Attorneys for Oregon Prison Abuse
Due to multiple legal barriers and associated business risks, the attorneys here at Clark Law and Associates, LLC can only accept the most extreme of prison abuse cases with strong evidentiary support. If you have been a victim of prison abuse and believe your constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment has been violated you may contact us at (503) 238-1010. We will want to know the detailed allegations, the reason for incarceration, inmate date of birth, SID number and release date. Below are some of the legal hurdles in a prison abuse case:
Exhaustion of Administrative Requirements (Institution Grievance)
Before filing a lawsuit against a city/county/state agency, you must first exhaust all administrative procedures to address your grievances. If you do not follow all administrative procedures, any lawsuit you file risks dismissal.
Exhaust administrative procedures by:
- Respectfully attempt to resolve the issue by communicating with appropriate staff.
- If that fails, respectfully request necessary forms and gather procedural information.
- File a grievance promptly, but within 30 days after the incident.
- Verify the grievance has been received and follow-up on the investigation.
- If the grievance coordinator fails to remedy the situation or makes a finding against you, file an appeal within 14 days after the grievance findings.
- Verify the appeal has been received.
- Note: Administrative rules for the above-instructions may change. Please review the administrative rules authorized under ORS 179.040 and ORS 423.020. The division 109 administrative rules 291-109-0100 are posted on the Oregon Secretary of State’s website.
Tort Claim Notice
To preserve your Oregon State law claims, you must file a “Tort Claim Notice” within 180 days of the incident under ORS 30.275(2)(b), with the appropriate agency, sometimes Risk Management. Tort Claim Notice must include, “A statement that a claim for damages is or will be asserted against the public body or an officer, employee or agent of the public body; a description of the time, place and circumstances giving rise to the claim, so far as known to the claimant; and the name of the claimant and the mailing address to which correspondence concerning the claim may be sent.”
We recommend sending tort claim notice sooner rather than later to assure it was timely sent and you have time to re-send it if errors occur.
Statute of Limitations
Under ORS 12.110, most Oregon tort claims have a two-year statute of limitations. Since all civil cases will eventually be time-barred, you will need to find an attorney sooner rather than later to advise you on the statute of limitations issues specific to your case and work on your case comfortably in advance to any deadlines.
Economic Damages needed for Inmate Claims
When an incarcerated individual makes a claim against a public body, such as jail or prison staff, ORS 30.650 limits awards for non-economic damages in an action. In any inmate action, the inmate must show verifiable “economic damages” as described in ORS 31.710(2)(a). Medical bills are an example of economic damages.