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 …
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 …
