$200,000 Awarded To Prison Nurse For Wrongful Termination


Joan Gilles, a 67-year old former prison nurse at the Northern Maine Juvenile Correctional Facility (NMJCF), in Charleston, filed a law suit against Prison Health Services (PHS), a company that provides medical services for several prisons across the country including NMJCF, where ...

Iowa Sued Over Proselytizing Fundamentalist
Christian Prison Program

by Matthew T. Clarke


On February 13, 2003, Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AUSCS) filed two lawsuits in federal court, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against officials of the Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC), Prison Fellowship Ministries (PFM) and InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI), alleging that PFM's IFI program in the DOC violates the federal and Iowa state constitutional prohibitions against the establishment of a government-sponsored religion.


"This program is one of the most egregious violations of church-state separation I've ever seen," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, AUSCS executive director. "It literally merges religion and government."


The allegations include: giving special privileges to prisoners who agree to participate in the IFI program and restricting which prisoners may participate to fundamentalist Christians and willing converts to fundamentalist Christianity. The suit also alleges that state funds are used to pay for the blatantly sectarian program and the program discriminates in its hiring practices, allowing only fundamentalist Christians to become program employees.


Selection into the program involves a six-week introduction program followed by a month-long orientation program, during which the prisoner completes a "Survey of Religious Beliefs and Practices" with "Religious Attitude ...

by Matthew T. Clarke


This appeal involves the latest round in a Byzantine conditions-of-confinement class-action civil rights suit by Puerto Rico prisoners which has been pending since 1979. At issue was the transition of the prisoner health care system from the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Health (the Secretary) to a private, non-profit corporation. This transition was suggested by and stipulated to jointly by the parties.


Morales Feliciano is a story of governmental resistance to court-ordered reform of truly horrifying conditions of confinement in the Puerto Rico prisons. Details are available at 13 F.Supp.2d 151 and 497 F.Supp. 14.


To combat government foot-dragging on the court-ordered reforms, the court attempted issuing a preliminary injunction, appointing a monitor, issuing temporary restraining orders, issuing contempt citations, and, finally, "imposing fines for the defendants' most egregious failure to comply with its decrees. The fines escalated as the foot-dragging continued and the court's level of exasperation mounted. To date, the court has levied aggregate fines totaling nearly $135,000,000.00."


In this appeal, the Secretary is resisting the transition of the prisoner health care services to a private non-profit corporation. Earlier in the litigation, the court ordered the transition of the ...

Upholding a Tennessee federal district court, the U.S. Sixth
Circuit Court of Appeals ruled as meritless and frivolous a Wisconsin
prisoner's suit against the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).

Jerald Treat, a Wisconsin prisoner incarcerated at the CCA-owned and
operated Whiteville Correctional Facility (WCF) in Tennessee, sued CCA,
several private prison businesses and numerous prison employees under 42
U.S.C. §1983, charging them with numerous violations of his civil rights
and state tort law, and with racketeering. The district court granted
Treat in forma pauperis status, dismissed the suit as frivolous, and ruled
that an appeal could not be taken in good faith.

Treat appealed arguing that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) did
not apply to private prisons and that his suit was not frivolous. The
Sixth Circuit disagreed.

The appeals court characterized Treat's complaint as a diatribe against
privately operated prisons in general and CCA specifically. The court held
that the PLRA applies to private prisons because "when a state entity
contracts with a private prison corporation to house inmates, the private
corporation is performing a function traditionally attributable to the
state and may be treated as acting for the state under color of law."
Treat's claim was, therefore, ...

A New Jersey federal district court held that the failure to provide a
pretrial detainee with a prosthesis is deliberate indifference to a
serious medical need. This action was filed by a pretrial detainee against
officials at New Jersey's Cape May County Jail and employees of
Correctional Health Services (CHS). The detainee, a dual amputee, advised
medical staff at Cape May that the feet of his prosthesis were in an
obvious state of disrepair, were secured with postal tape and would bend
inward when he walked. Over a six month period the detainee continued to
complain of pain caused by the ill-fitting prosthesis that was in
disrepair.

The court held the need for a new prosthesis is a "serious medical need,"
for courts have recognized that a medical condition that threatens a
plaintiff's ability to walk, even on a non-permanent basis, falls within
the ambit of a "serious medical need." The court found Dr. Angelique
Beckett examined the detainee several times and agreed he required a new
prosthesis, and a jury needed to determine if she took adequate action to
procure that prosthesis. Dr. Beckett said she took action to obtain a new
prosthesis. The detainee said Dr. Beckett told ...

