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Class of Over Detained, Strip Searched DC Prisoners Certified

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Searches, Strip Searches, Class Certification, Wrongful Imprisonment

Class of Over Detained, Strip Searched DC Prisoners Certified by The plaintiffs alleged that they were kept past their release dates by the D.C. Department of Correction; a subclass alleged that they were subjected to strip searches upon return to jail after judicial determinations that there was no basis for …

No Absolute Immunity for Parole Officials

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Parole Board Misconduct, Parole, Wrongful Imprisonment, Probation, Immunity/Liability, Qualified Immunity, Judicial Immunity

No Absolute Immunity for Parole Officials by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's dismissal of a suit against several parole officials, finding they were not entitled to absolute immunity. In 1990, Lance Dawson was convicted of Indiana criminal charges and placed on probation for 3 years, …

D.C. Venue Improper in BOP Fine Punishment Suit

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Venue, Wrongful Imprisonment

D.C. Venue Improper in BOP Fine Punishment Suit by The plaintiff allegedly was kept for three years beyond his sentence expiration because he refused to sign an installment schedule agreement for his unpaid fines. The wardens of prisons in Virginia and West Virginia were not subject to personal jurisdiction in …

Doing “Katrina Time”

Article • May 15, 2007 • from PLN May, 2007

Filed under: Attorneys, Public Defenders, Wrongful Imprisonment, State Legislation

later; the rest had to fight much longer to win their freedom. Defense attorney Phyllis Mann and other volunteers filed 2,100 wrongful imprisonment petitions in a five-month period, leading to almost ...

Prison Officials Liable for Holding Prisoner Past Release Date

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

Prison Officials Liable for Holding Prisoner Past Release Date by The court of appeals for the Third circuit affirmed in part, reversed and remanded in part, a district court's ruling in favor of a Pennsylvania prisoner who was held nine months past his release date. The district court awarded $3,520 …

WA Prisoners Have Liberty Interest in Release

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Liberty Interests, Sentencing, Good Time, Wrongful Imprisonment

WA Prisoners Have Liberty Interest in Release by The court of appeals for the Ninth circuit held that a Washington state prisoner had a due process liberty interest in being released from prison on his good time release date. The plaintiff in this section 1983 case was held 20 days …

Judicial Immunity Does Not Bar Injunctive Relief or Attorney Fees

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Bond Fees, Judicial Immunity

Judicial Immunity Does Not Bar Injunctive Relief or Attorney Fees by The U.S. Supreme Court held that judicial immunity did not preclude issuance of injunctive relief against a Virginia state magistrate nor did it bar the award of attorney fees against her in a civil rights action. Respondents were arrested …

Police Officer May Be Liable for Failing to Disclose Exculpatory Evidence to Prosecutor

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, False Arrest

Police Officer May Be Liable for Failing to Disclose Exculpatory Evidence to Prosecutor by Police Officer May Be Liable For Failing to Disclose Exculpatory Evidence to Prosecutor The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held a police officer can be liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims of false detention and …

Over Detention Claim Must Show Knowledge or Failure to Act on Problem

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

Over Detention Claim Must Show Knowledge or Failure to Act on Problem by A Pennsylvania federal district court held a prisoner failed to show prison officials were deliberately indifferent to his claims that he was over-detained. The SCI Graterford prisoner alleged prison officials violated his constitutional rights by detaining him …

Intermediate State Appellate Court Ruling Fails to Override Qualified Immunity Defense in Over-Detention Suit

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sentencing, Good Time, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, Qualified Immunity

Intermediate State Appellate Court Ruling Fails to Override Qualified Immunity Defense in Over-Detention Suit by The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a ruling from the Florida First District Court of Appeals (DCA) falls short of the clarity of the law to defeat a defense of qualified immunity. A …

Nine Month Delay in Bringing Mississippi Detainee Before Court Defeats Qualified Immunity

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Prompt Hearings, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Qualified Immunity

