×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
Montana BMPs Are Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Loaded on Aug. 15, 2004
by Mark Wilson
published in Prison Legal News
August, 2004, page 16
The Montana Supreme Court held that the use of Behavior Modification Plans (BMPs) and the living conditions of A-Block (Max) at the Montana State Penitentiary (MSP) constituted "an affront to the inviolable right of human dignity possessed by [prisoners] and that such punishment constitutes cruel and unusual punishment when it …
Filed under:
Food,
Clothing,
Toilets,
Water,
Strip Cells,
Bedding,
Lighting,
Mootness,
Expert Witnesses,
Mental Health,
Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
Location:
Montana.
Full article and associated cases available to subscribers.
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
More from this issue:
- The Complicity of Judges in Wrongful Convictions, by Hans Sherrer
- Washington Persistent Prison Misbehavior Statute Upheld
- Exporting the American Way of Crime
- Federal DNA Statute Not Challengeable in Criminal Appeal
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Texas Boot Camp Denied Immunity for Ignoring Serious Medical Needs
- Habeas Hints, by Kent A. Russell
- Montana BMPs Are Cruel and Unusual Punishment, by Mark Wilson
- Former Texas Prison Guard Awarded $275,000 in Race Discrimination Suit
- Illinois Appeals Court Overturns Warden's Reckless Homicide Convictions
- Local Officials Tell Prisoners: "You don't live here", by Peter Wagner
- CCA Medical Contract Doesn't Violate 8th Amendment
- No Qualified Immunity for Florida Jail Guards in Prisoner Murder
- New Jersey Civil Commitment Hearings Secret, Biased, by Michael Rigby
- Rape of Women Prisoners Rampant in Ohio, by Michael Rigby
- Facts Contained in Administrative Remedies Not Automatically Deemed Facts Alleged in Complaints
- Executions Rose in 2002; Texas Led in Number of Deaths
- California Prison Guards Organize to Sue Assaultive Prisoners
- No Qualified Immunity for Prison Officials on Tobacco Smoke Complaints
- Florida's Felon Disenfranchisement Law Under Spotlight, by David Reutter
- California Guard's Obscene Behavior Towards Prisoner Is Actionable, by Marvin Mentor
- California No-Parole-Policy Suits For Damages And Injunctive Relief Fail, by John E Dannenberg
- Denial of Dentures States Eighth Amendment Claim
- Ohio Supreme Court Holds Some Sex Predators Not Required to Register
- Permanent Injunction Against California Book Ordering Restrictions Affirmed, by John E Dannenberg
- Georgia Sheriff as "Arm of the State" Entitled to Eleventh Amendment Immunity, by Bob Williams
- Washington Court Establishes Procedures for Community Placement Violation Hearings
- Tenth Circuit Holds Prisoner Has Burden Under PLRA To Plead Administrative Exhaustion, by John E Dannenberg
- Hearsay Testimony of Prison Officials Found Inadmissible in Criminal Prosecution and Probation Revocation
- Mailbox Rule Applied To Administrative Forfeiture Proceeding, by Bob Williams
- California Credit Restoration Denial Ruled Ex Post Facto, by John E Dannenberg
- Mentally Ill Texas Prisoner Not Entitled to Hepatitis Treatment
- Tennessee: Staph Outbreak, Delayed Treatment, Death Highlight Prison Healthcare Problems, by Michael Rigby
- Two Courts Interpret Provisions of Federal Appellate Rule 4; Prisoner Appeals Dismissed as Untimely
- 2004 Supplement to the California State Prisoners Handbook, by John E Dannenberg
- PLRA Indigency Provision Inapplicable When Filing Fee Paid
- No Qualified Immunity in Jail Suicide Attempt
- Washington Agencies Must Explain Reasons for Denying Public Disclosure Requests
- Intentional Delay to Prevent Prisoner's Suicide Precludes Qualified Immunity
- News in Brief
- Virginia SCC Without Jurisdiction to Hear Prisoner Phone Rate Challenge
More from Mark Wilson:
- Indiana Prisoner Sues Prison Abolition Group, Wins $1,097 Default Judgment, April 26, 2024
- Eighth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Minnesota Jail Guard Accused of Grabbing and Squeezing Detainee’s Penis, Feb. 1, 2024
- Former Oregon Prison Nurse Gets 30 Years for Raping Prisoners, Dec. 1, 2023
- After Ninth Circuit Refuses to Compel Arbitration, National Class Certified in HRDC’s Challenge to Jail and Prison Debit Card Fees, Oct. 15, 2023
- Seventh Circuit Revives Illinois Prisoner’s Claim Over Knee Surgery Delayed 29 Months, Oct. 15, 2023
- Fourth Circuit Reinstates North Carolina Prisoner’s Suit, Finding Grievance Procedure Availability an Open Question, Oct. 15, 2023
- Congress Forces BOP to Upgrade Security Cameras, Sept. 15, 2023
- Oregon Will Hold Release Hearings for 73 Prisoners Sentenced to LWOP as Juveniles, Sept. 15, 2023
- Senators Slam “Egregious” Prisoner Sexual Abuse by BOP Employees, Sept. 15, 2023
- Minnesota Supreme Court Denies Qualified Immunity for Delayed Transfer of Sex Offenders, Sept. 15, 2023
More from these topics:
- ACLU Threatens New Lawsuit After Indiana County’s Repeated Failures to Abide by 17-Year-Old Settlement Agreement, May 1, 2026. Overcrowding, Exercise, Sanitation, Bedding, Settlements.
- Spike in Massachusetts Prisoner Suicides Blamed on Isolation, K-2 and Spotty Mental Healthcare, May 1, 2026. DOJ CRIPA Actions, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Confinement in Segregated Housing, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- $9.8 Million in Settlements Reached with South Carolina County and Wellpath in Gruesome Jail Death, May 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Sanitation, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Deliberate Indifference.
- $2.135 Million Partial Settlement Reached in Schizophrenic Detainee’s Death from “Gross Medical Neglect” at South Carolina Jail, May 1, 2026. Prison Health Services, Failure to Treat, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Deliberate Indifference.
- Faced with Record-Breaking Jail Deaths, L.A. County Supervisors Tell Sheriff’s Department to Improve Access to Naloxone, Camera Monitoring, and Security Checks at California Jail, May 1, 2026. Drug Overdose, Overcrowding, Sanitation, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Taser Use Doubled After Grand Jury Report on Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Death, May 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Stun Guns/Tasers, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Staff Training.
- Federal Court Places Medical Care in Arizona Prisons Under Receivership, May 1, 2026. Naphcare, Systemic Medical Neglect, Injunctions, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Inadequate Health Care Facilities.
- $1.25 Million Paid for Special Needs Teen’s Fatal Beating in Houston Jail, May 1, 2026. Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- 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.
- Eighth Circuit Revives Lawsuit Over Iowa Jail Detainee’s Suicide, April 1, 2026. Summary Judgment, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides.

