As the number of prisoners in private lock-ups continue to increase, lawsuits filed by them, not unexpectedly, are also on the rise. While that is no surprise to corrections professionals and litigators, what is new are some of the legal theories being pressed and the entities named as defendants. This ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2000
published in Verdict1
March, 2000, page 7
On June 6, 1996, a California man was arrested on charges of drunk driving after being involved in a traffic accident. He was unable to make bail and was confined in the Los Angeles county jail to await trial. While in the jail he became depressed, incoherent and refused to ...
Loaded on
March 15, 2000
published in Verdict1
March, 2000, page 18
In early October, 1999, the Wash- ington Department of Corrections settled a wide ranging lawsuit challenging various aspects of its mail censorship policies. PLN reported the filing of the suit in its November, 1997, issue. The lawsuit had publisher plaintiffs Humanists of Washington, the ACLU's National Prison Project and PLN. ...
In 1996 Scott Norberg was arrested for assaulting a Mesa, Arizona police officer and booked into the Maricopa County Jail, which is run by "America's Toughest Sheriff" Joe Arpaio. The next day Norberg, 35, was choked to death by deputies while strapped in a metal restraint chair. The county medical ...
In May, 1999, the California Department of Corrections (CDC), announced it would pay $2.2 million to settle a shooting lawsuit by former prisoner Vincent Tulumis. Earlier this year the CDC settled the Corcoran shooting death lawsuit by the estate of Preston Tate for $825,000 [PLN, May, 1999] and the San ...
On April 20, 1999, Atlantic County, New Jersey, paid $900,000 to settle a lawsuit involving extensive chemical burns suffered by a prisoner forced to do calisthenics in a pit filled with caustic chemicals. David Zamot was a non violent offender sentenced to the Gerald Gormley Justice Facility (GGJF) boot camp ...
On May 17, 1999, the South Dakota Department of Corrections settled a lawsuit that eliminates law libraries in the state's prisons and replaces them with limited assistance from a legal contractor.
Under the terms of the settlement, South Dakota's four main prisons will maintain a collection of about forty books ...
On May 12, 1999, Spartanburg county in South Carolina announced it would pay $100,000 to settle a wrongful death suit filed by the estate of a prisoner. On June 7, 1998, John Pruitt, a detainee in the Spartanburg county jail, collapsed and died of a heart attack. Five hours before ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 1999
published in Verdict1
October, 1999, page 14
On May 28, 1999, Salt Lake county, Utah, paid $90,000 to the family of a detainee who committed suicide in the county jail.
Henry Delgado was arrested on Jul 16, 1997, on charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and carrying a concealed weapon. While held in the Salt ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 1999
published in Verdict1
October, 1999, page 14
On May 6, 1999, Salt Lake County, Utah, settled a lawsuit by paying $2,000 in damages, $4,000 in attorney fees and agreeing to modify its jail for the handicapped. Robert Earls, a former jail detainee, is missing a leg and must use a prosthesis. The prosthetic leg must be removed ...