×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
Prisoner’s Deliberate Indifference Suit Over Tooth Abscess Reinstated by Seventh Circuit
Lester Dobbey, confined at Illinois’ Stateville Correctional Center in 2011, sought treatment at the prison’s medical unit for severe tooth pain that was later determined to be an abscessed molar. When he arrived for a dental appointment, a guard told him the dentist was not in, his appointment was …
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:
- Incarceration, Justice and the Planet: How the Fight Against Toxic Prisons May Shape the Future of Environmentalism, by Panagioti Tsolkas
- U.S. Prisons Filled with America’s Mentally Ill, by Derek Gilna
- $8,000 Settlement for Medical Maltreatment by BOP; Court Finds Experts Not Required, by Derek Gilna
- Three California Jail Guards Charged in “Fight Club” Case
- No Place for Old Men
- California: City Council Hears Proposal to Repurpose Empty Prison as Pot Farm
- San Bernardino County Jail Named in Federal Lawsuit, by Christopher Zoukis
- Illinois Prisoner Wins $125,000 Civil Rights Jury Verdict, by Derek Gilna
- Seventh Circuit Reverses Denial of Former Prison Guard’s Marriage to Prisoner, by Derek Gilna
- Bail Bond Payment Plans Face Scrutiny, Criticism in New Jersey, by Joe Watson
- Private Prison Firms Reap Large Profits from Immigration Detention, by Gary Hunter
- Seventh Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Illinois Prisoner’s § 1983 Action, by Derek Gilna
- Crime, Incarceration Rates Decline in New York City, by Mark Wilson
- Tenth Circuit Affirms Murder Conviction Called into Question by New DNA Evidence, by Derek Gilna
- Fifth Circuit Holds Texas Prisoner Has Right to Grow “Fist-Length” Beard
- UK Prisoner Pen Pal Program Relieves Feelings of Isolation, by Derek Gilna
- Another WA DOC Asbestos Abatement Program Shut Down; Prison Officials Fined, by Mark Wilson
- Prisoners Protest Solitary Confinement at Illinois Facility, by Joe Watson
- Former Pennsylvania Prison Guard and Prisoner Charged with Child Sex Trafficking, by David Reutter
- Exonerees Fulfill Dreams, Help Other Prisoners Overcome Wrongful Convictions, by David Reutter
- Florida: Drug Arrest Costs Former Prison Official Retirement Benefits
- New York Court of Claims Awards $1.75 Million to Prisoner’s Estate, by Derek Gilna
- Female Prisoners in United Kingdom Make Designer Bags, by Derek Gilna
- Washington DOC Ends Marijuana Testing for Parolees, by Christopher Zoukis
- Sixth Circuit Rejects Qualified Immunity Defense by Guards in Wrongful Death Suit, by Derek Gilna
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Finds DOC Violated RLUIPA, Prior Settlement Agreement, by Derek Gilna
- Former Wisconsin Corrections Secretary Fired
- Study of Incarceration from 1999 to 2014 Shows Modest Decline in Prison Populations, by Derek Gilna
- California Federal Court Rules Early Release Program Cannot be Restricted to Women, by Derek Gilna
- Former Georgia Judge Faces Criminal Charges
- Troubled North Dakota Jail to be Reviewed by Feds
- Increasing Number of Jails, Prisons Using Full-body Digital Scanners, by Matthew Clarke
- Mississippi Town Ordered to Abandon “Secured Bail” Arrest Bond System
- Problems with California’s New Medical Prison, by Matthew Clarke
- Newspaper Ban at Cook County Jail Violates First Amendment, by Derek Gilna
- California’s Broken Death Penalty System, by Christopher Zoukis
- Prisoner’s Deliberate Indifference Suit Over Tooth Abscess Reinstated by Seventh Circuit, by Derek Gilna
- Benefits of Allowing Prisoners to Raise Babies Born in Prison, by Matthew Clarke
- Wrongful Death Suit Against Illinois Jail Survives Summary Judgment , by Derek Gilna
- Special Supervised Release Conditions Require Sufficient Findings
- “Scared Straight” Programs are Counterproductive, by Derek Gilna
- Custodial Interrogation of Parolee Requires Miranda Warnings
- A Prison Telecom in Sheep’s Clothing, by Carrie Wilkinson
- Wrongfully Convicted Former Prisoner Commits Suicide
- Lifesaving Overdose Treatment Slowly Becoming Available to Released Prisoners, by Christopher Zoukis
- California State Prisoner’s Habeas Case Gets to Supreme Court but Falls Short, by Derek Gilna
