The Legalizer

June 26th, 2009 Inmates in 'Shawshank' escape get max sentencesELIZABETH, N.J. — Two New Jersey men whose escape from jail led to the suicide of a corrections officer and spurred comparisons to the movie "The Shawshank Redemption" were given maximum prison sentences Friday by a judge who rejected their attorneys' pleas for leniency.

July 28th, 2006 A class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court Denver against Vallario and Dawson on behalf of four inmates who claim jail staff have repeatedly abused them. Inmates Clarence Vandehey, William Langley, Samuel Lincoln and Jared Hogue claim in the suit that they were subjected to a “pervasive pattern of disproportionate and excessive force carried out by deputies’ misuse and abuse of pepperball guns, restraint chairs, Tasers, pepper spray and electroshock belts.” The lawsuit claims that the jail’s alleged practice of strapping inmates in restraint chairs sometimes for hours at a time violates common law enforcement standards and the manufacturer’s recommendations for the chairs’ safe use.

February 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A man arrested on charges of being a terrorist by Delhi Police's Special Cell Friday told a city court that he was thrashed by inmates of the high-security Tihar Jail here. He had earlier sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention for relief as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had given him a clean chit.

August 15th, 2009 VANCOUVER - A Canadian jailed in a men's prison here - despite claiming to have always identified as a female - has sought removal of her penis and transfer to a women's prison. Katherine Anne Johnson, 61, says she has been raped, assaulted, punched and called names by fellow male prisoners.

August 5th, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court Tuesday ordered California to release some 40,000 inmates from its state prisons over the next two years, in a finding that ongoing prison crowding violates constitutional standards for prisoner health care. The administration of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said it would appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court.

June 24th, 2009 Mo. executions on hold because of federal reviewJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri's incoming chief justice says it's unlikely any executions will be scheduled in the state while the courts assess an inmate's lawsuit challenging Missouri's lethal injection procedure.

August 8th, 2009 Advocates hope Colo. prison rape case helps reformDENVER —A federal judge was so appalled that a former Colorado prison guard accused of raping an inmate was allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor that he imposed $1.3 million in damages in the inmate's civil lawsuit.

June 11th, 2009 Inmate awarded $1.3M in sex assault by guardDENVER — A Colorado inmate who was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a guard was awarded $1.3 million by a judge who said he wanted to send a message that prison rapes will not be tolerated. In a ruling issued Wednesday, U.S.