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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 …

$200,000 Awarded to Prison Nurse for Wrongful Termination

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Prison Health Services, Retaliation, Retaliation against Staff, Whistleblowing, Systemic Medical Neglect, Juvenile Prisons, Employee Litigation

$200,000 Awarded to Prison Nurse for Wrongful Termination by $200,000 Awarded To Prison Nurse For Wrongful Termination Joan Gilles, a 67-year old former prison nurse at the Northern Maine Juvenile Correctional Facility (NMJCF), in Charleston, filed a law suit against Prison Health Services (PHS), a company that provides medical services …

Sending State Must Provide Transferred Prisoner Legal Assistance

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Transfers, Court Access, Prisoner Legal Assistance, Legal Materials

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 …

Strip Search Jury Instruction Held Invalid; New Trial Ordered

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Searches, Strip Searches, Jury Instructions, New Trial Motions

Strip Search Jury Instruction Held Invalid; New Trial Ordered by by Bob Williams Finding the jury instruction definition of strip search" too narrow, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed a jury's finding that a state jail prisoner's strip search was not unconstitutional. Geoffrey Wood was …

Fact Issues Preclude Summary Judgment In Prisoner Rape Case

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Misconduct/Corruption, Jail Misconduct, Summary Judgment

Fact Issues Preclude Summary Judgment In Prisoner Rape Case by The United States District Court for the District of Maine held that fact issues precluded summary judgment of a sexually assaulted prisoner's § 1983 lawsuit. Plaintiff Linda Faas alleged that while she was in the Washington County Jail (Maine), she …

Plaintiff States Claim Against Private Medical Providers In § 1983 Action

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Private Prisons, CMS, Primecare Medical, Systemic Medical Neglect, Dental Care, Private Contractors, Hepatitis

Plaintiff States Claim Against Private Medical Providers In § 1983 Action by Plaintiff States Claim Against Private Medical Providers In § 1983 Action The United States District Court for the District of Maine held that although a prisoner did not utter "the magic words 'policy and custom' in his" § …

Minnesota Prison's Indigent, Legal Mail Policies Constitutional

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Writing Implements, Mail, Postage, Legal Mail

Minnesota Prison's Indigent, Legal Mail Policies Constitutional by The United States Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Minnesota prison's policy of providing indigent prisoners with writing materials and allowing them one free mailing per week for legal correspondence met constitutional standards. Jerry Wayne Smith, a Kansas state prisoner …

Prisoner Has No Right to Medication Accommodation

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Medical, Medication, Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Americans with Disabilities Act

Prisoner Has No Right to Medication Accommodation by Bob Williams On de novo review, the Maine Supreme Court held that Jon Scott, a prisoner in Androscoggin County Jail, failed to establish actionable state court claims under the Maine Human Rights Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act …

$35,000 Settlement in Maine Jail Strip-Search Case

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Searches, Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches

$35,000 Settlement in Maine Jail Strip-Search Case by After he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge, Geoffrey V.V. Wood was strip-searched at Maine's Hancock County Jail. Wood filed suit, alleging the strip search procedures were illegal and unconstitutional. He settled his lawsuit in May 2004 for $35,000. See: Wood v. …

Jail Segregation Ban on Collect Calls Upheld

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Telephone Access, Attorney Calls, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

Jail Segregation Ban on Collect Calls Upheld by One of the plaintiff's claims was exhausted. At 291-92: He doesn't have "proof-positive," but he does have "some proof that his efforts to file grievances . . . were not facilitated by the Jail as required by the policy." Exhaustion is an …

Two Registered Sex Offenders Murdered in Maine

Article • April 15, 2007 • from PLN April, 2007

Filed under: Discrimination, Sex Offender Registration, Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Prison/Jail Murders, State Legislation

Two Registered Sex Offenders Murdered in Maine by Matthew Clarke by Matthew T. Clarke A violent criminal predator used Maine's sex offender registry web site to identify two sex offenders so he could murder them. Stephen A. Marshall, 20, of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, used his laptop to methodically …

$600,000 Settlement for Abuse at Maine Juvenile Prison

Article • October 15, 2006 • from PLN October, 2006

Filed under: Excessive Force, Restraints

$600,000 Settlement for Abuse at Maine Juvenile Prison by In 2004 the state of Maine paid $600,000 to settle with a former prisoner at the Long Creek Youth Development Center (LCYDC), a juvenile prison. In his lawsuit, filed in 2001, plaintiff Michael Taylor alleged he was placed in solitary confinement …

Torture in Maine Prison

Article • June 15, 2006 • from PLN June, 2006

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Hunger Strikes, Criminal Prosecution, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Restraints, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

Torture in Maine Prison by Lance Tapley Torture in Maine Prison by Lance Tapley The mission of the Maine State Prison is to provide a safe, secure, and humane correctional environment for the incarcerated offender. Five hollering guards wearing helmets, face shields, and full body armor charge into a mentally …

York County, Maine, Settles Class Action Strip-Search Suit for $3,300,000

Article • March 15, 2006 • from PLN March, 2006

Filed under: Searches, Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches, Damages, Settlements

York County, Maine, Settles Class Action Strip-Search Suit for $3,300,000 by In April 2005, York County, Maine, agreed to settle for $3,300,000 a class action lawsuit alleging the county maintained an unconstitutional policy of strip-searching all pre-arraignment detainees in the York County Jail regardless of the charge against them. Plaintiffs …

Mason v. State of Maine, ME, Motion for Summary Judgement, Disability Discrimination, 2004

Brief • September 10, 2004

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Medical Misconduct, Disabled Prisoners, Medical, Systemic Medical Neglect, Skeletal Injury, Malpractice, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act

Mason v. State of Maine, ME, Motion for Summary Judgement, Disability Discrimination, 2004 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE DAVID A. MASON AND PHILLIP M. NAPIER Plaintiffs, v. STATE OF MAINE, DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS et. al. Defendants * * * * * CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:03-cv-199 * …

Plaintiff Entitled to Trial on Question of Whether Mental Illness Warrants Tolling Statute of Limitations

Article • June 15, 2004 • from PLN June, 2004

Filed under: Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Summary Judgment, Limitations, Expert Witnesses, Mental Health

Plaintiff Entitled to Trial on Question of Whether Mental Illness Warrants Tolling Statute of Limitations by The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently held that a mentally ill woman presented sufficient evidence to warrant a trial on her claim that mental illness prevented her from filing …