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Hanes v. Shirley, WV, Amended Complaint, Police Beating Stomping, 2012

Brief • November 30, 2012

Filed under: Excessive Force (Police)

Hanes v. Shirley, WV, Amended Complaint, Police Beating Stomping, 2012 Case 3:12-cv-00051-JPB Document 18 Filed 11/30/12 Page 1 of 7 PageID #: 113 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA ________________________ MARK HAINES, Plaintiff, Civil Action No.: 3:12-cv-51 Honorable John P. Bailey vs. SHERIFF ROBERT “ …

Fourth Circuit: Where Offer of Judgment is Silent as to Costs, Prevailing Party Entitled to Recover Attorney’s Fees

Article • August 15, 2012 • from PLN August, 2012

Filed under: Attorneys, Attorney Fee Awards, Settlements

Fourth Circuit: Where Offer of Judgment is Silent as to Costs, Prevailing Party Entitled to Recover Attorney’s Fees by The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that “in an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, an offer of judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 68(a) which makes no mention of …

Fourth Circuit Remands Prisoner’s Equal Protection Claim

Article • April 15, 2012 • from PLN April, 2012

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Work, Prison Labor

Fourth Circuit Remands Prisoner’s Equal Protection Claim by Michael Brodheim by Mike Brodheim On March 17, 2011, in an unpublished per curiam decision, the Fourth Circuit remanded a prisoner’s equal protection claim that alleged black prisoners were routinely ordered to perform more degrading tasks than their white counterparts, and that …

Interference With Access to Legal Materials by Federal Prison Officials May Warrant Equitable Tolling

Article • May 15, 2011

Filed under: Legal Materials, Limitations, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

Interference With Access to Legal Materials by Federal Prison Officials May Warrant Equitable Tolling by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that interference with a prisoner’s access to legal materials by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) may warrant equitable tolling of the one-year deadline for seeking …

Self-Defense Available to Prisoners in Federal Guard Assault Cases

Article • April 15, 2011

Filed under: Criminal Prosecution, Jury Instructions, Guards/Staff, Assaults on Staff

Self-Defense Available to Prisoners in Federal Guard Assault Cases by A federal prisoner charged with assaulting a guard may claim self-defense in limited circumstances, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit decided January 12, 2010. Michael Gore got into a fight with Lieutenant Kevin Jensen and CO Gregory …

Freedom of Information Act Request Denied

Article • April 15, 2011

Filed under: Federal Statutory Law, Freedom of Information Act

Freedom of Information Act Request Denied by On September 16, 2008, the Kanawha County Circuit Court in West Virginia ordered the disclosure of five of thirteen emails requested by The Associated Press (AP) through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted February 29, 2008 to Mr. Steven Canterberry, Administrative …

Library Purge Deemed Unconstitutional

Article • April 15, 2011

Filed under: Court Access, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Censorship

Library Purge Deemed Unconstitutional by On October 16, 2000, West Virginia prisoner Roger Cline filed suit against William Fox who was the warden at St. Mary’s Correctional Center, the facility where Cline was housed. The complaint was filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 accusing Fox and his staff of …

Alvarez v. West Virginia, WV, Complaint, Wrongful Medical Death, 2009

Brief • March 3, 2011

Filed under: Seizures, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Alvarez v. West Virginia, WV, Complaint, Wrongful Medical Death, 2009 THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA Plaintiffs, v. STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA REGIONAL JAIL & CORRECTIONAL FACILITY AUTHORITY, a department or agency of the State of West Virginia, JOE DELONG, in his official capacity as Executive Director of the …

Prisoner Wrongful Death Suicide claim Dismissed as Untimely

Article • December 15, 2009

Filed under: Limitations, Wrongful Death, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Suicides

Prisoner Wrongful Death Suicide claim Dismissed as Untimely by In a decision filed on June 9, 2009, the West Virginia Supreme Court affirmed a circuit court's dismissal of a wrongful death claim filed by the estate of a prisoner who allegedly killed himself at a local jail because the case …

West Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Regional Jail Payments From Counties

Article • June 15, 2009

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Jail Specific, Mandamus, Municipal Liability

West Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Regional Jail Payments From Counties by The Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority (Authority) of West Virginia filed an original mandamus action in the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia to compel the County Commission of Cabell County (County) to fulfill its obligation to …

