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MN: Jail Strip Search of Drug Suspect Held Constitutional

Article • October 27, 2016

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches, Body Cavity Searches, Qualified Immunity

MN: Jail Strip Search of Drug Suspect Held Constitutional by Lonnie Burton Jonathan Jacobson was arrested in 2009 for driving while under the influence of alcohol. He admitted to the Stewartsville, Minnesota police officer that he recently "smoked a bowl" of marijuana. Jacobson was booked in to the county jail …

Missouri Not Required to Disclose Identity of Doctor or Pharmacy Who Provide Drugs for Lethal Injections

Article • October 27, 2016

Filed under: Disclosure of Records, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty

Missouri Not Required to Disclose Identity of Doctor or Pharmacy Who Provide Drugs for Lethal Injections by Lonnie Burton In an 8-3 decision following an en banc hearing, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that the state of Missouri does not have to disclose the names …

Missouri Court of Appeals Upholds Termination of Prisoner's Parental Rights

Article • October 27, 2016

Filed under: Fathers in Prison, Parental rights, Children of Prisoners

Missouri Court of Appeals Upholds Termination of Prisoner's Parental Rights by Matthew Clarke B.E.G. (Father) appealed the termination of parental rights to two minor children whom he sexually abused. The court of appeals affirmed. Because he pled guilty to child molestation, Father was prohibited by section 211.038 R.S. Mo. from …

Mentally Ill Texas Jail Prisoner Celled in Fetid Squalor for Months

Article • October 27, 2016

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Eighth Amendment, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

Mentally Ill Texas Jail Prisoner Celled in Fetid Squalor for Months by Matthew Clarke Almost a year after a surprise inspection of the Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) resulted in the discovery of a mentally ill prisoner who had been locked …

Maricopa County Jail's Prisoner Health Care Still Unconstitutional

Article • October 27, 2016

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Failure to Treat, Jail Specific, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

Maricopa County Jail's Prisoner Health Care Still Unconstitutional by Matthew Clarke With assistance from American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project (NPP) attorneys, plaintiffs were able to fend off an attempt to terminate a 37-year-old class-action civil-rights lawsuit challenging the provision of medical and mental health services to pretrial detainees …

Landmark Settlement in New York State Juvenile Solitary Confinement Suit

Article • October 27, 2016

Filed under: Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Juveniles, Failure to Protect (Juveniles), Juvenile Prisons

Landmark Settlement in New York State Juvenile Solitary Confinement Suit by Matthew Clarke The New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) reached a landmark settlement in a case involving excessive solitary confinement of 16- and 17-year-old (juvenile) prisoners. The settlement, filed on October 17, 2014, ushers in wide …

Los Angeles Sheriff and County Not Liable for Sexual Assault by Deputy

Article • October 27, 2016

Filed under: Assault by Police, Police Misconduct, Failure to Train/Supervise

Los Angeles Sheriff and County Not Liable for Sexual Assault by Deputy by Lonnie Burton The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted by a sheriff's deputy after she received a traffic ticket. …

Kentucky Court of Appeals Upholds Jail Confiscating Cash and Checks to Pay Fees

Article • October 27, 2016

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Prisoner Property

Kentucky Court of Appeals Upholds Jail Confiscating Cash and Checks to Pay Fees by Matthew Clarke On November 13, 2015, a Kentucky court of appeals held that neither a jail nor a bank acted illegally when the confiscated the checks prisoners had on them when they were booked into the …

Kansas Supreme Court Holds State Immune from Suit Over Murder by Escapee

Article • October 27, 2016

Filed under: Escapes, Immunity/Liability, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Murder by Escapees

Kansas Supreme Court Holds State Immune from Suit Over Murder by Escapee by Matthew Clarke On April 22, 2016, the Supreme Court of Kansas held that the son of a woman murdered by an escaped state prisoner could not sue the state for her personal injuries and wrongful death. The …

Jail Officials Compelled to Provide Medical Reports in Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Article • October 27, 2016

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Failure to Protect (General), Eighth Amendment, Jail Specific, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

Jail Officials Compelled to Provide Medical Reports in Wrongful Death Lawsuit by Lonnie Burton The United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia has ordered the defendant in a lawsuit stemming from the beating death of a prisoner to provide county morbidity and mortality reports to the plaintiff …

AL: Insurance Company Required to Pay $2.3M Award in Wrongful Imprisonment Suit

Article • October 27, 2016

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Malicious Prosecution, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, False Arrest

