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Seventh Circuit Holds That A Prisoner’s Verbal Complaints About Racist Guards May Be Protected Speech
Loaded on Feb. 15, 2011
published in Prison Legal News
February, 2011, page 21
Retaliation for verbally complaining about a prison guard who hung a noose where prisoners could see it, the Seventh Circuit has held, may constitute an infringement of a prisoner’s First Amendment free speech rights.
Filed under:
Racial Discrimination,
Retaliation,
Retaliation for Filing Grievances,
Disciplinary Litigation,
Retaliatory Discipline.
Location:
Illinois.
Lester Dobbey, an Illinois state prisoner, filed suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that …
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More from this issue:
- Mass Torture in America: Notes from the Supermax Prisons, by Lance Tapley
- From the Editor
- Study: CIA Doctors ‘Gave Green Light to Torture’, by Muriel Kane
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- Illinois Supermax Placement Procedures Unconstitutional, by David Reutter
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- Physicians for Human Rights: CIA Performed Illegal Medical Experiments While Torturing Prisoners, by Matthew Clarke
- Seventh Circuit Holds That A Prisoner’s Verbal Complaints About Racist Guards May Be Protected Speech
- Mississippi DOC Closes Unit 32
- The Habeas Citebook: lneffective Assistance of Counsel, by Brandon Sample, Prison Legal News Publishing, 2010, pp.212 $49.95, by Mumia Abu-Jamal
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- Leaked Video Footage Shows California Prison Guards Engaged in Retaliatory Assault, March 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Prison Rape Elimination Act.
- New Jersey Governor’s Order Allows People with Prior Felony Convictions to Serve on Jury Duty, March 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, State Legislation, Restrictions, discrimination, Jury Selection.
- Texas Prisoner Declared Innocent 70 Years After Execution, March 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Death Penalty, False Confessions, Eyewitness Identification, Prosecutorial Misconduct.
- Minnesota Study Shows Disproportionate Rate of Health and Mental Problems for Recently Incarcerated, March 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Medical, Statistics/Trends, Mental Health, Health care.
- Federal Court Strikes Much of Virginia’s Felony Voting Restriction, Feb. 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Restrictions, discrimination, Voting Rights, Felon Disenfranchisement Statute.
- The New York Prison System’s Culture of Cruelty and Impunity, Feb. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Racial Discrimination, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death).
- How AI Integration Used by Law Enforcement Fails the Public, Feb. 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, False Arrest, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of.
- $404,000 Verdict for Ohio Prisoner Brutalized by Trio of Guards, Kept in Solitary for Two Years, Jan. 1, 2026. Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Retaliatory Segregation, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.

