Search | Prison Legal News

Kuperman v. NH DOC, NH, Report and Rec., Kosher Food Case, 2007 - Nh - Kosher Food Case - Rr 2007

Brief • April 18, 2007

Filed under: RLUIPA, Religious Diet

Kuperman v. NH DOC, NH, Report and Rec., Kosher Food Case, 2007 - Nh - Kosher Food Case - Rr 2007 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE Albert Kuperman v. Civil No. 06-cv-420-JD New Hampshire Department of Corrections, et al. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION Plaintiff Albert Kuperman …

Two Registered Sex Offenders Murdered in Maine

Article • April 15, 2007 • from PLN April, 2007

Filed under: Discrimination, Sex Offender Registration, Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Prison/Jail Murders, State Legislation

Two Registered Sex Offenders Murdered in Maine by Matthew Clarke by Matthew T. Clarke A violent criminal predator used Maine's sex offender registry web site to identify two sex offenders so he could murder them. Stephen A. Marshall, 20, of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, used his laptop to methodically …

The Warehousing of New Hampshire’s Mentally Ill

Article • February 15, 2007 • from PLN February, 2007

Filed under: Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

The Warehousing of New Hampshire’s Mentally Ill by David Reutter The Warehousing of New Hampshire's Mentally Ill by David M. Reutter Despite over 30 years of litigation, mentally ill prisoners at the New Hampshire State Prison (NHSP) are still not receiving care to treat their conditions. In fact, with NHSP …

New Hampshire Prisoner’s ADA Claim Survives Summary Judgment

Article • February 15, 2007 • from PLN February, 2007

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Muscular, Excessive Force, Restraints, Americans with Disabilities Act

New Hampshire Prisoner’s ADA Claim Survives Summary Judgment by New Hampshire Prisoner's ADA Claim Survives Summary Judgment The First Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a New Hampshire federal district court's summary judgment order concluding that a prisoner failed to demonstrate that prison officials violated his rights under Title II …

Kuperman v. NH DOC, NH, Complaint, Kosher Food Case, 2006

Brief • November 9, 2006

Filed under: RLUIPA, Religious Diet

Kuperman v. NH DOC, NH, Complaint, Kosher Food Case, 2006 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE ALBERT KUPERMAN, Plaintiff V. STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, BRUCE CATTELL, INDIVIDUALLY, AND IN HIS CAPACITY OF WARDEN, GREG COMPTON, INDIVIDUALLY AND IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY, KIMBERLY LACASSE, …

$20,500 New Hampshire Jail Award Upheld for False Disciplinary Charges

Article • June 15, 2006 • from PLN June, 2006

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Hearing Officers, False Charges (Disciplinary Hearings), Strip Searches, Water, Hygiene Supplies, Damages, Jury Instructions

$20,500 New Hampshire Jail Award Upheld for False Disciplinary Charges by The First Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a jurys award of $20,500 to a pretrial detainee in a civil rights action, alleging denial of due process from the filing of false disciplinary charges. Jason Surprenant was a pretrial …

Interest Awarded in New Hampshire Canteen Surcharge Fee

Article • September 15, 2005 • from PLN September, 2005

Filed under: Victims, Money/Property, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Interest, Tax Law

Interest Awarded in New Hampshire Canteen Surcharge Fee by The New Hampshire Supreme Court held that the state was required to pay interest to all prisoners who receive pecuniary damages as a result of" Starr v. Governor, the New Hampshire canteen surcharge case. Darren Starr, a prisoner of the New …

New Hampshire Prisoner's Due Process Suit Nets $54,000 in Fees and Damages

Article • August 15, 2005 • from PLN August, 2005

Filed under: False Charges (Disciplinary Hearings), Attorney Fees (PLRA), Guard Brutality/Beatings, Damages, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

New Hampshire Prisoner's Due Process Suit Nets $54,000 in Fees and Damages by A New Hampshire federal district court has awarded a prisoner $20,503 in nominal and punitive damages in a civil rights action alleging Fourteenth Amendment violations. The Court further awarded $31,000 in attorney's fees and $3,900 in costs …

Ex Con "Helps Police" by Trying to Murder Sex Offenders

Article • June 15, 2004 • from PLN June, 2004

Filed under: Work Release, Discrimination, Sex Offender Registration, Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Crime

Ex Con "Helps Police" by Trying to Murder Sex Offenders by Gary Hunter Between April 12 and April 25, 2003, Lawrence Trant, Jr., 56, tried to kill 8 registered sex offenders in Concord, New Hampshire. Trant set fire to a boarding house, to an apartment building and ultimately stabbed one …

First Circuit Holds ADA Title II Abrogated State Sovereign Immunity

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Nervous System, Muscular, Damages, Americans with Disabilities Act, Immunity/Liability, Eleventh Amendment Immunity, Sovereign Immunity

First Circuit Holds ADA Title II Abrogated State Sovereign Immunity by Bob Williams The First Circuit court of appeals has held that Title II of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), as applied in this case, abrogates state sovereign immunity. There is now a 6-3 split in the circuits on …

