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Pro Se Tips and Tactics (Consent Decrees)
What A Consent Decree Is
This column discusses so-called "consent decrees" in prison cases. I briefly address the advantages of trying to get a consent decree in certain cases, and current issues regarding consent decrees. This column assumes that either you have filed a case under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 …
This column discusses so-called "consent decrees" in prison cases. I briefly address the advantages of trying to get a consent decree in certain cases, and current issues regarding consent decrees. This column assumes that either you have filed a case under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 …
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More from this issue:
- U.S. Supreme Court: No Immunity for Private Prisons, by Paul Wright
- ADA Applies to State Prisons
- Pro Se Tips and Tactics (Consent Decrees), by John Midgley
- Second Circuit Affirms IFP Provisions
- Sixth Circuit Explains PLRA Again
- PLRA Applies to Juveniles, Retroactive on Attorney Fees
- PLRA Forbids Dismissal of Suits Without Paid Fees
- Gun Law Threatens Police, Military, Prisons
- A Matter of Fact
- BOP Mutiny Convictions Affirmed
- Vacant Judgeships Cripple Federal Judiciary, by Dan Pens
- DC Women Prisoners' Suit Reversed
- Alabama Phone System Upheld
- Pepper Spray too Dangerous for DOC Training?
- Former Mississippi Guards Lose Sentencing Appeal
- Disciplinary Segregation Can Create Liberty Interest
- New York Jail Overcrowding Unconstitutional
- Prisoners Held Beyond Release Date Sue
- Montana Paying for 1991 Prison Uprising
- Supreme Court Strikes Down RFRA as Unconstitutional
- Attorney Fee Award in Nominal Damage Case Affirmed
- Detainee Awarded $64,000 in Guard Attack
- Farmer Loses at Jury Trial
- Iowa Grievance Retaliation Suit Set for Trial
- Indiana ADA Verdict Affirmed
- Fact Finding of Segregation Conditions Required in Disciplinary Suit
- Failure to Remove Sutures States Claim
- Nebraska Women's Court Access Case Reversed
- Consent Decrees Enforceable on Its Own Terms
- Jail Assault Requires Trial
- Reliable Evidence Required at Disciplinary Hearing
- Court Reduces Jury Award in Beating Suit
- Sandin Analyzed for New York Prisoners
- News in Brief
- New Jersey Prisoners Have Liberty Interest in Parole
- No Right to TV or Radio
More from John Midgley:
- Pro Se Tips and Tactics, June 15, 2004
- Pro Se Tips and Tactics: Magistrate Judges in Federal Courts, Nov. 15, 2003
- Pro Se Tips and Tactics: Damages, Aug. 15, 2003
- Pro Se Tips and Tactics, April 15, 2003
- Pro Se Tips and Tactics, Dec. 15, 2002
- Pro Se Tips and Tactics: Unknown Defendant Identities, July 15, 2002
- Pro Se Tips and Tactics, Feb. 15, 2002
- Pro Se Tips and Tactics, June 15, 2001
- Pro Se Tips and Tactics, Dec. 15, 2000
- Pro Se Tips and Tactics, Sept. 15, 2000
More from these topics:
- Atlanta Jail Begins Turning Away Misdemeanor Arrestees, Sept. 1, 2026. Escapes, Staffing, Security Systems, Consent Decrees.
- Federal Court Upholds Consultants’ Finding that Oklahoma Is Not Honoring Its Consent Decree to Provide Mental Health Treatment, Sept. 1, 2026. Consent Decrees, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Pretrial Detention and Detainees, Competency Hearing, Inadequate Health Care Facilities.
- $3 Million Settlement Reached with BOP for Attorney’s Fees in Sex Abuse Class-Action from Now-Shuttered California “Rape Club”, Aug. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Attorney Fee Awards, Settlements, Consent Decrees, Class Actions.
- 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.
- Atlanta Jail Boasts Improvements Since Consent Decree, Reports from Monitor and ACLU Are More Critical, May 1, 2026. Staffing, Sanitation, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Consent Decrees, Bail/Pretrial Release.
- Monitor Says Massachusetts Prisons Will Not Meet Settlement Deadline for Mental Health Reforms, May 1, 2026. Private Prisons, DOC/BOP misconduct, Consent Decrees, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides.
- 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.
- New York City Begins Construction on Chinatown Jail Despite Opposition, March 1, 2026. Lobbying, Protests, Jail Specific, Transportation, Consent Decrees.

