The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court's grant of summary judgment to a private physician under contract with the county, holding that contract services provided to the county constituted state action. The court also held that qualified immunity was categorically unavailable to the physician.

Jerry Jensen filed an action for damages pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 for unlawful arrest any restraint against Lane County, certain officials, a hospital, and a private medical practitioner, Jeffrey Robbins, M.D. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Dr. Robbins, concluding that his conduct in signing a commitment order did not constitute state action, and alternatively, if it was state action that Dr. Robbins was entitled to qualified immunity. The remaining defendants went to trial and a jury found in their favor. The only issue on appeal was whether Dr. Robbins was entitled to summary judgment.

The Ninth Circuit noted that the relevant test for determining whether Dr. Robbins' actions were state action was the "close nexus/joint action" test. In applying that test, the court concluded that "the state has so deeply insinuated itself into [the commitment] process that there is `a sufficiently close nexus between the State and ...

A State court of appeals in West Virginia has held that a private contractor of youth incarceration services is not entitled to immunity under the Governmental Tort Claims and Insurance Reform Act (the Act), W.Va. Code §§ 2912A1 to 18.

Tracy Galloway initiated delinquency proceedings against her fourteen-yearold son. The son was arrested, detained at a facility run by Youth Services Systems, Inc., a nonprofit independent contractor, and a court directed that he receive inpatient drug and alcohol treatment. However, the son was released without treatment. He then committed suicide after ingesting a controlled substance.
Galloway filed a wrongful death suit against Youth Services Systems (YSS) in state court. YSS moved for summary judgment, claiming immunity under W. Va. Code 2912AS(a)(3), (14). The circuit court denied summary judgment and YSS filed an application for a writ of prohibition with the Supreme Court of Appeals seeking to prevent the suit on the basis of the aforementioned immunity.

The court of appeals held that, before an entity can claim the disputed immunity, it must show that it is a political subdivision of the state pursuant to W. Va. Code § 2912A5(a)(3), (14). YSS argued that it was a political subdivision because it ...

Warden Fired Over Riot at New Mexico CCA Prison

Corrections Corporation of America officials fired the warden and chief of security at the Torrence County (New Mexico) Detention Facility just three weeks after a November 11, 2000 prisoner uprising involving 32 District of Columbia prisoners who reportedly used a sixinch shank, mop handles, toilet bowl scrubbers and table legs to injure eight CCA guards.

The uprising began at around 12:30 a.m. after prisoners refused to go to their cells for the night. State police Lt. Pete Kassetas said there was some kind of disagreement between prisoners and guards, but wouldn't be more specific about what sparked the disturbance.

"There were 32 different inmates in the pod," Kassetas told the Albuquerque Journal, "there are probably 32 different reasons why they rioted."

Prison officials pumped tear gas into the pod through pipes in the ceiling. The melee was not quelled until 2:40 a.m., said Ellen Hawks, assistant warden.

Seven guards were transported to University of New Mexico and Presbyterian hospitals. Five suffered stab wounds. Two were initially listed as critical but after surgery were listed in satisfactory condition. Another guard was treated at the scene by prison medical personnel. No prisoners were ...

Staff shortages, unwatched video surveillance monitors, unlocked doors, untrained staff and a security alarm that was ignored by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) employees contributed to the August 27, 2000 escape from the Bartlett State Jail near Austin, Texas.

Sixteen problems, the biggest of which was human error, allowed the escape to occur concluded a report from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).

Ten TDCJ officials formed a faultfinding team to investigate and affix blame for the escape of Kendall James, 21, and David Sanders, 40. The two prisoners were working in the jail's kitchen when, around 4:00 a.m., they walked through an unlocked door, climbed a fence, entered the maintenance department through another unlocked door, "borrowed" some hand tools, cut through two more fences, and departed the facility at 4:51 a.m.

The Bartless Police department, located just ten minutes away, was unpromptly notified of the escape at 9:40 a.m.

The TDCJ pays CCA about $950,000 per month to operate the 1,000man state jail. The state will withhold $84,027 from CCA to recover the, costs to capture James and Sanders, who were captured the day after their escape.


Source: Southland Prison News [a publication of the Prison Media Fund, ...

On Dec 14, 2000, a federal jury in South Carolina awarded a 14-year-old boy more than $3 million in damages after finding Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) guilty of physically abusing the Charleston, SC teen-ager.

In 1996, William Pacetti, then 14, was sent to CCA on charges that he ...

An appeals court in Texas has held that, under the Texas rape victims shield laws, Rule 412, 509(c)(1) and 510(b)(1), Texas Rules of Evidence, a prisoner who was raped by a guard and is suing Wackenhut may not be compelled to answer questions on whether the assault was consensual tai' provide Wackenhut with her sexual history, mental health history, or mental health medical records.

