DOC) non-production of requested documents regarding his asthma attack. The DOC stated that the requested documents were not public records under the Right to Know …
Pennsylvania Settlement Agreement Ordered Disclosed for Involvement of Public Funds Disbursement by Pennsylvania's Lower Saucon Township (Township) appealed a court order requiring them to produce for inspection a settlement agreement resulting from a federal suit against its local police. The court affirmed the order for production because the agreement involved …
Yount v. T-Netix Inc, PA, Commission Order, Public Utility, 2008 PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION Harrisburg PA 17105-3265 Public Meeting held May 1, 2008 Commissioners Present: Wendell F. Holland, Chairman James H. Cawley, Vice Chairman Tyrone J. Christy Kim Pizzingrilli Jon E. Yount, AC-8297, et al. Docket No. C-20042655 v. T-Netix, …
Pennsylvania County Jail System Overcrowded, Under-Regulated by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Almost everyone with experience on the incarceration side of America's criminal justice system will tell you they would rather do time in prison than in a jail. The primary reason is that the overall conditions of confinement …
Pennsylvania Jail Prisoner Assaulted With Hot Water Awarded $50,000 by On December 15, 2006, a federal court awarded $50,000 to a prisoner who was burned with hot water by another prisoner while in a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, jail. Peter Muse claimed that on April 23, 2004, while he slept, another prisoner …
Sentenced to Science: One Black Man’s Story of Imprisonment in America, by Allen M. Hornblum by Greg Dober Sentenced to Science: One Black Man's Story of Imprisonment in America, by Allen M. Hornblum Published by Pennsylvania State University Press, 232 pages, 16 illustrations, Cloth Bound, $24.95 Book Review by Greg …
Federal Prisoner Receives Maximum 46 Month Sentence For Knife Possession by Federal prisoner Randolph Charles appealed a 2006 decision based on then-mandatory guidelines under 18 U.S.C. § 1791. He received a maximum 46-month sentence for possession of a six-inch makeshift plastic knife. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third …
Charging Prisoner for Injured Guard’s Medical Expenses Upheld by Charging Prisoner for Injured Guard's Medical Expenses Upheld The plaintiff complained that money was taken out of his account to pay medical expenses of an officer injured in a disturbance he was disciplined for, and that the procedures were deficient. However, …
Gay Pennsylvania Jail Prisoner’s Discrimination Suit Settled for $750 by Gay Pennsylvania Jail Prisoner's Discrimination Suit Settled for $750 A Pennsylvania prisoner was paid $750 to settle a discrimination suit. Mr. Roache, a prisoner at the Delaware County prison, was denied a job and was harassed by guards because he …
Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Penis Injury in Farming Accident Nets $750,000 Jury Verdict by Pennsylvania Prisoner's Penis Injury in Farming Accident Nets $750,000 Jury Verdict A Pennsylvania prisoner who sustained penis and groin injuries in a farming accident was awarded $750,000. Mr. Hilliard was working on the prison farm while confined at …
Prison Drinking Water and Wastewater Pollution Threaten Environmental Safety Nationwide by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg Aging infrastructure concerns are not limited to America's highways, bridges and dams. Today, crumbling, overcrowded prisons and jails nationwide are bursting at the seams -- literally -- leaking environmentally dangerous effluents not just …
Pennsylvania Prison Legal Mail Policy Unconstitutional, Enjoined by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On May 3, 2007, a federal court in Pennsylvania found unconstitutional the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) mail policy allowing legal mail to be opened outside the presence of prisoners if the pail does not display a …
Pennsylvania DNA Act Not Ex Post Facto by The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that the state?s mandatory DNA collection law does not violate state or federal ex post facto prohibitions. The court upheld application of the law to one defendant, finding that she was convicted of a predicate offense. It …
Prison Privatization Launders Taxpayer Dollars into Political Contributions by David Reutter by David M. Reutter If you know a company is not saving you money or performing its contractual obligations, why would you continue to use that company? The normal consumer would end the relationship quickly. When it comes to …
Drunk PA DOC Attorney Charged in Hit-and-Run by Michael Farnan, 40, chief counsel for the Pennsylvania DOC, resigned from his job after he was involved in a hit-and-run accident in his state car. Farnan had been drinking heavily when he ran into the back of Tamara Hughes? minivan on November …
$27,500 Settlement for Rape of Four Women Prisoners in Pittsburgh Jail by There have been settlements in four separate lawsuits involving the Allegheny County (Pennsylvania) Jail. The suits alleged that seven Allegheny County Jail guards sexually assaulted four women prisoners. In May 2006, Allegheny County began settling a series of …
