×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
Seventh Circuit: Cook County Jail Grievance Procedure An “Incomprehensible Trap”
by Douglas Ankney
On March 16, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that the grievance procedure in Chicago’s Cook County Jail is an “incomprehensible trap,” making it effectively unavailable to a detainee and so excusing his failure to exhaust administrative remedies as required by the ...
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:
- Soaring Number of Detainee Deaths Spotlights Ongoing Crisis at Harris County Jail, by Douglas Ankney
- Alabama Guards Still Harming Prisoners, Overcrowding Set to Increase as Governor Slashes “Good Time”, by Chuck Sharman, Jo Ellen Nott
- Prolonged COVID-19 Visitation Restrictions Net Georgia Jails Over $1.5 Million in Telecom Kickbacks, by Jordan Arizmendi
- Atlanta Federal Prison Gets Another Reboot, by Chuck Sharman
- Protest Damages Massachusetts Jail that Sheriff Wants to Update, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Third Circuit Revives Forced-Labor Claims of Jailed Pennsylvania Child Support Debtors, by Matthew Clarke
- Biden Commutes 31 Federal Drug Sentences, by Jordan Arizmendi
- BOP Closes Deadliest Unit, by Chuck Sharman
- Fourth Circuit Revives Virginia Prisoner’s Challenge to DOC Policy Restricting His Religious Headwear, by Douglas Ankney
- Ohio Governor Reprieves Three Condemned Prisoners, by Chuck Sharman
- Connecticut GOP Lawmakers Force Governor to Replace Pardon Board Chair, Stopping All Commutation Hearings, by Jordan Arizmendi
- Flooding Causes Evacuation of 1,075 Detainees from California Jail, by Jordan Arizmendi
- California College Offers Housing, Services to Formally Incarcerated Students, by Keith Sanders
- SCOTUS Orders Last-Minute Stay of Execution for Oklahoma Death Row Prisoner Richard Glossip
- Prison Looks Different for Two Celebrity Women, by Jordan Arizmendi
- Alabama Prisoner’s Family Sues Over Allegedly Botched Execution, by Chuck Sharman
- Vermont Sheriff Locked Out of National Crime Database, Facing Impeachment, by Chuck Sharman
- Arizona Prisoner Released from Death Row, by Chuck Sharman
- Executive Inaction: States and Federal Government Fail to Use Commutations as a Release Mechanism, by Katie Rose Quandt, Naila Awan
- Senators Spank DOJ for Failure to Implement Death-in-Custody Reporting Act
- Former Prisoner Uses “Look Back” Window to Sue for Sexual Abuse at Shuttered New York Prison, by David Reutter
- Corizon Executes “Texas Two-Step,” Spinning Off Debt Into Bankrupt New Firm to Avoid Paying Creditors and Lawsuit Winners, by Matthew Clarke
- Missouri Legalizes Marijuana and Expunges Criminal Records, by David Reutter
- Third Circuit Reinstates Claim by Federal Prisoner in Pennsylvania that Guards Prevented Daily Muslim Prayers, by Matthew Clarke
- Life Sentence for Alabama Jail Escapee After Suicide of Guard Lover Who Helped Him, by Chuck Sharman
- Cuyahoga County Sheriff Stripped of Jail Commissary Control After $500,000 in Inventory Goes Missing, by David Reutter
- Washington State Initiative to Expand Jail Ballot Access Faces Local Pushback, by David Reutter
- Prison Profiteer Who Chairs Christian Seminary Board Called Not Very ‘Christlike’, by Kevin Bliss
- Corizon Bankruptcy Stalls Suit By Alleged Rape Victims of Rikers Island Guard, by Chuck Sharman
- Menstruation Weaponized Against Women in Prison, by Kevin Bliss
- DOJ Finds Louisiana ‘Deliberately Indifferent’ to Prisoners Incarcerated Long Past Their Release Dates, by Matthew Clarke
- Seventh Circuit: Cook County Jail Grievance Procedure An “Incomprehensible Trap”, by Douglas Ankney
- Prisoner Health Update: HIV, by Eike Blohm, MD
- Ninth Circuit Affirms Expanded Relief for Disabled California Prisoners in Long-Running Class Action, by David Reutter
- Idaho Revives Firing Squads, by Kevin Bliss
- $82 Million For Detainee Death in Oklahoma Jail is “Largest Civil Rights Death Claim in U.S. History”, by Matthew Clarke
- SCOTUS Overrules Arizona Supreme Court, Allows Death Row Prisoner to Proceed With State Habeas Action, by Matthew Clarke
- $30,000 Paid by Michigan to Prisoner Wrongfully Classified as Sex Offender, by David Reutter
- Fifth Circuit Kills Suit by Louisiana Prisoners Whose Release Dates Were Incorrectly Calculated, by David M. Reutter
