U.S. Magistrate Judge John A. Gorman has denied a request for attorney’s fees and sanctions against a plaintiff who brought an unsuccessful civil rights action.

Defendant Advanced Correctional Healthcare Inc. had argued that it was entitled to attorney’s fees because the plaintiff’s suit was “frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation.”

But simply because a plaintiff “may ultimately lose his case is not in itself sufficient justification for assessment of fees,” Judge Gorman wrote. This is especially true in civil rights cases where “a careful balance must be drawn between the need to encourage private litigants to bring suit to vindicate civil rights and the need to deter actions brought primarily to harass a defendant without hope of success.”

In the case at hand, the court held that the suit did not “wholly lack either legal or factual basis at the time it was filed.” Accordingly, the defendants’ requests for fees were denied.

See: Brandon v. Advanced Correctional Healthcare Inc. No. 06-1316 (C.D. Ill. 2010).

By Brandon Sample

The family of a prisoner who was killed while being transported by a private prison transport company has agreed to settle its wrongful death suit.

The parents of Shawn Talbot sued U.S. Extradition services after their son died while being transported by the company. The driver of the van transporting Talbot from Utah to another state fell asleep while driving and crashed the van. Talbot died from his injuries in the crash.

Talbot’s parents claimed the company was negligent in transporting their son. The amount of the settlement is unknown.

See: Talbot vs. U.S. Extradition Services, No. 2: 10-CV-00578-DAk (D. Utah 2010).

A Louisiana U.S. District Court awarded $3,250 to a prisoner in a civil rights action that involved excessive use of force by a guard. The lawsuit was filed by Winn Correctional Center prisoner Derrick Levon Carter due to events that occurred on April 14, 2006. This case is unusual in ...

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Michigan Department of Corrections (DOC) internal grievance policy rule that prisoners name all defendants did not invalidate a prisoner’s grievance for purposes of exhaustion of administrative remedies when prison officials denied the grievance on the merits.

Mark Anthony Reed-Bly, a DOC prisoner, seriously dislocated his shoulder during a prison basketball game. He was treated at an emergency room and told that he would be seen by an orthopedic specialist within five days. 79 days later, he saw the specialist who told him that he would continue to have shoulder pain and accompanying headaches, some of which lasted up to three days, until he received surgery to repair the shoulder.

An X-ray showed that the shoulder separation was worsening and four times Reed-Bly requested follow-up care. Nonetheless, he did not receive the surgery until another three months had passed.

Reed-Bly filed a grievance. Prison officials responded, stating that the delay was caused by DOC officials awaiting approval for the surgery from Correctional Medical Services (CMS). The grievance was denied on the merits at all three levels.

Reed-Bly filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights action in federal district court alleging the ...

On March 13, 2003, the City of Philadelphia agreed to settle a suit over the adequacy of care provided to diabetic prisoners at Philadelphia jails.

The terms of the settlement require the city to establish policies related to the treatment of prisoners with diabetes. For instance, detainees exhibiting or requesting ...

Wackenhut Corrections Corporation paid $24,500 to settle a slip and fall and negligent maintenance suit filed by Florida prisoner Randolf Bailey.

The incident occurred on October 2, 2002 at South Bay Correctional Facility. In his complaint, Bailey claims he was exiting the chapel through a hallway that had just been ...

The Geo Group, Inc., Florida Correctional Finance Corporation, South Bay Correctional Facilities Financing Corporation and the Florida Department of Corrections paid $35,000 to settle a prisoner’s negligence claim. The settlement came in a lawsuit filed by prisoner Edward Milner.

In his amended complaint, Milner alleged that the Defendants created a ...

The Wackenhut Corrections Corporation paid $75,000 to settle a prisoner’s negligence claim. The settlement came in a lawsuit filed by Florida prisoner Thomas Less Stevens.

Stevens alleged in his complaint against Wackenhut that on December 21, 1999, while working under the supervision of a prison employee in the food service ...

The Geo Group paid $250,000 to settle an auto accident claim. The settlement came in a lawsuit filed by Elsworth Noel Seals.

In her complaint, Seals alleged that on March 1, 2006. While approaching an intersection in her vehicle in the city of South Bay, Florida, Eades, a Geo Group ...

Wackenhut Corrections Corporation and the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) paid $35,000 to settle a discrimination and retaliatory practices lawsuit.

In his civil complaint, ex-FDOC senior psychologist Majid A. Shams, who is of Iranian descent, claimed he was hired at Glades Correctional Institution (GCI) in December 1990 as a senior ...