The Seventh Circuit Court Of Appeals upheld a district courts denial of qualified immunity to jail officials on claims of denial of toothpaste, withholding asthma inhaler and inadequate ventilation.

In 1984, two Indiana men disappeared. Neither the men nor their bodies were ever found but they were declared legally dead. On August 2, 2000, brothers Herbert Duke Board (Duke) and Jerome Board (Jerry)... were arrested and charged with the murders of the two men. They were held in the Edgar County, Illinois, Jail for 126 days while awaiting trial. On December 6, 2000, they were released from custody following their acquittal on the murder charges.

The Boards then brought suit alleging numerous constitutional and state law violations related to their arrest, confinement and subsequent acquittal. Only three claims survived voluntary dismissal in the district courts unchallenged grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants. The court found that defendants were not entitled to qualified immunity on the Boards claims of denial of toothpaste, withholding asthma inhaler and inadequate ventilation. Defendants filed an interlocutory appeal of the qualified immunity ruling.

The Seventh Circuit explained that the constitutional rights of a pretrial detainee are derived from the Due Process of the ...

by Michael Rigby

In 2001, police officers in Dallas, Texas, made 33 arrests in what has since become known as the fake drug scandal." The victims were all charged with possessing cocaine, based on supposedly positive field tests of seized substances, when in fact there was little or no trace ...

On September 8, 2005, the City of New York, New York, settled for $75,000 a prisoner's lawsuit alleging 28.5 days false imprisonment.

Plaintiff William Perocier, Jr., a 31 year old tow truck driver, was sentenced to six months in jail in early 2001 for failure to pay child support. The ...

by Michael Rigby

The District of Columbia and a private medical provider have agreed to pay $1.74 million to Joseph Heard, a deaf, mute, and mentally disabled man who was wrongfully imprisoned in the D.C. jail for nearly two years.

Heard's ordeal [originally reported in PLN, April 2002] began in ...

A Florida jury has awarded $225,000 in a case against the City of Clearwater and an individual detective on a claim of false arrest, malicious prosecution, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The Plaintiff claimed he was falsely arrested on child molestation charges and the prosecution was continued by the ...

For decades Texas jails have been cesspool's of misery, medical neglect, brutality and over crowding. Class action litigation in the 1970's alleviated some of the worst aspects of the Texas jail system and led to modest improvements. By the late 1990's the jail consent decrees and injunctions had been removed thanks to the Prison Litigation Reform Act. Within a few short years, Texas jails had reverted to their old ways.
Dallas County Jail has done it again. Less than a year after the James Mims debacle, which left the mentally retarded man without water for 11 days, Dallas jailers again deprived another prisoner of water for 4 days.
Gil Martinez, 30, was arrested for misdemeanor trespassing. Mr. Martinez, who has mental health problems, plugged up his toilet and flooded his cell to get attention. Jailers responded by shutting off the water.

According to Sgt. Peritz, the water in Martinez' cell was turned off on August 3, 2005 and no one noticed, until August 7, that it had not been turned back on. Policy implemented following the Mims incident requires that both a supervisor and the jail commander be notified before a prisoner's water is turned off. The jail commander ultimately ...

On February 3, 2005, a New Jersey man settled his federal lawsuit against state parole officialswhom he claimed were responsible for his remaining in prison 11 months beyond his approved parole datefor $50,000.

Vincent Pannone was imprisoned on May 7, 1999, for theft by deception and credit card fraud. He ...

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that several prison officials were not entitled to qualified immunity for their roles in confining a prisoner 57 days beyond his ordered release.

In December, 1977, Daryl Davis was convicted of theft under Missouri law. He was then sentenced as a prior offender, to seven years in the custody of the Missouri Department ofaCorrections (MDOC).

In March, 1999, the Missouri Court of Appeals reversed Davis's conviction and granted a new trial. On remand, Davis entered an Alford plea and was sentenced to one year, with credit for time served. Since he had already served approximately 18 months, the court ordered his immediate release.
Despite the judge's order that Davis was to be released immediately, county officials placed Davis back into county jail to await transport back to" the MDOC. He was transferred four days later.

After returning to [prison], Davis repeatedly protested his continued incarceration but was ignored, met by indifference, or admonished for refusing to accept responsibility for his crime." Prison officials failed to check records or asked that Davis produce his Judgment and Sentence Order. Rather, they scolded that Davis for his criminal thinking' in continuing to demand release." He was ...

by David M. Reutter

Up to one half of all Maryland prisoners early release dates at two prisons were erroneous, concluded a report by the Maryland Office of Legislative Audits. The report declined to identify the two prisons it audited, as it felt the problems exposed are system wide.
The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services-Division of Corrections (DOC) oversees the State's 23 prisons. According to DOC records, approximately 23,000 prisoners were incarcerated during fiscal year 2004.

To influence cooperation and promote positive behavior by its prisoners, Maryland law offers a carrot in the form of diminuation credits, which provides a mechanism to release prisoners prior to the expiration of their full sentence. Prisoners earnings such credits are placed on mandatory supervision for oversight and monitoring by the Maryland Parole Commission until the expiration of the full-term of their sentence.

Maryland law permits prisoners to earn up to 20 days of diminuation credits a month. Those credits fall under four broad categories:

" Good Conduct CreditsAllows up to 10 days credit per month for following DOC behavioral guidelines.

" Work Task CreditsPrisoners can receive up to 5 days a month for satisfactory performance in approved work programs.

" ...

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a judgment awarding compensatory damages of $50,000 in a civil rights suit filed by James M. Hayes, alleging his 38-day pre-appearance detention violated his right to due process. The Court further held that the attorney fee award of $47,000 was not an ...