- New Report Pats BOP on the Back for Addressing Problems With Restrictive Housing, PREA, by Keith Sanders
- Former Illinois Guards Sentenced for Prisoner’s Fatal Beating, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- Fourth Circuit: Federal Prisoner in North Carolina Making Rehabilitation Act Claim Must Exhaust Both BOP Grievance Process and Justice Department’s EEO Complaint Process, by David Reutter
- Missouri Prisoner Illegally Condemned by Illiterate Juror Executed Anyway, by Chuck Sharman
- Ohio Supreme Court Grants State Prisoner Another $1,000 for Denied Records, by Keith Sanders
- Four Month Prison Term for BOP Compliance Monitor in Miami Who Sexually Abused Prisoner on His Case Load, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Wellpath Sanctioned for Discovery Violations After Stonewalling in Prisoner Lawsuits, by Douglas Ankney
- Second Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to N.Y. Prison Official Who Imposed Post-Release Supervision on Prisoner – But Reverses Damages Award, by David Reutter
- News in Brief
More from Douglas Ankney:
- Third Circuit Upholds Award of $265,000 to Prisoner Who Was Sexually Assaulted Twice by the Same Guard, Aug. 1, 2025
- Fifth Circuit Announces When Initial § 2255 Petition Not Decided on Merits and Appeals Court Later Recalls Mandate Dismissing Direct Appeal and Affirms Conviction, Subsequent § 2255 Petition Not ‘Second or Successive’ Under AEDPA, Aug. 1, 2025
- $340,000 for Former Massachusetts Prisoner Whose Baby Was Stillborn, July 15, 2025
- New Jersey Supreme Court Refuses Guard’s Challenge to Firing for Failing to Report Kiss with Prisoner, July 15, 2025
- New York City Loses Bid to Withhold Jail Records, July 15, 2025
- Eleventh Circuit Announces New Deliberate Indifference Framework in Dismissing Georgia Prisoner’s Claim for Skipped Anti-Seizure Meds, July 15, 2025
- Washington Jail Settles DOJ Allegations of ADA Noncompliance in Failure to Treat Opioid Use Disorder, July 15, 2025
- Ohio Supreme Court Says Sheriff Must Get and Disclose Records of Private Contractors, July 15, 2025
- Third Circuit Rejects U.S. Sentencing Commission Amended Compassionate Release Policy, July 15, 2025
- South Carolina Prisoners Granted Class-Action Status in Suit Over Low Wages in Prison Industries Jobs, July 15, 2025
More from these topics:
- SCOTUS Partially Overturns Pavey, Holds PLRA Exhaustion Dispute Must Go to Jury Even If Intertwined with Merits of Michigan Prisoner’s Claim, Aug. 1, 2025. Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA).
- Sixth Circuit Holds Dismissal Not Automatic When Plaintiff Simultaneously Files Same Claims in State Court, Aug. 1, 2025. Retaliation, Court Access, Grievances, Mail.
- Ninth Circuit: Continuing-Violations Doctrine Applies for PLRA Administrative Exhaustion Purposes, Aug. 1, 2025. Failure to Protect (General), Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Grievances, Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA).
- Ninth Circuit Revives Prisoner’s Claim Based on Guard’s Thwarting of Administrative Remedies, Aug. 1, 2025. Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Grievances.
- Sixth Circuit: Michigan Tolling Statute Applies to PLRA Administrative Exhaustion Requirement, July 15, 2025. Retaliation for Litigating, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Tolling of Statutes of Limitations and Laches.
- Eighth Circuit Excuses Missouri Prisoner’s Failure to Exhaust Remedies While He Was In a Coma, June 1, 2025. Systemic Medical Neglect, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA).
- Study Finds Just 1% of Prisoner’s Eighth Amendment Claims Succeed, May 1, 2025. Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Systemic Medical Neglect, Eighth Amendment, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- Ninth Circuit Grants Stay and Abeyance of Federal Habeas Petition to Allow Petitioner to Exhaust State Remedies, April 15, 2025. Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Habeas Corpus, AEDPA, Amendments to Petition.
- Tenth Circuit Stretches PLRA to Deny Claim of Colorado Prisoner Shot by Guard While Shackled, April 1, 2025. Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Shootings.
- Fourth Circuit Excuses Maryland Prisoner From Exhaustion Requirement in PREA Claim, April 1, 2025. Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Prison Rape Elimination Act.