Frivolous Dismissal Reviewed Under Abuse of Discretion Standard by The court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has held that a district court's dismissal of a prisoner's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit for frivolousness is reviewed by the abuse of discretion standard. It also held that the prisoner's litigation history …
Wackenhut Searches for New Business by Wackenhut Searches For New Business In the 1990s, states couldn't build prisons fast enough. To keep up with the ever-increasing number of prisoners, many states turned to private prison companies like Wackenhut Corrections, Corrections Corporation of America, and Cornell Corrections. But the prison-building boom …
Florida's Prisoner Indigency Statute Unconstitutional by The Florida Supreme Court, in two separate cases, has held that Florida's Prisoner Indigence Statute (PIS) is unconstitutional, and ordered reinstatement of cases dismissed for failing to comply with PIS. Prisoner Douglas M. Jackson, Sr., filed a writ of mandamus seeking to compel the …
Florida DOC Clears Itself of Racism Charges by The September 2001 issue of PLN reported on a series of lawsuits filed by black prison employees against the Florida Department of Corrections, as well as racist brutality by Florida prison guards. Florida DOC Secretary Michael Moore at the time promised to …
Connecticut and Florida Change Felon Disenfranchisement Laws by Connecticut and Florida take different approaches as they address the disenfranchisement of convicted felons. In Connecticut, state lawmakers, after intense debate and much legislative maneuvering, passed a bill that gives back the right to vote to convicted felons on probation. In a …
Excessive Force Claims Not Subject to Exhaustion; Supreme Court Grants Review by The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the exhaustion requirement of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) does not apply to assault and excessive force claims. Connecticut state prisoner Ronald Nussle brought a …
Carruthers v. Pride, FL, Complaint, Work Injury, 2001 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT, SECOND JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR. LEON COUNT', FLORIDA CASE NO.: D CD DIVISION: Calvin Carruthers Plaintiff, • C:. • (VI tlfr27 r." VS. Prisons Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises, Inc, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, and Donald Larson, …
Osterback v. Moore, FL, Settlement, Rule 68 Control Unit Conditions, 2003 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA MIAMI DIVISION CASE NO. 97-2806-CIV-HUCK MAGISTRATE JUDGE BROWN MARK OSTERBACK, et al., Plaintiffs, v. MICHAEL W. MOORE, et al., Defendants. / DEFENDANTS’ REVISED OFFER OF JUDGMENT Defendants, MICHAEL W. MOORE, et …
Racist Knot of Florida Guards by Willie Wisely The fake hunting regulations prominently posted in a Calhoun Correctional Institution colonel's office read, "OPEN SEASON ON PORCH MONKEYS." The daily kill limit was ten according to the sign, Roy Hughes, a black guard, told the St. Petersburg Times December 19, 1999. …
Suits Claiming Racial Discrimination Plague Florida Prisons by Gary Hunter Citing incidents dating back to 1993, over 100 current and past employees are suing the Florida DOC for perpetuating a "long standing custom or policy of racial discrimination." What began as two law suits in December 1999 increased to four …
Florida Religious Name Change Upheld by The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal district court order requiring the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) to allow Muslim prisoners to use their religious name to obtain prison services. While incarcerated, Florida death row prisoner Kenneth D. Quince converted to Islam …
Custodial Rape of Female Prisoners Widespread in U.S. by Roger Smith Custodial Rape Of Female Prisoners Widespread In U.S. by Roger Smith American jail and prison officials sexually molest hundreds, and possibly thousands of women prisoners each year. According to a March 2001 report by Amnesty International USA, over 1,000 …
Three Florida Guards Charged with Beating 'Gunner' by Three Florida state prison guards were arrested October 6, 2000 and charged with kicking and beating a prisoner so severely that his crushed right testicle had to be surgically removed. The beating was administered by guards as a form of "counseling" to …
Bogus Felons List Results in Suppression of Florida Votes by Ronald Young Bogus Felons List Results In Suppression of Florida Votes by Ronald A. Young Undoubtedly, it was the politically motivated decision handed down by five U.S. Supreme Court justices to put a halt to counting untallied Florida votes which …
Texas and Florida Prisoners Used in Medical Experiments by Julia Lutsky When the AIDS epidemic struck in the mid eighties and pharmaceutical companies wished to test new and promising drugs, what better place than in the nation's prison systems? AIDS has no known cure and test subjects in the prison …
"The Judge Gave Me Ten Years--He Didn't Sentence Me to Death" by Anne-Marie Cusac "The Judge Gave Me Ten Years--He Didn't Sentence Me to Death" Prisoners with HIV deprived of proper care By Anne-Marie Cusac In prisons and jails across the country, prisoners with HIV or AIDS are denied proper …
Cursory Medical Treatment Cruel and Unusual by The U.S. court of appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that a failure to diagnose a prisoner's colon cancer may have been extremely negligent, but it did not rise to the level of deliberate indifference. However, a factual dispute precluded summary judgment on …
Florida X-Wing Guard Acquitted in Valdes Beating by The first of five Florida State Prison guards to be tried in connection with the beating death of "XWing" prisoner Frank Valdes was acquitted by a jury in a rural county dominated by the state "corrections" industry. In the October 1999 PLN …
Solomos v. Jenne, FL, Appeal Brief, Jail Fees, 2000 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA THOMAS SOLOMOS AND LUCAS PITTERS, ON BEHALF OF THEMSELVES AND ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED, Petitioners, CASE NO. SC01-510 vs. SHERIFF KEN JENNE, Respondent. ____________________________________/ _________________________________________________________________ AMENDED INITIAL BRIEF OF PETITIONERS _________________________________________________________________ ON DISCRETIONARY REVIEW FROM …
