$22,500 to Seattle WA Jail Brutality Suit by The King County (Seattle) jail in Washington settled a brutality suit on January 26, 1998, by paying a former jail prisoner $22,500. Lonnie Burton was a prisoner in the King County jail when he alleged he was attacked without provocation by jail …
WA DOC Investigators Can't Detain Visitors: Drugs Suppressed by Astate appeals court in Washington held that prison investigators lack the authority to detain and question visitors, therefore any drugs found after a search had to be suppressed. William Dane, a Washington state prisoner at the Clallam Bay Correction Center (CBCC) …
WA Prison Telemarketing Elicits Controversy - Again by Paul Wright In December 1997 and January 1998, statewide media attention spotlighted a "shocking" prison tele- marketing partnership between the Washington state Parks and Recreation Department and the Department of Corrections (DOC) Correctional Industries (CI). For two years prisoners at Clallam Bay …
Through the Civil Commitment Looking Glass by Tamara Menteer If the object or purpose of the Kansas [civil commitment] law had been to provide treatment but treatment were adopted as a sham or mere pretext, there would have been an indication of the forbidden purpose to punish . -- Justice …
Injury Required to Enforce Grand Jury Law by The court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit held that while individuals can seek judicial enforcement of a law requiring that evidence be presented to a grand jury, the party seeking enforcement must allege injury in order to have standing. …
Behind Closed Doors: Struggle in Washington IMU's by Jennifer Vogel In the "Intensive Management Unit" at the state prison in Shelton, WA a man who looks to be in his 50s is wearing an orange plastic rain jacket and pacing the parameter of the "yard." The yard is really just …
Washington Child Support Minimum Struck Down by The Washington state court of appeals, Division I, held that RCW 26.19.065, which requires a statutory minimum child support payment of $25 per month, violates federal law and the supremacy clause. David Gilbert, a Washington state prisoner, was court ordered to pay $25 …
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Heightened Pleading Standards for Intent Based Claims by Paul Wright By Paul Wright On May 4, 1998, the United States supreme court held that civil rights plaintiffs do not have to meet a heightened standard of pleading when filing suit against government officials. Lawsuits alleging an …
Youth in Washington Prisons Challenge Lack of Education by David C Fathi by David C. Fathi Youth incarcerated in the Washington Department of Corrections (WDOC) are challenging the state's failure to provide them with basic and special education, as required by state and federal law. The lawsuit, Tunstall v. Bergeson …
Martin v. WA DOC, WA, Complaint, Cargo Accident, 1998 4&~"""'" \~ * . f" -~ . _.~ :CEtVED SO JUL 1 0 1998 \() 1 ,----_._-_._--_. '-"---'" . FILED RECEIVED Office of the Attorney General r.\ .JUN I R IS03-"! JUL 15 98 Vancouver Office 2 3 , IN TIlE …
Spokane County Corrections Officials Accused of Cover-up by An independent counsel hired by Spokane County, Washington, says that top officials at the county's Geiger Corrections Center wrongly fired a former guard and then conspired to falsify evidence so the firing would stick. The guard, Sandra "Sunny" Pilkington, was fired for …
Beating by Unknown Guards States Claim by Afederal district court in the District of Columbia held that a prisoner's claim that he was beaten unconscious by three unknown guards stated a claim for violation of the eighth amendment. James Arnold, a District of Columbia (DC) prisoner, was returning to his …
Washington Good Time Cap Clarified by AWashington state court of appeals held that prisoners convicted of violent class B felonies were entitled to a one third good time sentence reduction and not the fifteen percent reduction calculated by the Washington DOC. Craig Mahrle was convicted of solicitation to commit second …
DC Women Prisoners' Suit Settled by In the December 1995, June 1996 and September 1997 issues of PLN we reported the saga of Womens Prisoners of the District of Columbia DOC v. District of Columbia , which is cited in 877 F.Supp. 634, 899 F.Supp. 659, and 93 F.3d 910, …
Prior Dismissals Count as Strikes by The court of appeals for the third and ninth circuits joined the fifth, seventh and tenth circuits in holding that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) applies to cases dismissed before the PLRA's April 26, 1996, enactment. Section 1915(g) prohibits prisoners from proceeding with in forma …
Bad Faith Appeals by The court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit held that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) precludes prisoners from appealing without full prepayment of the filing fees if the district court certifies that the appeal is not taken in good faith. The issue was one of …
WA County Launches Slave Labor Center by Construction crews were hard at work in February, l998, pounding nails, framing walls and stirring Spackle to remodel a building adjacent to the Whatcom County (WA) Courthouse. Pictured on the front page of the Bellingham Herald , they looked like any typical hard-working …
Belen v. WA DOC, WA, Appeal Disciplinary Sanction, Salary Reduction, 1998 1 BEFORE THE PERSONNEL APPEALS BOARD 2 STATE OF WASHINGTON 3 4 5 Appellant, 6 v. 7 ) ) Case No. RED-96-0016 ) ) FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF ) ) LAW AND ORDER OF THE BOARD ) ) …
MA and WA Parole Suits Not Cognizable Under § 1983 by The first and ninth circuit courts of appeal have applied Edwards v. Balisok , 117 S.Ct. 1584 (1997)[ PLN , July, 1997] to bar section 1983 actions challenging decisions by state parole boards, holding the § 1983 claims are …
Community Notification Upheld by Three Circuits by In the December, 1997, PLN we reported Doe v. Gregoire , 960 F. Supp. 1478 (WD WASH. 1997), wherein a district court ruled that Washington's "community notification" statute violates the ex post facto clause insofar as releasing information to the public regarding sex …
