Search | Wrongly Convicted

Rhode Island Prisoner Awarded $3,900 for False Imprisonment

Article • April 15, 2005 • from PLN April, 2005

Filed under: Classification, Out of State Transfers, Damages, Wrongful Imprisonment, Probation, Detainers

Rhode Island Prisoner Awarded $3,900 for False Imprisonment by A Rhode Island jury awarded a prisoner $3,900 for false imprisonment on April 21, 2004. In August 1994, William Ross was incarcerated and held by the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (RIDOC) on a minor larceny charge. During his incarceration, the …

Summary Judgment Reversed In Los Angeles Jail Over-Detention Suit

Article • March 15, 2005 • from PLN March, 2005

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

Summary Judgment Reversed In Los Angeles Jail Over-Detention Suit by In a suit for damages against Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy Baca for over detention of jail prisoners court-ordered for release, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that summary judgment for Baca was not available where the facts …

Misidentification Requires Washington Jail Officials Take Reasonable Steps to Confirm Identity

Article • January 15, 2005 • from PLN January, 2005

Filed under: Summary Judgment, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Municipal Liability

Misidentification Requires Washington Jail Officials Take Reasonable Steps to Confirm Identity by The Washington State Supreme Court has held jail personnel have a duty to take steps to promptly release a detainee once they know or should know, based on information provided to them that the person they are holding …

FTCA Claims for Sentence Miscalculation Accrues Upon Reversal; Statute of Limitations Tolled

Article • September 15, 2004 • from PLN September, 2004

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Limitations, Parole, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, Federal Tort Claims Act

FTCA Claims for Sentence Miscalculation Accrues Upon Reversal; Statute of Limitations Tolled by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a civil action under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FICA) for negligently calculating a federal prisoner's release date, or otherwise wrongfully imprisoning the prisoner, does not accrue until …

No Crueler Tyrannies: Accusation, False Witnesses, and Other Tyrannies of Our Times

Article • May 15, 2004 • from PLN May, 2004

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Reviews, Crime, Victims, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

No Crueler Tyrannies: Accusation, False Witnesses, and Other Tyrannies of Our Times by Robert Woodman by Dorothy Rabinowitz. 2003. Free Press, ISBN: 0-7432-2834-0 Review by Robert Woodman "There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of law and in the name of justice." These words, …

PLRA Physical Injury Rule Applied to Non-Prison Case

Article • May 15, 2004 • from PLN May, 2004

Filed under: PLRA, Physical Injury Rule, Damages, Limitations, Wrongful Imprisonment

PLRA Physical Injury Rule Applied to Non-Prison Case by PLRA Physical Injury Rule Applied to Non-Prison Case The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) applies to lawsuits that claim injuries suffered during custodial episodes, even if such custody occurred outside prison walls. …

$13,500 Damages Paid to Two Illegally Detained Washington DOC Prisoners

Article • May 15, 2004 • from PLN May, 2004

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Failure to Protect (General), Wrongful Imprisonment

$13,500 Damages Paid to Two Illegally Detained Washington DOC Prisoners by The Washington state Division of Risk Management (DRM) paid claims totaling $13,000 to two state prisoners who were illegally arrested and incarcerated by the Washington Department of Corrections. Michael Buffington had been sentenced in King County Superior Court to …

§ 1983 Disciplinary Challenge Available to Parolee Because Habeas Would Be Moot

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Disciplinary Litigation, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment

§ 1983 Disciplinary Challenge Available to Parolee Because Habeas Would Be Moot by John E Dannenberg § 1983 Disciplinary Challenge Available To Parolee Because Habeas Would Be Moot by John E. Dannenberg The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that a prisoner suing under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for …

County Liable for Sheriff's Failure to Remove Invalid Warrant From Computer

Article • January 15, 2004 • from PLN January, 2004

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Eleventh Amendment Immunity, Municipal Liability

County Liable for Sheriff's Failure to Remove Invalid Warrant From Computer by The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that Georgia Sheriffs are a county policymaker regarding their duties in the maintenence and recall of criminal warrants thus making the county liable in a § 1983 action for the Sheriff's …

Florida Juveniles Get Lost among Transfer Shuffle, Extending Stays in Wasting Money

Article • December 15, 2003

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Failure to Protect (General), Guard Brutality/Beatings, Wrongful Imprisonment, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Juvenile Prisons

