Property Damage Class Action
Jan 17, 2008OUTCOME: Settlement for $925,000
A lawsuit was filed against the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) by inmates for violation of the statutory requirement that all personal property be delivered to the them upon release f ... rom the confines of the institution due to a transfer. Pursuant to a DOC policy, inmates were required to ship their excess property at their expense, to donate the excess property, or to have the excess property destroyed. The Washington Supreme Court held that the DOC was required to physically convey all inmate personal property in DOC custody.