Latest news with #Linsenmeir
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Vermont Law and Graduate School receives largest-ever donation, will support animal protection law
ROYALTON, Vt. (ABC22/FOX44) – The Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS), which was ranked 4th in U.S. News and World Report this year for its environmental law program, announced Thursday that it had received a $10 million donation to support work over the next three years. The donor was anonymous, but the university was able to say that the gift came from an 'international foundation dedicated to solving environmental challenges'. Linsenmeir family receives final settlement years after Vermonter's death The donation will go towards supporting the school's knowledge of animal protection policy as well as agriculture and food systems. It will also help with advancing a new project in aquaculture, or seafood farming. Professor Delcianna Winders at the university's Animal Law and Policy Institute calls the gift 'an incredible vote of confidence in the VLGS Animal Law and Policy Institute's pathbreaking work to train tomorrow's animal advocacy leaders.' $22M available for NY municipalities to fight climate change VLGS had 690 students enrolled in 2023 in its masters and doctorate programs, including Food and Agricultural Law and Policy, Restorative Justice, and Climate and Environmental Policy. It began classes in an old schoolhouse in South Royalton in the summer of 1973 and gained certification from the American Bar Association five years later. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Policy changes at Hampden County jail precede new $600K settlement in inmate's death
SPRINGFIELD — As part of a settlement heading off a trial, the Hampden County Sheriff's Department has promised the family of a woman who died in its custody that it would make changes to how its jails provide health care. In 2018, Madelyn Linsenmeir's death gained national attention after her family published an obituary detailing her opioid addiction. They argued in court documents that Linsenmeir told police officers she was experiencing chest pain when she was arrested in Springfield, but she did not receive health care for four days while in jail. It was only when she was found unresponsive in a cell that she was taken to the hospital, her family said. She died on Oct. 7, 2018. She was 30. Lawyers for Linsenmeir's family said they recently signed a settlement agreement with the Sheriff's Department that, among its provisions, calls for changes to how medical complaints are recorded during the prisoner intake process, required wellness checks and increased access to medication to treat opioid addiction. 'My sister didn't die of substance use disorder. She died of bias,' said Linsenmeir's sister, Kate O'Neill. 'It was really hard to watch her struggle for treatment for so long.' Among the evidence to be presented at a trial that was scheduled to begin in March: Days before her death, a corrections officer carried a sickened Linsenmeir up a flight of stairs at the county's women's jail in Chicopee. She had a heart ailment (endocarditis, or a heart infection) brought on by drug use. The civil lawsuit filed in federal court argued that both the Springfield Police Department and officials at the jail ignored her pleas, instead scolding her for being addicted to opioids. The settlement, which came together on the eve of trial, also includes $600,000 that will be placed in a trust for Linsenmeir's son, who was about 4 years old at the time of his mother's death. The settlement with the Sheriff's Department follows a $900,000 settlement with the city of Springfield. Sheriff's Department spokesperson Robert Rizzuto said in a statement that the office already had made the policy changes to comply with updated guidelines recently issued by the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance. 'While we cannot comment on the specifics of any individual case,' Rizzuto said, the Sheriff's Department 'remains committed to providing the highest quality health care to everyone in our custody, especially when it comes to addiction-related services.' Rizzuto added that Sheriff Nicolas Cocchi expressed his condolences to Linsenmeir's family, and that the office was pleased that 'a lengthy and emotional trial' was avoided. Cocchi became sheriff in 2017. Attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts and Boston-based firm Goulston & Storrs represented the Linsenmeir estate in the litigation. David Milton, an attorney with Prisoners' Legal Services, said the litigation helped shed light on the state of health care in Massachusetts' prisons and jails. 'It is long past time for jails to recognize that addiction is a disease, not a moral failing,' Milton said in a statement. 'Denying proper medical care to incarcerated people living with substance use disorder is cruel and unlawful.' O'Neill said her sister had struggled with opioid addiction since her teens. 'I truly believe Maddy would be alive today if she was not arrested in Springfield, Massachusetts,' O'Neill said. As they announced the settlement, Madelyn Linsenmeir's family released a statement describing how she, a Vermont resident, enjoyed spice cake with maple frosting, was a voracious viewer of the animated sitcom 'Family Guy,' and for her, a day well spent was walking in the woods with her son. 'But what's most important about Maddie is that like every woman currently incarcerated at HCSD's jail, she was someone's daughter,' the statement said. 'She was a mom, sister, aunt, niece, partner and best friend.' Muffin thief or target of retaliation because of her disability? MGM cocktail server sues after firing Top-rated private high schools in Springfield, MA metro area More details emerge from hazmat incident at Hayden Corp. on Monday morning Three WMass drug investigations net 45 guns, 52 arrests, heroin, fentanyl Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Wrongful death case against Hampden County Sheriff's Office reach settlement
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Lawyers representing the estate of a Vermont woman who died in the custody of the Hampden County Sheriff's office have settled with the department. The estate of Madeline Linsenmeir will receive a $600,000 payment, which will be placed in trust for the care of her son. In 2018, Linsenmeir was held at the Western Massachusetts Regional Women's Correctional Center in Chicopee after being arrested by Springfield police. Court denies motion to dismiss wrongful death case against Springfield PD, Hampden County Sheriff The estate's lawyers say Linsenmeir was suffering from a potentially deadly heart infection and had complained to both Springfield police and later jail staff about chest pain, but was ignored. She was taken to the hospital days after arriving in jail when she had been found unresponsive in her cell. Under the settlement, the sheriff's office also must implement policy changes at the jail, including improved staff training and better treatment of people with opioid use disorder. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
