Washington Prisoner Pinned in Automatic Door Wins $6,060 in Lawsuit by Richard Reed, a Kitsap County, Washington prisoner, was pinned in an automatic door in the Kitsap County Jail, causing back strain. He sued the county in state court, which in 1995 paid him $5,060 to dismiss the case: $4,560 …
Nurses Use of Prisoner Medical Information for Personal Reasons Merits Salary Reduction by The State of Washington Personnel Appeals Board (PAB) has held a temporary salary reduction as sanction for a prison nurses act of accessing a prisoner’s medical file and using the information from the file for personal reasons …
Off Duty Conduct of Sexual Comments to Co-Worker Warrants Discipline, but not Termination by The State of Washington Personnel Appeals Board (PAB) has held that termination of a state employee for conduct occurring off-duty that adversely effects a co-workers work environment is too severe of a punishment. Before the PAB …
King County Washington Prisoner Gets over $3,100 for False Imprisonment by Terry Sybil, a King County, Washington prisoner, served 10 days in the county jail on a bench warrant, but the warrant wasn't recalled. He was later arrested and held for 27 1/2 hours on the same warrant and sued …
Mistakenly Released Washington Jail Prisoner Kills Woman; Estate Wins $1,525,000 in Lawsuit by Lloyd Monroe, a state prisoner in the Whatcom County, Washington jail for no-contact order violations, was mistakenly released. A couple of days later he raped and killed Michelle Smith, the woman who the no-contact order was supposed …
Washington Civilly Committed SVPs Entitled To Less Restrictive Alternative Than McNeil Island by In a brief opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a decision by the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington which required a "less restrictive alternative" facility to …
Washington Civil Commitment Injunction Reaffirmed; No Appellate Jurisdiction to Review Contempt Sanctions by The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed their ruling upholding the so-called "Turay Injunction" but refused to hear an appeal of $10 million., in contempt sanctions against the defendants due to lack of …
Junk Bonds to Junk Science? Drug Treatment Program Questioned by Greg Dober by Gregory Dober What was worth approximately $554 million in 2007 and is valued at about $94 million today? The correct answer is the stock market value of a firm formerly known as Alaska Freightways Inc., a shell …
Flesh-Eating Bacteria Grossly Disfigures Misdiagnosed Washington State Prisoner by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg A Washington state prisoner who lay for two days in the Stafford Creek Correctional Facility infirmary in agonizing pain, with a rash covering his torso and slowly drifting into septic shock, had been misdiagnosed by …
Washington Study Finds Higher Recidivist Rate Amongst Sex Offenders Recommended, But Not Committed, For Civil Commitment by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A report by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy concludes that sex offenders “who were referred for possible civil commitment have a much higher pattern of …
Pierce County, WA Jail Settles Jail Strip-Search Suit For $667,000 by Pierce County, Washington settled a class action suit challenging unconstitutional strip searches of specified pretrial detainees in its county jail for $200,000 in damages, $15,000 in administrative costs and $452,000 in attorney fees. In addition, the Superior Court of …
Evidence Fails to Support Charges of Washington State Employee; Reinstatement Ordered by The Washington State Personnel Appeals Board (PAB) has held the Washington Department of Corrections (WDOC) failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that an employee merited dismissal for failing to report an arrest and for pulling …
Failure to Comply in the Home Assignment Resulted in Washington Employee’s Termination by The Washington State Personnel Appeals Board (PAB) has held that dismissal of a Washington Department of Corrections (WDOC) employee was appropriate where the employee neglected his duty, was insubordinate, engaged in gross misconduct, and willfully violated WDOC …
Failure to Report Absences Merits Dismissal for Washington Prison Guard by The Washington State Personnel Appeals Board (PAB) has denied the appeal of a Washington Department of Corrections guard who was suspended and dismissed for repeated failures to report to work and call in his absences. Clallam Bay Corrections Center …
Giving Prisoner Security Merits Dismissal of Washington Guard by The Washington State Personnel Appeals Board (PAB) has held that dismissal is the appropriate sanction for a guard’s willful act of giving a prisoner his state issued keys. Before the PAB was the appeal of Jevan Combs, a guard at Mc …
Washington DOC Pays PLN $541,000 for Illegally Withholding Records by Michael Rigby The Washington Department of Corrections will pay Prison Legal News $541,000 for illegally withholding public records. It is the largest records-related settlement in Washington state history, and it brings the total amount PLN has won against the state …
Washington Jail Prisoners Suffer from Overcrowding, Abusive Guards, Inadequate Health Care and Indifferent Politicians by Roger Smith Since the mid-1990s, Washington State jail populations have increased exponentially. Obsolete facilities built decades ago to hold a handful of prisoners are now packed like sardine tins, with as many prisoners sleeping on …
Washington Guard Settles Sex Discrimination Suit for $734,900 by Lenna Bradley, a Washington state Department of Corrections (DOC) guard, sued the state in state court after the DOC did nothing to remedy the sexual harassment she was subjected to by other guards. After she filed suit she was harassed by …
Flurry of Escapes Emphasizes Prisoners' Desperation by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke Last September produced a bumper crop of prison and jail escapes around the country, including a desperate escape by two Texas prisoners that resulted in the death of a guard, a car jacking and two shootouts. Plus a …
Wrongful Death Following Alleged Mistaken Washington Jail Release Settles For $1,800,000 by On September 6, 2007, the City of Algona and King County, Washington, agreed to pay $1,800,000 to the estate of a man killed by a hit and run driver who was, according to the lawsuit, mistakenly released from …
