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Articles in Verdict1

$16 Million Agreement to Revamp NJ Prison Mental Health Care

A federal district court in New Jersey has approved a $16 million settlement in a class-action suit against state prison officials for constitutionally deficient prison mental health care.

Patricia P. Pearlmutter, assistant professor of clinical law at the Center for Social Justice at Seton Hall University School of Law in ...

Male NJ Guard's Sexual Harassment Suit Settled for $425,000

On December 6, 1999, the New Jersey Department of Corrections agreed to pay $425,000 to Mid State Correctional Facility employee Thomas Ferri, 55, to settle his sexual harassment suit against the prison. Ferri, an internal affairs investigator at the prison, claimed he was sexually harassed by his supervisor, Deborah A. ...

Washington Radiation Suit Settled for $2.4 Million

By Hans Sherrer

On March 14, 2000, a classaction lawsuit by Washington State prisoners who participated in radiation experiments from 1963 to 1971 was settled for $2.4 million.

Sixty-four prisoners at the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla were involved in radiation experiments conducted on their testicles. The men were ...

$586,000 to Settle KY Jail Strip Search Suit

On January 25, 2000, Jefferson County, Kentucky, announced it would pay $586,000 to 31 people strip searched after being booked into the Jefferson county jail on minor traffic offenses in 1993. Previously, PLN reported that Jefferson County had paid $11.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit by 6-8,000 people ...

$100,000 Settlement in TX Restraint Chair/Pepper Spray Death

On February 22, 2000, Tarrant County, Texas agreed to pay a $100,000 settlement to the estate of James Livingston, 30, to settle a wrongful death suit. On July 6, 1999, Livingston was arrested on a trespassing warrant. He was allegedly abusive while being booked into the Tarrant county jail. As ...

$50,000 to Settle CA Jail Beating Suit

In April 2000, Sacramento county paid $50,000 to settle a prisoner's excessive force lawsuit that two Sacramento county jail guards, later fired for assaulting another prisoner, also beat him. Troyd Ransom was in the Sacramento county jail on a parole hold in February 1999, when guards Dan Berringer and Mark ...

Former Political Prisoner Settles Suit for $4.5 Million

On April 26, 2000, the city of Los Angeles, California and the federal government agreed to pay former political prisoner Geronimo Ji Jaga (formerly known as Elmer Pratt) $4.5 million to settle a wrongful imprisonment suit he had filed. Ji Jaga is a former member of the Black Panther Party ...

$53,000 Settlement in AL Conditions Suit

On April 8, 2000, the Alabama Department of Corrections settled a conditions lawsuit by agreeing to pay eight prisoners $53,000 in damages and establish basic standards of care at the Loxley Community Work Center in Mobile, Alabama.

In August, 1997, eight prisoners were placed in a 7 x 11 foot ...

Sweeping ADA/RA Jail Settlement Benefits Hearing Impaired Prisoners

by Matthew T. Clarke

A federal district court in California has approved a sweeping settlement of hearing impaired prisoners' claims in a civil rights, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Rehabilitation Act (RA) class-action suit against the Santa Clara County (California) Department of Corrections (DOC). In doing so, the court ...

BOP Settles Medical Death Suit for $700,000

In February, 1999, the federal Bu reau of Prisons settled a medical neglect suit for $700,000. David Deen, a BOP prisoner, was 30 years old and confined at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia for five months. He was prescribed nitroglycerin for chest pains and anti depressants by BOP medical ...