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$154,000 Awarded to Hawaii Prisoner Injured by Jumping from Bunk Bed Without Ladder And Exposed to ETS

Article • June 15, 2008 • from PLN June, 2008

Filed under: Medical, Injury -- Misc., Smoking, Damages, Premises Liability

$154,000 Awarded to Hawaii Prisoner Injured by Jumping from Bunk Bed Without Ladder And Exposed to ETS by Hawaii’s First Circuit Court has awarded a prisoner $153,652.73 in a negligence lawsuit. The prisoner’s claims arise from the failure to provide ladders on bunk beds and failure to enforce a non-smoking …

Audit Reveals Continuing “State of Chaos” at Hawaii Youth Prison

Article • January 15, 2008 • from PLN January, 2008

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Escapes, Totality of Conditions, Staffing, Guards/Staff, ACA, American Correctional Association

Audit Reveals Continuing “State of Chaos” at Hawaii Youth Prison by Audit Reveals Continuing "State of Chaos" at Hawaii Youth Prison The Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility (HYCF) is in non-compliance with most of the American Correctional Association (ACA) "Standards for Juvenile Correction Facilities," according to a 2007 security audit. HYCF, …

Hawaii Youth Prison Financial Audit Finds Excessive Overtime/Leave Abuses

Article • January 15, 2008 • from PLN January, 2008

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, DOC/BOP misconduct, Staffing

Hawaii Youth Prison Financial Audit Finds Excessive Overtime/Leave Abuses by A 2007 financial audit of the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility (HYCF) found significant overtime costs and sick leave among guards, with 35 percent of gross compensation being earned through overtime pay in fiscal year 2004-2005. Intense scrutiny of HYCF, the …

New Law Bars Hawaii Prison Officials from Canceling Visits

Article • October 15, 2007 • from PLN October, 2007

Filed under: Out of State Transfers, Visiting, State Legislation

New Law Bars Hawaii Prison Officials from Canceling Visits by A new state law prohibits Hawaii prison officials from canceling prescheduled visits because of absenteeism or guard shortages, if the visitors have traveled from another island or the mainland. Retired prison guard Kam Tanaka, now a State Representative, sponsored the …

Second Hawaii Sex Assault Case Settled for $25,000

Article • June 15, 2007 • from PLN June, 2007

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, DOC/BOP misconduct, Criminal Prosecution

Second Hawaii Sex Assault Case Settled for $25,000 by The state of Hawaii has agreed to settle with a second prisoner who claimed she was sexually assaulted by a former warden while imprisoned at the Maui Community Correctional Center, as reported in a February 9, 2007 article in the Honolulu …

$30,000 Award in Hawaii Medical Negligence Suit

Article • June 15, 2007 • from PLN June, 2007

Filed under: Medical, Gastrointestinal

$30,000 Award in Hawaii Medical Negligence Suit by On March 14, 2006, a court in Hawaii awarded a prisoner $30,000 for medical negligence by Oahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) personnel. Walter V. Rodenhurst, III, was a pre-trial detainee who was incarcerated at the Federal Detention Center (FDC) due to overcrowding …

No Immunity for School Official Taping Second Grader's Head to Tree

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Restraints, Juveniles

No Immunity for School Official Taping Second Grader's Head to Tree by "The facts are not complicated." A school vice principal taped a second-grade student's head to a tree as punishment, releasing him after five minutes when a fifth-grade student said she didn't think he ought to be doing that. …

Prison Doctors Denied Summary Judgment on Deliberate Indifference Claim

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Medical, Medication, Nervous System

Prison Doctors Denied Summary Judgment on Deliberate Indifference Claim by The U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii denied summary judgment to five prison doctors at the Maui Community Correctional Center (MCCC) and the Halawa Correctional Facility (HCF) in Hawaii in a claim of deliberate indifference to a serious …

Prison Doctor's Lack of Knowledge Does Not Constitute Deliberate Indifference

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Medication, Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Malpractice, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Mental Health, Drug Treatment/Rehab

Prison Doctor's Lack of Knowledge Does Not Constitute Deliberate Indifference by The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a Hawaii prison doctor's medical malpractice resulting in the death of a prisoner, while demonstrating negligence, did not rise to the level of "deliberate indifference" to establish Eighth Amendment cruel …

Sanctions Upheld, New Trial Ordered Over Use of Plaintiffs Sexual History at Trial

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Staff-Staff Harassment, Racial Discrimination, Civil Procedure, Evidentiary Ruling, Sanctions, Employee Litigation

Sanctions Upheld, New Trial Ordered Over Use of Plaintiffs Sexual History at Trial by Sanctions Upheld, New Trial Ordered Over Use of Plaintiffs Sexual History at Trial The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held a complaint filed by a female officer of the Maui Police Department with the Hawaiian Civil …

