Number of Inmate Filed Lawsuits Up in New Jersey

By Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times

The number of lawsuits filed by New Jersey prisoners is climbing. Most of those suits are drafted and filed by the inmates themselves and many are seen as frivolous. In all, officials say that an inmate files one of every seven federally filed lawsuits in the State of New Jersey and the load has placed a tremendous strain on the court system, The Daily Record reported.

While some see many of the lawsuits filed by New Jersey inmates as frivolous and excessive, Lawrence Lustberg, an attorney for Gibbons law firm in Newark and Member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers says the inmates often present "interesting legal issues."

One such lawsuit, filed by two civilly committed sex offenders in 2001 saying a state facility in Kearny had not provided them with adequate mental health treatment. Their case was assigned to lawyers at the Seton Hall Law School’s Center for Social Justice who took their hand-written filed suit and crafted it into a "fully developed legal theory," said Seton Hall Law professor, Baher Azmy.

Despite objections from the state, U.S. District Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh allowed several counts of the suit to proceed in 2003. Since then, dozens of inmates have joined the suit, the state has allowed an outside expert to inspect the facility, and the two sides are engaged in settlement negotiations.

Then you have the lawsuit filed by Clarence Earl Gideon in Florida, who in 1961 was serving five years in prison for stealing a few dollars and some beer from a pool hall. Gideon was forced to represent himself at his trial because he couldn’t afford an attorney. Gideon, in pencil, wrote the U.S. Supreme Court and in 1963, the justices ruled in his favor, saying courts must provide a lawyer for anyone charged with a serious crime who cannot afford his own attorney. Gideon was later acquitted during his retrial.

While the number of suits filed by New Jersey inmates has risen 45 percent since 2006, nationally, the number has dropped. Legal experts attribute the reduction to The Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) of 1996.

The measure was intended to discourage inmates from filing frivolous lawsuits by requiring them to utilize internal jail grievance procedures before turning to the courts. It was a move that incensed inmate advocates and The American Civil Liberties Union who said forcing prisoners to pay filing fees along with other obstacles prevents victims of rape, religious rights violations, and other abuses from having their constitutional claims heard in court.

While both sides readily agree that frivolous lawsuits filed by inmates over broken cookies and train whistles that disrupt their sleep tend to clog the system, and place undue strain on courthouse resources, inmate advocates argued the new law, in essence, punishes prisoners who may have legitimate claims, making it difficult for them to have fair access to the court and added that the intricacies of the law made it difficult for inmates to craft cogent legal arguments.

"It’s almost like saying: ‘hey, you have been diagnosed with brain cancer. Here is an operating room and some books. Go ahead and operate on yourself,’" said Paul Wright, an ex-convict from Vermont who runs a magazine called Prison Legal News.

Congressman Robert Scott (D-VA) agreed and introduced landmark legislation in 1996 to reconstruct the Prison Litigation Reform Act, in order to ensure due process for inmates with legitimate claims. Scott and other lawmakers agreed that the PLRA was being used to deny justice to legitimate victims of the prison system and needed to be revised.

Case in point involves Passaic County inmate Albert Mullings who claimed he is being forced to go days without a shower, denied food and water and says a guard kicked him. In court documents, Mullings, 31, wrote, "All of my efforts to file charges have been ignored by the jail, breaking my constitutional rights," The Star-Ledger reported. Mulling's, who is awaiting trial on assault and burglary charges, lawsuit was recently filed June 9 in a Newark federal court.

Other complaints filed last month that support inmate advocates arguments include that of an inmate who said he was raped while at the Hudson County Correctional Center and officials refused to investigate it. Another inmate wrote that the unsafe nature at the Camden County jail is largely due to overcrowding. A third inmate says he has 43 staples in his legs after he was cut on exercise equipment at Southern State Correctional Facility in Cumberland County.

While Proponents of the new law may agree inmate lawsuits with validity are sometimes overshadowed by silly lawsuits, PLRA was a necessary measure to protect the courts from outright frivolous lawsuits, such as Searight v. New Jersey and hundreds more like it. In Searight v. New Jersey, inmate Searight sought $12 million in damages claiming someone was "talking to the inside of his brain" after he was taken to the Eye, Ear and Speech Clinic and the State of New Jersey unlawfully injected a radium electric beam into his left eye.

No matter the number of inmate filed lawsuits, frivolous or not, legal website 'Lectric Law Library of Carson City, Nevada reminds us that "Though sometimes absurd, don't loose sight of the fact that many prisoner's suits are meritorious and have led to significant legal gains, or that they can be an important (sometimes the only) balance against the otherwise unrestrained powers of prison officials or legislators."

Top Ten Non-Frivolous Lawsuits Filed By Prisoners

Legislation against Frivolous Lawsuits