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Federal Prison Worker Awarded Back Pay after Grievance Settled at Arbitration

Article • October 25, 2016

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Grievances, Employee Litigation

Federal Prison Worker Awarded Back Pay after Grievance Settled at Arbitration by Lonnie Burton The American Federation of Government Employees Council of Prison Locals, Local 510 (AFGE) and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into a settlement agreement on August 9, 2001, which provided for back pay with …

Federal Court Sends Case Regarding Wrongful Job Termination Based on Felony Convictions to N.Y. State Court with Certified Questions

Article • October 25, 2016

Filed under: Collateral consequences of prison, Employee Litigation

Federal Court Sends Case Regarding Wrongful Job Termination Based on Felony Convictions to N.Y. State Court with Certified Questions by Lonnie Burton On August 30, 2016, the Second Circuit United States Court of Appeals certified three questions to the New York State Court of Appeals to help them resolve a …

Federal Court Rejects Prison Doctor's "Expert" Testimony

Article • October 25, 2016

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Treat, Malpractice, Expert Witnesses

Federal Court Rejects Prison Doctor's "Expert" Testimony by Lonnie Burton A U.S. District Court judge in Arizona has rejected nearly all of the proffered testimony of a doctor that prison officials had claimed was an "expert" on the issues of "the unique challenges of providing health care" in a correctional …

Federal Court Orders Release of Prisoner from S.H.U.; Ninth Circuit Reverses

Article • October 25, 2016

Filed under: Gang Policies, Prison Gangs, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

Federal Court Orders Release of Prisoner from S.H.U.; Ninth Circuit Reverses by Lonnie Burton Robert Lee Griffin has been in prison since 1970. In 1979 he was validated as a member of the Aryan Brotherhood ("AB") and placed in the Secure Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay State Prison in …

Fact of Incarceration May Be Used Against Father in Maine Parental Rights Termination Proceeding

Article • October 25, 2016

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

Fact of Incarceration May Be Used Against Father in Maine Parental Rights Termination Proceeding by Lonnie Burton The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled on August 30, 2016, that a parent's incarceration may be used as a factor by a court in parental rights termination cases. The ruling affirmed a lower …

Eleventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Pretrial Detainee's Lawsuit for Unsanitary Conditions, Due Process Violations

Article • October 25, 2016

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Eighth Amendment, Sanitation, Jail Specific, Due Process

Eleventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Pretrial Detainee's Lawsuit for Unsanitary Conditions, Due Process Violations by Lonnie Burton On August 29, 2016, a three-judge panel of the Eleventh CircA.t U.S. Court of Appeals upheld an order of a federal district court in Alabama which dismissed the lawsuit of a pretrial detainee …

Eighth Circuit Finds No Constitutional Right to Communicate in Chinese

Article • October 25, 2016

Filed under: Discrimination, Interpreters, Telephones, Mail, Mail Regulations, Due Process, Family

Eighth Circuit Finds No Constitutional Right to Communicate in Chinese by Lonnie Burton On August 15, 2016, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a case filed by a Chinese-born Missouri state prisoner who had his mail to and from China repeatedly rejected by prison officials. …

District Court Dismissal of False Arrest Suit Reversed

Article • October 25, 2016

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Immigration, False Arrest, Racial Profiling

District Court Dismissal of False Arrest Suit Reversed by Lonnie Burton A suit by a black Canadian woman who was twice arrested upon her entry into the United States may proceed to trial, said a panel of judges of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. That decision reversed a ruling …

Controversy over Oklahoma's Calculation of Prisoners' Release Dates

Article • October 25, 2016

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Release and Reentry, Wrongful Release

Controversy over Oklahoma's Calculation of Prisoners' Release Dates by Matthew Clarke High-profile crimes allegedly committed by two former Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC) prisoners after they were released early from prison has generated controversy over how the DOC calculates release dates. Desmond La'don Campbell was convicted of attempted kidnapping and …

Colorado Prisoner Sues Over Prison Officials' Failure to Treat Dental Infection

Article • October 25, 2016

Filed under: Dental Care, Failure to Treat, Failure to Protect (General), Eighth Amendment

Colorado Prisoner Sues Over Prison Officials' Failure to Treat Dental Infection by Matthew Clarke A Colorado state prisoner filed a federal civil rights action in September 2014, alleging denial of medical care for a dental infection that nearly killed him and left him with partial paralysis of his tongue and …

Colorado Guards Joke While Prisoner Dies from Easily Preventable Cause

Article • October 25, 2016

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Medical Misconduct, Failure to Treat, Malpractice, Failure to Protect (General), Failure to Train/Supervise, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Colorado Guards Joke While Prisoner Dies from Easily Preventable Cause by Matthew Clarke The death of 35-year-old Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) prisoner Christopher Lopez at the San Carols Correctional Facility on March 17, 2013, would have been rejected if submitted as a plot for a novel. It is too …

