Pennsylvania Jail Settles Retaliation Suit for $10,000 by In April, 2000, the Schuylkill County Prison in Pennsylvania, paid $10,000.00 to settle a law suit filed by pro se prisoner, Michael Andrew Spina. Spina complained that he was retaliated against by jail officials and other staff for filing a previous law …
Third Circuit Vacates $300,000 Beating Award, Orders New Trial by by Matthew T. Clarke The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated a $300,000 jury award in a prisoner's excessive-use-of-force suit and ordered a new trial for liability and damages. Raymond T. Pryer, a Pennsylvania state prisoner, filed a civil …
Pennsylvania Ban on Sex Between Staff and Prisoners Struck Down by On December 10, 2001, Montgomery county court judge Marino Rossanese struck down as unconstitutional a 1998 Pennsylvania law that bans sex between prisoners and prison and jail employees. The ruling came in the case of Eileen Mayfield, 43, a …
En Banc Third Circuit Defines Religious Standard by by Matthew T. Clarke The federal Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit sitting en banc has ruled that the centrality of a religious belief to a prisoner's religion is not a factor in whether the belief must be accommodated by prison …
Pennsylvania Youths Have No Right to Education by The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has held that Pennsylvania youths sentenced as adults and sentenced to county detention centers have no right to an education. This was a class action suit filed by school-aged youths against the Pennsylvania Department …
Pennsylvania's Released Felons Granted Right to Register to Vote by An intermediate court of appeals in Pennsylvania struck down a voter registration law that prohibited convicted felons from voting for 5 years after their release from prison. Lorenzo Mixon and five present and former prisoners filed a lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania …
Third Circuit Holds PLRA Bars Claims for Compensatory Damages by Third Circuit Holds PLRA Bars Claims For Compensatory Damages by Matthew T. Clarke The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has held that although the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) barred a prisoner from recovering compensatory damages for violations of his …
New Retaliation Standard Defined by In a case of first impression, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has defined a prisoner's burden of proof in a retaliation claim. Prisoner Henry Rauser sued Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PDOC) officials after they retaliated against him for exercising his right to …
Denial of Habeas Corpus Parole Challenge Reversed by The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the denial of a habeas corpus petition which challenged the federal Parole Commission's denial of parole with a 15_year setback. The Court, however, did not order a new hearing but only that the Parole …
ALEC in the House: Corporate Bias in Criminal Justice Legislation by Brigette Sarabi The past twenty years have marked a dramatic shift to more harsh criminal justice policies. While it is common knowledge that politicians beat the "tough on crime" drum to win elections, one has to wonder where they …
Philadelphia City Prison Fined $1 Million by The Commonwealth Court, Pennsylvania's intermediate appellate court, upheld a trial court order for the City of Philadelphia to pay more than $1 million in fines for failure to provide prisoners with sufficient clothing, laundry access, services, social workers, and vocational training. In 1971, …
Pennsylvania Court Upholds Part of Prisoner's Request for Public Records by A Commonwealth Court in Pennsylvania has partially upheld a state prisoner's request for medical information under the state's Right-to-Know Act. The opinion and order affirms in part, and reverses in part, the denial of information by the Pennsylvania Department …
Junking the Jurors by Mumia Abu-Jamal by Mumia Abu Jamal "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed&" U.S. Constitution, 6 th Amendment It has been …
Malicious Use of Force Violates Eighth Amendment by John E Dannenberg The Third Circuit held that in claims alleging the malicious use of force by prison guards the wantonness of the attack, rather than the degree of injury suffered, is the dispositive issue for courts reviewing such claims on summary …
Use of Restraint Chair Not Cruel and Unusual Punishment by The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has affirmed a lower court's grant of summary judgment and denial of a motion for judgment as a matter of law on an excessive force claim brought by a convicted prisoner awaiting …
No Interlocutory Appeal for Good Faith Defense by The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that the requirements of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) do not apply to properly characterized habeas corpus petitions under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2241, 2254, or 2255, finding that those actions are not …
Environmental Concerns Halt Construction of Pennsylvania Prison by Ronald Young Environmental Concerns Halt Construction Of Pennsylvania Prison The wretched and overcrowded conditions at Washington, D.C.'s Lorton Correctional Complex have resulted in Congress giving the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) responsibility for housing all D.C. prisoners. Lorton, located in Fairfax, VA, …
BOP Guards Smuggle Sperm by In October, 2000, federal prison guards Troy Kemmerer and Todd Swineford were arrested and indicted for accepting money to help smuggle cryogenic sperm kits to a New York City fertility clinic. The investigation began over two years ago when convicted hit man Kevin Granato sat …
U.S. Supreme Court Requires Futile Administrative Exhaustion by On May 29, 2001, a unanimous United States Supreme Court held that 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) requires the complete exhaustion of prison administrative remedies, regardless of how futile those remedies may be and regardless of …
Retaliation Claim Not Foreclosed by Sandin by The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that a prisoner's civil rights complaint for damages due to administrative segregation placement was not foreclosed by the U.S. Supreme Court's Sandin "atypical hardship" rule, when the administrative segregation placement was alleged to be …
