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Third Circuit Agrees With Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Access-to-Courts Claim, But Grants Defendants Qualified Immunity
by David M. Reutter
On June 15, 2022, in a precedential ruling that might help the next prisoner plaintiff, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that “a prisoner has a valid access-to-courts claim” when “denial of access to legal materials — before and/or during …
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More from this issue:
- Cages Without Bars Are Widening the Net: The Explosion of Electronic Monitoring, by James Kilgore, Brian Dolinar
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Amended Consent Decree Entered in 11-Year-Old Class-Action Challenging Prisoner Healthcare in Illinois DOC, by Douglas Ankney
- Hawaii Inmate Deaths Are The Highest In 10 Years. But The State Can’t Say Why Corrections officials still aren’t providing a cause of death for 20 of the 23 prisoners who died in Hawaii prisons and jails last year., by Kevin Dayton
- Minnesota Department of Corrections Searching for Tattooist for New Prison Program, by Jacob Barrett
- Arizona Prisoners Win Preliminary Injunctions Requiring Centurion To Treat Them, by David Reutter
- Florida Arrests Ex-Felons for Voter Fraud, by David Reutter
- Music Stops in Fifth Circuit’s Qualified Immunity ‘Dance,’ Leaving Plaintiffs With Shortened Discovery Period, by Matthew Clarke
- Plastic Surgery Has a Troubled History Inside Prisons. Some Advocates Want It to Make a Comeback. Should cosmetic procedures be part of how society prepares prisoners to reenter it?, by Zara Stone
- Louisville Jail Counts 12 Deaths in Ten Months, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Third Circuit Agrees With Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Access-to-Courts Claim, But Grants Defendants Qualified Immunity, by David Reutter
- Rhode Island Prisoners Go on Hunger Strike, Staff Denies It, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- $3 Million From Forsyth County, No Stay in Civil Case Against Wellpath Nurse Indicted for Involuntary Manslaughter of N.C. Jail Detainee, by Eike Blohm, MD
- California City Ends Private Jail Operator’s Contract After Mass Employee Resignations, by Keith Sanders
- Eighth Circuit Revives Missouri Prisoner’s Claim Against Prison Food Manager for Denying Renal Diet, by David Reutter
- Nevada Muslim Prisoner Wins Suit Over Denial of Jumu’ah Prayer, by Harold Hempstead
- Guards Fleeing Texas Prisons, by Matthew Clarke
- ‘Qualified Immunity Cannot Shield Them’: Fourth Circuit Advances Suit by Virginia Prisoners for Overlong Solitary Confinement, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- California Prison Guards Sentenced for Assaulting Prisoners, by Jacob Barrett
- Eleventh Circuit Says Passover Sign-Up Requirement in Florida Jail Passes Constitutional Muster, by David Reutter
- Ohio Supreme Court Grants Records but No Damages for Prisoner Making Request, by Jacob Barrett
- Will Overturning Roe v. Wade Kill the Right to Abortion Under BOP Policy?, by Dale Chappell
- California Guards Kill Two Prisoners Who Attacked a Third, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Second Circuit: No Qualified Immunity for Wardens Accused of Violating Religious Freedom of Muslim Prisoners in Connecticut, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- Prisoner Health Update: MRSA Infections, by Eike Blohm, MD
- Idaho Cancels Execution Because It Cannot Obtain Lethal Injection Drugs, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Arizona Jail Racks Up Four Deaths And Two Escapes In Less Than Two Months, by Chuck Sharman
- BOP Settles for $4.18 Million With Six Prisoners Raped by Guard at Now-Shuttered Manhattan Federal Jail, by Casey Bastian
- Fifth Circuit Holds PLRA’s ‘Three-Strikes’ Provision Does Not Apply to Actions Removed From State Court, by Matthew Clarke
- Ohio Pays $185,000 to State Prisoner Bitten in Genitals by K-9, by Keith Sanders
- Incarceration Exacerbates Obesity in America, by Keith Sanders
- Former Felons Elected to Rhode Island Legislature, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Investor Lawsuit Against GEO Group Trimmed, by David Reutter
- Federal Judge in South Carolina Holds BOP Liable for Delayed Treatment That Left Federal Prisoner Partially Blinded, by Casey Bastian
- $450,000 Settlement to Illinois Prisoner Whose Untreated Boil Left Him Paraplegic, by Harold Hempstead
- California Prison Officials Cleared After Prisoner Murders Two Sex Offenders, by David Reutter
- $3.5 Million Paid To Estate Of Iowa Jail Detainee Who Suffered Seizure And Died When Left Unattended, by Keith Sanders
- New Connecticut Law Restricts Use of Solitary Confinement, by Keith Sanders, David Reutter
- Daughter of Condemned Missouri Prisoner Unsuccessfully Sues to Witness His Execution, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Former South Carolina Sheriff Begins 46-Month Prison Term for Corruption, by Ashleigh Dye
- ‘Tragic and Wholly Unacceptable’ Gang Violence Erupts at Georgia Women’s Prison, by Jenifer Lockwood
- Virginia Swipes Sentence Credits From 560 Prisoners Just About to Get Out, by David Reutter
- Georgia Prisoner Sentenced to Death for Killing Two Guards Dies by Apparent Suicide, by Keith Sanders
- GEO Group Gets Another Extension to Biden’s Deadline for USMS at California Prison, by Jenifer Lockwood
