John Henry Knows His Gun, et al. v. Corrections Corp. of America, Crossroads Correctional, MT, settlement, discrimination against Native American prisoners, 2010 GENERAL RELEASE RELEASORS: JOHN HENRY KNOWS HIS GUN, DEE CHANCE WHITE HIP, DARRYL LEWIS FROST, JASON JAY CHIEFSTICK, BRIAN ANTHONY JOHNSTON, EDWARD STAMPER, WILLIAM GOPHER, ALLEN POTTER RELEASEES: …
Missoula County Settles Medical Treatment Denial Suit for $5,000 by In September 2009, a retired physician settled the part of his lawsuit that alleged denial of medical care while in the Missoula County Detention Facility (MCDF) for $5,000. The remaining claims in the suit were not settled. Dr. Walt Peschel, …
Missoula County Jail Agrees to Settle Excessive Force Suit for $490,000 by Missoula County, Montana has agreed to pay $490,000 to a mentally ill woman who was shot six times by guards with a pepperball gun. Sunny Bartell was arrested on July 1, 2006 for disorderly conduct after police were …
Swine Flu Widespread in Prisons and Jails, but Deaths are Few by David Reutter by David M. Reutter For hundreds of years the cramped, overcrowded and often filthy confines of dungeons, prisons, jails and other places of imprisonment have served as incubators for infectious diseases, which have killed more prisoners …
Improbable Private Prison Scam Plays Out in Hardin, Montana by Alex Friedmann “Trouble, oh we got trouble, right here in River City! With a capital ‘T’ that rhymes with ‘P,’ and that stands for pool.” – Professor Hill The above quote is from The Music Man, a 1957 Broadway musical …
Behind Montana Jail Fiasco: How Private Prison Developers Prey on Desperate Towns by Justin Elliott With the unraveling of the deal for the shadowy American Private Police Force to take over and populate an empty jail in Hardin, Montana, it’s pretty clear that the small city got played by an …
Montana, Michigan Towns Vie to Fill Prisons with Guantanamo Detainees by by David M. Reutter Despite winning a lawsuit which held that officials in Hardin, Montana could contract to receive out-of-state prisoners, the town’s Two Rivers Detention Facility sits empty and the bonds issued to finance the prison are in …
PLN helps break news story on private prison in Hardin, MT and American Police Force! by Alex Friedmann Investigative Research re American Private Police Force Organization (APF) by Alex Friedmann Associate Editor, Prison Legal News Vice President, Private Corrections Institute Prison Legal News and the Private Corrections Institute have been …
Attorney withdraws from American Private Police Force by Alex Friedmann Attorney Withdraws from American Private Police Force Hardin, MT – On September 30, Prison Legal News (PLN), a non-profit monthly publication that reports on criminal justice-related issues, provided background research to the Associated Press and other media agencies regarding the …
Judge Not: Judges Benched for Personal Misconduct by by Gary Hunter & Alex Friedmann They decide hot-button topics ranging from abortion and racial discrimination to religious freedoms and contested elections. They can put you in prison or vindicate your civil rights. They can even sentence you to death. Who am …
Montana Agrees to Improve Prison Conditions for Female Prisoners by On November 22, 1994, the State of Montana agreed to settle a class action suit brought by female prisoners incarcerated at the Women’s Correctional Center (WCC). The plaintiffs alleged that the state (1) was deliberately indifferent to their serious health …
Sexual Abuse by Prison and Jail Staff Proves Persistent, Pandemic by Gary Hunter Sexual assault, rape, indecency, deviance. These terms represent reprehensible behavior in our society. They also represent recurring themes in our nation’s prisons – not only by prisoners, but also by guards and other staff members. PLN’s August …
Ninth Circuit: “Supervised Release” is Not “Imprisonment” by The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has held that with respect to 18 U.S.C. § 3624(e), being on supervised release in a state community pre-release center did not toll a state prisoner’s concurrent federal supervised release. Since the plaintiff had therefore …
Montana Detention Center May Not House Out Of State, Federal Prisoners by Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath, upon request of Hardin City Attorney Rebecca Convery, issued an opinion that detention center officials lack the authority to contractually house out of state and federal prisoners. A reportedly $20 million detention center …
Montana Prison Settles Suit For Employees' Interrupted Lunch Breaks by Fourteen Montana State Prison (MSP) employees brought suit against the state Department of Corrections for reimbursement after allegedly working through their lunch breaks. The suit for damages in excess of $250,000 settled for $124,000. MSP employees consisting of three shift …
Montana DOC Employees Disciplined for E-mail Abuse by An internal investigation of e-mail abuse in the Montana Dept. of Corrections (DOC) uncovered what was termed “disgusting” behavior on the part of guards and even high-level prison officials. Seventy-four employees were cited for abusing state computer privileges. Their offenses included e-mailing …
Prior Failure to Register as Sex Offender Does Not Violate Adam Walsh Act by Prior Failure to Register as Sex Offender Does Not Violate Adam Walsh Act On December 5, 2007, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri granted a motion for judgment of acquittal in a …
Exonerated Montana Prisoner Sues State, Receives $3.5 Million by In January 2008, the state of Montana settled a lawsuit filed by a former prisoner who had been wrongfully convicted of raping a child, paying him $3.5 million. The settlement was the largest amount the state had ever paid for a …
Escape From Jail or Prison Categorically Constitutes Crime of Violence by Montana federal prisoner Shane Savage appealed a sentence enhancement for a prior escape from a state jail that was used to calculate his current sentence. The enhancement was confirmed because the escape categorically constituted a crime of violence under …
Montana Public Defender's Deposition Subject to Public Scrutiny by The Billings Gazette, a Montana newspaper, sued in state court to compel disclosure of a deposition given by Yellowstone County's chief public defender, Sanford Selvey in connection with a civil action which resulted in Selvey's resignation as public defender. The trial …
