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Mississippi Supreme Court Holds Substance, Not Label, of Prisoner Petitions Governs
Loaded on Jan. 15, 2011
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2011, page 39
Mississippi courts must construe prisoner filings based on their substance, and not how they are labeled, the Supreme Court of Mississippi decided. Dennis Dobbs, a Mississippi state prisoner, filed a “Petition for an Order to Show Cause” with the Marshall County Circuit Court complaining about the lack of air-conditioning and …
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More from this issue:
- Medical Examiners Lack Qualifications, Competence, Oversight, by Matthew Clarke
- Kentucky Jail Under Investigation After Prisoner Dies; Sexual Abuse, Financial Mismanagement Also Alleged, by Derek Gilna
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- St. Louis Lockups Violate Constitutional Rights, ACLU Asserts, by Mark Wilson
- Mentally Ill Prisoner Terrorized, Forced to Wear Pink Underwear by Arizona Jailers
- California Prison Settles Prisoner’s Excessive Force Suit for $15,000
- Texas Capital Defendants with Hired Attorneys Rarely Receive Death Sentences, by Matthew Clarke
- $16 Million Award Upheld in Wrongful Conviction Resulting from Undisclosed Evidence and Relationship
- UNICOR-Made Military Helmets Recalled, Production Suspended, by Derek Gilna
- $300,000 Settlement for New York Guard’s Fondling of Prisoner
- Kansas No Longer a Leader in Post-Release Prisoner Programs, by Derek Gilna
- North Carolina Prison Censorship Class Action Suit Settled
- Federal Rapid REPAT Program Not Working in Rhode Island, by Derek Gilna
- Georgia Prisoners Strike for Wages, Better Medical Care and Food
- Oregon Prisoner Holds Counselor Hostage, Gets New 68-Month Sentence
- California: Confiscation of Prisoner’s Mail May Violate First Amendment
- California: Harsh Sentencing Laws and Health Care Costs Strain Corrections Budget
- Released Prisoners Need Not Exhaust Grievance Remedies Before Filing Suit
- Budget Deficits Lead to Fewer Supermax Beds, by Mark Wilson
- California: Validity of Parole Board’s Psych Evaluation Procedures for Lifers Questioned, by Michael Brodheim
- Fourth Circuit Vacates Pornography Restriction on Federal Defendant
- Connecticut Restricts Prisoners’ FOIA Requests, by David Reutter
- U.S. Department of Justice Releases Report on Deaths in Jails, by Matthew Clarke
- Former Ohio Prison Guard Dies Shackled to Hospital Bed, by Matthew Clarke
- Seventh Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment for Guard in Illinois Jail Taser Case
- Oregon Jail Guard Latest to be Indicted for Sexual Misconduct, by Mark Wilson
- Civilly Committing Sex Offenders Strains Some States’ Budgets, by Matthew Clarke
- California: Parole Agents Saw and Spoke to Kidnap Victim, Yet Failed to Identify or Rescue Her
- Political Patronage Scandal Rocks Massachusetts Probation Department, by Derek Gilna
- Federal Restitution Law Failing Crime Victims, by Michael Rigby
- Massachusetts: Court Lifts Stay of Discovery in Challenge to Treatment of Mentally Ill Prisoners, by David Reutter
- Mississippi Supreme Court Holds Substance, Not Label, of Prisoner Petitions Governs
- Audit Report Finds Georgia Sex Offender Registry Needs Complete Overhaul, by David Reutter
- Probation Officers Working in Los Angeles Juvenile Facilities Engage in Misconduct, Avoid Disciplinary Action, by Michael Brodheim
- Capital Appeals Attorney Sentenced to Prison for Theft, by David Reutter
- California Governor Orders Corrections Officials to Retain Parole Files Indefinitely
- Delaware’s Parole Board Suffers from Infighting, by David Reutter
- Oregon Federal Halfway House Director Removed Due to Embezzlement, by Mark Wilson
- $389,548.55 Total Award in Texas Jail Strip Search Suit
- Washington Supreme Court Holds No Liberty Interest in Sex Offender Release to Community Custody
- Indiana DOC Hires Convicted Former Legislator for Re-Entry Job
- Former Texas Youth Commission Official Gets Ten Years in Prison
- North Carolina Supreme Court Upholds Felon’s Right to Possess Firearm
- Seventh Circuit Holds No Public Interest Requirement in Prisoner’s First Amendment Retaliation Suit for Providing Affidavit to Help Dead Prisoner’s Family
- California Supreme Court Clarifies Application of Presentence Good-Conduct Credit Statute
- Speedy Sentencing Procedure Applies to Probation Revocations, California Supreme Court Holds
- Massachusetts DOC Injunction Requiring Broadcast of Jum’ah Services via Closed-Circuit Television Upheld
- Federal Prisoners Making Solar Cells
- Cavity Searches of Civil Commitment Patients for Cellphone Upheld by Eighth Circuit
- News in Brief:
More from these topics:
- Airconditioning Failure at Troubled ICE Detention Center in New Jersey, Aug. 1, 2026. GEO Group/Wackenhut, Food, Water, Sanitation, Exposure to Heat.
- $3.25 Million Paid by Georgia After Prisoner Bakes to Death in Outdoor Recreation Cage, Aug. 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Exposure to Heat, Settlements, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Deliberate Indifference.
- Tuberculosis Outbreak, Protester Shooting at Colorado ICE Lockup, Aug. 1, 2026. GEO Group/Wackenhut, Contagious Disease -- Misc., Exposure to Heat, Shootings, Immigration Detention.
- Oregon Supreme Court: Jail Credit Statute Focuses Upon Legal Custody Not Physical Custody Location, July 1, 2026. Civil Procedure, Sentencing, Appeals/Appellate Jurisdiction, Criminal Justice, Statutory Construction/Interpretation.
- North Texas Prison Evacuated After Carbon Monoxide Leak, July 1, 2026. Toxic Fumes/Chemicals, Eighth Amendment, Exposure to Cold, Water, Exposure to Heat.
- Federal Judge Upholds Infamously Brutal Farm Labor at Angola Prison, June 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Prison Labor, Exposure to Heat, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Deliberate Indifference.
- Texas Officials Testify That Cost to Air Condition Prisons Tops $1.5 Billion, May 1, 2026. Eighth Amendment, Exposure to Heat, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Deliberate Indifference, Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA).
- Nevada Non-Profit Founder Under Investigation for Misconduct, May 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Contractor Misconduct, Complaints, Restrictions, discrimination.
- Missouri Prisons Called Out for Incomplete Death Records, Hellish Solitary Heat, April 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Exposure to Heat, Confinement in Segregated Housing, Deliberate Indifference.
- Constitutional Challenge to Louisiana Prison “Farm Line” Granted Class Certification, March 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Exposure to Heat, Injunctions (PLRA), Class Certification, Americans with Disabilities Act.

