Independent Monitor Issues First Report on Delaware Health Care by by David M. Reutter Joshua W. Martin III, the Independent Monitor who is overseeing an agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Delaware Department of Corrections (DDOC), has issued his first semi-annual report. The agreement with the …
Delaware Forced to Clean-up Medical Care by DOJ Settlement by David Reutter by David M. Reutter After a nine-month investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a report finding prisoners in four Delaware prisons ?suffer harm or are placed at the risk of harm from constitutional deficiencies in certain …
Delaware DOC Still Defends Abysmal Medical Care, Prisoners Still Die From Medical Neglect by After media reports detailed incidents showing prisoners within the Delaware Department of Corrections (DDOC) were being maimed or dying because of deplorable medical care, Stan Taylor, DDOC's Commissioner, charged the reports were "sloppy reporting." Taylor's testimony …
Michigan's Prison Health Care System Found Contemptuous by David Reutter by David M. Reutter "Step on a man's foot once, and a polite apology will do. Do it twice, and a profuse apology is in order. Do it thrice, and you have left the land of apology and entered the …
Third Circuit Upholds "Publisher Only" Rule by Third Circuit Upholds "Publisher Only" Rule The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Delaware prisoner's affidavit was insufficient to controvert a prison warden's affidavit, justifying a publisher-only policy. In the district court the prisoner responded to prison officials' motion for summary …
Dismissal Denied for Delay of Dental Treatment by A federal district court in Delaware has held that a prisoner's claim of proper dental treatment being delayed defeats the Defendant's Motion for Dismissal. While incarcerated at Delaware's Multi-purpose Criminal Justice Facility, prisoner David W. Williamson developed an abscessed tooth and periodontal …
Delaware Medical Contractor's Policies Deliberately Indifferent by A Delaware Superior Court has denied a motion to dismiss a complaint alleging First Correctional Medical (FCM) was deliberately indifferent to the serious medical needs of prisoner Gregory D. Smith, causing his death. The suit alleged FCM's policies, procedures, and customs displayed a …
Delaware Force Suit Dismissed by The plaintiff resisted when staff tried to place chains and a padlock on his cell door, and force was used against him. He filed one grievance about alleged excessive force and resulting medical problems, and a second grievance about the placement of chains on his …
Dismissal of $100,000 Verdict Inappropriate For Errors On Delaware Prisoner's Affidavit Of Poverty by Dismissal of $100,000 Verdict Inappropriate For Errors On Delaware Prisoner's Affidavit Of Poverty On August 25, 2004, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware declined to dismiss a prisoner's lawsuit for three misrepresentations on …
Delaware DOC Denial of Medical Diet Suit Proceeds by The plaintiff filed a grievance in September 1998, almost four years before the defendants moved to dismiss for non-exhaustion, and had received no response. There's no futility exception to the PLRA exhaustion requirement. At 602: However, this Court has held that …
Delaware Life Sentence = 45 years; Ruling May Affect 200 Prisoners; Court Reverses Self After Prosecutors Whine by Delaware Life Sentence = 45 years; Ruling May Affect 200 Prisoners; Court Reverses Self After Prosecutors Whine The Delaware Supreme Court, sitting En Banc, held that its decision in Crosby v. State, …
Delaware: Redactions Based On Officer Safety Not Valid Under FOIA by On December 30, 2003 the Delaware Supreme Court held that concern for police officers' safety is not a legitimate reason for withholding identifying information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The News Journal, a media publication of the …
Private Medical Services Skirmish Over INS Contract by A Delaware Chancery Court denied a motion to dismiss filed by Prison Health Services, Inc. The motion sought to dismiss the complaint of Up and Up Health Services, Inc. Both companies were bidding for a contract to provide managed health care services …
No Immunity for Beating Delaware Prisoner by The plaintiff alleged that he did not lock in during an alarm when the signal was given because he was in the shower and didn't hear the signal. He was then beaten by the riot squad, further beaten as he was taken to …
Beating Claim Exhausted When Defendants' Don't Respond by The plaintiff alleged that he was twice assaulted by the Quick Response Team; on neither occasion was he resisting, and on one he was in restraints. The defendants claimed they used necessary force to subdue him. At 458: ". . . [P]laintiff …
Investigators Retaliation Claim Set for Trial by The plaintiff, an internal affairs investigator, received information that excessive force had been used by staff during a riot. His superiors complained about his report and told him to revise it. He revised it twice at their behest. Subsequently, he said, he was …
Prisoner Attacker Can't Be Sued Under § 1983, Guard Can by Prisoner Attacker Can't Be Sued Under § 1983, Guard Can A prisoner who assaulted the plaintiff did not act under color of state law and the plaintiff's § 1983 claim was therefore frivolous. The plaintiff's claim that she told …
$680 in Damages Awarded for Ad-Seg Placement by A federal district court in Delaware awarded a prisoner $680 in damages after the plaintiff was placed in administrative segregation for six days without due process. The plaintiff, a Delaware prisoner, was placed in ad seg after a prison riot. He was …
$130,000 Settlement In Prison Employee Harassment Suit by In 1999, Thomas G. Bailor, filed a law suit against the Delaware Correctional Center MC, after he was forced to quit his job as an internal affairs investigator, for filing a report accusing prison guards of misconduct. Bailor, was investigating charges that …
Guards Have Constitutional Privacy Right to Associate with Ex-Prisoners Off-Duty by Guards Have Constitutional Privacy Right to Associate with Ex-Prisoners Off-Duty A Delaware federal district court has held that a prison regulation that prohibits guards from associating with ex-prisoners violates the guard's privacy rights. This action was filed by a …
