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Federal Prisoner's Lost Eyeglasses Suit Settles

Article • March 15, 2009

Filed under: Settlements, Money/Property, Prisoner Property, Federal Tort Claims Act

Federal Prisoner's Lost Eyeglasses Suit Settles by Kansas federal prisoner Alan Strong brought a federal tort action against the United States in 1998 after personnel at the United States Penitentiary (USP) at Leavenworth lost eyeglasses valued at approximately $1,000. The suit settled for an undisclosed amount in 1999. Strong was …

$5,000 Settlement For Leavenworth Guards' Unprovoked Beating Of Federal Prisoner

Article • February 15, 2009

Filed under: Failure to Treat, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Civil Procedure, Damages, Settlements

$5,000 Settlement For Leavenworth Guards' Unprovoked Beating Of Federal Prisoner by Illinois federal prisoner Kerry Dixon brought a combined Bivens and federal tort action against the United States in 1994 after guards beat him without just cause at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas (USP Leavenworth) in 1993. The …

Prisoner's Action Dismissed For Non Exhaustion; Remanded To Ascertain Officials' Interference

Article • January 15, 2009

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Civil Procedure, Defenses, Administrative Exhaustion

Prisoner's Action Dismissed For Non Exhaustion; Remanded To Ascertain Officials' Interference by Bob Williams By: Bob Williams Leavenworth (Kansas) federal pro se prisoner Jose Aquilar-Avellaveda appealed the dismissal of his Bivens complaint against prison officials for legal material confiscation and disposal, restrictive segregation and sleep deprivation. The dismissal for non-exhaustion …

Prisoner Transferred Under ICC May Sue Under Diversity Jurisdiction

Article • January 15, 2009

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Civil Procedure, Summary Judgment, Damages, State Law Claims, Default Judgments, Diversity Jurisdiction

Prisoner Transferred Under ICC May Sue Under Diversity Jurisdiction by On April 24, 2006, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a prisoner who had been transferred from Florida to Kansas may remain a citizen of Florida and still sue Kansas prison officials in federal court for violations of …

PLN Wins Kansas Censorship Suit

Article • September 15, 2008 • from PLN September, 2008

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Injunctions, Immunity/Liability, Qualified Immunity, Publications/Books, Mail Regulations, Due Process, PLN Litigation

PLN Wins Kansas Censorship Suit by Michael Rigby by Michael Rigby On October 1, 2007, in a lawsuit filed by Prison Legal News (PLN), the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas held that a Kansas prison policy limiting the amount of money prisoners can spend on publications, a …

Barnwell v. CCA, KS, Memo in Support of Plf Mot for Class Cert, FLSA employee litigation, 2008

Brief • August 21, 2008

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Staffing, Fair Labor Standards Act, Employee Litigation

Barnwell v. CCA, KS, Memo in Support of Plf Mot for Class Cert, FLSA employee litigation, 2008 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS AT KANSAS CITY KEITH E. BARNWELL, et al. On Behalf of Themselves and All Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiffs, vs. CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF …

Barnwell et al v. Corrections Corporation of America, KS, MiS Plf Motion, FLSA employee overtime understaffing, 2008

Brief • August 21, 2008

Filed under: Staffing, Fair Labor Standards Act

Barnwell et al v. Corrections Corporation of America, KS, MiS Plf Motion, FLSA employee overtime understaffing, 2008 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS AT KANSAS CITY KEITH E. BARNWELL, et al. On Behalf of Themselves and All Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiffs, vs. CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF …

Disabled Kansas Prisoners Forced Labor Claim Dismissed

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Prison Labor, Inability to Work, Medical, Medication, Cardiovascular

Disabled Kansas Prisoners Forced Labor Claim Dismissed by The plaintiff, who had had heart bypass surgery and was on medical restrictions, was ordered to sand baseboard. He complained and the doctor said it was all right. He did the work, reported chest pains, and was taken to the clinic where …

PHS Not Liable in Kansas Wheelchair Collapse

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Prison Health Services, Discrimination, Disabled Prisoners, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Premises Liability

PHS Not Liable in Kansas Wheelchair Collapse by The defendants were not deliberately indifferent in providing the plaintiff a wheelchair that collapsed under him. The court notes that they always recognized his medical needs by providing him a wheelchair, he signed two forms reflecting that the wheelchair issued to him …

Disabilities Subject to Correction Not Protected by ADA

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Medical, Medication, Americans with Disabilities Act, Employee Litigation, Disabled Employees

