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Third Circuit Holds PLRA Bars Claims for Compensatory Damages
Loaded on March 15, 2002
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2002, page 9
Third Circuit Holds PLRA Bars Claims For Compensatory Damages
Filed under:
Discrimination,
Religious Discrimination,
Physical Injury Rule,
Damages,
Mootness.
Location:
Pennsylvania.
by Matthew T. Clarke
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has held that although the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) barred a prisoner from recovering compensatory damages for violations of his right to religious expression, he may recover nominal and punitive …
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More from this issue:
- Idaho's Prison Labor Scandal, by Silja JA Talvi
- Stun Gun, Four-Point Restraint Use Curtailed in Virginia Prisons
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Washington DOC Settles Wrongful Death Suit for $245,000
- BOP Settles Prisoner Beating/Restraint Lawsuit for $99,000
- Puerto Rico Prison Officials Fined $10 Million
- Res Judicata Dismissal of Texas Prisoner's Suit Reversed
- Third Circuit Holds PLRA Bars Claims for Compensatory Damages
- Hitching Post Unconstitutional, by David Reutter
- Claims Dismissed in First Challenge to BOP Communications Ban
- Prison Coffee and Games: Starbucks and Nintendo Admit Their Contractor Uses Prison Labor, by Erica C Barnett
- No Qualified Immunity for Prison Officials Who Upheld Grievance
- Recent Significant Decisions, by Reaves, Jr, Walter M
- Qualified Immunity Upheld for Probation Officer in HIV Privacy Action
- State Prisons Abrogate Attorney-Client Mail Privilege
- Equitable Tolling May Apply to Administrative Exhaustion
- Pennsylvania's Released Felons Granted Right to Register to Vote
- The Cost of Medical Neglect in Washington Prisons, by Sam Rutherford
- $225,000 Paid in Mentally Ill Prisoner's Death
- $630,000 Plus Paid in Ulcer Related Death
- $180,000 for Loss of Vision in Left Eye
- $25,000 Paid for Misdiagnosed Blood Clot
- $62,000 in Slip and Fall/Medical Neglect/Retaliation Case
- $100,000 for Brain Damaged Prisoner
- $40,000 for Achilles Tendon Injury
- $6,000 for Amputated Ring Finger
- $5,000 Paid for Failure to Treat Iritis
- $8,500 for Surgical Mishap
- $13,500 for Ruptured Appendix
- $15,000 in Allergy/Retaliation Suit
- $250 for Providing Wrong Medication
- $5,000 for Severed Tendon
- $1,500 Paid for Failure to Provide Pain Medication
- $1,500 for Refusal to Treat HIV Positive Cancer Patient
- $1,500 for Failure to Assist Disabled Prisoner
- $1,000 for Unnecessary Appendectomy
- $250 for Lack of Aftercare Following Stroke
- $200 for Providing Wrong Medication
- Inadequate Dental Care Results in Settlement
- Washington DOC Virtually Uninsurable
- New Retaliation Standard Defined
- Pro Se Appellants Must Cite Authority
- NCIA Report Finds Prison Race Statistics Distorted
- New York Court Limits "Son of Sam" Law
- New York Expands "Son of Sam" Law Giving Crime Victims More "Clout", by Lonnie Burton
- PLN Awarded $58,059 in Attorneys' Fees in Oregon Bulk Mail Suit; PLRA Doesn't Apply, Injunction Entered
- New York Failure to Protect Claim Set for Trial: Bilingual Counsel Appointed
- Sixth Circuit Finds Ohio Response to Jewish Prisoner's Hair 'Exaggerated'
- Ohio Appeals Court Allows Prisoner's Request for Past Work Information on Guards
- Arizona Prisoner Adequately Pleaded Section 1983 Claim
- News in Brief
More from these topics:
- Louisiana Republicans Eliminate Elected Office Won by Exonerated Ex-Prisoner, July 1, 2026. Discrimination, Constitutional Challenges/Law, Public Trial, Civil Rights Actions or Offenses/Bivens Actions, Fair Trial.
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- 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.
- $667,000 Awarded to Muslim Missouri Prisoners Pepper-Sprayed for Praying, April 1, 2026. Religious Discrimination, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Religious Practices, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Deliberate Indifference.
- Ohio Supreme Court Awards Prisoner $1,000 for Denied Records Request, April 1, 2026. Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Damages, Public Records, Public Records Act.
- $4,652 for Jewish Nevada Prisoner Denied Passover Meal, Jan. 1, 2026. Religious Discrimination, Food, Settlements, First Amendment, rights, Dismissal.
- $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.
- Eighth Circuit Orders Preliminary Injunction Requiring Minnesota to Reinstate Program Teaching Biblical “Authentic Manhood”, Nov. 1, 2025. Religious Discrimination, Injunctions, Interlocutory Appeals, Protected Speech, Religious Freedom/Worship, Prison Regulations.
- $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.