- Company Owes Nevada Prison Industries $428,000, by Bob Sloan
- Advocates Leery of Cell Phones Given to Undocumented Immigrants, by Derek Gilna
- U.S. Department of Education Offers Second Chance Pell Pilot Program, by Christopher Zoukis
- U.S. Supreme Court Holds Prior ACCA Ruling Retroactive, by Derek Gilna
- UK Supreme Court Rules Against Unlawful Use of Solitary Confinement, by Christopher Zoukis
- Penal Servitude: A Reminder about the U.S. Constitution’s 13th Amendment Exclusion Clause
- Colombia: At Least 100 Dismembered Bodies Found in Prison Sewers
- Louisiana Parish Saddled With Large Jail, Large Costs , by Matthew Clarke
- Disputed PLRA Administrative Exhaustion Issues Properly Resolved in Bench Trial
- Music Publishers Sue Companies Providing Mixtapes for Prisoners, by Matthew Clarke
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- News in Brief
More from Derek Gilna:
- Federal Judge in Louisiana Issues Sweeping Opinion Finding Numerous Eighth Amendment, ADA and RA Violations at Angola, April 1, 2022
- Human Rights Defense Center Prevails in Censorship Lawsuit Against Napa County Jail, California, Sept. 1, 2021
- California State Auditor’s Report Faults Counties for Waste and Poor Oversight of State Funds Used in “Public Safety Realignment”, Sept. 1, 2021
- The Fight Over Cellphones in Prisons Rages On, Sept. 1, 2021
- District Court Extends Armstrong Order to Five Additional California Prisons, Sept. 1, 2021
- HRDC Settles Censorship Lawsuit with Johnson County, Kansas Jail for $50,000 and Policy Changes, Aug. 1, 2021
- Virginia Prosecutors to Dismiss 400 Drug Convictions Tied to Disgraced Cop, July 15, 2021
- Discredited New York Police Detective’s False Testimony Causes the Dismissal of Close to 100 Drug Convictions, June 15, 2021
- D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences Firearms Examination Unit Under Fire, April 15, 2021
- Mississippi Joins Illinois and Few Other States Prioritizing Vaccination of State Prisoners to Slow Spread of COVID-19, April 1, 2021
More from these topics:
- “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.
- BOP Denies Providing Substandard Dialysis Treatment Despite Prisoners’ Deaths, Court Filings, Understaffing and Lack of Oversight, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Private Contractors, Failure to Treat, Staffing, Inadequate Health Care Facilities.
- $280,000 Paid for South Carolina Detainee’s Death in Charleston Jail, Sept. 1, 2026. Private Contractors, Failure to Treat, Contractor Liability, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Monell Liability.
- $5.4 Million Jury Verdict Against Riverside County in Suit Over Jail Fentanyl Death, Sept. 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Drug Overdose, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Monell Liability, Deliberate Indifference.
- States Claim to Invest in “Humane” New Prisons— But Prisons Were Never Humane, Sept. 1, 2026. Retaliation for Organizing, Hunger Strikes, Protests, Failure to Treat, Immigration Detention.
- $3 Million Paid by San Diego County for Diabetic Detainee’s Jail Death; NaphCare Settles Separately for Undisclosed Amount, Sept. 1, 2026. Naphcare, Diabetes, Failure to Treat, Settlements, Medical Neglect/Malpractice.
- Ohio Finds Guards and Medical Staff Failed to Render Life-Saving CPR to Detainee, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Treat, Failure to Train/Supervise, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Deliberate Indifference.
- Hawai‘i Pays $600,000 for Prisoner’s Withdrawal Death, Sept. 1, 2026. Medication, Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Failure to Treat, Settlements, Medical Neglect/Malpractice.
- $10.19 Million Paid for Retired California Prison Guard’s Death in Colorado Jail, Aug. 1, 2026. Failure to Treat, Stun Guns/Tasers, Failure to Train/Supervise, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Deliberate Indifference.
- Fourth Circuit Affirms Damages Class Certification in Opioid Treatment Denial, Aug. 1, 2026. Wexford Health Services, Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Failure to Treat, Class Certification, Deliberate Indifference.

