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$105,000 Settlement in Wisconsin Prisoner’s Excessive Force Claim

Article • April 1, 2021 • from PLN April, 2021

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Settlements

$105,000 Settlement in Wisconsin Prisoner’s Excessive Force Claim by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Wisconsin Department of Corrections paid $105,000 to settle a prisoner’s excessive use of force lawsuit. The December 2, 2020, settlements resolves the suit brought by prisoner Kuan Barnett. Barnett’s civil rights action stemmed from …

Lieberman v. Portage County, WI, Judgment, Violation of Surveillance Act, 2021

Brief • March 12, 2021

Filed under: Electronic Surveillance

Lieberman v. Portage County, WI, Judgment, Violation of Surveillance Act, 2021 Case: 3:18-cv-00450-jdp Document #: 149 Filed: 03/12/21 Page 1 of 3 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRJCT OF WISCONSIN BRETT LIEBERMAN, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. PORTAGE COUNTY, MIKE …

Pay-to-Stay Fees Impoverish Prisoners, Increase Recidivism

Article • March 1, 2021 • from PLN March, 2021

Filed under: Indigent Defendants - Fees and Expenses, Recidivism

Pay-to-Stay Fees Impoverish Prisoners, Increase Recidivism by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss Pay-to-stay fees are charged by over 30% of the county jails and detention centers in the state of Wisconsin. Critics contend that the system contributes to recidivism and that the penalties are so high that they violate the …

New Details Emerge on Senseless Death in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin Jail

Article • February 1, 2021 • from PLN February, 2021

Filed under: Police--Excessive Force, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Racial Profiling

New Details Emerge on Senseless Death in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin Jail by Jayson Hawkins by Jayson Hawkins Recent public outrage over the needless killings of Black men at the hands of police has led to greater scrutiny of the many instances in which people of color die either while being …

Seventh Circuit: Nurse’s Deliberate Indifference to Prisoner’s Pain Negates Summary Judgment Grant

Article • January 1, 2021 • from PLN January, 2021

Filed under: Summary Judgment, Deliberate Indifference

Seventh Circuit: Nurse’s Deliberate Indifference to Prisoner’s Pain Negates Summary Judgment Grant by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held on July 23, 2020 that a prisoner acting pro se persuaded it that a factual issue remained as to whether a nurse was deliberately …

News in Brief

Article • January 1, 2021 • from PLN January, 2021

News in Brief by Alabama: On August 21, 2020, Sylvester Hartley became the seventh prisoner to die of complications from COVID-19 at Alabama’s St. Clair Correctional Facility, according to a report in the St. Clair News-Aegis. The 60-year-old, who was serving a life-without-parole sentence for three counts of first-degree kidnapping, …

Campbell v. Kallas, WI, Injunction Order, Transgender Medical Rights, 2020

Brief • December 22, 2020

Filed under: Transgender Medical Procedures, Discrimination (Transgender), Failure to Protect (Transgender)

Campbell v. Kallas, WI, Injunction Order, Transgender Medical Rights, 2020 Case: 3:16-cv-00261-jdp Document #: 149 Filed: 12/22/20 Page 1 of 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN MARK A. CAMPBELL, a/k/a NICOLE ROSE CAMPBELL, Plaintiff, Case No. 16-cv-261-jdp v. KEVIN KALLAS et al., Defendant. INJUNCTION ORDER 1. Plaintiff …

Barnett v. Goldsmith, WI, settlement agreement, guard brutality, 2020

Brief • December 2, 2020

Filed under: Retaliation, Pain, Skeletal Injury, Eighth Amendment, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Mental Health

Barnett v. Goldsmith, WI, settlement agreement, guard brutality, 2020

Barnett v. Goldsmith, WI, Settlement, Retaliation-Beating, 2020

Brief • December 2, 2020

Filed under: Retaliation, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Barnett v. Goldsmith, WI, Settlement, Retaliation-Beating, 2020 MUTUAL RELEASE AND SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT This Mutual Release and Settlement Agreement ("Agreement") is made among Kuan Barnett (Plaintiff), the State of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections ("DOC") and all current and former employees of those entities (collectively, "State"). WHEREAS, Plaintiff challenges actions …

Denial of Recruitment of Counsel for Wisconsin Prisoner Affirmed by Seventh Circuit

Article • November 1, 2020 • from PLN November, 2020

Filed under: Appointment of Counsel, Counsel - Constructive denial of

Denial of Recruitment of Counsel for Wisconsin Prisoner Affirmed by Seventh Circuit by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s order denying a prisoner’s motion for recruitment of counsel. This was the second appeal brought by Wisconsin prisoner Randy McCaa. His …

