Court won’t allow private prison employees lawsuit
Jan 10, 2012, 3:40 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court won’t allow employees at a privately run federal prison to be sued by an inmate in federal court, despite his complaint that their neglect left him with two permanently damaged arms.
The high court ruled 8-1 to throw out the federal lawsuit by inmate Richard Lee Pollard against employees of the GEO Group, formerly known as Wackenhut Corrections Corp. Pollard wanted to sue for his treatment after he fell and fractured both of his elbows at the privately run Taft Correctional Institution in Taft, Calif.
Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the court that Pollard should have sued in state court, where there would be “significant deterrence and compensation” if Pollard could prove GEO officials mistreated him.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the only dissenter in this case.
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