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Quinnones, a transgender who was born a male but lives life as a female, and Gray were held at the county prison at various times between 2007 and Continued from Page 1A 2008 as they awaited trial for by people representing them- assaulting a state prison guard selves and have been deemed to at the state Correctional Institube meritless. But proving that tion at Dallas. Quinnones, who is infected has been costly. The county has insurance to with the AIDS virus, and Gray, cover the lawsuits, but the pol- whom Quinnones has described icies have deductibles ranging as her lover, were accused of from $25,000 to $175,000 per in- spitting on the guard. Both were cident, depending on the carri- convicted of the charges following a trial in September 2008. er. The first suit, which QuinThe county must pay the legal bills until those deductibles nones filed on Aug. 22, 2008, are met, said Attorney Jack alleged numerous guards subDean of Elliott, Greenleaf and jected her and Gray to physical Dean, whose firm is defending abuse and sexually explicit the prison in the Quinnones/ taunting due to their sexuality. Three more suits quickly folGray cases and others. “It’s very frustrating,” Dean lowed: • On Dec. 19, 2008 Quinsaid. “We have to put time and energy to meet with the warden nones and Gray filed a suit aland guards and do an investiga- leging the prison wrongly charged their intion to see what hapmate accounts $5 pened. It’s just a for each misconwaste of time. We “Inmates have duct they received have better things to an awful lot of without providing do, and it takes up time on their them a chance to their time, too.” The situation is hands. They can challenge the policy that permitted particularly frustrat- say anything the fee. ing given the $23.6 • On Jan. 20, million budget hole they want. You 2009 Quinnones the county faces go- get into a ‘he filed a suit alleging ing into 2012. she was injured Dean and attorney said, she said’ when guards used Sean McDonough of situation. It’s excessive force to Dougherty, Levanthal remove her from and Price, which also very difficult to her cell after she handles numerous prove. You have was accused of lawsuits against the having contraband. county, said their to get into con• On May 22, firms have gotten ducting deposi2009 Quinnones most prison litigation tions, filing mo- and Gray filed suit suits dismissed early alleging they were in the legal process. tions, securing denied access to But even suits that affidavits from the law library to are clearly frivolous prepare for the deentail a lot of legal your own clifense in the assault work, they said. ents.” case. Attorneys must, at Sean McDonough Dean succeeded a minimum, file a Lawyer in getting the first motion to dismiss suit that alleged and a legal brief to physical abuse and support their argudismissed three ments. Other times they have to taunting seek a court order to interview months after it was filed based the inmate, or file motions seek- on Quinnones’ failure to comply ing to compel the inmate to re- with an order to cure deficienspond to court filings, Dean cies in the suit. That did not end the case, however. said. “Inmates have an awful lot of time on their hands. They can Reconsideration motion Quinnones filed a motion for say anything they want,” McDonough said. “You get into a ‘he reconsideration and numerous said, she said’ situation. It’s very other court filings. She then apdifficult to prove. You have to pealed the case to the Third Cirget into conducting depositions, cuit Court of Appeals. It wasn’t filing motions, securing affida- finally resolved until June 8, 2009, when the Third Circuit vits from your own clients.” Dean estimated that, on aver- denied the appeal based on age, it costs $3,000 to $6,000 to Quinnones failure to pay a filing file a motion to dismiss. That fee. The law library suit was also increases to about $10,000 if the defense has to take depositions dismissed by U.S. District Judge William Nealon in a ruling isor file other motions. sued in September. Labor intensive In his decision, Nealon said The Quinnones and Gray the evidence was “overwhelmcases have been exceptionally ing” that prison officials providlabor intensive based on the ed Quinnones and Gray “every sheer volume of suits they have opportunity” to utilize the law filed and because Quinnones, library. It took more than two years who authors most of the filings, has become adept at working to get to that ruling, however, based on numerous court mothe legal system.
SUITS
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THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com
COST TO DEFEND PRISONER LAWSUITS Pro-se litigants – those who represent themselves without an attorney – cost Luzerne County tens of thousands of dollars each year in legal fees. Listed below is a sampling of some of the cases handled by the law firm of Elliott, Greenleaf & Dean.
