Eleventh Circuit Affirms Damage Award in Psychiatrist’s Strangling Death by Eleventh Circuit Affirms Damage Award in Psychiatrist's Strangling Death The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a jury's verdict awarding a psychiatrist's widow $1.3 million judgment against Florida's Collier County Sheriff. PLN previously reported this verdict, which was predicated …
Florida's Department of Corruption by David Reutter Florida's Department of Corruption by David M. Reutter An underlying principle of our penal system is to instill respect for the laws and rules that govern our society. As such, those charged with running our nation's jails and prisons have an ethical obligation …
Florida Prison Canteen Operators Offices Raided by David Reutter Florida Prison Canteen Operator's Offices Raided by David M. Reutter Agents from the FBI and Florida Department of Law Enforcement raided the office of American Institutional Services (AIS) on June 7, 2006 and seized the companys business records. AIS ran weekend …
Florida Boot Camps a Bust, Replaced by Less Fatal Programs by Gary Hunter A study of the Pinellas County, Florida boot camp for juveniles, requested by Sheriff Jim Coats, found the program to be a phenomenal failure. The study's results, reported in March 2006, revealed that 90 percent of boot …
Florida Judge's Brother Receives Medical Furlough, Recuperates at Home by Florida Judge's Brother Receives Medical Furlough, Recuperates at Home The Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) has sent one of its prison doctors to review if a prisoner should return to prison to heal from heart surgery. The prisoners connections have …
Floridas Civil Commitment Center Under Funded and Out-of-Control by David Reutter Floridas Civil Commitment Center Under Funded and Out-of-Control by David M. Reutter When first created in 1999, Florida's Civil Commitment Center (FCCC) was hyped as a place to house sexually violent predators for protection of the public while providing …
Florida County Sued Over Refusing Sex Offender Home Weather Stripping by A Florida sex offender has sued Brevard Bounty for refusing to weatherize his home. The suit alleges the County has enacted a prerequisite that excludes persons with criminal convictions from receiving federal funds to perform energy savings and installation …
Federal Prisoner Awarded $150.00 For Food Poisoning by Michael Rigby On February 17, 2006, the U.S. District Court for the Middle district of Florida awarded $150.00 to a federal prisoner who contracted food poisoning while imprisoned at FCC Coleman-Low. On April 23, 2002, prisoners eating breakfast in the chow hall …
Floridas Felon Disenfranchisement Law Upheld by David Reutter Florida's Felon Disenfranchisement Law Upheld by David M. Reutter The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, has held that Florida's felon disenfranchisement law does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or the Voting Rights Act. Before …
Board of Commissioners Clears PHS In Three Leon County (Florida) Jail Deaths by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg After three jail deaths between May 2003 and October 2004, the Leon County Board of Commissioners met to consider the Sheriff's reports on the three deaths and any implications regarding the …
Attempted Arrest of Federal Prison Guards in Florida Turns Deadly by Michael Rigby The events of June 21, 2006, were so outrageous they seemed impossible (except, of course, to the regular readers of Prison Legal News). That day, two people were killed and a third was wounded when a prison …
Supreme Court: Lethal Injection Procedure May Be Challenged Via § 1983 by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court held that a condemned prisoner's challenge to the procedure used in lethal injection may be brought in 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and need not be brought in …
Florida DOC Cuts Prisoner Collect Call Costs by 30% by David Reutter by David M. Reutter For over 10 years, the family and friends of Florida prisoners have paid exorbitant costs to communicate with their imprisoned loved one. I dont think that's right, said interim secretary of Florida's Department of …
EMSA, Florida County to Pay $500,000 for Untreated Ectopic Pregnancy by Michael Rigby Broward County, Florida, and EMSA Correctional Care, Inc., must pay $500,000 to a county prisoner who suffered permanent injury and weeks of unnecessary pain because jail medical personnel failed to diagnose or treat her ectopic pregnancy, a …
Florida Gain Time Revocation Clarified by Florida's First of District Court of Appeal has held that a prisoner serving a split sentence where one of the crimes occurred before the effective date of a statute authorizing forfeiture of gain-time upon revocation of probation prohibits imposing a sanction. Before the Court …
Florida Guards a Day Late and a Dollar Short with Failure to Exhaust Defense; $180,000 Verdict Upheld by Florida Guards a Day Late and a Dollar Short with Failure to Exhaust Defense; $180,000 Verdict Upheld Carlos Green, a Florida state prisoner, sued five guards and former Florida DOC director James …
Florida County Bucks Paying $300,000 in Prisoner Medical Bills by Florida's Brevard County has been sued by three local hospitals seeking payment for medical care rendered to prisoners who incurred injuries during their arrests. The County refused to pay, arguing the detainees technically were not in custody at the time …
FL Work Releasees Reporting to Work Late Doesnt Amount to Escape by FL Work Releasees Reporting to Work Late Doesn't Amount to Escape Leon Williams, a prisoner in a state work release center, left the center to walk to work but was 90 minutes late getting there. When he arrived …
Armor Correctional Health Services: A New Company Blossoming with Political Payback by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A recently-formed Florida prison healthcare corporation is blossoming with new contracts from county sheriffs who decided to change bidding requirements and in one case eliminate cost as a consideration. The company, Coconut …
EMSA Negligent In Florida Jail Prisoners Death, County Pays $65,000 by Michael Rigby EMSA Negligent In Florida Jail Prisoners Death, County Pays $65,000 by Michael Rigby On April 1, 2005, a jury in the 19th Circuit Court of St. Lucie County, Florida, found EMSA Correctional Care negligent but not liable …
