Courts Retain Power To Grant TROs Under PLRA by The District of Columbia (DC) Court of Appeals has vacated a district court ruling on the merits of a prisoner lawsuit where the district court also found that the prisoner plaintiffs failed to exhaust administrative remedies prior to filing suit. Louis …
Washington PDA May Be Used for Pre-Trial Discovery by The Washington State Supreme Court held that the Washington Public Disclosure Act (PDA) at RCW § 42.17 et seq, may be used as a pretrial discovery tool to obtain caserelated documents from agencies against whom parties are litigating civil cases. The …
Washington Prisoner Attorney Disciplined for Negligence by by Lonnie Burton Attorney Jean Scheidler-Brown holds the DOC "free-services" contract to provide legal representation to prisoners incarcerated at McNeil Island Corrections Center (MICC) and the Washington Correction Center for Women, both in Washington state. In April 1997, she agreed to represent MICC …
BOP Policy Denying Electric Musical Instruments Upheld; Religious Exception Enjoined by The United States District Court for the District of Columbia has upheld the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policy prohibiting prisoners from using or possessing electric guitars or electronic musical instruments. The court enjoined BOP's exception that permitted electric …
Washington Malpractice Suits Allowed Against Defense Attorneys Despite Alford Plea by A Washington Court of Appeals has held that a defendant in a criminal prosecution may sue his former trial attorney for legal malpractice after his conviction was reversed for ineffective assistance, despite the fact that he entered an Alford …
$603,500 in Washington Jail Guard Discrimination Suit by In November, 2001, a King County (Seattle) Superior Court jury awarded $603,500 in damages to Ralph Bunch, a former guard at the King County Juvenile Detention Center. In May, 1999, Bunch, who is black, filed suit against the county claiming he was …
Religious Discrimination, Unsanitary Food Suit Denied Summary Judgment by The United States District Court for the District of Columbia has partly granted, and mostly denied, the defendants' motions for summary judgment on a District of Columbia (D.C.) prisoner's claims that he was racially discriminated against by the defendants' arbitrary handling …
Washington Court of Appeals Adopts Federal "Mailbox Rule" by The federal mailbox rule deems pro se prisoners' pleadings as "filed" at the time they are deposited for mailing in the prison mail system, instead of when they are received by the court clerk. As a matter of first impression, the …
Nguyen v. Pierce County, WA, Claim, Wrongful Arrest and Imprisonment, 2002 CLAIM FOR DAMAG l?,""\WI',-~~.COUNTY .' . RECEIVED RISK MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENt • 955 Tacoma Avenue South, Suite 303 Tacoma, Washington 98402 (253) 798-7462 JUL 1 5 2002 J UL 1 5 2002 PIERCE COUNTY RISK MANAGHvlENT TO PROSECUTING ATTY. +f.L(~ …
Washington Infraction Invalid Where No Notice of Prohibited Conduct Given by The Washington Court of Appeals recently held that due process requires prior notification of prohibited conduct before prison officials may infract and punish prisoners for engaging in such behavior. Because the court found that the prisoner in the case …
$50,000 Settlement in D.C. Retaliation Suit by In the January 2001, issue of PLN we reported Garcia v. District of Columbia, 56 F. Supp.2d 1 (D DC 1998) in which the district court denied prison guards' motion for summary judgment. District of Columbia prisoners Freda Garcia, Lawrence Caldwell and Antonio …
Rape and Racism in Washington Prisons by The Second Division of the Court of Appeals of Washington overturned a jury verdict against the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) in which a prison sergeant sued DOC for racially discriminatory treatment against him. Geronimo Subia is a male prison sergeant of Native …
Compelled Attendance at AA/NA Violates Establishment Clause by Compelled Attendance At AA/NA Violates Establishment Clause The Washington Court of Appeals has held that it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment for the DOC to force a prisoner to attend AA/NA meetings as a part of its chemical dependency …
D.C. Wrongly Jails Mentally Ill Man for Two Years by D.C. Wrongly Jails Mentally Ill Man For Two Years Joseph Heard, 42, was released from the Washington D.C. jail on August 13, 2001. He served nearly 2 years in solitary confinement in the jail's mental health unit. The problem is …
D.C. Closes Lorton Prison by The 91-year-old Lorton Correctional Complex is closed. Forever. In November 2001, after a 16-year-old jail population cap was temporarily lifted, the last 300 prisoners were transferred from the nearby Fairfax County complex to the District's main jail in Washington, D.C. On November 15th, U.S. District …
Prison Coffee and Games: Starbucks and Nintendo Admit Their Contractor Uses Prison Labor by Erica C Barnett by Erica C .Barnett Most people assume that prisoners, especially those convicted of felonies like rape and murder, spend their days stamping license plates, making furniture for state offices, and digging ditches along …
The Cost of Medical Neglect in Washington Prisons by Sam Rutherford By Sam Rutherford The case, Corner v. State of Washington , [see page 6] is only one of many medical neglect suits that the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) has settled. In fact, below is a comprehensive list of …
Washington DOC Virtually Uninsurable by In the May, 2001, issue of PLN we reported the soaring cost of negligent parole supervision cases against the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) in the past year, totaling over $50 million in verdicts and settlements at that time .One result of that steady stream …
Washington DOC Settles Wrongful Death Suit for $245,000 by Washington DOC Settles Wrongful Death Suit For $245,000 In February 2001, Washington prison officials agreed to settle a $2.9 million wrongful death suit for $245,000 in costs, damages, and attorneys' fees. The lawsuit was brought in state court by a prisoner's …