Date suit Date suit filed dismissed
Plaintiff Shawn Quinnones/ Anthony Gray
8/22/08
6/1/09
Shawn Quinnones/ Anthony Gray
12/19/08
Pending
Shawn Quinnones
1/20/09
Pending
Shawn Quinnones/ Anthony Gray
5/22/09
9/20/11
Ronald Weaver
Cost*
$89,170*
TOTAL COSTS 11/30/05 12/19/06
$5,674
Vickie Ashton
6/09/08
7/15/09
$8,696
Anthony Tabit
6/11/08
7/28/09
$5,556
Ramon Cora
10/05/10
7/28/11
$3,700
James DiPietrae
4/30/10
11/02/10
$3,290
Charles Dennis
4/13/09
6/09/11
$11,376
$127,462
TOTAL COSTS *Breakout for each case not available
Source: Luzerne County Controllers office and law firm of Elliott, Greenleaf & Dean STEVE HUSTED/THE TIMES LEADER
tions Quinnones filed. The prison has had to respond to those filings. The two other cases filed by Quinnones and Gray are still pending. In the excessive force case, the prison filed a motion to dismiss the case in May, but a judge has not yet ruled on the matter. In the misconduct fee case, a judge recently dismissed most of the complaint, but allowed the suit to continue on the sole issue of whether the prison has an adequate policy in place that allows inmates to challenge deductions made from their accounts for misconducts. Dean said he believes both suits clearly lack merit and will be dismissed, just as the other two suits were. But that takes time, and money. Legal bill: $89,170 The legal bill for the four cases has reached $89,170 as of July 2011, according to records from the county controller’s office. Quinnones and Gray were last discharged from the county prison in December 2008 and are now housed at separate state correctional institutions. Unfortunately for the county, there’s little officials can do to prevent prisoners from filing a frivolous lawsuit, Dean and McDonough said. The federal court system has taken steps to reduce the number of frivolous cases, including enacting the Prison Litigation Reform Act in 1996. But those measures are far from foolproof, the attorneys said. Any prisoner case that is filed in federal court first goes to a law clerk, who screens the complaint to determine whether it meets the minimum standards
for a federal lawsuit. That standard is fairly low, McDonough said. A suit will pass the initial test so long as a prisoner has alleged a federal constitutional right was violated and provides at least some details of the alleged violation. “A lot of inmates are pretty shrewd. They know how to
COUNTY
The federal court system has taken steps to reduce the number of frivolous cases, including enacting the Prison Litigation Reform Act in 1996. plead a case,” McDonough said. The Prison Litigation Reform Act has helped to a degree, he said. The act mandates, among other things, that a prisoner first try to resolve their complaints through the prison’s internal grievance procedure. If a suit is filed before those actions are taken, the complaint will be automatically dismissed. Another key component is the so called “three strikes” rule. Any prisoner who has filed three lawsuits that have been deemed frivolous by the court is precluded from filing any further lawsuits unless the inmate receives special permission from the court to do so. Unfortunately for the county, the three strikes rule did not apply to Quinnones and Gray due to the timing of the suits, all of which were filed within a one- year period and proceeded simultaneously through the court, Dean said. Despite the frustration meritless lawsuits cause, Dean and McDonough stressed they’re not saying all prisoner litigation suits are frivolous, or that prisoners should be precluded from ever filing a lawsuit. “We’ve all seen instances of errors or negligence that has occurred in prisons. They do have a right to proceed to protect their constitutional rights,” Dean said.
In Luzerne County, there has been least one case in which an inmate prevailed in securing a settlement from the county. That case involved Scott Bolton, who was paralyzed from the chest down after he fell from a window while trying to escape from the county prison in 2003. Bolton’s suit, filed in 2008, alleged the prison failed to provide adequate facilities to accommodate his disability when he was returned there to await trial on another matter in 2005. Agreed to settle The prison, which was represented McDonough, agreed in last year to pay $5,000 to settle the case. McDonough said at the time that the prison was not admitting any wrongdoing. It decided to settle to avoid a prolonged litigation battle. Even with the problems, Dean and McDonough said, overall, they believe the federal court has done a good job in trying to curb frivolous suits given the obstacles. “I don’t know what the solution is,” McDonough said. “The court does its best, but it has a difficult task balancing the object of the statute, which is to weed out frivolous cases, and at the same time give pro-se litigants enough latitude to attempt to pursue a claim that may be meritorious,” McDonough said.
Continued from Page 1A
Since 2005, the county has paid at least $127,472 in fees to the firm for legal work performed on the seven cases.
pay legal fees associated with the defense of the suits until it reaches the deductible on the insurance policies. The exact amount the county pays each year could not be determined because defense of the lawsuits is handled by several different law firms. Bills submitted by the firms do not always identify the plaintiff, or specify if the bill is for defense of a lawsuit or other legal work. But a sampling of just seven of the cases handled by Elliott, Greenleaf & Dean, one of the law firms that represents the county, shows how expensive defending the suits can be. Since 2005, the county has paid at least $127,472 in fees to the firm for legal work performed on the seven cases. The bulk of the money -$89,170 – has gone to defend four lawsuits filed Shawn Quinnones and Anthony Gray, two state prison inmates who were temporarily
housed at the county prison in 2007 and 2008 while awaiting trial on charges they assaulted a state prison guard. The suits allege various violations of the inmates’ rights. Other cases that Dean’s firm has gotten dismissed include: • Ronald Weaver: Weaver sued then district attorney David Lupas and others in 2005, alleging his rights to the court was violated because officials failed to comply with his instruction on how to bind a mail a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. Cost to defend: $5,674. • Vickie Ashton: Ashton sued the prison in 2008, alleging she was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment after prison officials transferred her from the main prison to the work release building. Cost to defend: $8,696 • James DiPietrae: DiPietrae sued the prison in
2010, alleging he was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment after the prison failed to supply him an antihistamine to treat severe allergies. Cost to defend: $3,290. • Anthony Tabit: Tabit, who was originally represented by an attorney who later withdrew, sued the sheriff’s department in 2008 alleging he was forced to sit in an awkward position in a police car, causing an injury that led to the removal of one of his testicles. Cost to defend: $5,556. • Ramon Cora: Cora sued the prison in 2010, alleging he was assaulted by a guard and denied medical care. Cost to defend: $3,700. • Charles Dennis: Dennis sued the county prison, Children and Youth and several area police officers for false arrest after charges that alleged he had given his young son alcohol were dismissed. Cost to defend: $11,376.
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