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Delaware Prisoners Sue DOC Alleging Sexual Assaults by Prison Doctor

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Correctional Healthcare Solutions, Guard Misconduct, Medical Misconduct, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Malpractice

Delaware Prisoners Sue DOC Alleging Sexual Assaults by Prison Doctor by Christopher Zoukis In a case of alleged staff misconduct at a Delaware prison, nine prisoners filed suit in Sussex County Superior Court alleging that a former prison doctor sexually assaulted them on numerous occasions. The prisoners’ lawsuit claims that …

Seventh Circuit: Former Parolee May Sue Over Delayed Release from Parole

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Parole Board Misconduct, Eighth Amendment, Parole

Seventh Circuit: Former Parolee May Sue Over Delayed Release from Parole by On May 19, 2015, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a former parolee may pursue an Eighth Amendment claim in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights suit alleging a parole officer had intentionally delayed her …

Hawaii Prisons Experience Security Failures, Other Troubling Incidents

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Escapes, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Failure to Train/Supervise, Hiring Liability, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Suicides, Failure to Protect (Staff)

Hawaii Prisons Experience Security Failures, Other Troubling Incidents by David Reutter Operations and management at two Hawaii prisons are under scrutiny following a series of incidents over the past several years that have ranged from prisoner deaths and escapes to sexual harassment by staff members and the beating of a …

Second Circuit: Truth of Arrest Remains Despite Connecticut “Erasure” Law

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: False Arrest

Second Circuit: Truth of Arrest Remains Despite Connecticut “Erasure” Law by Mark Wilson The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that Connecticut’s “Erasure Statute” does not render factually-true statements about a person’s arrest false. Connecticut law allows for the destruction of arrest records if an individual is found not guilty, …

Second Circuit: Administrative Remedies Unavailable for Beating at Holding Facility

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings

Second Circuit: Administrative Remedies Unavailable for Beating at Holding Facility by The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held the defendants in a civil rights action failed to establish that a prisoner had an available administrative remedy for exhaustion purposes under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). After a New York …

BOP Recognizes Humanist Religion after Prisoner Files Suit

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Denial of Religious Services, Religion Defined

BOP Recognizes Humanist Religion after Prisoner Files Suit by Derek Gilna The American Humanist Association, affiliated with over 1,000 congregations in the United States, has been a recognized religion for decades – but it took a civil rights complaint by a federal prisoner at FCI Sheridan in Oregon to finally …

A “Quantum Leap” Isn’t Far Enough for the Prison Phone Industry

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Prison Reform, Telephone Rates, PLN Litigation

A “Quantum Leap” Isn’t Far Enough for the Prison Phone Industry by Carrie Wilkinson The December 2015 issue of Prison Legal News detailed a historic October 2015 rulemaking decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to comprehensively reform the prison phone industry. Regular PLN readers are all too familiar with …

Suit Filed Over New Hampshire DOC’s Restrictive Mail Policy

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Mail Regulations, First Amendment, Children of Prisoners

Suit Filed Over New Hampshire DOC’s Restrictive Mail Policy by On December 18, 2015, the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm of Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer and Nelson, P.A. filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a three-year-old child and his grandmother, claiming that the New Hampshire Department of …

Warden’s Decision to Quarantine Handicapped Person in Unaccommodated Cell Actionable; $200,000 Settlement

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Corizon, Disabled Prisoners, Infections, Strip Searches, Eighth Amendment, Americans with Disabilities Act, Qualified Immunity, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

Warden’s Decision to Quarantine Handicapped Person in Unaccommodated Cell Actionable; $200,000 Settlement by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a warden who placed a double amputee prisoner with MRSA in a segregation unit without handicap accommodations was not entitled to qualified immunity. When Martinique Stoudemire, 23 at the …

Tennessee Sheriff’s Denial of Public Records Merits Attorney Fee Award

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Attorney Fee Awards, Public Records, PLN Litigation

Tennessee Sheriff’s Denial of Public Records Merits Attorney Fee Award by A Tennessee appellate court held the sheriff of Marshall County had willfully denied access to public records requested by PLN. Consequently, the plaintiff was entitled to attorney fees after filing a lawsuit to compel production of the records. In …

Why is California Thumbing its Nose at a Federal Court?

