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Officers' Convictions Upheld, One Case Reversed for Sixth Amendment Violation

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Jury Instructions, Excessive Force (Police)

Officers' Convictions Upheld, One Case Reversed for Sixth Amendment Violation by The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld all but one conviction of former law enforcement officers for violating an arrestee's federal civil rights, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering. The court reversed one conviction for violation of the …

Guard Properly Convicted, Sentenced for Extorting Prisoners

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines

Guard Properly Convicted, Sentenced for Extorting Prisoners by The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the sentence of a prison guard convicted of extorting prisoners. William D. Coger, a prison guard in West Virginia, was convicted of extorting money and favors from prisoners in the amount of $90,104. He …

No Unconstitutional Deprivation for County Jail Overcrowding

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Overcrowding, Special Masters

No Unconstitutional Deprivation for County Jail Overcrowding by Daniel Sams, a prisoner sentenced to the West Virginia State Department of Corrections, and five other similarly-situated prisoners, filed a State court mandamus action to compel their transfer out of county jail to D.O.C. due to overcrowding. The State Supreme Court appointed …

Disciplinary Rule Description Rather than Title Controls

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Prisoner-Staff Assault, Disciplinary Litigation, Habeas Corpus

Disciplinary Rule Description Rather than Title Controls by The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has held that "it is the content of what is contained under a title that is critical in most instances, not the title" of a "disciplinary rule"(DR). That ruling comes in the appeal of a …

Prisoners In 13 States Allowed Work-Access To Social Security Numbers

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

Filed under: Prison Industries, Prison Labor, News, Federal Legislation

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 …

West Virginia Prisoner Sued By Victims Mother Following $50,000 Award

Article • May 15, 2006 • from PLN May, 2006

Filed under: Victims, Conditions of Confinement, Transportation, Damages, Premises Liability

West Virginia Prisoner Sued By Victims Mother Following $50,000 Award by West Virginia Prisoner Sued By Victims Mother Following $50,000 Award On August 16, 2005, state prisoner Mark Allen Harris was awarded $50,000 for facial injuries he sustained when he fell out of a jail van. Two days - later, …

Unearned Good Time Credits May Not Be Withheld as Disciplinary Sanction

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

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Sanctions (Disciplinary Hearings), Mandamus, Good Time

Unearned Good Time Credits May Not Be Withheld as Disciplinary Sanction by Bob Williams Unearned Good Time Credits May Not Be Withheld As Disciplinary Sanction by Bob Williams The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has held that a state prisoner may not lose more good time credits as a …

Court Upholds Prison Library Purge of Titillating Material

Article • December 15, 2003

Filed under: Reading Materials, Publications/Books, Sexually Explicit Materials, Media, Censorship

Court Upholds Prison Library Purge of Titillating Material by Court Upholds Prison Library Purge of Titillating Material The plaintiff challenged the censorship of "the 'Paper Wings' line of books, an adult-fiction serial" after exhausting. During discovery, he said that he had found similar material in the prison library. Prison officials …

West Virginia Supreme Court Fails to Cure Prison Overcrowding - Again

Article • January 15, 2002 • from PLN January, 2002

Filed under: Overcrowding, Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Special Masters

West Virginia Supreme Court Fails to Cure Prison Overcrowding - Again by West Virginia's Supreme Court took notice of the overcrowded state prison system, acknowledged that over 850 convicted felons are lodged in county jails and elsewhere while awaiting transfer to state prison, discharged the current Special Master, appointed a …

Supreme Court Eliminates "Catalyst Theory" Fee Awards

Article • December 15, 2001 • from PLN December, 2001

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Federal Statutory Law, Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Housing Act

Supreme Court Eliminates "Catalyst Theory" Fee Awards by Supreme Court Eliminates "Catalyst Theory" Fee Awards In a 54 decision, the United States Supreme Court held that the "catalyst theory" is no longer a permissible basis for an award of attorneys' fees to "prevailing parties" under fee shifting statutes such as …

Private Prison Contractor Not Entitled to Immunity

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Private Prisons, Youth Service Systems, Contractor Liability, Suicides