Sexual Abuse by Prison and Jail Staff Proves Persistent, Pandemic

Article • May 15, 2009 • from PLN May, 2009

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Cornell Corrections, GRW Corp., Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Criminal Prosecution

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 …

Mock Prison Disaster Program Discontinued; Mock Prison Riot Training Remains

Article • May 15, 2009 • from PLN May, 2009

Filed under: Organizing, Prison Rebellion, Stun Guns/Tasers

Mock Prison Disaster Program Discontinued; Mock Prison Riot Training Remains by Gary Hunter Mock Prison Disaster Program Discontinued; Mock Prison Riot Training Remains by Gary Hunter Practicing for prison riots has been big business in Moundsville, West Virginia for years. The West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville gained notoriety in …

BOP Medical Worker's Race Based Termination Suit Settles For $65,000

Article • February 15, 2009

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Retaliation against Staff, Federal Statutory Law, 1964 Civil Rights Act, Employee Litigation

BOP Medical Worker's Race Based Termination Suit Settles For $65,000 by West Virginia resident and ex Bureau of Prisons medical employee, Darrick Leacock, brought a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action in 1995 against United States Attorney General Janet Reno after allegedly being discriminated against and subsequently fired due to his …

$40,000 Settlement After BOP Employee Causes Automobile Accident

Article • February 15, 2009

Filed under: Work Conditions/Safety, Damages, Settlements, Federal Tort Claims Act, Guards/Staff, Employee Litigation

$40,000 Settlement After BOP Employee Causes Automobile Accident by West Virginia resident Lillian Poindexter brought a federal tort action in 1997 against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and federal agent Mari Higgins after being struck by Higgins' vehicle. The $139,000 suit settled for …

Child Support Obligation While Incarcerated Should Reflect Actual Earnings And Resources

Article • January 15, 2009

Filed under: Family, Family Law, Fathers in Prison

Child Support Obligation While Incarcerated Should Reflect Actual Earnings And Resources by West Virginia State prisoner Christopher Adkins appealed a 2006 court order denying his request to reduce or waive his support obligation while incarcerated. The denial was partially reversed and remanded to reflect his actual income and available resources. …

$200,000 Settlement in Wyoming Prisoner’s Suicide Death

Article • September 15, 2008 • from PLN September, 2008

Filed under: Medical, Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Suicides

$200,000 Settlement in Wyoming Prisoner’s Suicide Death by $200,000 Settlement in Wyoming Prisoner’s Suicide Death To settle the claim that a prisoner who committed suicide was not properly treated, Wyoming’s Cambell County Detention Center (CCDC) has paid the prisoner’s estate $200,000. Nick Ashby, 38, was booked into CCDC on July …

West Virginia Police Internal Affairs Investigation Reports are Conditionally Discoverable in Civil Actions

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Disclosure of Records, Discovery, Police

West Virginia Police Internal Affairs Investigation Reports are Conditionally Discoverable in Civil Actions by Donald McClay, a West Virginia state prisoner, was assaulted by an unidentified state trooper while under arrest for illegally registering to vote. He filed a complaint which was investigated by the state police Internal Affairs. McClay …

Disciplinary Rule Description Rather than Title Controls

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Prisoner-Staff Assault, Sexual Harassment, Prisoner-Staff Harassment, Disciplinary Litigation, Notice of Rules

Disciplinary Rule Description Rather than Title Controls by The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has held that “it is the content of what is contained under a title that is critical in most instances, not the title” of a prison disciplinary rule (DR). This ruling comes in the appeal …

BOP Good Time Rule Upheld by Fourth Circuit

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Sentencing, Good Time, Administrative Procedures Act (Federal), Drug Treatment/Rehab

BOP Good Time Rule Upheld by Fourth Circuit by The Bureau of Prisons' regulation stating that convictions involving the use or possession of firearms were not "nonviolent offenses" entitling prisoners to early release if they successfully completed drug treatment programs was not unreasonable, and the program statement in which it …

Drug Tampering Conviction Bars BOP Good Time Award

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Sentencing, Good Time, Drug Treatment/Rehab

Drug Tampering Conviction Bars BOP Good Time Award by Tampering with a consumer product with reckless disregard for risk of death or bodily harm could reasonably be determined to be a "crime of violence" precluding early release for completion of a drug rehabilitation program. The petitioner so precluded from the …