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Articles in Verdict1

$170,000 Damages and Fees As New Jersey Prisons Settle Transgender Lawsuit With New Policy

by Jayson Hawkins

As of June 29, 2021, the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC) has changed its policy of housing prisoners according to their gender assignment at birth, regardless of whether they are transgendered or of any non-binary sexual orientation. The policy change is part of an agreement settling ...

$170,000 in Attorney’s Fees, Solitary Confinement Reforms Achieved in Settlement of Maine Prisoner’s Lawsuits

by Matt Clarke

In July 2021, the Maine Department of Corrections (DOC) settled state and federal lawsuits brought by a prisoner kept in solitary confinement for 22 months without seeing any evidence of a disciplinary violation. DOC agreed to reform its solitary confinement policies, including a 30-day cap on stays ...

$199,000 Awarded to California Detainee Assaulted by Santa Clara County Jail Guard

by Matt Clarke

On July 13, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California awarded a former Santa Clara County pretrial detainee $11,000 in damages for injuries received when he was assaulted by a guard at the county jail. The Court then charged the defendant another $188,340.08 ...

$781 Settlement Paid to Oregon Prisoner Over Censorship of ‘Sexually Explicit’ Text Message

On July 21, 2021, the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) settled a suit filed by a state prisoner whose private text message to his intimate partner was flagged for violating prison policy because it contained the word ‘cum.’

After the prisoner, Liam O’Neil-Barrett, sent the message from Oregon State Correctional ...

$1 Million Paid by Santa Clara County to Estate of Alzheimer’s Patient Killed When He Wandered onto Interstate Highway after Release from County Jail

By Chuck Sharman

A $1 million settlement was signed on April 14, 2018, by attorneys for Santa Clara County, California, to settle a wrongful death claim made by the surviving heir of an Alzheimer’s patient who was killed when he wandered onto an Interstate highway after being released alone from ...

$1,250,000 Paid by Santa Clara County to Family of Man Who Died after Being Denied Oxygen at County Jail

By Chuck Sharman

 

On April 20, 2018, a settlement was entered into by Santa Clara County, California, agreeing to pay $1,250,000 to the survivors of a man who died after being denied medically necessary oxygen treatment at the county jail.

The dead man, Ryan Bascos, was arrested on a ...

$11,333.33 Paid by Santa Clara County to Teenage Girl Allegedly Beaten by Guards at County Juvenile Hall

By Chuck Sharman

For a payment of $11,333.33, Santa Clara County, California, agreed on September 10, 2018, to settle a lawsuit filed by a woman who, while still underage, was allegedly brutalized by a pair of mall cops before law enforcement then took her to the county juvenile detention facility, ...

$12,000 Paid by Santa Clara County to Disabled Prisoner Who Suffered Seizure and Fell from Top Bunk, Permanently Injuring His Wrist

By Chuck Sharman

A settlement was fully executed on August 19, 2020, by Santa Clara County, California, in which it agreed to pay $12,000 to a prisoner at the county jail who, despite a history of seizures, was assigned to a top bunk, from which he fell during a seizure ...

$15,000 Settlement by Santa Clara County for Jail Prisoner Brutalized by Guards

By Chuck Sharman

Attorneys for Santa Clara County, California, signed an agreement on November 4, 2019, to settle claims by a prisoner at the County jail that he was brutalized by guards in a January 2015 incident. The settlement pays $15,000 to a representative for the prisoner, Scott Michael Conway, ...

$20,000 Paid by Santa Clara County to Settle Claims of Medical Neglect and Failure to Protect Disabled Prisoner Beaten by Gang Members in County Jail

By Chuck Sharman

 

A settlement was executed on August 27, 2019, by lawyers for Santa Clara County, California, agreeing to pay $20,000 to a man whom guards at the county jail allegedly denied medically necessary treatment and allowed him also to by beaten by gang members.

The man, Corey ...