The Supreme Court of Oklahoma held that an employee of a contract health
care provider who was stabbed by a prisoner had a compensable
psychological injury claim. Sandra Shivel, an employee of Wexford Health
Sources (WHS), was attacked and physically injured by a prisoner in the
course of performing her duties. She received temporary total disability
compensation but also sought psychological overlay compensation.
A doctor approved Shivel for work with a "full duty release with permanent
restrictions." Based on this, WHS sought to have Shivel's disability
status terminated. A trial judge terminated further disability benefits
and psychological treatment. The Court of Civil Appeals vacated and
remanded. On writ of certiorari, the Oklahoma Supreme Court held that
Shivel had a compensable psychological overlay claim, as "her
psychological injury was accompanied by physical injury...." See: Shivel
v. Wexford Health Sources, 66 P.3d 414 (2003).

Private Prison Corporation Not Entitled to 11th Amendment or Sovereign
Immunity

The U.S. Northern District Court of Texas determined that a private
operator of a state prison was not entitled to 11th Amendment and
sovereign immunity.

Cynthia Proctor, while employed by Wackenhut Corrections Corporation, was
demoted from Chief of Classifications to a case manager with a pay cut of
$12,000. Ms. Proctor filed suit under the Equal Pay Act of 1963, 29 U.S.C.
§ 206(d); under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by
42 U.S.C. § 2000e to 2000e-17; for retaliation under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3
(a); for violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C.
§ 621-34 (ADEA); for negligent hiring, retention, training and supervision
of Proctor's supervisors and human relations department personnel; and for
intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Defendants filed for summary judgment based upon Ms. Proctor's state law
claims that the defendants were entitled to 11th Amendment and sovereign
immunity. The Court determined that neither claim was viable. The Court
held that under Richardson v. McKnight, 117 S.Ct. 2100 (1997), private
guards in a state prison are not entitled to qualified immunity. Further,
Texas law (Govt. Code § 495.005) ...

Carol Ancata, personal representative of Anthony Ancata, deceased, and
natural guardian of Tara Ancata, filed a lawsuit against Prison Health
Services, Inc. (PHS), the Broward County Jail and the Sheriff of Broward
County (defendants) for violating Anthony Ancata's Fourteenth and Eighth
Amendment rights to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, and to
receive adequate medical care.

Anthony Ancata was placed in the Broward County Jail in pre-trial
detention on August 20, 1982. Approximately one week later he began
suffering from several symptoms including swelling of the ankle, inability
to sleep, chills, back pain, numbness of the hands, hyperventilation and
double vision. Despite these serious symptoms, PHS did nothing to evaluate
his medical condition, instead giving him Ben Gay and Tylenol II. PHS
also suggested an orthopedic or psychiatric evaluation but never followed
through with that suggestion. Instead, PHS told Ancata and his family that
they would not let him see a specialist without a court order, and that
Ancata would have to agree to pay for the visit to the specialist even
though he had already been declared indigent.

Ancata's public defender obtained a court order forcing PHS to provide an
evaluation by an orthopedic specialist, who recommended a ...

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal has upheld a Florida district
court's grant of judgment as a matter of law on a claim of deliberate
indifference to medical needs and a state tort claim of negligent
supervision, training, and management in a Monroe County Detention Center
(MCDC) prisoner's suicide, but reversed the state tort claim of vicarious
liability for negligent failure to prevent the suicide.

Originally filed in state court, this action was moved to federal
court upon motion of the Monroe County Sheriff, Rick Roth. This lawsuit
was brought by the estate of deceased MCDC prisoner Daniel Tessier. The
matter proceeded to a jury trial, and after the estate closed its case,
the district court granted the Sheriff's motion for judgment as a matter
of law on all counts.

Tessier was booked into MCDC on May 18, 1999, on a charge of auto
theft. The next day he submitted a written request to see a doctor and
psychiatrist. Guard Kenneth Kerr logged in the request and placed it in
the box for medical to pick up, which was to occur twice daily. Tessier's
request, however, was not received until May 20.

Shortly after submitting his request, Tessier was observed ...

The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that prison officials can
be held liable for promulgating policies that deny treatment to prisoners
suffering from fatal illnesses, even when the prison has contracted out
its medical care to a third party. An Iowa state prisoner with leukemia
was denied a bone marrow transplant by the Iowa City Medical Center at the
University of Iowa, which had a contract to provide medical care to Iowa
prisoners. Prisoner sued claiming denial of treatment violated his 8th
amendment rights and was also affecting his vision. District court granted
summary judgment to defendants, appeals court reversed. Appeals court
quotes extensive discovery questions supporting the reversal. The appeals
court held that the defendant prison officials failed to exercise control
over their subordinates (the medical contractors), therefore making them,
not the contractors, liable for plaintiff's injuries. The court held that
absent expert testimony there was insufficient evidence to show is an
affirmative defense that must he raised by the party asserting it, failure
to do so waives the defense. In any case, the rights asserted in this case
were clearly established and the defense would have failed. Case remanded.
See: Moore v. Morgan, 922 F. ...