BOP Guards Smuggle Sperm for Mobsters by Gary Hunter BOP Guards Smuggle Sperm For Mobsters by Gary Hunter On March 1, 2002, the U.S. District court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania denied the motion of a mobster's wife requesting the return of her incarcerated husband's sperm. Circumstances leading to …
$178,294 Awarded in BOP Malpractice Suit by The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has awarded a federal prisoner $178,294, including $150,000 for pain and suffering, due to medical malpractice by doctors working for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Jeffrey Berman is an ileostomy patient, …
The PLRA Does Not Change Leave to Amend Rule by Bob Williams The PLRA Does Not Change Leave To Amend Rule by Bob Williams The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) does not mandate dismissal of an indigent litigant's deficient complaint without …
America's Prisons Turn a Blind Eye to HCV Epidemic by Mark Wilson The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an insidious and relentless disease which is highly unpredictable and eventually fatal. It is a chronic disease which is the leading cause of cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer which causes an …
Beaten Philadelphia Prisoner Gets $125,000, Two Guards and Warden Get Time by by Matthew T. Clarke On May 1, 2002, two guards and an assistant warden were convicted in federal court of charges relating to the beating of a Philadelphia prisoner. In the latest of a series of settlements for …
Over 100 Prisoners Exonerated Through DNA, Government Cuts Funding by Rex Bagley Bruce Godschalk became a free man on February 14, 2002,after fifteen years of incarceration for a crime he refused to admit to. In May, 1987 he was convicted in Philadelphia for the rape of two women and indecent …
BOP Ban on R-Rated Movies Challenged by James Quigley The United State Court of Appeals for the Third District held that a Pennsylvania district court failed to conduct a proper analysis when it dismissed a class action challenging the Federal Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) ban on movies rated R, X …
Third Circuit Holds PLRA Exhaustion Requirement an Affirmative Defense by Bob Williams Third Circuit Holds PLRA Exhaustion Requirement an Affirmative Defense by Bob Williams The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has found that the PLRA's exhaustion requirement is an affirmative defense to be pled by the Defendant. A district court …
Beaten Philadelphia Prisoner Gets $125,000, Two Guards and Warden Get Time by Beaten Philadelphia Prisoner Gets $125,000, Two Guards and Warden Get Time by Matthew T. Clarke On May 1, 2002, two guards and an assistant warden were convicted in federal court of charges relating to the beating of a …
Retaliatory Prisoner Transfer for Exercising First Amendment Rights is "Adverse Determination" Under the Privacy Act by Bob Williams Retaliatory Prisoner Transfer for Exercising First Amendment Rights is "Adverse Determination" Under the Privacy Act by Bob Williams The Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has held that the reclassification and …
$345,000 Settlement in Pennsylvania Jail Rape Suit by $345,000 Settlement in Pennsylvania Jail Rape Suit On September 11, 2002, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, agreed to settle a federal lawsuit brought by seven female county jail prisoners who were raped by male jail staff by paying them $345,000. The rape of female …
When Prison Officials Don't Respond Administrative Remedies Are Exhausted by The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a Pennsylvania Federal District Court's dismissal with prejudice of a prisoner's 42 U.S.C. §1983 claim for failure to exhaust remedies. William Boyd a prisoner in custody of the Pennsylvania Department of …
Prisons Experience Outbreaks of Infectious Disease by Michael Rigby Prisons in Vermont and Pennsylvania dealt with serious outbreaks of infectious disease this past August resulting in the disinfection of an office complex and the filing of a class action lawsuit, respectively. Vermont In late July 2002, an outbreak of Legionnaire's …
Third Circuit Upholds $100,000 Damages Award to Assaulted Pennsylvania Prisoner by Third Circuit Upholds $100,000 Damages Award to Assaulted Pennsylvania Prisoner The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the jury verdict and damages award in a Pennsylvania case involving the assault of a state prisoner by guards. [PLN, …
Denial of Nation of Islam Literature Unconstitutional by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that prison officials' refusal to allow prisoners to receive Nation of Islam literature was unconstitutional, but prison officials were entitled to qualified immunity from money damages for their illegal …
Scrubbing Abu Ghraib Away by Mumia Abu-Jamal SCRUBBING ABU GHRAIB AWAY by Mumia Abu-Jamal If persistent news tips are correct, the U.S. Army's report on the barbarities at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison will lodge blame for the events there at the rank of colonel and below, and no real bigwigs …
Third Circuit Sets High Standard for Supervisory Liability by by Matthew T. Clarke The court of appeals for the Third Circuit has set a very high standard for proving supervisory liability in a case involving a guard who repeatedly sexually assaulted female juvenile prisoners over the course of several years. …
$15,555 Awarded to Beaten Pennsylvania Prisoner by On July 15, 2002, a federal jury awarded $15,555 to prisoner Corey Jones. Jones was a minimum security state prisoner who was subpoenaed to testify at a hearing in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Jones was shackled and handcuffed when he had an exchange with …
Amendment of Complaint to Identify Unknown Defendant Denied by The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a Pennsylvania District Court's grant of summary judgment to Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC) officials and denial of Plaintiff's motion to amend the suit to substitute a new, named defendant for a previously-unnamed …
Prisoner's Medical Information Privacy Right Established in Third Circuit by by Matthew T. Clarke The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has established that prisoners have a right to privacy in their medical information albeit not to the same extent as a free citizen. However, the Third Circuit dismissed …
