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Retaliatory Acts Need Not "Shock the Conscience" to be Actionable
Loaded on Nov. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
November, 1999, page 18
by Matthew T. Clarke
Filed under:
Retaliation for Litigating,
Food,
Eighth Amendment,
Sanitation,
Prisoner Legal Assistance,
Legal Materials,
Supervisory Liability,
Mental Health.
Location:
Michigan.
The Sixth Circuit court of appeals, sitting en banc, has held that prisoners who claim retaliation for constitutionally protected activities are no longer required to prove the retaliatory acts "shock the conscience." Instead, they must prove that the retaliatory act would be sufficient to deter a …
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More from this issue:
- The Cultural Commodification of Prisons, by Paul Wright
- New Jersey Guard Wins $3.75 Million Harassment Suit
- From the Editor, by Dan Pens
- New York City Arrestee Awarded $5.02 Million in Strip Search
- PLN Sues Washington DOC over Censorship of Nazi Guard Exposé
- California Changes Shooting Policy, by Willie Wisely
- $7,000 Award to Prisoner Shoved by Guard while Praying
- No Privacy Rights for Sex Offender Registrants
- CCPOA Pimping in the California State Assembly, by Dan Pens
- Probable Cause Hearing Delay Actionable, by Ronald Young
- Ex-Welfare Workers in Georgia Replaced with Prison Slaves
- California Prison Legal Fund Broke, by Willie Wisely
- Nevada Guards Party with Inmate Welfare Fund
- Prison Realty Stock Plummets; Shareholders File Suit
- Corcoran Bad Apple Rehired, by Willie Wisely
- New York Retaliation Suit Nets $100,000 in Damages
- California Governor Vetoes Parole Reform Bill
- California Illegally Dumps Parole Records, by Willie Wisely
- Suicides at Connecticut Prison Raise Concerns about Mental Health Care
- Prisoner Strip Search Warrants Fourth Amendment Analysis, by Ronald Young
- Amended Complaint Filed Outside Limitations Period Relates Back
- A Guide to the Prison Litigation Reform Act, by John Boston (Review), by Paul Wright
- California Visits Reinstated after Food Boycott (Letter), by D.R.
- $100,000 Settlement in South Carolina Jail Death
- Heck Not Applicable to Ad Seg; Only "Available" Exhaustion Required
- Retaliatory Acts Need Not "Shock the Conscience" to be Actionable
- Sheriff Liable for Inadequate Staffing and Refusing Medical Treatment to Assaulted Prisoner
- Second Circuit Discusses Heck and Edwards
- Evidentiary Hearing Allowed in PLRA Consent Decree Terminations
- West Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Computer Ban
- Washington Felony Infraction Law Struck Down
- Request for Telephonic Appearance Must Be Considered
- BOP Violates Due Process in Ad-Seg, Transfer and Mail Suit
- Trial Required in Jail Attack
- Race Discrimination Claim Not Barred by PLRA Physical Injury Rule
- News in Brief
- PLRA Attorney Fee Cap Not Retroactive in Attorney Client Case
- PLRA Attorney Fee Provision Not Retroactive in Jail Conditions Suit
More from these topics:
- The Dramatic Increase in the Elderly Prison Population Is Fiscally and Morally Irresponsible, Oct. 1, 2026. Food, Life without Parole (LWOP), Age, Reduction of Prison Population.
- Eleventh Circuit Upholds Most of Relief Ordered in Class-Action Lawsuit Challenging Unconstitutionally Inadequate Mental Health Care in Alabama Prisons, Oct. 1, 2026. Eighth Amendment, Staffing, Injunctions (PLRA), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides.
- Class Action Certified in Lawsuit Alleging Raw Sewage Presence in Washington Jail, Oct. 1, 2026. Plumbing, Sewage, Sanitation, Class Certification, Deliberate Indifference.
- Ninth Circuit Refuses to Stay Injunction in Detainees’ Challenge to Conditions at California ICE Lockup, Oct. 1, 2026. GEO Group/Wackenhut, Sanitation, Injunctions, Fifth Amendment, Immigration Detention.
- Tenth Circuit Vacates Award of Costs to Prison Officials, Revives Prisoner’s Claim Alleging Denial of Access to Functioning Toilets and Exposure to Other Prisoners’ Feces, Oct. 1, 2026. Plumbing, Sanitation, Summary Judgment, Costs, Deliberate Indifference.
- San Francisco Jail Survey Exposes Abuse, Malnutrition and Constitutional Violations, Oct. 1, 2026. Failure to Protect (General), Food, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Attorney Visits, Pretrial Detention and Detainees.
- Second Circuit Rules Eighth Amendment Governs Claims of Excessive Force Brought by Parole Violator, Oct. 1, 2026. Eighth Amendment, Excessive Force, Qualified Immunity, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release.
- Eleventh Circuit Affirms Refusal to Expand Bivens to Claim Alleging Federal Prisoner Died from Denial of Treatment for Hepatitis C, Oct. 1, 2026. Medical, Eighth Amendment, Administrative Exhaustion, Civil Rights Actions or Offenses/Bivens Actions, Deliberate Indifference.
- Fatal LAPD Arrests Show Systemic Failure in Handling Mental Health Crises, Oct. 1, 2026. Shootings, Restraints, Police--Excessive Force, Mental Health, Staff Training.
- “Nothing Short of Disgraceful”: New York Prisoner Wins Injunction Ordering Cancer Treatment Delayed Seven Years, Sept. 1, 2026. Cancer, Failure to Treat, Eighth Amendment, Injunctions, Deliberate Indifference.