Seventh Circuit: Wisconsin Jail Officials’ Response to Detainee’s Suicide Risk Objectively Reasonable

Article • October 5, 2020

Filed under: Medical, Medication, Mental Health, Suicides

Seventh Circuit: Wisconsin Jail Officials’ Response to Detainee’s Suicide Risk Objectively Reasonable by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson On July 15, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a lower court’s conclusion that a detainee’s attempted suicide was not caused by objective unreasonableness of jail …

Offensive Facebook Posts Cost Wisconsin Warden His Job

Article • October 1, 2020 • from PLN October, 2020

Filed under: Guards/Staff, Social Media

Offensive Facebook Posts Cost Wisconsin Warden His Job by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss Richard “Sam” Schneiter, a 65-year-old Wisconsin deputy prison warden in charge of 14 minimum-security prisons, was fired in November 2019 after posting offensive memes on his Facebook account. Schneiter posted two memes on Facebook last July, …

Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Unconstitutional Statute Authorizing Forcible Medication of Involuntarily Committed Prisoner

Article • October 1, 2020 • from PLN October, 2020

Filed under: Doctrine of Unconstitutional Conditions, Antipsychotic Drugs/Forced Medication

Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Unconstitutional Statute Authorizing Forcible Medication of Involuntarily Committed Prisoner by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On April 10, 2020, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin held unconstitutional a statute permitting an involuntarily committed prisoner to be forcibly medicated without a court finding that the prisoner was dangerous. …

Wisconsin Supreme Court Reverses “Dangerousness” Finding in Involuntary Commitment of Schizophrenic Man

Article • October 1, 2020 • from PLN October, 2020

Filed under: Involuntary Treatment/Drugging, Dangerous Defendant Exception

Wisconsin Supreme Court Reverses “Dangerousness” Finding in Involuntary Commitment of Schizophrenic Man by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On April 24, 2020, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the evidence to support a petitioner’s involuntary commitment was insufficient to support a conclusion the petitioner was “dangerous” under state law. …

Wisconsin: Court Dismisses Prisoners’ Suit Over Asbestos, Mold on Procedural Grounds

Article • September 1, 2020 • from PLN September, 2020

Filed under: Water, Sanitation, Asbestos, National Environmental Policy Act

Wisconsin: Court Dismisses Prisoners’ Suit Over Asbestos, Mold on Procedural Grounds by Chad Marks by Chad Marks An October 8, 2019, order from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin dismissed for procedural violations a lawsuit brought by prisoners at the state’s Prairie Du Chien Correctional Institution. …

Seventh Circuit Upholds Summary Dismissal of Fired Wisconsin Guard’s Sex-Discrimination Claims

Article • July 13, 2020

Filed under: Discrimination, Gender Discrimination -- Women

Seventh Circuit Upholds Summary Dismissal of Fired Wisconsin Guard’s Sex-Discrimination Claims by On June 26, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld a district court’s summary dismissal of a lawsuit brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Title VII claiming gender discrimination in the firing of …

News in Brief

Article • July 1, 2020 • from PLN July, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: A Maricopa County grand jury indicted Daniel Davitt, 60, on January 14,  2020 on charges of second-degree murder in the death of Lower Buckeye Jail guard Gene Lee on October 30. Buckeye Jail video shows Davitt talking to Lee on October 29, then suddenly grabbing …

Lindell v. Carr, WI, Complaint, Failure to Protect, 2020

Brief • June 11, 2020

Filed under: Failure to Protect (General)

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Coronavirus Crisis: Wisconsin Releases Around 1,600 Prisoners, an ‘Inconsequential’ Number

Article • June 1, 2020 • from PLN June, 2020

Filed under: COVID-19, Compassionate Release

Coronavirus Crisis: Wisconsin Releases Around 1,600 Prisoners, an ‘Inconsequential’ Number by By May 8, 2020, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections had released almost 1,600 prisoners as the coronavirus spread, Madison.com reports.  “The vast majority — 1,447 individuals released from March 2 to May 4 — are inmates who had been …

Barnett v. Goldsmith, WI, amended complaint, guard brutality, 2020

Brief • April 27, 2020

Filed under: Retaliation, Pain, Skeletal Injury, Injury -- Misc., Eighth Amendment, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Barnett v. Goldsmith, WI, amended complaint, guard brutality, 2020 Case: 3:20-cv-00298-slc Document #: 8 Filed: 04/27/20 Page 1 of 9 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN ______________________________________________________________________________ KUAN BARNETT, Plaintiff, v. Case No. 20-cv-298 RUSSELL GOLDSMITH, MICHAEL THOMPSON, TARA WOODRUFF, CHRISTOPHER OLSON, AUSTIN SCHLACHTER, …