AL: Insurance Company Required to Pay $2.3M Award in Wrongful Imprisonment Suit by Lonnie Burton Robert Garland and John Tatum were convicted and sentenced in 1991 on federal drug charges. They were later released when, in 1992, Captain Jerry Newton of the Andalusia, Alabama police department admitted to a fellow …

Former Prison Guard Escapes from Texas State Jail

Article • October 27, 2016

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Prison Labor, Escapes, Guards/Staff

Former Prison Guard Escapes from Texas State Jail by Charlie Davis, Jr.--a former Texas prison guard--escaped from the Wheeler State Jail in Plainview, Texas, on October 27, 2014. Davis, 36, worked as a guard at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Clements Unit in Amarillo, a maximum-security prison, from April …

Former Prison Doctor Settles Racial Discrimination, Wrongful Termination Lawsuit with Federal Government for $65,000

Article • October 27, 2016

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Racial Discrimination, Freedom of Information Act, PLN Litigation, Employee Litigation, PLN related

Former Prison Doctor Settles Racial Discrimination, Wrongful Termination Lawsuit with Federal Government for $65,000 by Lonnie Burton On January 16, 1997, a former prison doctor who had sued the federal government for racial discrimination resulting in his wrongful termination, agreed to dismiss his case in return for a payment of …

Fifth Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Suit over In-Custody Death

Article • October 27, 2016

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Failure to Treat, Drug Overdose, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Fifth Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Suit over In-Custody Death by On February 10, 2016, the Fifth Circuit court of appeals upheld the dismissal of a suit brought over the in-custody death due to PCP toxicity. Marcus Dewayne Slade was arrested after Marshall, Texas police encountered him naked, agitated and having …

Hansen v. Missouri State Highway Patrol, MO, Order, Killing of Plaintiff's Dog, 2016

Brief • October 27, 2016

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Excessive Force, Shootings, Dogs, Police, Excessive Force (Police)

Hansen v. Missouri State Highway Patrol, MO, Order, Killing of Plaintiff's Dog, 2016 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI ST. JOSEPH DIVISION MORGAN HANSEN, Plaintiff, v. MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL, et al., Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) …

Interview with PLN editor Paul Wright about the news media

In-the-News Article • October 27, 2016

Interview with PLN editor Paul Wright about the news media Oct. 27, 2016 Articles with PLN Quotes dar-news.com Interview with PLN editor Paul Wright Oct. 27, 2016 &ldquo;In prison, there&rsquo;s actually an informal bartering or trading network for information.&rdquo; &nbsp; What did you read in the news yesterday? Is there …

PLN editor quoted on censorship of WA prisoner's book

In-the-News Article • October 26, 2016

PLN editor quoted on censorship of WA prisoner's book Oct. 26, 2016 Articles with PLN Quotes The Marshall Project FILED&nbsp;12:36 p.m. 10.25.2016 NEWS&nbsp; Does the First Amendment End at the Prison Gate? An inmate&rsquo;s novel is the latest test. By&nbsp;ELI HAGER Though he is a prisoner, Arthur Longworth asserts his …

Shaw v. Williams, IL, Complaint, Medical Neglect, 2016

Brief • October 26, 2016

Filed under: Wexford Health Services, Systemic Medical Neglect, Pain, Skeletal Injury, Failure to Treat, Americans with Disabilities Act

Shaw v. Williams, IL, Complaint, Medical Neglect, 2016 Case: 1:16-cv-01065 Document #: 68 Filed: 10/26/16 Page 1 of 17 PageID #:230 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION TELVIN SHAW Plaintiff, v. WARDEN TARRY WILLIAMS, et al. Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) …

Spurlock v. Townes, NM, Settlement, Sexual Assault, 2016

Brief • October 26, 2016

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Guard Misconduct, Prison Rape Elimination Act

Spurlock v. Townes, NM, Settlement, Sexual Assault, 2016 SETTLEMENTAGREEMENT,RELEASEAND COVENANTOF NON-DISCLOSURE For the consideration of the sum of SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND AND 00/100 ($700,000.00), paid by CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF AMERICA, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, HEATHER SPURLOCK, SOPHIA CARRASCO, and NINA CARRERA do hereby release, acquit …

Few Oklahoma Exonerees Paid for Their Wrongful Incarceration

Article • October 25, 2016

Filed under: Police Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, DNA Testing/Samples, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Death Penalty/Death Row

Few Oklahoma Exonerees Paid for Their Wrongful Incarceration by Matthew Clarke Despite Oklahoma having a wrongful-conviction compensation statute on the books since 2003, few exonerees in that state have received payment. One example of the battles exonerees face is the case of Greg Wilhoit, who was sentenced to death for …