Inmates

Lawsuit: Virginia Inmate’s Fatal Injuries Were Ignored

The mother of a Virginia inmate who died in jail is suing officials, saying her son’s urgent medical needs were ignored and led to his 2017 death. FARMVILLE, Va. (AP) — The mother of a Virginia inmate who died in jail is suing officials, saying her son’s urgent medical needs were ignored and contributed to his 2017 death. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports Victoria Sisson filed a lawsuit …


No Settlement Reached in Lawsuit Over Inmate Medical Care at Angola Prison; Negotiations Continue

Recent attempts to settle a 2015 lawsuit alleging woefully inadequate inmate medical care at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola haven’t produced a resolution, but a federal magistrate says both sides will continue to talk. U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Bourgeois Jr. held a settlement conference last week with attorneys for Angola inmates and the state corrections department. At the …


Judge Certifies Class Action in Henry County Jail Overcrowding Suit

Current and former inmates at the Henry County Jail will proceed as a class in a federal lawsuit broadly alleging overcrowded, unconstitutional and inhumane conditions at the facility in New Castle. Barker rejected Henry County’s argument that because Bell was no longer jailed, he lacked standing to properly represent the class. The suit claims these additional bunks never received required …


Jury Awards $68 Million to Former Bucks County Inmates in Class Action Suit

Bucks County and its jail violated the privacy rights of tens of thousands of former inmates, which will cost it an estimated $68 million in punitive damages in what could be a precedent-setting federal class action suit, a jury decided Tuesday. The damage award is mandatory because the jury found the county “willfully” violated federal law when it posted criminal information online of …


Civil Rights Group Files Lawsuit Against Sheriff Hodgson

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson is being sued by a civil rights group over his decision to enter into a federal immigration enforcement program, as well as his offer to send Bristol County inmates to build President Donald Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico Border. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice filed suit Thursday in Suffolk Superior Court against …


California Settles Solitary Confinement Lawsuit

California has settled a lawsuit alleging mistreatment of death row inmates who were kept in solitary confinement for years only because of their purported gang affiliations. The lawsuit says one inmate was kept there for 26 years and two others more than a decade. The settlement says the state no longer will keep inmates in the center just for being gang members.


Former Inmates Awarded $11.5 Million in Polk Co. Sexual Assault Lawsuit

Two women have been awarded $11.5 million in a federal lawsuit. One of the women sat down with Fox 9. On Friday, a jury in Madison, Wisconsin, found that both former Polk County jailer Darryl Christensen and Polk County were responsible for sexual assaults of two inmates. Former inmate Melinda Juleen said the assaults happened 50-75 times while she was in jail. …


Pregnant Inmates File Lawsuit Over Allegheny County Jail Solitary Confinement

In one instance, the federal lawsuit alleges, the pregnant woman was placed in solitary confinement for having a library book that had pictures and envelopes inside it. In another instance, a pregnant inmate had three pairs of shoes instead of two. In none of the instances in which five pregnant women were held for up to 22 days in solitary confinement at the Allegheny County Jail were any of …


Judge Certifies $600M Lawsuit for Mentally Ill Inmates Allegedly Mistreated

The decision opens door for “tens of thousands” of federal inmates to get paid for alleged mistreatment Rioux added that segregation — the term the government uses for solitary confinement — is a legally available tool that is used to “manage risk,” either to the inmate or staff, and is not a punitive measure. She said there are ongoing reviews of an inmate’s placement in solitary confinement, …


Nine Prisoners Have Died at Rancho Cucamonga Jail in Past Year

The death of an inmate earlier this week at San Bernardino County’s West Valley Detention Center marked the ninth at the Rancho Cucamonga jail in the past year, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said Tuesday. All of the deaths were related to inmate medical issues, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller said. “To date, nine medical related deaths per year is below average for correction facilities of similar size and function,” Miller said. She said there also was one medically …