Lancaster County Prison Warden Vincent Guarini Thursday criticized the Lancaster New Era's Nov. 17-20 series  of articles detailing lawsuits and other complaints against the prison.

"The articles extensively cited the plaintiffs' filed complaints which are crafted in the best possible light for the plaintiff's case and which are far from reality," Guarini said.

He said the series should have compared local litigation with suits filed in contiguous counties and also should have compared "prison cases in general between the eastern and middle (federal court) districts."

He said that since the series was published, four lawsuits brought against the county in federal court have been dismissed by the court or withdrawn by the plaintiff.

The New Era detailed two of those cases in the series.

A jury found in favor of the prison and against Traci Guynup on Dec. 8. Guynup had charged that guards and inmates had assaulted her.

Melody Martinez, of Lebanon, withdrew her lawsuit against the county for strip searching her.

The other two cases were not mentioned in the series.

The court dismissed Anthony Matthews' case against Guarini and other prison staff and ordered reimbursement of costs in the amount of $581.70.

Stanley J. Caterbone withdrew his suit against Lancaster County, the prison and others.


Staff writer Jack Brubaker can be reached at jbrubaker@LNPnews.com or 291-8781.