Amended Pennsylvania Parole Statute Ruled Ex Post Facto; Third Circuit Orders Release on Parole by John E Dannenberg Amended Pennsylvania Parole Statute Ruled Ex Post Facto; Third Circuit Orders Release On Parole by John E. Dannenberg The US District Court (E.D. Pa.) held that a 1996 amendment to the Pennsylvania …
Prisons Nationwide Fail to Treat HCV Epidemic by John E Dannenberg Prisons Nationwide Fail To Treat HCV Epidemic by John E. Dannenberg The JeopardyTM answer is: "The national average treatment rate for HCV-infected prisoners." The winning question is: "What is approximately 1%?" With HCV [Hepatitis-C] infection rates in state prisons …
Denial of Grievance Forms Excuses Failure to Exhaust by Denial of Grievance Forms Excuses Failure to Exhaust The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a Pennsylvania federal district court's dismissal of a state prisoner's civil rights suit for failure to state a claim. Pennsylvania prisoner Mark Mitchell was incarcerated …
Former Warden and Two Jailers Sentenced for Philadelphia Jail Beating by Former Warden and Two Jailers Sentenced for Philadelphia Jail Beating A former warden and two former guards were sentenced in federal court for their roles in connection with the severe beating of a federal prisoner who was being held …
U.S. Parole Law Amendment Ruled Ex Post Facto as Applied by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that a 1987 change to the U.S. Sentencing Reform Act (SRA) (18 U.S.C. § 4206(c)) that allowed for parole eligibility to be extended beyond …
Federal Prisoner's Conviction for Contraband Weapon a Crime of Violence by The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a federal prisoner convicted of possessing contraband, a razor blade inside a matchbook, is eligible to be sentenced for a crime of violence." The prisoner was indicted by a grand …
Prisoner's Letter Treated as Motion; Subpoena's Require Cost Prepayment; Plaintiff's Deposition to be Furnished by Defense by Prisoner's Letter Treated as Motion; Subpoena's Require Cost Prepayment; Plaintiff's Deposition to be Furnished by Defense A Pennsylvania federal district court treated a pro se prisoner plaintiff's letter as a motion seeking subpoena …
Trial Required in Pennsylvania Guard Beating by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that summary judgment for defendant prison guards was inappropriate without a trial to develop the facts, in a case where a prisoner claimed he was viciously beaten by …
Federal Appeals Courts Address Finality of Dismissals, Grievance Contents by In two, separate, unrelated cases, the Third and Seventh U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals have addressed the finality of dismissals without prejudice, the contents of grievances, and various procedural points under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) and prisoner suits …
Receipt of Federal Funds Waives Eleventh Amendment Immunity for Rehabilitation Act by The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed in part and reversed in part a Pennsylvania Federal District Court's grant of summary judgment to state defendants in a prison employee's claim involving the Rehabilitation Act (RA) and …
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 …
