UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

DATE:

memorandum

Augu12 3,

1993

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~11"ri(tir;; ~al

Mid-Atlantic Regional Office, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701

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ATTN Of:

Bil¥
Mid-Atlantic Region

SUBJECI':

QUARTERLY REPORT - April thru June 1993

REPLY TO

TO:

Counsel

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Nancy Redding, Executive Assistant
Office of General Counsel
The following is our quarterly report for the third quarter of
fiscal year 1993.
TORTS
HUM

PROP

PI

PPPI

212

135

56

9

0

BIV

SET

AMT

PEND

DEN

4

14

1980

243

73

om

ARS

PEN

CLD

2

16

153

21

4

WD

MED

OD
8

AIO AlP

64

111

LITIGATION
NUN

BC

32

8

FTC

17

5

ADMINIS~IVB

HUll

DBO

B/T

SET

AWD

11

1

REMEDIES

SPB

MED

MB

LEG

FD

GU

DEN

PER

OD

4

22

0

17

0

60

270

234

0

303 2 91
FOI/PRIVACy3
HUM

AHS

PEN

OD

277

148

191

49

lAlaouieh case was included for your information even though
the offer of judgment did not occur until July 9, 1993.
2It should be noted that the Region received 433 remedies
during the quarter with 303 accepted and 130 rejected.
3There has been a marked improvement in the timeliness of
FOI/PA requests being forwarded by the Central Office to the
Regional Office. We appreciate this as it helps us to respond in
a timely fashion.

"'D.Ioc-

MXR Quarterly Report
Page 2
TRZALS AND HEARINGS

Bryant v. Muth, 91-6672 (4th Circuit) Bivens, FCl, Butner
On May 24, 1993 the 4th Circuit, in a published opinion,
reversed and remanded this Bivens action to the District Court
(ED/NC) with instructions to dismiss based upon qualified
immunity'. The magistrate had ruled that Butner staff may have
violated Bryant's right of access to the court when they
refused to return legal research which inmate Bryant had
placed on contraband computer diskettes in violation of BOP
regulations. The District Court accepted the MRR and the
appeal on qualified immunity followed. It was strongly argued
on appeal that staff should be entitled to qualified immunity
as they were following BOP regulations which had not been
found to be unconstitutional. The Fourth circuit, however,
took the position that Bryarit had no right to any materials
placed without authority and in violation of BOP regulations
on contraband computer disks. To hold otherwise would allow
him to benefit from the fruits of his unauthorized activity.
There is some good dicta in the decision concerning the need
to control inmates' access to computers.
Thomas v. Whalen, 92-6988, (4th Circuit) FCI, Petersburg
This case is a complex sentence computation case involving an
aggregation of u.s. Code and District of Columbia sentences.
The District Court dismissed the petition in August 1992
without prejudice to the petitioner's right to pursue
administrative remedies. Petitioner appealed. Oral arguments

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williams, Paralegal attended. The Judges from the bench
questioned petitioner's attorney on why they had not pursued
an administrative review by the BOP as the district court had
suggested. Because of the complexity of the computation, it
was suggested by the Court that as a remedy, the Circuit may
remand the case to the District Court with instructions to
have the BOP, at the highest administrative level, review and
brief the District Court on the petitioner's computation in an
expedited manner. In anticipation of the remand, this office
has retrieved Thomas' complete file and the RISA is recomputing his sentences from day one. He has seven separate
periods of incarceration. Thomas is currently in the D.C.
Department of Corrections.
Wood v. Bogan et al., CA No. 93-CV-72076, E.D. MI, FCI, Milan
Bivens action by inmate who seeks damages for being placed on
general telephone restriction following issuance of incident
report for placing prohibited third party calls. At a hearing
held June 24, 1993, plaintiff's Motion for Temporary
Restraining Order to reinstate telephone privileges was

,

.
MXR Quarterly Report
Page 3
denied.

u.s.

v. Fowler, Criminal, EO/KY, FCI Ashland

A criminal indictment was returned against inmate Larry
Fowler, Reg. No. 01481-056 for possession of escape
paraphernalia and contraband and attempted escape. Prior to
trial Fowler plea bargained and pled guilty to possession of a
knife. sentencing is set for September 7 with an anticipated
sentence of 27-~3 months.
SETTLEMENTS

Gatti v. Tryon,

rrp9~-1183-C,

SO/IN, FTCA, USP, TERRE HAUTE

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This case involves ~ automobile collision on 9-20-89 between
civilian Gatti and a government vehicle operated by
Correctional Security Officer Tyron from USP Terre Haute. Mr.
Tyron stopped at a stop sign and although he looked all
directions his view~as obstructed and as he crossed the
intersection hia government vehicle was struck by plaintiff,
who had the right o~ way. The government vehicle was totaled;
plaintiff alleges her vehicle was also totaled. Plaintiff's
administrative claim requested a sum certain of $100,000 for
personal injury.inciuding medical expenses, lost wages, and
pain and suffering. :: Additionally, plaintiff claimed property
damage for the v~hicle in the amount of $700.00, for a total
claim of $100,700. An offer of settlement for $500 was
refused and thia suit ensued. Since it appeared as though
there·was government liability, after seeking approval through
the; appropriata .:chaW'iclS, an offe;r of se;ttlcwe;nt 'Was made and

accepted in the ::amount of $10,000. The check has been
requested from the Government Accounting Office.
Taylor v • U.S.

•

,-~FTC1t,

NO /TX, USP, Terre Haute

After a one day :;tria-l on the issue of damages, a judgment in
favor of the plainti~f in the amount of $313.51 was entered on
June 14, 1993. .This cased involves the alleged destruction of
10,000 pages of .~legal material and other personal property due
to rodent damage and a pipe bursting at USP Terre Haute in the
property storage area. Plaintiff sought $10,800
administratively, but in the law suit was seeking $155,000.
An administrative offer of $376.01 was made to settle tort
claim, but plaintiff refused. After the suit was filed, two
offers of judgment were made under Rule 68, the first for $750
and the last for $13'00. Plaintiff refused both. (Although
the case is reported as adverse, we are pleasad with the
results as the court awarded less damages than offered
administratively.) We anticipate that the plaintiff will
appeal.

MXR Monthly Report
Page 4

Alaouieh v. U.S., E.D. MI. CA No. 91-CV-73952-Dt, FCI, Milan
The case involves the alleged misdiagnosis of herpetic
infection of a cornea while inmate Alaouieh was at FCI Milan
and alleged continuing substandard treatment at MCC Chicago
and FCI Sandstone. This is a straight FTCA case,. with a sum
certain of $1 million. At present trial is scheduled for
August, 1993. We have received expert evaluation of the case
from a number of ophthalmologists who all confirm there was a
delay in providing treatment. There is some indication of
cornea scarring. However, objective vision impairment is much
less than self reported by plaintiff. The AUSA made an offer
of judgment under Rule 68 in the amount of $5,000 which we
recently learned was refused. Trial has been set for
October 4, 1993.