District Court Awards Attorney Fees on Forced Medication Claim by The U.S. District Court for the District of Utah awarded attorney fees and costs to a jail prisoner who complained of being forcibly medicated with psychotropic drugs. The fees awarded, however, were only about one-third the requested amount. Daniel Howard …
Damages and Attorney Fees Awarded in Forced Medication Suit by The court of appeals for the Tenth circuit held that a Utah pretrial detainee's right to due process was violated when he was forcibly medicated with psychotropic drugs. District court entered judgment on a jury award of $100 actual and …
10th Circuit Reverses Sua Sponte Medical Claim Dismissal by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower courts sua sponte dismissal of a Utah prisoner's deliberate indifference action, for failure to state a claim. Utah prisoner Joe Martinez has a cyst on his left testicle and epididymis of his …
Damage Award for Strip Celled Utah Jail Detainee Affirmed by The court of appeals for the Tenth circuit upheld a district court ruling in favor of a mentally ill jail detainee in Utah who was placed in a strip cell with no type of hearing for 56 days. The strip …
County Liable in Prisoner Death, Individual Defendants Not; $147,000 Jury Verdict Upheld by County Liable in Prisoner Death, Individual Defendants Not; $147,000 Jury Verdict Upheld The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that the level of medical care received by a county jail prisoner was violative of …
Incarceration Alone Does not Provide Basis to Terminate Parental Rights by The Utah Court of Appeals held that a parent's incarceration alone is insufficient to terminate his or her parental rights. T.B. was incarcerated for most of his daughter D.B.'s life. As a result, D.B. was placed with a foster …
Tenth Circuit Upholds Dismissal Of Utah Prisoner's Conditions Claim by On June 3, 2004, the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that unsafe conditions in a prison shower area that resulted in a Utah prisoner's slip and fall did not rise to the level of a constitutional violation. State …
Court Permission Must Be Sought for Party to Proceed Anonymously by The plaintiffs sought to challenge the Utah fornication and sodomy statutes, and to do so pseudonymously. At 1172: When a party wishes to file a case anonymously or under a pseudonym, it must first petition the district court for …
Suit Waiver Not Valid Due to Lack of Counsel by The plaintiff signed a release agreement with respect to civil claims arising out of an arrest which was resolved by a "plea in abeyance," equivalent to an ACD. The court concludes it was not voluntarily executed under Rumery and could …
Prisoners In 13 States Allowed Work-Access To Social Security Numbers by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The U.S. Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported that prisoners in thirteen states had access to Social Security numbers (SSNs) during the course of their prison employment. Following a nationwide survey, the …
Utah House of Refuge a House of Horrors by Gary Hunter A Utah faith based halfway house for probationers, jail releasees and homeless men, called the House of Refuge, turned out to be a house of horrors for those who lived there. On February 2, 2006, state licensing officials shut …
Utah Jail Policy Banning Subscriptions to Magazines and Newspapers Enjoined; Fees Awarded by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg On June 2, 2004, the United States District Court (D. Utah) ruled that the Salt Lake County Jails (SLCJ) policy prohibiting prisoners receipt of any magazine or newspaper was unconstitutional. Brian …
Utah DOC Settles Wrongful-Death Suit Involving Exonerated Suspect For $150,000 by by Michael Rigby On September 29, 2004, the widow of a one-time suspect in the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping settled her wrongful-death lawsuit against the Utah Department of Corrections (DOC) for $150,000. When 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her …
Controversial Ex-Prison Official Lane McCotter Appointed Utah J.P. by Lane McCotter, once the director of the Utah Department of Corrections, has been appointed to a justice of the peace bench in Utah. The McCotter era remains a high-point of prison violence in Utah's history cumulating in the death of a …
Iraqi Dungeons and Torture Chambers Under New, American Trained Management by Leah Caldwell Just a year ago, Attorney General John Ashcroft pointed to the Iraqi prison system as a shining example of the freedoms that the U.S. would bring to Iraq. He said, "Now, all Iraqis can taste liberty in …
Abu Ghraib, USA by Anne-Marie Cusac When I first saw the photo, taken at the Abu Ghraib prison, of a hooded and robed figure strung with electrical wiring, I thought of the Sacramento, California, city jail. When I heard that dogs had been used to intimidate and bite at least …
PLN Sues Utah Jail Over Publication Ban; Jail Settles by In September 2001, Prison Legal News sued the Millard County jail in Utah over its policy of prohibiting jail prisoners from receiving or subscribing to newspapers or magazines, including PLN . The jail censors all publications sent to prisoners. Due …
Telemarketing and Computer Programs Crash at Utah Prison by Roger Hummel "Hi, how are you doing? I am fine. My name is David ... If you will be willing to go out with me, will you answer these questions honestly as to what you will be willing to do with …
Prison Legal News v. Millard County, UT, Complaint, Publication Ban, 2001 • Case 2:01-cv-00580-TS Document 1 • Filed 07/30/2001 Page 1 of 15 "i I~'ILED , r (, ,! '~' T USB # 0215 BRIAN M. BARNARD USB # 8204 JAMES L. HARRIS, Jr. UTAH LEGAL CLINIC Attorneys for PLAINTIFF …
Wildfires Highlight Cheapness of Prisoner Lives by Wildfires HighLight Cheapness of Prisoner Lives The summer of 2000 brought dev- astating wildfires to the Western United States. By official count, some 25,000 firefighters were involved battling dozens of blazes across the West during the height of the fire season. That includes …