Jane Doe is the pseudonym used by a Texas state prisoner who was raped by a guard at the Travis County Community Justice Center (TCCJC), a state jail facility that was run by Wackenhut. In February 1999, Doe was sent to TCCJC. A few days after

her arrival, she was raped by Nathaniel Jenkins, Jr., a guard employed by Wackenhut. Ultimately, Wackenhut's contract was terminated and twelve Wackenhut employees _ including Jenkins _ were indicted for sexually assaulting Doe and two other women.

Doe filed stilt against Jenkins, TCCJC's warden, TCCJC's assistant warden and Wackenhut alleging that, because of Wackenhut's negligence, she was entitled to recover past and future pain and mental anguish and should be awarded punitive damages. Wackenhut submitted interrogatories and, based upon Doe's answers, filed two motions asking the district court to compel ...

The Wackenhut Corrections Corporation completed an agreement with South African government to build and operate a 3,024 bed maximum security prison in that country. The prison, expected to be opened in early 2002, is the first venture in Africa for the Floridabased company, which operates forprofit gulags across the United States as well as in Great Britain,Australia, New Zealand and the Caribbean.

The 25 year contract, which is valued by the South African government at about $245 million, including $45 million in construction costs, was signed August 12, 2000 in Pretoria. The cost of construction is to be financed by a consortium of South African banks. The prison will be located in the far northern town of Louis Trichardt.

South African prisons are desperately overcrowded, so in 1997, the government began soliciting bids to build and manage four private prisons.

Wackenhut and its local partners, incorporated as South African Custodial Services, bid for the right to build and operate three of the prisons and won two-of the bids, including the planned prison at Louis Trichardt.

Three weeks after signing this contract, the South African government announced it would release 18,000 prisoners to relieve overcrowding of a prison system built to ...

The short, stout eighth grader Gina Score, was never much of an athlete. But that didn't matter to the staff at South Dakota's Plankinton boot camp for girls, where militarystyle discipline and calisthenics were the modus operandi and, as staff put it, "quitting is not an option." On her first day in boot camp Gina _ sentenced for stealing a beanie baby _ was excoriated and ordered about in an official induction process that, according to one former staff member, "isn't successful unless someone pukes or pisses their pants."

The second day, July 21 1999, began with a sweltering 2.7mile morning run. Immediately Gina, at 5' 4" and 226 pounds, fell behind the rest of the pack and was showing signs of heat stroke. By the end, she was lying in a pool of her own urine, frothing at the mouth, gasping for breath, twitching, and begging for "mommy."

Staff denied the girl water, but did administer a full course of ridicule: calling her a faker, laughing at her, dragging her, dropping Gina's limp hand onto her own face and finally threatening to video tape the girl to prove "what a pathetic and uncooperative child she was." When other girls ...

A minor riot on July 15 2000, left fifteen guards and one prisoner injured at the North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre, Oklahoma. Six guards were sent to area hospitals where they were treated for minor cuts and bruises. One guard suffered a broken nose.

The incident began when a guard observed two prisoners passing a paper bag on the recreation yard and went to investigate. When a second guard intervened a scuffle ensued. The situation escalated as more prisoners and guards got involved. Nineteen prisoners were implicated and segregated from the rest of the population. No weapons were involved in the incident.

All of the 1,434 prisoners in the privately owned Oklahoma prison are from Wisconsin. John Litscher, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, sent two prison investigators to Sayre the next day to interview guards and prisoners. The contents of the bag was not determined but it was verified that prison response teams used tear gas to bring the situation under control.

The North Fork facility is a private prison ooperated by Corrections Corporation of America. Susan Hart, spokeswoman for CCA, said "our staff has been interviewing people all day" and are "still trying to determine what ...

On July 11, 2000, Rodney "Rocky" Eickstadt began serving a 175day jail term at the Franklin County (Ohio) Jail for drunken driving. Ten weeks later he was dead _ from complications related to untreated diabetes.

Eickstadt didn't know he was diabetic when he started his jail sentence. But by August 23, 2000 he was sure he suffered from some kind of serious medical problem, and he requested in writing to be seen by a doctor.

The jail has a $210,000/month contract with EMSA Correctional Care to provide 24hour medical services. It specifies that prisoners requesting medical treatment be examined by a qualified health care provider within 24 hours.

Eickstadt's request for treatment went unanswered for 18 days, while his symptoms worsened. Finally, on September 10, he was examined at sick call by an EMSA nurse. At that time, he complained of vomiting, shortness of breath, bleeding gums, and constant urination. The nurse put him on a liquid diet, ordered a urinalysis, which was never performed, and sent him back to his cell.

The next day, Eickstadt told jailers he wasn't feeling well but received no medical attention until hours later when deputies found him unconscious in his cell. A doctor ...