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Articles by David Reutter

Ninth Circuit Revives Failure-to-Protect Claim of Arizona Prisoner Beaten by Gang

by David M. Reutter

On July 5, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that giving a jury a standard instruction to defer to prison officials was error when the jury needed to decide whether prison officials failed to protect a prisoner from violence.

Before the ...

Florida Jailers Leave Detainees Out of Evacuation Plans During Hurricane

by David M. Reutter

On September 28, 2022, as Hurricane Ian bore down on Florida and neared Category 5 strength, the state Department of Corrections (DOC), which holds about 80,000 prisoners, began evacuating 2,300 of them from 23 prisons statewide. But some lockups in the storm’s path took little action: Rather ...

Nevada Federal Court Says Prisoner’s § 1983 Suit Should’ve Been a Habeas Petition, But Returns Filing Fee

by David M. Reutter

Giving a break to the prisoner who filed a civil rights suit she dismissed on July 8, 2022, Judge Anne R. Traum of the federal court for the District of Nevada ordered return of the plaintiff’s $402 filing fee.

The prisoner, Rafael Bernardo Alvarez, filed a ...

Seventh Circuit Trims What Indiana Prisoner Owes Jail Doctor in Lost Lawsuit

by David M. Reutter

On July 21, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit modified a judgment against a prisoner in a civil rights lawsuit he filed and lost against a doctor at Indiana’s LaPorte County Jail (LPCJ). The Court capped the cost amount of a witness’ ...

Under New Mississippi Law, State Chooses Execution Method

by David M. Reutter

A Mississippi law that became effective on July 1, 2022, gives the state Department of Corrections (DOC) the discretion to choose the method of execution for a condemned prisoner. In addition, it added nitrogen hypoxia, electrocution, and firing squad as execution options, while declaring intravenous injection ...

Florida Makes Parolees Criminally Liable for Accidental Voter Registration Fraud

by David M. Reutter

Florida took a significant step towards charging more ex-convicts with voter fraud, eight days after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced the first 20 arrests in August 2022. [See: PLN, Jan. 2023, p.18.] On August 26, 2022, the state Department of Corrections (DOC) revised its “Instructions ...

Oklahoma Jail Guard Gets 46 Months for Setting Up White Supremacist Attack on Black Detainees

by David M. Reutter

On December 6, 2022, a former guard at Oklahoma’s Kay County Detention Center was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for violating the civil rights of detainees. Former Lt. Matthew Ware, 53, was convicted on three charges by a jury in the federal court for ...

Eighth Circuit Revives Suit Over North Dakota Juvenile Detainee’s Suicide

by David M. Reutter

On August 2, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed dismissal of a lawsuit alleging a private North Dakota juvenile home was liable for the suicide of a 12-year-old detainee. Because the facility and its employees were operating under contract with the ...

Arizona Prisoners Win Preliminary Injunctions Requiring Centurion To Treat Them

by David M. Reutter

Twice in July 2022, the federal court for the District of Arizona spanked Centurion of Arizona, healthcare provider for the state Department of Corrections (DOC), issuing injunctions to correct mismanagement of prisoner medication.

On July 1, 2022, the Court issued a preliminary injunction requiring the state ...

Florida Arrests Ex-Felons for Voter Fraud

by David M. Reutter

On August 18, 2022, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced the first fruits of an investigation into allegations of voter fraud tied to the 2020 election. The state Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) arrested 20 ex-felons that day for voting illegally. That’s 20 potentially ineligible votes ...