by David M. Reutter
On June 14, 2023, the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) agreed to pay $500,000 to resolve a state prisoner’s allegation that his Eighth Amendment guarantee of freedom from cruel and unusual punishment was violated when he was restrained and isolated in a “dry cell” without running ...
by David M. Reutter
On October 19, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed denial of qualified immunity (QI) to officials at St. Louis’ “Workhouse” jail in a suit over a detainee’s fatal overdose, finding the lower court “tilted the scales too far in the plaintiff’s ...
by David M. Reutter
In September 2023, just two months into a program to rebate fines and fees for vacated drug convictions, Washington state courts had paid out more than $9.4 million. That’s nearly 20% of a $50 million fund created by state lawmakers after the state Supreme Court found ...
by David M. Reutter
On October 26, 2023, the Supreme Court of Wyoming held that the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act shielded the state from liability in a lawsuit alleging a nurse negligently injected three prisoners with a COVID-19 vaccine other than the one listed on the ...
by David M. Reutter
On December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court of the U.S. declined to issue a writ of certiorari to hear a Florida prisoner’s appeal to a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, finding no constitutional violation by exposure to urine and feces ...
by David M. Reutter
On November 7, 2023, the Supreme Court of Ohio rebuffed a request from the office of state Attorney General Dave Yost (R) to reconsider a grant of a state prisoner’s mandamus action. That left to stand the Court’s earlier order issued on August 31, 2023, requiring ...
by David M. Reutter
A unanimous vote by Connecticut’s House Committee on Judiciary on March 1, 2024, all but assured state lawmakers would approve an agreement made in August 2023 by state Attorney General William Tong (D) to pay a total of $25.2 million to Ralph “Ricky” Birch, 67, and ...
by David M. Reutter
On October 12, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment to Defendant officials with New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) in a state prisoner’s civil rights action. The Court recognized that Steven Bangs had ...
by David M. Reutter
On October 16, 2023, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia reversed denial of mandamus relief to a prisoner and compelled the Commissioner of the state Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) to “develop a policy directive and/or operational procedure that is in compliance” with ...