- UCLA Study Finds Over Half of ‘Natural’ Deaths Inside L.A. County Jails Showed Signs of Physical Harm, by Keith Sanders
- Ex-Prisoner Re-Elected to New York State Assembly, by Keith Sanders
- Over $237,000 Awarded in Wisconsin Prisoner’s Suit Accusing Guard of Unwanted Sexual Advances, by Kevin Bliss
- Fifth Circuit: Martinez Report May Not Override Factual Allegations in Prisoner’s Complaint, by Matthew Clarke
- Potentially Fatal Legionella Bacteria Found at Six Illinois Prisons, by Casey Bastian
- OIG Report Defers Claims That ICE Detainees in Georgia Had Forced Hysterectomies, by Ashleigh Dye
- Second Circuit: N.Y. Detainee Didn’t Fail to Exhaust Administrative Remedies When Jail Grievance Procedure Excluded Matter Forming Basis of Claim, by Matthew Clarke
- ‘Time for Me to Go’: Troubled Oklahoma Jail Loses Administrator, by Matthew Clarke
- Mississippi Demands $1.9 Million From MTC For Short-Staffing Private State Prison, by Kevin Bliss
- Oklahoma Raises Pay for Execution Doctors From $300 to $15,000 Per Execution, Still Won’t Say Who They Are or What They Do, by Matthew Clarke
- HRDC Sues Wyoming Jail for Unlawful Censorship, by Douglas Ankney
- Mississippi Reopens Walnut Grove Prison Just in Time for Prison Population Explosion, by Harold Hempstead
- $115,000 Settlement for Excessive Pepper-Spraying of Maine Prisoner, by David Reutter
- Florida Supreme Court: Trial Courts Have Authority to Correct Sentencing Errors, But Subject to Time Limits, by David Reutter
- ACLU Accepts $37,500 Settlement Over Redacted Records From New Mexico Prison Healthcare Provider, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- Massive Price Tags and Meager Results: The Legacy of Federal Monitors in New York City, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- News in Brief
More from David Reutter:
- Eight Circuit Reverses Denial of Partial Qualified Immunity in Detainee’s Pepper Ball Claim, Remands Excessive Force Claims, Sept. 1, 2026
- Nevada Prisoners, Families Call Out Predatory Tablet Program, Sept. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit: Error in Granting Judgment Prior to Adjudging Spoliation Motion, Sept. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity in Strip Searches Resulting from Anonymous Tips, Sept. 1, 2026
- Tenth Circuit: Colorado Governor Unentitled to Eleventh Amendment Immunity on Claim Related to DOC Religious Policies, Aug. 1, 2026
- Michigan Appeals Court: Witnesses Cannot be Forced to Wear Jail Clothes at Trial, Aug. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Affirms Denial of State-Law Qualified Immunity in Scabies Case, Aug. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Revives Disabled Prisoner’s Claim for Denial of Out-of-Cell Exercise Time, Aug. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Announces State-Law Exceptions to Appeal Deadlines Preserve “Pending” Status Under AEDPA, Holding Belated-Appeal Procedures Toll Federal Habeas Limitations Period, April 1, 2026
- Florida Supreme Court Announces Rule 3.170(f)’s Good-Cause Plea-Withdrawal Standard Does Not Apply at Post-Appeal Resentencing, April 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- Colorado Pays $245,000 to Muslim Former Prisoner Shaved by Same Guard Who Cost DOC Earlier Settlement with Jewish Prisoner Denied Kosher Meals, Aug. 1, 2026. Religious Discrimination, Overdetention, Religious Diet, Religious Practices, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified.
- Sixth Circuit Upholds $10 Million Wrongful Conviction Verdict for Exonerated Michigan Prisoner, June 1, 2026. Wrongful Conviction, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified, Damages - Compensatory, Failure to Disclose.
- Eighth Circuit Rules Iowa Prisoner’s Adverse Summary Judgment Is Not a “Strike”, March 1, 2026. Filing Fees (PLRA), Frivolous Litigation (PLRA), Summary Judgment, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Access To Courts.
- Mail Went Digital in Alabama Prisons. Families Are Saying Their Mail Isn’t Being Delivered, March 1, 2026. Mail Regulations, Legal Mail, First Amendment, rights, Access To Courts, Access to Computers.
- Fourth Circuit Revives Deliberate Indifference Claim for Baltimore Detainee Served Rotten Food, March 1, 2026. Food, Denial of Religious Services, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified, Deliberate Indifference.
- California Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Ripped Off Prisoner, Feb. 1, 2026. Attorney Misconduct, Court Appearances, Trials, Abuse of Discretion Standard, Access To Courts.
- New York State Moves to Dismiss Hundreds of Prison Sexual Assault Lawsuits, Feb. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, DOC/BOP misconduct, Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Authority and Jurisdiction, Access To Courts.
- United States Postal Service Declares Postmarks Could Be Delayed, Feb. 1, 2026. Mail Regulations, Due Process, Legal Mail, Access To Courts.
- First Circuit Greenlights Rhode Island Prisoner’s Damages Suit for Disastrous 450-Day Solitary Confinement, Dec. 1, 2025. Eighth Amendment, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified, Deliberate Indifference.
- Dying Mississippi Prisoner Wins Preservation Testimony in Suit Blaming Terminal Cancer on Exposure to Janitorial Chemicals, Nov. 1, 2025. Wexford Health Services, Work Conditions/Safety, Toxic Fumes/Chemicals, Depositions, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified.

