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PLRA 'Physical Injury' Requirement Affirmed
Loaded on Aug. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1997, page 13
In the first published case on this issue, a federal district court in Indiana held that a provision of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), requiring "physical injury" before a prisoner's lawsuit can proceed, mandated dismissal of prisoners' claim that they were exposed to asbestos.When the PLRA was enacted …
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More from this issue:
- Supreme Court Upholds Kansas Civil Commitment Law, by Dan Pens
- Washington Prison Official Tagged for Fire
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- No P.C. for Informants
- Disputed Facts Require Trial in Beating Case
- Notes from the Unrepenitentiary, by Laura Whitehorn
- Washington Prison Food Factory Cooks Up Controversy
- Publications Reviews, by Paul Wright
- Habeas and 1983 Remedy for Disciplinary Hearings Discussed
- Florida Paradox of Prisons, Politics and Profits
- Washington Prison Legislation
- Prisoner's Death Throws Utah DOC into Turmoil
- Kansas Ad Seg Hearing Required
- AA Probation Requirement Violates Establishment Clause
- DC Circuit Creates New Immunity Rule: Supreme Court Grants Review
- Punitive Segregation May Violate Due Process
- District Courts Responsible for PLRA Appeal Fees
- PLRA Filing Fees Don't Apply to Habeas
- PLRA 'Physical Injury' Requirement Affirmed
- Fourth Circuit Affirms PLRA IFP Provisions in Parole Suit
- Fifth Circuit Applies Three Strikes Provision
- PLRA Physical Injury Requirement Defined
- Con Artist Dupes 'America's Toughest Sheriff'
- Un-Happy Meal Provider Pulls Out of Kansas Prisons
- North Carolina Population Limit Modification Affirmed
- Jail Medical Fees Upheld by Fifth Circuit
- Florida Ban on Prisoner Legal Help Struck Down
- Administrative Exhaustion Required for Disc. Habeas
- Florida Supreme Court Strikes Down Gain Time Loss
- Failure to Treat Broken Hand States Claim
- Michigan DOC Held in Contempt in Court Access Case
- No Immunity for Denial of Exercise
- Utah Supreme Court Vacates Damage Reduction in Prison Suit
- Washington Cost Bill PI Vacated
- News in Brief
- Retaliation Verdict Reversed
- Res Judicata No Bar to Damages in Illegal Sentence
- Medical Malpractice Instruction Warranted in Eighth Amendment Suit
- No Private Cause of Action Under BOP Statute
- California Prison Focus
More from these topics:
- Seventh Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Detectives Who Revealed Prisoner Was Informant, Denies Him Anonymity, Aug. 1, 2026. Failure to Protect (General), Physical Injury Rule, Qualified Immunity, Informants (Failure to Protect), 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights.
- SCOTUS Continues to Hack Away At First Step Act, July 1, 2026. Conditions of Confinement, PLRA, Post-release, ex-offender, re-entry, Sentences - Corrections or Modifications of, Compassionate Release.
- Free Phone Calls Saved Prisoners and Their Families More than $600 Million, Report Finds, July 1, 2026. Conditions of Confinement, PLRA, Prisoner Privileges, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Telephones.
- Fifth Circuit Kills Louisiana Prison Medical and Mental Health Care Reform, July 1, 2026. Medical, Conditions of Confinement, PLRA, Immunity/Liability, Mental Health.
- Seventh Circuit Upholds Liability but Reverses Damages in Lawsuit Over Illinois Warden and Investigator Using Prisoner as Bait to Catch Staff Member Raping Her, May 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Damages, Evidentiary Ruling, Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- Ohio Supreme Court Awards Prisoner $1,000 for Denied Records Request, April 1, 2026. Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Damages, Public Records, Public Records Act.
- $95,000 Settlement for Trans BOP Prisoner Assaulted by Cellmate in Arizona Lockup, Dec. 1, 2025. Snitch Jacketing, Failure to Protect (General), Physical Injury Rule, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Transgender Medical Procedures, Discrimination (Transgender), Failure to Protect (Transgender).
- $6.49 Million Settlement for 600,000 Prisoners in Massive CorrectCare Data Breach Class Action, Dec. 1, 2025. Private Contractors, Medical Records, Damages, Settlements, Privacy Act/Rights.
- $4 Million Verdict Returned in Colorado Jail Suicide Case, Nov. 1, 2025. Damages, Failure to Train/Supervise, Suicides, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Monell Liability.
- Contractor Fined $300,000 for Illegal Asbestos Dumping at Wisconsin Federal Prison, Aug. 15, 2024. Contractor Misconduct, Asbestos, Rural Prisons.