Florida Juveniles Get Lost among Transfer Shuffle, Extending Stays in Wasting Money by Florida Juveniles Get Lost among Transfer Shuffle, Extending Stays in Wasting Money By David M. Reutter Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) regularly transfers its wards among several programs, resulting in extended terms of incarceration, which has …

Mediation Costs Not Taxable in §1983 Suit

Article • September 15, 2003 • from PLN September, 2003

Filed under: Summary Judgment, Costs, Mediation, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Qualified Immunity

Mediation Costs Not Taxable in §1983 Suit by Mediation Costs Not Taxable in §1983 Suit The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that state officials named as defendants in a prisoner's civil rights suit could not be taxed costs for mediation. The decision reverses the U.S. District Court for …

Overt Act Unnecessary to Allege Conspiracy Claim in 7th Circuit

Article • August 15, 2003 • from PLN August, 2003

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Civil Procedure, Complaints, Conspiracy (Civil Procedure), Wrongful Imprisonment

Overt Act Unnecessary to Allege Conspiracy Claim in 7th Circuit by The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that it is not necessary to allege an overt act to state a conspiracy claim. The court also held that dismissal of a prisoner's retaliation claim for failure …

Gov. Ryan's Song

Article • July 15, 2003 • from PLN July, 2003

Filed under: Wrongful Imprisonment, Pardons/Clemency, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty, State Legislation

Gov. Ryan's Song by Mumia Abu-Jamal by Mumia Abu Jamal Illinois Gov. George Ryan, in the last passing days of his first and only term, saved the best for last. He sent shock waves across the nation when he issued four pardons to men sitting on the Condemned Units of …

Compensating the Wrongly Convicted, or Not

Article • July 15, 2003 • from PLN July, 2003

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Judicial Misconduct, Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, DNA Testing/Samples, Damages, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Qualified Immunity, Judicial Immunity, Prosecutorial Immunity, Sovereign Immunity, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty, Death Row, State Legislation, Federal Legislation

to save your life. Nine who confessed were fully or borderline mentally retarded. Despite the fact that the wrongful imprisonment usually came during critical wage-earning years when careers and families ...

Wichita Kansas Pays $6.2 Million to Settle Detainees' Lawsuit

Article • June 15, 2003 • from PLN June, 2003

Filed under: Prison Labor, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Restitution

Wichita Kansas Pays $6.2 Million to Settle Detainees' Lawsuit by Wichita Kansas Pays $6.2 Million to Settle Detainees' Lawsuit On May 7, 2002, Wichita's City Council approved $6.2 million to be awarded to the 7,000 citizens who had their 14th Amendment rights violated. The suit filed by what the city …

New Jersey Over Detains Prisoner Two Years Due to Illegal Sentence Calculation

Article • March 15, 2003 • from PLN October, 2004

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

New Jersey Over Detains Prisoner Two Years Due to Illegal Sentence Calculation by The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division has held that the New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC) cannot depart from the terms a sentencing judge imposes. In September 1994, prisoner Larry Hill was released on parole …

Ohio Prison Officials Cannot Alter Jail-Time Credit Award

Article • March 15, 2003 • from PLN March, 2003

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

Ohio Prison Officials Cannot Alter Jail-Time Credit Award by The Court of Common Pleas of Marion County, Ohio, has granted release to an Ohio prisoner on habeas corpus after finding that Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DORC) officials illegally altered a court sentencing entry to "correct" a perceived error in …

Jones v. Markham et al, IL, Complaint, Wrongful Conviction Imprisonment, 2003

Brief • March 11, 2003

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment

and abuse, when they violate police department rules and regulations, including the fabrication of evidence; false arrests, wrongful imprisonments, malicious prosecutions and wrongful convictions; making ...

Washington Police Scientists' Work Under Scrutiny

Article • February 15, 2003 • from PLN February, 2003

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Crime, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

Washington Police Scientists' Work Under Scrutiny by Innocence Project Northwest (IPNW) is undertaking a review of cases in which Washington State Patrol scientists Arnold Melnikoff and Michael Hoover conducted forensic testing or offered expert testimony. It was recently revealed that Melnikoff engaged in scientific fraud during his tenure as the …

Los Angeles County Settles Overdetention Suits for $27 Million

Article • January 15, 2003 • from PLN January, 2003

Filed under: Searches, Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches, Damages, Wrongful Imprisonment, Municipal Liability

Los Angeles County Settles Overdetention Suits for $27 Million by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg In the largest legal settlement in its history, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed in May, 2002 to pay $27 million to compensate 400,000 former jail prisoners who had been held …