Loaded on
March 15, 1999
published in Verdict1
March, 1999, page 17
In the February, 1998, issue of PLN we reported Miniken v. Walter, 978 F. Supp. 1356 (ED WA 1997). In that ruling the court held that the Airway Heights Corrections Center's (AHCC) in Washington, ban on third class mail was unconstitutional as applied to Prison Legal News . The court ...
Aclass action lawsuit was settled on behalf of deaf and hearing-impaired prisoners in Washington State on September 3, 1998. The settlement agreement obligates the Washington State Department of Corrections to provide qualified sign language interpreters and assistive devices, such as hearing aids and TTY phones, when needed by disabled prisoners ...
By Jonathan Chasan
New York City officials have acknowledged the need for far-reaching court-ordered reforms to curb systemic brutality and its cover up in the Rikers Island Central Punitive Segregation Unit ("CPSU" or "the bing"), known in the City jails as "the house of pain." The City agreed to a ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 1998
published in Verdict1
October, 1998, page 12
In a brief hearing on April 23, 1998, U.S. district judge Harold Murphy finalized an agreement that allowed 14 prisoner plaintiffs and their attorneys to receive $283,500. After approving the settlement judge Murphy was quoted as saying, "The settlement is fair, responsible and in the public interest."
The settlement ends ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 1998
published in Verdict1
October, 1998, page 16
On July 1, 1997, U.S. district court judge Marvin Garbis approved the settlement of a class action suit involving the collection of previously waived indigent court costs. In 1991 the Maryland legislature enacted a Budget Reconciliation Act, 1991 Md. Laws, Ch. 3, ยง 6, which stated:
"Notwithstanding any other provision ...
Loaded on
Oct. 15, 1998
published in Verdict1
October, 1998, page 16
In 1997 Utah prison officials wrote a policy which prohibited prisoners in that state from ordering, receiving or possessing any written or printed materials that contained "sexually explicit materials." The policy also prohibited prisoners from receiving or possessing any written or printed materials that contained depictions of nudity or partial ...
On December 12, 1997, the Massachusetts DOC settled a lawsuit filed by women prisoners for a total of $80,000 plus attorney fees. The class action suit was filed in Suffolk county superior court on behalf of 112 female prisoners by Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services. In the middle of the night ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1998
published in Verdict1
August, 1998, page 25
Ablack prison guard who filed a discrimination suit against the Wisconsin Department of Corrections agreed to a $105,000 settlement in December, 1997, shortly after a U.S. district court judge ruled the case would go to trial. An unusual term of the settlement allowed Sgt. William Rogers to face DOC officials ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1998
published in Verdict1
August, 1998, page 30
A federal district court in Utah held that prison officials must have probable cause and a valid search warrant before subjecting a prison visitor to a body cavity search. Stana Laughter is married to a Utah state prisoner. Laughter visited her husband in prison on a regular basis, often accompanied ...
Loaded on
March 15, 1998
published in Verdict1
March, 1998, page 26
California taxpayers coughed up another $600,000 to settle a use-of-force lawsuit at Pelican Bay State Prison. The biggest chunk of the award goes to the family of Jesse Castillo, who was shot and killed by guards while engaged in a fistfight on Pelican Bay's "A" Yard.
"It was an unjustifiable ...