Female Only Guard Posts Approved

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Discrimination, Gender Discrimination -- Men

Female Only Guard Posts Approved by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held a policy at Hawaii's Women's Community Correctional Center that designates six posts as available as only assignable to women guards is a reasonable response to concerns about prisoner privacy and allegations of abuse by male guards. The …

Beating States Claim

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Medical, Failure to Treat, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Beating States Claim by The court of appeals for the Ninth circuit held that a district court erred in dismissing a Hawaii prisoner's lawsuit for failing to state a claim. The plaintiff claimed he was beaten by guards and then denied medical care for injuries he sustained in the beating. …

Overcrowding Conditions State Claim

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Overcrowding

Overcrowding Conditions State Claim by The court of appeals for the Ninth circuit held a district court erred when it dismissed an overcrowding lawsuit filed by pro se Hawaiian prisoners for failing to state a claim. Overcrowding, per se, is not unconstitutional. In this case the plaintiffs alleged the negative …

Expert Witness Fees Allowed Under ADA and RA

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Discrimination, Disabled Prisoners, Attorney Fee Awards, Expert Witnesses, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act

Expert Witness Fees Allowed Under ADA and RA by The court of appeals for the Ninth circuit held that prevailing plaintiffs are entitled to full expert witness fees under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12132 and the Rehabilitation Act (RA), 29 U.S.C. § 794. The underlying …

No Liberty Interest in Interstate Prison Transfer

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Classification, Out of State Transfers, Disciplinary Litigation, Liberty Interests

No Liberty Interest in Interstate Prison Transfer by A Hawaii prisoner filed suit after being moved from a Hawaii prison to one in California. After a "program committee" labeled him a troublemaker, the prisoner was notified of an impending hearing and he retained counsel. The committee recommended after the hearing …

Hawaii Settles DOJ Suit Over Unconstitutional Juvenile Facility

Article • March 15, 2007 • from PLN March, 2007

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Settlements, Administrative Exhaustion, Federal Statutory Law, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Hawaii Settles DOJ Suit Over Unconstitutional Juvenile Facility by The State of Hawaii settled a suit brought by the United States government, resolving a suit over unconstitutional conditions of confinement at the Hawaii Youth Corrections Facility (HYCF) in Kailua, Hawaii. On August 16, 2004, the United States Department of Justice …

Hawaii Juvenile Gay Bashing Enjoined

Article • March 15, 2007 • from PLN March, 2007

Filed under: Gay/Lesbian, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Juveniles

Hawaii Juvenile Gay Bashing Enjoined by A federal court in Hawaii issued a preliminary injunction, prohibiting harassment, abuse, discrimination and isolation of juvenile detainees who are, or are perceived to be, lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT). The Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility (HYCF) is a secure juvenile detention facility ?existing …

Slingluff v. State of Hawaii, HI, Complaint, Med Mal Leaves Prisoner Impotent, 2006

Brief • October 18, 2006

Filed under: Male Reproductive, Malpractice

Slingluff v. State of Hawaii, HI, Complaint, Med Mal Leaves Prisoner Impotent, 2006 Case 1:06-cv-00565-SPK-LK Document 1 Filed 10/18/06 Page 1 of 4 PageID #: 3 RIGJNAL MARK 1. BENNETT 2672 Attorney General of Hawaii CARON M. INAGAKI 3835 KENDALL J. MOSER 6515 Deputy Attorneys General Department of the Attorney …

Slingluff v. State of Hawaii, HI, Complaint, Medical Malpractice, 2006

Brief • October 18, 2006

Filed under: Male Reproductive, Malpractice

Slingluff v. State of Hawaii, HI, Complaint, Medical Malpractice, 2006 Case 1:06-cv-00565-SPK-LK Document 1-2 Filed 10/18/06 Page 1 of 14 JUNG & VASSAR, P.C. (5489) FRANCIS L. JUNG (7656) USHA K.ILPATRICK KOTNER 75-170 Hualalai Road, Suite D-214 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 Telephone No. (808) 326-4852 PageID #: 7 ·. r·" '" …

No Room in Prison? Ship Em Off Prisoners have become unwitting pawns in a lowest-bidder- gets-the-convict shuffle game

Article • September 15, 2006 • from PLN September, 2006

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Esmor/CSC, Staffing, Rehabilitation/Recidivism

No Room in Prison? Ship Em Off Prisoners have become unwitting pawns in a lowest-bidder- gets-the-convict shuffle game by Silja JA Talvi No Room in Prison? Ship Em Off Prisoners have become unwitting pawns in a lowest-bidder- gets-the-convict shuffle game by Silja J.A. Talvi It has been an arduous, surreal …