Private Prison Contractor Not Entitled to Immunity by A State court of appeals in West Virginia has held that a private contractor of youth incarceration services is not entitled to immunity under the Governmental Tort Claims and Insurance Reform Act (the Act), W.Va. Code §§ 2912A1 to 18. Tracy Galloway …

Peaceful Protest at Mount Olive Prison

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Prison Labor, Work Strikes, Probation, Prisoner Property, Guards/Staff, American Correctional Association

Peaceful Protest at Mount Olive Prison by Gary Hunter Limits on personal property sparked a peaceful protest by prisoners at Mount Olive Correctional facility in Fayette County, West VA. On October 2nd over a fourth of the 867 residents gathered on the recreation yard with 16 demands for warden Howard …

West Virginia Prisoners Protest Visit/Phone Restrictions

Article • June 15, 2000 • from PLN June, 2000

Filed under: Prison Industries, Prison Rebellion, Work Strikes, Prisoner Privileges, Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

West Virginia Prisoners Protest Visit/Phone Restrictions by Prisoners at the Mount Olive Correctional Center in West Virginia staged a walkout on Monday morning August 30, 1999 to protest a new visitation policy and problems with the phone system. More than 200 prisoners gathered in the prison's recreation yard and sat …

West Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Computer Ban

Article • November 15, 1999 • from PLN November, 1999

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Computers, Court Access, Writing Implements, Prisoner Property

West Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Computer Ban by In the February, 1998, issue of PLN we reported that the West Virginia Department of Corrections (DOC) had prohibited its prisoners from having personal computers in their cells. In the previous decade West Virginia, New Jersey, Wyoming, Alaska and a prison in …

West Virginia DOC Commissioner Resigns After Beating Wife

Article • September 15, 1999 • from PLN September, 1999

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Parole Board Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct

West Virginia DOC Commissioner Resigns After Beating Wife by On March 10, 1999, West Virginia Department of Corrections commissioner Bill Davis resigned his position "effective immediately." Davis cited "personal reasons" for resigning. The "personal reasons" in question is Davis's arrest on spousal abuse charges. On March 5, 1999, Davis's estranged …

Mock Prison Riot Staged

Article • August 15, 1998 • from PLN August, 1998

Filed under: Prison Rebellion, Prisoner Privileges, Education

Mock Prison Riot Staged by On April 25 and 26, 1998, there was a weekend-long riot at the old West Virginia State Penitentiary. This wasn't your typical prison riot, though. First of all, it was anything but spontaneous. Rather, the two-day event was meticulously planned, and carried out by prison …

Zain Fallout Continues

Article • March 15, 1998 • from PLN March, 1998

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Settlements, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

Zain Fallout Continues by Fred Zain was a crime lab serologist, who tested evidence for the West Virginia state police from 1979 to 1989, and was chief of serology his last five years. During that time Zain falsified evidence and testified about the results of tests he never performed. In …

West Virginia Jailers Sentenced to Prison

Article • March 15, 1998 • from PLN March, 1998

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct

West Virginia Jailers Sentenced to Prison by Former Grant County, West Virginia, sheriff John Leatherman, 39, was sentenced October 14, 1997, to six years in the state penitentiary on a civil rights count and one year in the county jail on a battery count. Leatherman pleaded no contest in a …

No Immunity for Delaying Arthritis Treatment

Article • February 15, 1998 • from PLN February, 1998

Filed under: Medical, Skeletal Disorder, Restraints, Discovery, Qualified Immunity

No Immunity for Delaying Arthritis Treatment by Afederal district court in West Virginia held prisoners had a clearly established right in 1994 to prompt medical treatment and to have prescribed treatment followed. Oscar Finley, a West Virginia state prisoner suffers from arthritis and has a physician's recommendation that he not …

West Virginia Prisoners Lose Computers

Article • February 15, 1998 • from PLN February, 1998

Filed under: Prisoner Privileges, Computers

West Virginia Prisoners Lose Computers by Following the lead of prisoncrats in Washington, New Jersey, Wyoming, and Alaska, West Virginia DOC officials ordered the removal of all prisoner-owned personal computers from state prison cells. Corrections Commissioner Bill Davis, who took office August 1, 1997, issued a memorandum to all state …