Escaped New Hampshire Prisoners Caught Camping

Article • February 15, 2004 • from PLN February, 2004

Filed under: Classification, Out of State Transfers, Prison Industries, Escapes, Informants (Failure to Protect)

Escaped New Hampshire Prisoners Caught Camping by Gary Hunter Three escaped New Hampshire pris-oners were captured at a Massachusetts campground just one day after their daring daylight getaway. Kevin Gil, Philip J. Dick and Christopher McNeil negotiated their temporary freedom from New Hampshire State Prison (NHSP) in Concord by cutting …

New Hampshire Prison Commissary Surcharge Ruled an Illegal Tax

Article • January 15, 2004 • from PLN January, 2004

Filed under: Class Certification, Money/Property, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Tax Law

New Hampshire Prison Commissary Surcharge Ruled an Illegal Tax by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The New Hampshire Supreme Court held that state law RSA 622:7-b, which imposed a 5% surcharge on the price of all commissary sales, amounted to a disproportionate tax in violation of the New …

Ripole v. Stanley, NH, Bill in Equity, ADA Violations, 2002

Brief • November 1, 2002

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Eighth Amendment, Americans with Disabilities Act, Fourteenth Amendment, rights

Ripole v. Stanley, NH, Bill in Equity, ADA Violations, 2002 THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE MERRIMACK COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT ___________________________________ : DONALD RIOPEL, : : Plaintiff : : v. : : PHILLIP STANLEY, in his : official capacity as Commissioner, : New Hampshire Department of Corrections : : JANE COPLAN, …

Prisoners Entitled to Hearing Before Consent Decree Termination

Article • January 15, 2002 • from PLN January, 2002

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Consent Decrees (PLRA)

Prisoners Entitled to Hearing Before Consent Decree Termination by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The U.S. District Court's (D.N.H.) PLRA based termination of a 1975 New Hampshire state prison consent decree was vacated and remanded to permit the prisoners an opportunity to demonstrate if there were any "current …

Laaman v. Warden, NH, Settlement Agreement, Mental Health, 2001

Brief • April 23, 2001

Filed under: Mental Health

Laaman v. Warden, NH, Settlement Agreement, Mental Health, 2001 UNITED STATI'-5I)]ST1HCT COUltT Fon TilE D1$TIUCr Of' NEW 11,\~II'SIIIRE JAAN L,\,\~IAN. ) ) el:11. ) ,. ) DOCKET IiC·75.2SS·11 ) W,\ nOEN, NEW IIAM1'SIIInE STATE I'IHSON, el n1. ) ) ) ) I. I'ROCEDUI~\L I. r-cdernl COUll jurisdiction over Ihis m:\llcr …

NH Supreme Court Overturns Prisoner Voting Rights

Article • October 15, 2000 • from PLN October, 2000

Filed under: Organizing, Voting

NH Supreme Court Overturns Prisoner Voting Rights by Ronald Young By Ronald Young As previously reported in PLN, New Hampshire state prisoner David J. Fischer successfully litigated the right of New Hampshire prisoners to cast absentee ballots in local, state, and federal elections. Fischer alleged that legislation prohibiting felons from …

IDEA Confers Right to Education Even in SHU

Article • July 15, 1999 • from PLN July, 1999

Filed under: Prisoner Privileges, Education, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Education (Juveniles)

IDEA Confers Right to Education Even in SHU by IDEA Confers Right to Education Even In SHU The First Circuit court of appeals has held that a prisoner receiving educational services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. § 1415(e)(4)(B), is entitled to a free and public …

New Hampshire Prisoners Gain the Vote

Article • May 15, 1999 • from PLN May, 1999

Filed under: Organizing, Voting

New Hampshire Prisoners Gain the Vote by ANew Hampshire Superior Court ruled that state laws prohibiting all incarcerated felons from voting violate the state constitution. On September 4, 1998, state prisoner David J. Fischer sent a letter to the Rochester City Clerk to request "that you register me to vote …

Court Orders Return of Disks

Article • December 15, 1994 • from PLN December, 1994

Filed under: Computers, Court Access, Legal Materials, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's

Court Orders Return of Disks by Charles Oropallo is a New Hampshire state prisoner. Pursuant to prison regulations, in 1991 Oropallo ordered a Smith Corona word processor with disk storage capacity. In 1992, prison rules changed, prohibiting the possession of "computers" with a memory storage capacity. As a result, his …

Retaliatory Transfer States Claim

Article • August 15, 1993 • from PLN August, 1993

Filed under: Retaliation, Retaliation for Litigating, Retaliatory Transfers

Retaliatory Transfer States Claim by Michael Guglielmo is a New Hampshire state prisoner involuntarily transferred to Connecticut. Guglielmo filed suit claiming that his involuntary transfer was in retaliation for his legal activities. He also claimed that prison officials keeping materials about his litigation in his prison file labelled him a …