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Articles in Verdict1

$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 ...

$150,000 Paid to Family of California Pretrial Detainee Who Died from Valley Fever

by David M. Reutter

A California federal court approved a $150,000 settlement on October 13, 2021, for the estate of a prisoner who died of valley fever at the Merced County Jail.

The prisoner, 29-year-old Luis Patino, was booked into the county’s main jail on June 24, 2017, dutifully reporting ...

$650,000 Jury Verdict Upheld in NY Prisoner’s Excessive-Force Claim; Motion for Fees Denied Due to Contingency Agreement

by David M Reutter

On October 20, 2020, a federal judge in New York refused to overturn a $650,000 award made by a jury earlier that year to a state prisoner on his excessive-use-of-force claim.

The action took place in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, ...