California Court Affirms Award of Attorney's Fees to Watchdog Group; Remands Case to Determine if Sanctions Appropriate

Article • October 25, 2016

Filed under: Government Misconduct, Attorney Misconduct, Disclosure of Records, Public Records, Freedom of Information Act, Public Records Act

California Court Affirms Award of Attorney's Fees to Watchdog Group; Remands Case to Determine if Sanctions Appropriate by Lonnie Burton On June 7, 2016, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One affirmed the award of attorney's fees to a state watchdog organization after they prevailed in a …

CA: Home School District of Incarcerated Youth with Disabilities Required to Pay for Their Education

Article • October 25, 2016

Filed under: Jail Specific, Education

CA: Home School District of Incarcerated Youth with Disabilities Required to Pay for Their Education by Lonnie Burton The California Supreme Court has ruled that the home school district of an incarcerated youth in need of special education services is obliged to bear the cost of that student's education while …

PLN v. MTC Corp, et al., NM, Complaint, censorship, 2016

Filing • October 25, 2016

Filed under: Management and Training Corporation, PLN Litigation, Censorship

PLN v. MTC Corp, et al., NM, Complaint, censorship, 2016 Case 1:16-cv-01174 Document 1 Filed 10/25/16 Page 1 of 11 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO PRISON LEGAL NEWS, a project of the HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE CENTER, Plaintiff, v. MANAGEMENT & TRAINING CORPORATION, a …

Corbin v. Knox County, IL, Complaint, Jail Suicide, 2016

Brief • October 25, 2016

Filed under: Medication, Bail Bonds, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides

Corbin v. Knox County, IL, Complaint, Jail Suicide, 2016 4:16-cv-04232-SLD-JEH # 1 Page 1 of 24 E-FILED Tuesday, 25 October, 2016 07:01:06 PM Clerk, U.S. District Court, ILCD IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS ROCK ISLAND DIVISION ESTATE OF JOEY CORBIN, by CHRISTINE CORBIN, …

Jones v. Prentice, IL, Merit Review, Failure to Protect, 2016

Brief • October 25, 2016

Filed under: Injury -- Misc., Failure to Protect (General), Deliberate Indifference

Jones v. Prentice, IL, Merit Review, Failure to Protect, 2016 1:16-cv-01335-SLD # 14 Page 1 of 4 E-FILED Tuesday, 25 October, 2016 04:14:26 PM Clerk, U.S. District Court, ILCD UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS KOREY JONFS, ) ) Plaintiff, v. ) ) ) 16-CV-1335 ) S. PRENTICE, …

Bureau of Prisons Pays $145,000 to Settle Handicap Discrimination Lawsuit

Article • October 24, 2016

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Discrimination, Americans with Disabilities Act, Freedom of Information Act, PLN Litigation, Employee Litigation, Disabled Employees, PLN related

Bureau of Prisons Pays $145,000 to Settle Handicap Discrimination Lawsuit by Lonnie Burton The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), through the United States Attorney General's Office, agreed to pay a total of $145,000 to settle a 1998 lawsuit brought by a BOP employee who alleged she was discriminated against on …

BOP Pays $30,000 to Settle Prison Counselor's Religious Discrimination Claim

Article • October 24, 2016

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

BOP Pays $30,000 to Settle Prison Counselor's Religious Discrimination Claim by Lonnie Burton On March 18, 2002, a settlement agreement was finalized resolving a complaint brought by a federal prison counselor who alleged she was targeted for discrimination because of her religious beliefs. PLR is now reporting on this case …

Banished Texas Civilly Committed Sex Offenders Commit Crimes in Other States

Article • October 24, 2016

Filed under: Sex Offender Treatment, Civil Commitment

Banished Texas Civilly Committed Sex Offenders Commit Crimes in Other States by Matthew Clarke The Texas Office of Violent Sex Offender Management (OVSOM), which supervises civilly committed Texas sex offenders, has been the subject of multiple controversies in recent months. These included secretly housing civilly committed sex offenders (CCSOs) in …

Arizona Private Prison Profits Disappear As Immigration Arrests Decline

Article • October 24, 2016

Filed under: Private Prisons, Emerald Correctional Management, Immigration

Arizona Private Prison Profits Disappear As Immigration Arrests Decline by Matthew Clarke The San Luis Regional Detention and Support Center opened with a capacity of 548 beds in 2007. Initially, it housed male and female immigration detainees. In 2009, Emerald Correctional Management took over operation of the center, located in …