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Third Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Pennsylvania DOC in Prisoner’s Challenge to 26 Years of Solitary Confinement
Loaded on May 1, 2025
published in Prison Legal News
May, 2025, page 38
Filed under:
Qualified Immunity,
Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
On September 20, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found “no room for doubt” that a mentally-ill Pennsylvania prisoner has a basic constitutional right not to be held in solitary confinement indefinitely—despite being sentenced to death. Defendant officials with the state Department of Corrections (DOC) ...
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More from this issue:
- $1.2 Million in Settlements Reached in Suit Over Sacramento Jail Murder, by Douglas Ankney
- Multitudes Caged for Failure to Pay Child Support, Driving Mass Incarceration, by Matthew Clarke
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Fifth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Louisiana Officials Who Forced Prisoner to Work with Broken Surgical Screws in Ankle, by Anthony Accurso
- Florida’s “Pay to Stay” Law: A Second Sentence for Former Prisoners
- Study Finds Just 1% of Prisoner’s Eighth Amendment Claims Succeed
- Incarcerated Students Caught in Crosshairs of Trump War on Education Department
- Wisconsin Prisoner Inhaled His Own Teeth in Fatal Beatdown
- Disbarred Cincinnati Defense Attorney Who Defrauded Prisoner Clients Gets Three-Year Sentence
- South Carolina Conducts First U.S. Execution by Firing Squad in 15 Years
- Eleventh Circuit Revives Volunteer Pastor’s First Amendment Claim at Georgia Jail, by Douglas Ankney
- Trump Guts BOP Guard Union
- Los Angeles County Jails Record Almost One Death Every Nine Days
- South Carolina Jailer Gets 10 Years for Sexually Assaulting Nine Detainees and Co-Workers
- Florida Prisoner Returns to Custody After Overturned Conviction Reinstated
- Maryland Targets Highest-in-Nation Racial Incarceration Gap
- Idaho Warden Bought Execution Drugs on Roadside
- Connecticut Court Denies Access to Video of Prisoner’s Fatal Beat-Down by Guards
- Florida Prisoner Released to Die Settles With Centurion Over Ignored Prostate Cancer
- Wellpath Sanctioned for Discovery Violation in Suit Over Kentucky Prisoner’s Death, by Douglas Ankney
- Cruelty Is Now the Point for BOP
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- Former Prisoner Appointed President’s Pardon “Czar”
- Oregon DOC Replaces Top Medical Staffers Amid Turmoil
- Rikers Island Staffers, Contractor and Detainee Sentenced for Smuggling
- Washington DOC On Hot Seat Over “Unexpected Fatalities,” Missed Autopsies
- Second Circuit Revives Connecticut Prisoner’s Challenge To Conditions In Virginia Lockup Where He Was Transferred, by Douglas Ankney
- 20 Charged in Nevada Prison Brawl That Left Three Dead
- Rikers Island Detainees Wait in “Black Hole” for Competency Treatment
- Pittsburgh Lockup Accounts for 43% of Pennsylvania Jail TASER Use, Suit Filed
- Mass Incarceration Weakens All Workers, by Brian Nam-Sonenstein, Eric Seligman
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- Third Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Pennsylvania DOC in Prisoner’s Challenge to 26 Years of Solitary Confinement
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- Missouri Repeals “Pay-to-Stay” Law
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- News in Brief
More from these topics:
- First Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Maine Guards who Ogled Prisoner During Childbirth, July 15, 2025. Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Qualified Immunity, Children of Prisoners.
- $250,000 Verdict for South Carolina Prisoner Pepper-Sprayed in Face Without Cause by Guard, July 15, 2025. Guard Brutality/Beatings, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Qualified Immunity.
- California Enacts Counterproductive, Regressive Solitary Confinement Bill, June 1, 2025. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, State Legislation.
- Eighth Circuit Lets Missouri Guard Skate For Placing Avowed Enemies In Same Cell, Resulting In Assault, June 1, 2025. Classification, Failure to Protect (General), Qualified Immunity.
- Fifth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Louisiana Officials Who Forced Prisoner to Work with Broken Surgical Screws in Ankle, May 1, 2025. Prison Labor, Qualified Immunity, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified, Deliberate Indifference, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
- $250,000 Settlement But No Charges After Alabama Guards Beat Prisoner To Death, April 1, 2025. Guard Brutality/Beatings, Settlements, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Deliberate Indifference.
- New York Suspends Solitary Ban to Woo Back Striking Prison Guards, April 1, 2025. Work Strikes, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Guards/Staff.
- Tenth Alabama Jail Employee Pleads Guilty in Detainee’s Freezing Death, April 1, 2025. Exposure to Cold, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
- Eighth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Arkansas Jailers Who Ignored Detainee’s Spider Bite, March 1, 2025. Failure to Treat, Qualified Immunity, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified.
- ‘Eye Opening’ Self-Harm Found in Washington DOC Solitary Confinement, March 1, 2025. Failure to Protect (General), Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).