Tuesday, December 13, 2011

12132011 - News Article - Judge strikes some complaints against Porter County Jail



Judge strikes some complaints against Porter County Jail
NWI Times
December 13, 2011 - 7:15 pm

HAMMOND - A federal judge has stricken the complaints — at least for now — of four Porter County Jail inmates who had filed a joint lawsuit against the jail, court records show.

Inmates Dustin McCowan, Jason Tabor, Corey Cardenas and Arthur Gutierrez were among nine who filed a federal lawsuit against the Porter County Jail in Hammond federal court.

The suit alleges the jail violated their constitutional rights when it denied them access to family visitation, phone privileges and time at the jail's law library.

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen had the complaints of the four inmates stricken Tuesday, ruling they submitted vague complaints that do not demonstrate how their rights had been violated.

The Tuesday ruling followed a separate ruling Monday in which Van Bokkelen separated all defendants' complaints into nine separate lawsuits.

McCowan, Tabor, Cardenas and Gutierrez have until Jan. 16 to amend and refile their complaints, or their cases against the jail will be dismissed, according to Van Bokkelen's ruling.

Five other inmates involved in the original suit — Keelan Wright, Dustin DaVaney, Adam Massey, Joseph Ruwaldt and Charles Wade — still had separate pending cases against the jail Tuesday, court records show.

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