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District Court Denies Physician's Assistant's Motion to Dismiss

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Medical, Systemic Medical Neglect, Pain, Skeletal Injury, Surgery

District Court Denies Physician's Assistant's Motion to Dismiss by The U.S. District Court for the District of Maine denied a motion to dismiss filed by a jail's physician's assistant in a claim of deliberate indifference to a serious medical need. In September 2001, Robert Dellairo was seen by an emergency …

Maine Prisoner Subjected to Excessive Force Awarded $30,000

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Maine Prisoner Subjected to Excessive Force Awarded $30,000 by On October 3, 1997, a federal jury in Bangor, Maine awarded a state prisoner $30,000 in punitive damages and $2.00 in nominal damages. The prisoner had claimed he was subjected to excessive force by two guards at the state's supermax prison …

Court Denies Leave to Add Parties to Medical Suit

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Parties, Expert Witnesses, Local Rules

Court Denies Leave to Add Parties to Medical Suit by The plaintiff is denied leave to add new parties because he was months past the court-set deadline and gave no reason for it. The plaintiff's state law medical negligence claim is barred by the failure to present it to a …

PHS Avoids Liability in Maine Prison Suicide

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Prison Health Services, Contractor Liability, Mental Health, Suicides

PHS Avoids Liability in Maine Prison Suicide by The decedent committed suicide in prison. The court refuses to draw an adverse inference against the medical defendants from missing records because almost all of them were from a period later than when they had any dealings with the decedent, and the …

Jail Insurance Agreements Subject to Discovery

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Strip Searches, Damages, Discovery, Immunity/Liability, Municipal Liability

Jail Insurance Agreements Subject to Discovery by In a jail strip search suit, the court holds that reinsurance agreements between a self-funded insurance pool of counties and its reinsurers are subject to disclosure under Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(a)(1)(D) governing discovery of insurance agreements. See: Tardiff v. Knox County, 224 F.R.D. 522 (D.Me. …

Jail Liable for Guard's Rape of Female Prisoner

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Municipal Liability, Failure to Train/Supervise

Jail Liable for Guard's Rape of Female Prisoner by The plaintiff was sexually abused by a jail officer on two occasions. The plaintiff denied this conduct when jail administrators investigated based on another prisoner's report. She filed a grievance upon leaving the jail and the officer was suspended and a …

No Liability in Jail Prisoner's Medical Neglect Death

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Immunity/Liability, Municipal Liability, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

No Liability in Jail Prisoner's Medical Neglect Death by The decedent was found unconscious in his cell. Staff attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and a physician's assistant attempted "full CPR." The decedent was transferred by ambulance to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The cause of death was toxic diffuse goiter. …

Prisoner Loses Dental Suit Against PHS

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Prison Health Services, Medical, Dental Care

Prisoner Loses Dental Suit Against PHS by The plaintiff told the prison dentist that he wanted his remaining teeth pulled and to be provided with dentures. The dentist said he would try to avoid dentures and that the plaintiff had many sound teeth that he could keep with proper care. …

Exposed Toilet in Maine Jail Upheld

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Toilets, PLRA, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA)

Exposed Toilet in Maine Jail Upheld by The plaintiff alleged that he was placed in a cell where he was in the direct view of female prisoners in another cell when he performed his bodily functions. There is no evidence that any jail staff member knew that this was the …

Spoliation of Evidence May Imply Liability

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: CMS, Immunity/Liability, Qualified Immunity, Municipal Liability, Contractor Liability, Suicides

Spoliation of Evidence May Imply Liability by A U.S. District Court in Maine held that the spoliation of relevant missing or tampered documents precluded summary judgment, and that certain supervisors were not liable to the estate of a deceased prisoner, but a clinical social worker and two prison guards were …

Attorney Awarded $1.50 in Fees in Nominal Damages Case

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Attorney Fees (PLRA), Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Attorney Awarded $1.50 in Fees in Nominal Damages Case by The First Circuit court of appeals has reduced an attorney fees award from $3,892.50 to $1.50; the fees were awarded to an attorney who helped a pretrial detainee win an award of nominal damages in an excessive force case. The …

Sending State Must Provide Transferred Prisoner Legal Assistance

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Classification, Out of State Transfers, Prisoner Legal Assistance, Law Library Access/Adequacy

Sending State Must Provide Transferred Prisoner Legal Assistance by The First Circuit Court of Appeals held that prisoners transferred from the State of Maine to a Leavenworth, Kansas prison are entitled to receive legal assistance from Maine. After being transferred from Maine State Prison to a federal prison in Leavenworth …

Denial of Mail and Phone Privileges Unreasonable Disciplinary Measures

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Mail Regulations

Denial of Mail and Phone Privileges Unreasonable Disciplinary Measures by The U.S. District Court of Maine held that denial of detainee's access to mail and telephone privileges were unreasonable disciplinary measures. Jeffery Simpson, a pre-trial detainee, while at the Penobscot County jail, violated jail rules. He was placed in disciplinary …

Former PHS Employee Awarded $200,000 for Retaliation, Age Discrimination

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Prison Health Services, Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Medical Misconduct, Retaliation against Staff, Whistleblowing, Employee Litigation, Age Discrimination

Former PHS Employee Awarded $200,000 for Retaliation, Age Discrimination by On August 16, 2001, a Maine jury awarded $200,000 to a registered nurse who claimed she was fired by Prison Health Services (PHS) for voicing concerns about the quality of care being provided to juvenile prisoners and because of her …

Class Action Allowed in County Jail Strip Search Cases

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches, Civil Procedure, Class Certification

Class Action Allowed in County Jail Strip Search Cases by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has approved class certification in two jail strip search cases. The cases were both brought in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine and challenged the strip search policies …

Prisoner Suicide Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit Settled for Deliberate Indifference

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Mental Health, Suicides

Prisoner Suicide Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit Settled for Deliberate Indifference by Prisoner Suicide Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit Settled for Deliberate Indifference A federal district court in Maine has dismissed claims of deliberate indifference against two Somerset County Deputy Sheriffs in a lawsuit filed by Mary Martin, personal representative of the …

ADA Requires Exhaustion of Employee Claims

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Administrative Exhaustion, Americans with Disabilities Act

ADA Requires Exhaustion of Employee Claims by At 181: ". . . [T]he purpose of the administrative exhaustion requirement of the ADA is to provide notice to Defendant of an employee's claims. . . . Thus, the general rule is that the Complaint must be limited to the events identified …

Court Refuses to Drug Defendant for Trial

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Criminal Prosecution, Court Appearances, Mental Health, Involuntary Treatment/Drugging

Court Refuses to Drug Defendant for Trial by The criminal defendant was found incompetent to stand trial. The government did not show sufficient need to involuntarily medicate him to render him competent to stand trial. The government's report does not address whether such medication is medically appropriate; there is inadequate …

$825,000 Attorney Fee Award in Maine Strip-Search Settlement

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches, Attorney Fee Awards, Civil Procedure, Damages, Class Certification

$825,000 Attorney Fee Award in Maine Strip-Search Settlement by In a class action strip-search case that settled for $3.3 million, a federal court in Maine awarded class counsel attorney fees totaling 25 percent of the settlement, or $825,000. The court directed counsel to provide documentation supporting accrued and projected litigation …

Attorney Fees Allowed Under § 1988 in State Court Suits

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorneys, Attorney Fee Awards, State Law Claims

Attorney Fees Allowed Under § 1988 in State Court Suits by The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that 42 U.S.C. § 1983 includes violations of federal law as well as constitutional violations, and that attorney fees could be awarded for such § 1983 violations of federal law under the Civil Rights …