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Articles in Verdict1

$25,000 Paid by Santa Clara County to Prisoner Suffering Mental Health Episode Beaten by Guards at County Jail

By Chuck Sharman 

Lawyers finished executing an agreement on July 27, 2018, under which Santa Clara County, California, consented to pay $25,000 to settle claims by a prisoner at the county jail that two guards attacked him there.

George Pye was being held at the jail in San Jose on ...

$35,000 Paid by Santa Clara County to Amputee Prisoner Who Slipped Off Crutches in Jail Shower Not Outfitted for the Disabled

By Chuck Sharman

An agreement was reached on December 5, 2018, in which Santa Clara County, California, agreed to pay $35,000 to an amputee who slipped off his crutches while attempting to shower while imprisoned at the county jail.

The man, Adan Rodriguez-Pena, had just one leg when he was ...

$50,000 Paid by Santa Clara County, California, to Prisoner Brutalized by Guards at County Jail

By Chuck Sharman 

In a settlement fully executed on June 4, 2018, Santa Clara County, California, agreed to pay $50,000 to a former prisoner who suffered a cruel beating at the hands of guards inside the county lockup.

The incident began on the evening of July 23, 2015, when the ...

$65,000 Paid by Santa Clara County to Disabled Man Medically Ignored and Roughed Up by Guards at County Jail

By Chuck Sharman

On December 31, 2020, a settlement was fully executed by Santa Clara County, California, in which it agreed to pay $65,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a disabled former prisoner at the county jail who alleged that he was harassed and roughed up by guards—one ...

Inmate Magazine Service Settlement Prohibits Further Sale of Magazine Subscriptions, Orders Payment of $2.2 Million for ‘Consumer Redress’

On September 7, 2021, Inmate Magazine Service (IMS) owner Roy Snowden entered into a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) that prohibits him from “advertising, marketing, promoting, or offering for sale . . . any magazine subscriptions.” He also agreed to pay ...

$90,000 Paid by Illinois County to Prisoner Tasered by Two Guards He Wasn’t Resisting

by David M. Reutter

After guards at the Lake County Jail (LCJ) in Illinois were sued for using excessive force by tasering an unresisting prisoner, the parties reached a settlement for $90,000 on June 30, 2021.

The prisoner, Christopher Davis, was held at LCJ while awaiting sentencing and housed in ...

$10,000 Awarded by Nevada Federal Court to Prisoner Assaulted by Former State Prison Guard

by Matt Clarke

On June 23, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada awarded a former state prisoner $5,000 for physical pain and another $5,000 for mental anguish caused by an unprovoked beating he received from a guard while shackled at Southern Desert Correctional Center (SDCC) nearly ...

Settlement for New Jersey Special Needs Prisoner Students Includes Damages, Fees and Education

by Ed Lyon

On July 15, 2021, a settlement agreement and order was entered in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, putting an end to a four-year-old class action lawsuit against the state’s Department of Corrections (DOC) and Department of Education (DOE) over the pitiful state of ...

$1 Million Default Judgement for Michigan Jail Prisoner Against Health Care Provider in Sexual Assault

But She Probably Won’t Collect It From the Defunct Provider

by Mark Wilson

On April 1, 2021, a Michigan federal court entered a $1 million default judgement for a woman who was impregnated by another patient while she was detained in a mental healthcare facility.

Felicia Quizel Morgan was a ...

$4,000 Federal Bench Verdict to Kentucky Prisoner Assaulted by Guard While Restrained

On March 26, 2021, the U.S. DistrictCourt for the Western District of Kentucky granted summary judgment to a state prisoner who sued a former guard for assaulting him while he was compliant and restrained.

Kentucky State Penitentiary prisoner Michael Cooper filed suit pro se under 42 U.S.C. §1983, alleging former ...