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Articles in Verdict1

New York Prisoner Settles Excessive Force Case for $25,000

Michael Slater, a New York State prisoner, will receive $18,000 in settlement of an excessive force civil rights claim against two guards at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York. The settlement also provides for an additional $7,000 in attorney fees and costs to be paid to Prisoners' Legal Services ...

Montana Paying for 1991 Prison Uprising

The state of Montana agreed to pay $60,000 to the parents of a prisoner killed during a 1991 uprising at the maximum security Deer Lodge prison. It was the second settlement among 13 state court cases filed against prison officials. In January 1995, the state agreed to pay $150,000 to ...

Lucasville Uprising: $4.1 Million Settlement

In January, 1997, a settlement was filed in federal court in the three-year-old class action based on injuries stemming from the 1993 Easter Day uprising and 11-day siege at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) at Lucasville, OH. The settlement establishes a $4.1 million fund to pay prisoner damage claims, ...

Massachusetts Prisoners Awarded Back Pay

A Mass. superior court judge ruled the state owes 2,253 current and former state prisoners about $1 million because they were not given a pay raise mandated by DOC regulations.

In April 1991, new DOC regulations were issued that raised the top rate for full-time workers from $1 to $1.35 ...

Washington Religious Name Retaliation Suit Settled

In the July, 1996 and August, 1994, issues of PLN we reported Malik v. Brown, 71 F.3d 724 (9th Cir. 1995) and 16 F.3d 330 (9th Cir. 1994), in which Washington state prisoner, and PLN supporter, Dawud Malik was punished by prison officials for using his legally changed religious name. ...

$168,500 Awarded in Prisoner's Death

Gregory Stampley, 46, was convicted in 1993 of kidnapping and making terroristic threats. He was sentenced to eight years and sent to the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater. Prison doctors who examined him diagnosed paranoid schizophrenia, aggressive-personality disorder and bipolar disorder.

According to court documents, on Jan. 13 or 14, ...

New Jersey MCU Suit Settled

On December 22, 1995, the federal district court in New Jersey signed a settlement order dismissing a class action suit filed by prisoners in New Jersey's Management Control Unit (MCU). The plaintiff class in the suit was composed of all black prisoners in the MCU since 1990. The settlement sets ...

Washington Court Access Suit Settled

In the April, 1994, issue of PLN we reported the filing of Scott v. Peterson which challenged numerous aspects of court access for Washington state prisoners. On October 31, 1995, most of the suit was settled and the settlement terms were effective November 30, 1995. The settlement is between five ...

Attorney Fees Awarded in MCC Suit

Past issues of PLN have reported on repression and conditions at the Maximum Control Center (MCC) in Westville, IN and the legal challenges to those conditions as well as political struggle around it. The lawsuit was settled which resulted in numerous changes being made in the conditions of MCC prisoners, ...

PA Class Action Settlement Published

The October, 1994, issue of PLN reported that on August 12, 1994, attorneys representing all Pennsylvania state prisoners had reached a settlement with prison officials of that state regarding almost every aspect of prison conditions in that state. The district court has published the entire settlement agreement for those interested ...