Disabilities Subject to Correction Not Protected by ADA by Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, whether an impairment "substantially limits" one or more major life activities is assessed with reference to mitigating measures (in this case, medication for high blood pressure). That means someone whose disability is substantially corrected can …

Kansas Sex Offender Treatment Program Violates Fifth Amendment

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Self Incrimination, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Standing, Sex Offender Treatment

Kansas Sex Offender Treatment Program Violates Fifth Amendment by The plaintiff was required to complete a sex offender treatment program or suffer impaired ability to earn good time, transfer to maximum custody, and loss of privileges for the review period, which "mirror the consequences imposed for serious disciplinary infractions." The …

Collecting Reasonable Fees from Kansas Prisoners for Government Reimbursement Not Unconstitutional

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Sentencing, Ex Post Facto, Parole, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Collecting Reasonable Fees from Kansas Prisoners for Government Reimbursement Not Unconstitutional by Kansas state prisoner Michael Taylor appealed the dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging various constitutional violations for the deduction of supervision fees from his prison account. The dismissal of his suit was affirmed. Taylor was …

Factual Allegations Sufficient for Nutritional and Retaliation Claims to Proceed

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Food, Ventilation, Exposure to Heat, Religious Diet

Factual Allegations Sufficient for Nutritional and Retaliation Claims to Proceed by by Robert Williams Holding that sufficient facts had been alleged, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a prisoner’s claim of inadequate nutrition and retaliation for filing grievances. Michael Strope, a …

Kansas DOC Restrictions on Thelema Religion Upheld

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Ex Post Facto, Prisoner Property, Publications/Books, Religious Freedom, Denial of Religious Services, Religious Property

Kansas DOC Restrictions on Thelema Religion Upheld by The plaintiff complained of restrictions on his religious practice as a follower of the First Hermetic Order of Thelema, a religion founded in 1904 by Aleister Crowley. Prison officials recognized the religion and arranged for a visit from Thelemic clergy from the …

Parole Denial for Lack of Sex Offender Treatment Upheld

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Sentencing, Ex Post Facto, Parole, Sex Offender Treatment

Parole Denial for Lack of Sex Offender Treatment Upheld by The plaintiff, a convicted sex offender, was denied parole inter alia because he failed to participate in mental health counseling or sex offender treatment. Later he refused to agree to a program plan which would have remedied those lacks. Then …

Kansas Prison Double Bunking Approved if ACA Standards Met

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Gay/Lesbian, Overcrowding, Civil Procedure, Consent Decrees, ACA

Kansas Prison Double Bunking Approved if ACA Standards Met by Thomas Porter and other Kansas state prisoners filed suit against the state and prison officials (defendants) alleging prison overcrowding, and subsequently objected to a proposed increase in the prison population by double bunking. The action alleged too little space per …

Excessive Force Kansas Juvenile Death Case Settled for $185,000

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints

Excessive Force Kansas Juvenile Death Case Settled for $185,000 by A 17-year-old Kansas prisoner’s estate was paid $185,000 to settle claims related to his death. Mr. Mapes, a 17-year-old juvenile detainee, had an altercation with a guard, who restrained him by handcuffing him and sitting on his chest. Mapes died …

Kansas Jail Excessive Force Death Case Settled for $125,000

Article • July 15, 2008

Filed under: Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Kansas Jail Excessive Force Death Case Settled for $125,000 by A Kansas man’s estate was paid $125,000 to settle a suit related to his death. Mr. Tolon, father of two minor children, was confined in the Johnson County Jail. He “was handcuffed with hands behind his back and then his …

Kansas Jail Suicide Case Settled for $16,000

Article • July 15, 2008

Filed under: Mental Health, Suicides

Kansas Jail Suicide Case Settled for $16,000 by A Kansas Man’s estate was paid $16,000 to settle a suit related to his suicide by hanging. A relative of Mr. Fira, Jr., called for medical assistance at Fira’s home. He was taken to an emergency room for observation. While at Fira’s …

Tenth Circuit Applies Harmless Error in Prison Discipline

Article • July 15, 2008

Filed under: Disciplinary Litigation, Witnesses (Disciplinary Hearings), Food, Sentencing, Habeas Corpus

Tenth Circuit Applies Harmless Error in Prison Discipline by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that precluding a prisoner from presenting witness testimony at a prison disciplinary proceeding was harmless error. Kansas prisoner Patrick Grossman was charged with inciting a riot in relation to a December 21, 2002 incident …