Frivolous Lawsuits From Behind Bars
By Damon Marturion
New Business News Staff Writer
According to Department of Justice figures, 30,000 inmate lawsuits were filed last year (added to heavy backlogs -- more than 28,000 in New York alone) against prison officials for "civil rights" violations, the vast majority described by judges and court officials as frivolous.
Among the lawsuits were those by prisoners complaining that:
- the prison canteen supplied "creamy" peanut butter when a prisoner bought "crunchy"
- guards wouldn't refrigerate his ice cream snack so that he could eat it later ($1 million lawsuit)
- his toilet seat was too cold
- as an inmate-paralegal in the prison law library, he should make the same wage that lawyers make
- prisons should offer salad bars ($129 million)
- a limit on the number of Kool-Aid refills is "cruel and unusual punishment"
- the scrambled eggs were cooked too hard.
In New York, 20 percent of the entire budget of the Attorney General's office is spent on prisoner lawsuits.
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