Nine Month Delay in Bringing Mississippi Detainee Before Court Defeats Qualified Immunity by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held jail officials at Mississippi's Hinds County Jail were not entitled to qualified immunity for failing to take a pretrial detainee before a court for nine months. The detainee was arrested …

Miscalculation of Sentence Defeats Summary Judgment

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sentencing, Good Time, Wrongful Imprisonment, Qualified Immunity

Miscalculation of Sentence Defeats Summary Judgment by A Florida Federal District Court held that prison officials may be held liable for miscalculating a prisoner's release date and causing him to be detained beyond his sentence expiration. Former prisoner James S. McCurry brought suit under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 seeking monetary …

Slow, Incompetent Investigation Causing Over Detention Not Deliberate Indifference

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Prompt Hearings, Sentencing, Parole, Wrongful Imprisonment

Slow, Incompetent Investigation Causing Over Detention Not Deliberate Indifference by The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held a parole board' s misinterpretation of a sentencing court's order and a slow investigation into the order's meaning did not exhibit deliberate indifference. The plaintiff, a former prisoner of the Philadelphia County Prison, …

Georgia Man Falsely Arrested by Bond Agent Awarded $5,172

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, False Arrest

Georgia Man Falsely Arrested by Bond Agent Awarded $5,172 by On December 3, 2002, a man jailed after being mistakenly identified by a bond agent was awarded $5,172 in damages by a superior court in Fulton County, Georgia. Plaintiff Charles Leeks was arrested at his place of employment by an …

Georgia Sheriff Sues Over Using Prisoner Labor

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Work, Prison Labor, Malicious Prosecution, Wrongful Imprisonment, False Arrest, Property

Georgia Sheriff Sues Over Using Prisoner Labor by A Georgia federal district court has found that the defendants in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging claims of (1) bad faith prosecution; (2) arrest without probable cause; (3) deprivation of liberty without due process; (4) unlawful search and seizure of …

Washington Prisoner Awarded $125 for Failure to Timely Respond to Public Records Request

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Disclosure of Records, Sentencing, Good Time, Wrongful Imprisonment

Washington Prisoner Awarded $125 for Failure to Timely Respond to Public Records Request by Washington Prisoner Awarded $125 for Failure to Timely Respond to Public Records Request A Thurston County, Superior Court in Washington State awarded Airway Heights Correction Center prisoner Derek E. Grunquist $125 for a 114 business day …

$8.2 Million Awarded for Florida Malicious Prosecution

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, False Arrest

$8.2 Million Awarded for Florida Malicious Prosecution by A Florida federal jury awarded a former employee of Brinks, Inc. $8,261,050 for malicious prosecution by Brinks' failure to provide complete information and withholding important evidence from the police regarding a theft. In 1996, while plaintiff was an employee of Brinks, $350,000 …

$2,500 Awarded in Pennsylvania False Arrest Claim

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: GEO Group/Wackenhut, Wrongful Imprisonment, Police, False Arrest, Arrest Warrants

$2,500 Awarded in Pennsylvania False Arrest Claim by The plaintiff in this case alleged that Wackenhut Corrections Corporation falsely imprisoned him due to mistaken identity, and failed to immediately release him when it was informed of the mistake by a parole officer. Plaintiff was stopped for a traffic violation in …

Holding Prisoner Past Release Date Violates Due Process

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

Holding Prisoner Past Release Date Violates Due Process by California Prisoner's Imprisonment Past Release Date Violates Due Process The Ninth Circuit held that a § 1983 suit filed by a former prisoner was the appropriate venue for Eighth Amendment and due process claims. Frank Haygood brought a civil rights action …

County Prosecutors Acting Outside Their Authority Lose Absolute Immunity

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Wrongful Imprisonment, Immunity/Liability, Prosecutorial Immunity, False Arrest

County Prosecutors Acting Outside Their Authority Lose Absolute Immunity by In this somewhat confusing opinion, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that county prosecutors, defendants in a civil, rights lawsuit brought by two men who were falsely arrested, were not entitled to absolute immunity on numerous claims, including …