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Gang Policies, Good Time, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

Why is California Thumbing its Nose at a Federal Court? by Caleb Mason The Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution provides that the government can’t retroactively increase the penalty for criminal conduct. It applies not just to initial sentence length but also to potential “good-time credit” prisoners can earn …

New York: $35,000 Awarded for Three-week Illegal Confinement

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Wrongful Imprisonment, Overdetention

New York: $35,000 Awarded for Three-week Illegal Confinement by Mark Wilson The Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division has upheld a $35,000 damage award in favor of a former prisoner illegally confined for three weeks. In October 2007, Robert Miller was charged with second- and third-degree drug offenses. He …

Fourth Circuit Finds 20 Years in Solitary an Atypical and Significant Hardship

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Eighth Amendment, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

Fourth Circuit Finds 20 Years in Solitary an Atypical and Significant Hardship by David Reutter On July 1, 2015, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals found the “20-year period of solitary confinement” endured by a South Carolina prisoner “amounts to an atypical and significant hardship in relation to the general …

California’s Inspector General Cites Abuses at High Desert State Prison

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Disabled Prisoners, Failure to Protect (General), Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Failure to Train/Supervise

California’s Inspector General Cites Abuses at High Desert State Prison by Derek Gilna A special report by Robert A. Barton, Inspector General of the State of California, released in December 2015, highlighted numerous problems at the High Desert State Prison in Susanville. The California Senate Committee on Rules had requested …

$1,000 Jury Award in Texas Prisoner’s Excessive Use of Force Suit

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Burning, Damages

$1,000 Jury Award in Texas Prisoner’s Excessive Use of Force Suit by Matthew Clarke On August 18, 2014, a Texas federal jury awarded a state prisoner $1,000 on his claim of excessive use of force by a prison guard. Enforcement of that judgment, however, would prove difficult. Florencio Hernandez was …

Ninth Circuit: Witnesses Cannot Refuse to Testify at Civil Trial

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Witnesses

Ninth Circuit: Witnesses Cannot Refuse to Testify at Civil Trial by On March 31, 2015, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a magistrate judge abused her discretion by allowing prisoners to opt out of testifying at a civil rights trial alleging guards had used excessive force on another …

Supreme Court Reverses SORNA Notification Requirement when Sex Offenders Move Overseas

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Sex Offender Registration, Sex Offender Residence, Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Immigration

Supreme Court Reverses SORNA Notification Requirement when Sex Offenders Move Overseas by Derek Gilna The federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), 42 U.S.C. § 16901, et seq., requires registered sex offenders to advise law enforcement officials within three business days of their change of address or intent to …

Lawsuit Filed Over Death of Pepper-sprayed, Mentally Ill California Prisoner

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Failure to Train/Supervise, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides

Lawsuit Filed Over Death of Pepper-sprayed, Mentally Ill California Prisoner by Gary Hunter The father and mother of a mentally ill California prisoner who died at the Mule Creek State Prison (MCSP) have filed suit against a host of prison and Amador County, California officials, alleging that their son’s death …

From the Editor

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Prison Reform, Conditions of Confinement, PLRA, Telephone Rates, PLN Litigation, PLN related

From the Editor by Paul Wright Welcome to the 26th anniversary issue of Prison Legal News! I would like to thank all the people around the country who have helped PLN and the Human Rights Defense Center grow and prosper over the past 26 years. This includes all of our …

News in Brief

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Australia: An anal-retentive prisoner in the supermax unit at the Goulburn Jail claimed for 12 days that a metal object detected inside his body was a fragment of a surgical instrument, but his claims were proven false when his bowels finally moved on February 24, 2016 …