1983 Action Deemed Successive Habeas Petition; Reversed by Supreme Court by The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action, alleging that death by lethal injection causes pain and unnecessary suffering that constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, is the "functional equivalent" of a habeas claim. …
$620,000 Settlement for Florida Jail Beating Death by While imprisoned in Florida's Palm Beach County Jail, a 35 year old Haitian laborer was beaten by guards. He sustained in June 1985, a broken neck and was left in his cell with no medical treatment. When he was finally taken to …
False Arrest Nets Guard and Wife $1.2 Million by A Florida jail guard and his wife, a jail food safety inspector, have been awarded $1,231,700 for their arrest on false charges of smuggling drugs into the jail. On September 11, 2003, Lawrence and Gayle Femminella were arrested on charges of …
Florida’s Private Prison Industry a State Agency Entitled to Sovereign Immunity by Florida's Private Prison Industry a State Agency Entitled to Sovereign Immunity Florida's First District Court of Appeal has held that Florida's private prison industry, Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises (PRIDE), is a state agency entitled to sovereign …
$500,000 Paid in Miami Prisoner’s Beating by $500,000 Paid in Miami Prisoner's Beating While detained at Florida?s Dade County Jail, guards beat the 40-year-old detainee in this case in May, 1994. He not a torn rotator cuff a fractured cervical vertebra, and broken ribs. Despite the guard's protestation that they …
Prison Drinking Water and Wastewater Pollution Threaten Environmental Safety Nationwide by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg Aging infrastructure concerns are not limited to America's highways, bridges and dams. Today, crumbling, overcrowded prisons and jails nationwide are bursting at the seams -- literally -- leaking environmentally dangerous effluents not just …
“Please Rip Us Off” Florida Officials Tell Private Prison Companies by David Reutter "Please Rip Us Off" Florida Officials Tell Private Prison Companies by David M. Reutter Despite having ordered a criminal investigation into its private prison contractors, the Florida Legislature and Governor Charlie Crist have enacted legislation that specifies …
Sauve v. Lamberti, FL, Complaint, denial of HIV medication jail, 2008 Case 0:07-cv-61575-WPD Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 11/02/2007 Page 1 of 15 Case 0:07-cv-61575-WPD Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 11/02/2007 Page 2 of 15 Case 0:07-cv-61575-WPD Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 11/02/2007 Page 3 of 15 …
Hardwick v. Lamberti, FL, Complaint, denial of HIV medication jail, 2008 Case 0:07-cv-61296-ASG Document 22 Entered on FLSD Docket 11/01/2007 Page 1 of 12 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA CASE NO. 07-61296-CIV-GOLD/TURNOFF RICHARD HARDWICK, Plaintiff, v. AL LAMBERTI, in his official capacity as Sheriff of Broward County, …
$1.6 Million Settlements by PHS and Hillsborough County in Death of Baby Born in Florida Jail by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Inadequate medical care by Prison Health Services (PHS) has resulted in yet another death and $1.6 million in settlements for the mother of a baby boy who …
Florida Supreme Court Enacts Rules Regulating “Super Sealing” of Court Records by David Reutter Florida Supreme Court Enacts Rules Regulating "Super Sealing" of Court Records by David M. Reutter On April 5, 2007, the Florida Supreme Court implemented new rules that "provide a procedural vehicle for making circuit and county …
Sawchuck v. Jenne, FL, Order on SJ, Attorney-Client Communications, 2007 Case 0:06-cv- 61182- KAM Document 51 Entered on FLSD Docket 09/21/2007 Page 1 of 14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA Case No. 06- 61182- Civ- MARRNJOHNSON JOSEPH SAWCHUCK and RICHARD SPENCER individually and on behalf of all …
Guards Settle “Sick Building” Claim at Florida Jail for $495,000 by Guards Settle "Sick Building" Claim at Florida Jail for $495,000 A year after John Hauser began working at Florida's Volusia County Jail in 1991, he began getting sick. He wasn't alone. In 2003, over one-third of the jail's 300-plus …
Florida Jails: State’s Largest Mental Health Providers by David Reutter Florida Jails: State's Largest Mental Health Providers by David M. Reutter Florida's policy of allowing mentally ill citizens to languish without treatment until they have encounters with law enforcement has turned the state's county jails into the primary provider of …
20 Florida Prison Officials Fired or Suspended After Prisoner Beating, Party by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Continuing his quest to clean up the chronically corrupt Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC), Secretary James McDonough fired or suspended at least 20 officials at Hendry Correctional Institution (HCI) for actions related …
Florida’s Civil Commitment Center Exhibits Little Change Despite New Contractor by David Reutter Florida's Civil Commitment Center Exhibits Little Change Despite New Contractor by David M. Reutter Despite recent scandals and a new private contractor, the Florida Civil Commitment Center (FCCC) is still a facility with little direction other than …
Florida Homeless Sex Offender Ruling Reversed, FDOC Changes Policy Anyway by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Florida?s Fifth District Court of Appeals has reversed, on procedural grounds, an order by the Volusia County Circuit Court that enjoined the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) from engaging in the ?practice of …
CCA Fined for Florida Jail Escape; County Commission Poised to Impose More Fines by After a series of escapes, prisoner suicides and thefts by employees over the past year, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) promised it would take action to prevent similar incidents at Florida?s Hernando County Jail (HCJ). The …
Six Florida Federal Prison Guards Convicted, Sentenced On Rape and Corruption Charges by Matthew Clarke by Matthew T. Clarke Five former prison guards convicted in federal court on criminal charges stemming from a sex-for-contraband scandal at the Federal Correctional Institute (FCI) in Tallahassee, Florida have been sentenced; four received prison …
Prison Privatization Launders Taxpayer Dollars into Political Contributions by David Reutter by David M. Reutter If you know a company is not saving you money or performing its contractual obligations, why would you continue to use that company? The normal consumer would end the relationship quickly. When it comes to …
