Florida Prison Nurses Net $1 Million for Sexual Harassment by Prisoners by A Florida federal jury has awarded twelve nurses employed by the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) nearly $1 million for sexual harassment by prisoners in confinement cells. The complaint in that lawsuit was filed by twenty-eight FDOC employees …
Florida Boot Camp Death Results in Manslaughter Charges Against 7 Guards and Nurse; Civil Claims Settled for $7,425,000 by After two autopsies and an 11-month investigation, aggravated manslaughter charges were issued in the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson at a Florida boot camp. Anderson?s death at the Bay County …
Seminole County Jail Settles Strip Search Suits; Judge Removed From Bench by A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit involving persons arrested in open court and illegally strip searched upon arrival at Florida?s Seminole County Jail. The suit was filed after the plaintiffs were arrested for failure …
Florida Newspaper Revokes Permission to Post Article Critical of Judge by Shortly after the Miami Daily Business Review (DBR) was designated as ?the record newspaper for Courthouse publications,? the DBR revoked permission for an unflattering article about Broward County?s Chief Judge Dale Ross to be posted on a defense attorney …
Florida Eliminates DNA Testing Deadline by During its 2006 Legislative session, the Florida Legislature enacted a law that eliminates deadlines for when prisoners can request DNA testing. That law comes on the heels of numerous prisoners being released from death row and imprisonment on lesser sentences for crimes they did …
Governor’s Task Force Recommends Changes in Florida’s Prison System Mission by Governor's Task Force Recommends Changes in Florida's Prison System Mission Recognizing that 90% of all Florida prisoners will eventually be released into society, former Governor Jeb Bush commissioned the Ex-Offender Task Force (Task Force) on February 7, 2005 to …
Private Prison Companies Bilk Florida Taxpayers Out of Millions by David Reutter by David M. Reutter From its inception, privatization of Florida prisons has been touted as a way to save taxpayers money. Yet, a 2005 audit by Florida's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) revealed that …
Florida Court Without Jurisdiction to Impose Confinement Condition Sanctions at Sentencing by Florida?s Third District Court of Appeals has held that a trial court has no jurisdiction to impose sanctions that regulate the treatment of prisoners in conjunction with a criminal sanction. Henry Cuesta is a prisoner serving a life …
U.S. Supreme Court: State Felon’s Deportation Order Reversed Where Underlying Offense Amounted Only to Federal Misdemeanor by U.S. Supreme Court: State Felon's Deportation Order Reversed Where Underlying Offense Amounted Only to Federal Misdemeanor On December 5, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the federal deportation order of an alien who …
Florida’s Broward County Jail: Abuse and Misconduct As Usual by David Reutter Florida's Broward County Jail: Abuse and Misconduct As Usual by David M. Reutter Despite Florida's Broward County jail (BCJ) being under the supervision of a court-appointed monitor, recent incidents reveal prisoners are still at danger. BCJ has been …
Jane Doe v. McKeithen, FL, Amended Complaint, Sexual Assault, 2007 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FOURTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR JACKSON COUNTY, FLORIDA JANE DOE, Plaintiff, vs. Case No.:05-509-CA BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF JACKSON COUNTY, FLORIDA, W. FRANK MCKEITHEN, Sheriff of Bay County, Florida (as successor to …
Claim of Juror Alcohol Use Does Not Warrant Evidentiary Hearing by The U.S. Supreme Court held that a district court's refusal to hold an evidentiary hearing on allegations that jurors used alcohol during a criminal trial was not in error. Defendants, two friends who were involved in an allegedly illicit …
Due Process Action States Claim by The U.S. Supreme Court held that a plaintiff's federal civil rights action alleging deprivation of procedural due process stemming from his admission to a Florida mental health facility on the strength of consent forms he signed while supposedly disoriented, heavily medicated and psychotic stated …
FL Prisoner Can Seek Belated Appeal of Administrative Appeal Denial by Florida's Second District Court of Appeal held a Florida prisoner may seek belated review of an appeal of disciplinary action where denial of the appeal was signed eight days before it was mailed. The Court found the Hardee Correctional …
Eleventh Circuit: Documents Requested From DOJ Exempt Under FOIA by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that certain documents requested from the Department of Justice (DOJ) concerning disciplinary proceedings against the Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) were exempt under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The …
Eleventh Circuit: Florida Jail Officials Immune in Juvenile's Suicide by In this case involving the suicide of a juvenile in the Okaloosa County (Florida) jail, the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that the sheriff and a jailer were entitled to qualified immunity. Dustin Molbert, a juvenile who was …
Failure to Treat Florida Prisoner's Agent Orange Disease Unconstitutional by The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that prison officials' failure to provide prescribed treatment to a prisoner suffering from effects of Agent Orange violated his Eight Amendment rights. The Florida prisoner was a Vietnam Veteran who was exposed to …
Florida Sheriff Liable for Wrongful Death Stemming from Failure to Provide Medical Care by Florida Sheriff Liable for Wrongful Death Stemming from Failure to Provide Medical Care Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal held the Sheriff may be liable for failing to provide proper medical care to a prisoner who …
Florida Felon Disenfranchisement Found Constitutional by The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida has ruled that a 135-year old state law that bans ex-felons from voting is not unconstitutional. Thomas Johnson, a former prisoner from New York now residing in Florida, filed a class action lawsuit …
Florida Department of Corrections Ordered to Cease Racially Discriminatory Practices in Selected Reading Materiala by Florida Department of Corrections Ordered to Cease Racially Discriminatory Practices in Selected Reading Material Florida state prisoner Herman Jackson filed a 42 U.S.C. §1983 lawsuit against prison officials claiming that his rights under the First …
