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Magistrates Lack Jurisdiction to Impose Contempt Sanctions
Loaded on Oct. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
October, 1997, page 16
The court of appeals for the ninth circuit held that magistrates lack jurisdiction to impose criminal contempt orders, even when the parties have consented to proceed before a magistrate. James Bingman, a Montana state prisoner, filed suit after not receiving adequate dental care. The magistrate judge issued a preliminary injunction …
Filed under:
Dental Care,
Civil Procedure,
Damages,
Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's,
Contempt (Civil Procedure),
Magistrates.
Location:
Montana.
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More from this issue:
- Experiment in Access: Law Libraries Eliminated in Arizona Prisons, by O'Neil Stough
- U.S. Sues Prisons in Arizona and Michigan
- A Matter of Fact
- Seventh Circuit Applies ADA to Prisoners
- Three Texas Guards Indicted in Beating Death
- ADA Suits Not Affected by PLRA Attorney Fee Caps, by John Emry
- Editorial, by Dan Pens
- No Qualified Immunity for Denial of Exercise
- Managed Care Infects Prison Health Services
- Fifth Circuit Reverses Scott
- Georgia Prison Guards Speak Out, by Dan Pens
- Senior DOC Officials Implicated
- Felon Disenfranchisement Laws Challenged in Washington
- Prison Conditions in Venezuela
- Get More Georgia Prison Information
- Mississippi Good Time Violates Ex Post Facto
- California Limits Prison Appeals, by Willie Wisely
- Filing Fee Assessed in Dismissed Appeal
- Consent Decree Termination Provision Upheld
- Released Prisoners Must Pay Filing Fees
- PLRA Fees Don't Apply to Habeas
- Released Prisoner Must Pay Filing Fees
- PLRA Physical Harm Requirement Not Retroactive
- PLRA Fees Don't Apply to Released Prisoners
- PLRA Attorney Fee Cap Not Applicable to Pending Cases
- Arizona DOC Contempt Fines Affirmed
- Magistrates Lack Jurisdiction to Impose Contempt Sanctions
- Clemency Letter Ban Questioned
- $5,000 Verdict for Snitch Jacketing Affirmed
- Eleventh Circuit Reinstates Beating Verdict
- Court Allows Silencing of Environmental Whistle-Blower, by Paul Wright
- California Guards Set Up Prisoners, by Willie Wisely
- California, Texas, Arizona Suit Seeking Alien Incarceration Money Fails
- Recent US Supreme Court Rulings of Interest: Civil Rights
- Recent US Supreme Court Rulings of Interest: Habeas Corpus
- Recent US Supreme Court Rulings of Interest: Court Access
- CCA Prison Off to a Rocky Start
- A Day at the Human Zoo, by Alice Lynd
- Prison Uprisings Sweep Columbia
- Free to Wardens But Not Convicts?
- Same Sex Harassment of Prisoner Workers Okayed
- LSC Ban on Funding Prison Litigation Enjoined
- Arizona Prisoner Entitled to Kosher Diet
- Sexual Abuse by Guard Nets New York Jail Prisoner $750,000
- Rhode Island Probation Fee Ruling Reversed
- News in Brief
- New York AA Program Violates Establishment Clause
More from these topics:
- Former Prison Dentist in Iowa Accused of Harassment, May 1, 2026. Sexual Harassment, Threats by Staff, Medical Misconduct, Dental Care.
- 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.
- Mississippi DOC Retains Law Firm to Monitor VitalCore Contract, April 1, 2026. Contractor Misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Dental Care, Private Contractors, Staffing.
- Judge Orders Rikers Manager Must Fix Jail in Seven Years Or Less, April 1, 2026. Prison Reform, Totality of Conditions, Jail Specific, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Consent Decrees.
- Ohio Supreme Court Awards Prisoner $1,000 for Denied Records Request, April 1, 2026. Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Damages, Public Records, Public Records Act.
- Watchdog Blasts BOP for Failure to Treat Prisoner’s Preventable Cancer, March 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Cancer, Failure to Treat, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Compassionate Release.
- Wisconsin Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal of Detainee’s Jail Food Lawsuit, Jan. 1, 2026. Aramark, Dental Care, Failure to Treat, Food, Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
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- $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.

