by Christopher Zoukis
The Supreme Court of Kansas has ruled that any filing fees associated with state habeas corpus actions brought by civilly committed sex offenders must be paid by the county where the individual was determined to be a sexually violent predator.
The case was initially brought by Dustin ...
by Christopher Zoukis
Arkansas state prisoner Larry Jones desired to grow a beard, as his religion required. Arkansas prison officials, citing an Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) policy disallowing beards, said no. Jones sued, claiming that the policy substantially burdened his exercise of religion, as prohibited by the Religious Land ...
by Christopher Zoukis
On November 23, 2004, Wilbert Lee Henson was arrested for an outstanding warrant related to a driving with a suspended license charge, and was booked into the Wichita County jail. Six days later, he was dead.
The events leading up to Henson's death are a classic example ...
by Christopher Zoukis
Joseph Boulton, a jail guard at the Genesee County, Michigan jail, lost his claim alleging unconstitutional retaliation for protected speech on July 29, 2015.
During union arbitration proceedings, Boulton testified that Sheriff Christopher Swanson had misrepresented the amount of Taser, firearm and CPR training that Sheriff's Office ...
by Christopher Zoukis
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled against a class of prisoners who challenged the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) hair-length policy as a violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA).
The August 5, 2015 ruling upheld ...
by Christopher Zoukis
Leonard Lester Slaughter III was serving a 115-month sentence at a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility when he escaped. After pleading guilty to the escape, the District Court concluded that two prior convictions were not "relevant conduct" and thus counted them as felony convictions when calculating Slaughter's ...
by Christopher Zoukis
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has denied a parolable prisoner's due process claim, but upheld his claim of retaliation by a prison guard.
The prisoner, Phillip Lee Fantone, was confined to the State Correctional Institution-Pittsburgh (SCI-Pittsburgh). He was granted parole in March ...
by Christopher Zoukis
The legal eagles at the Maine Department of Corrections have successfully okie-doked prisoner Kevin J. Collins out of $150 in his lawsuit challenging food services and the prison's telephone system.
Collins filed his lawsuit appealing the denial of his grievances in December 2012. He alleged indigency, and ...
by Christopher Zoukis
James Dimora, 61, was a Cuyahoga County, Ohio commissioner when he was indicted on federal racketeering and corruption charges in April 2012. While awaiting trial at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, operated by Corrections Corporation of America (now known as CoreCivic), Dimora was involved in a slip ...
by Christopher Zoukis
The United States District Court for the District of Maryland has dismissed a Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) case brought against the United States over the 2013 wrongful death of a prisoner held at Federal Correctional Institution Cumberland, Maryland.
The case was brought by the widow and ...
