BOP Suits Require Administrative Exhaustion by John Rourke is a federal prisoner. He filed suit seeking injunctive relief alleging that prison officials had denied him medical care and arbitrarily imposed disciplinary sanctions against him. The district court dismissed the suit without prejudice as frivolous, before service on the defendants, holding …
5th Cir. Guts Legal Mail Standard by Van Lee Brewer and Claude Harris are Texas state prisoners. They filed suit under § 1983 claiming that prison officials had opened and read their incoming legal mail from the courts, attorneys and government officials outside their presence. They also claimed their outgoing …
Qualified Immunity Law Clarified by Joseph Rankin was a pretrial detainee in the Harris County, Texas, jail. While awaiting a court appearance in a large holding cell a disturbance broke out after female prisoners passed in front of the cell. A deputy sheriff removed Rankin from the cell and, according …
Threat States 8th Amendment Claim by Lloyd Smith is a Texas state prisoner. While working in the prison kitchen Smith witnessed a prison guard, Raymond Aldingers, order another prisoner to hold out his hand, which Aldingers then proceeded to cut open with a kitchen knife. Aldingers then turned to Smith …
Cop's Perjury Conviction Upheld by Normally PLN does not report on criminal cases but we thought this one might interest our readers. R.B. Springer was a Houston policeman. A Texas grand jury questioned him about numerous complaints of brutality and choking of prisoners and suspects. Springer denied any knowledge or …
Due Process Required Before Hole Time by Acounty jail prisoner in Lubbock, Texas, filed a civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against his captors. He alleged jailers violated his right to due process by placing him in lockdown without a hearing. The prisoner's crime was to ignore …
Documents Filed When Delivered to Prison Officials by In two separate cases from the fifth and eleventh circuits, the appeals courts have adopted the Supreme Court's ruling that documents are considered filed in court when they are delivered to prison officials for mailing by pro se prisoner litigants. Lawrence Thompson …
Elements of Jail RICO Suit Explained by Billy Joe Ashe is a Montgomery County, Texas, prisoner. He filed suit claiming that in retaliation for filing suit against members of the Sheriff's Department he and his co-plaintiff, and their prisoner witnesses, were subjected to a frightening pattern of physical violence and …
Sanctions Against Pro Se Litigant Reversed by Raymundo Mendoza is a Texas state prisoner. In 1980 he suffered cervical and spinal injuries in a prison accident. He filed suit and his claims were eventually dismissed. In 1991 he filed suit alleging that he had received negligent medical treatment; been denied …
Texas Proposes to Build State "Jails" by Texas Proposes to Build State "Jails" After decades of costly prison reform litigation under the Ruiz decree the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) continues to have serious problems of overcrowding. Overcrowding of state prisons has reduced the TDCJ's ability to receive new …
Texas Studies Housing Prisoners in Foreign Countries by F Lee Weiss by F. Lee Weiss The Texas Senate approved a measure calling for a study to investigate the desirability of housing state inmates in foreign countries. State Senator John Leedom, a Republican from Dallas, said that his proposal could save …
US Marshals Liable for Beating by Fred Sandoval is a federal prisoner. While being transported to a court hearing the Marshals Service placed him in a private jail run by the Wackenhut corporation, contracted to the US government. A Wackenhut guard antagonized another prisoner who, thinking Sandoval was the culprit, …
Racism and Treatment by Terrence Hazel by Terrance Hazel The Texas Department of Criminal Justice's (TDCJ) present method of administering Substance Abuse Treatment Programs (SATP) discriminate against Black and Hispanic inmates. Black and Hispanic prisoners are: 71 percent of inmate population (35,000+) 80 percent of that 71 percent have serious …
Grievance Procedure Tolls Statute of Limitations by William Gartrell is a Texas state prisoner. He filed suit under § 1983 claiming prison officials conspired to file trumped up disciplinary charges against him in retaliation for his legal activities; the disciplinary hearing and grievance procedure did not comport with due process; …
Due Process Protects Detainees from Violence by Raul Valencia is a pre-trial detainee in Brewster County, Texas. During a jail disturbance guards smashed Valencia's head into cell bars, choked him into unconcioussness and, after handcuffing him, beat him. Valencia filed suit under§ 1983 claiming this treatment violated his constitutional rights. …
Improved Jail Conditions Merits Attorney Fees by Two Wood County, Texas, jail prisoners filed suit under § 1983 claiming the jail had practices of denying prisoners access to the courts, improper classification, punitive isolation without due process, inadequate medical care, denial of reading material and overall unacceptable jail conditions. The …
Section 1983 Proper Remedy for Illegal Confinement by Spencer Parker is a Texas state prisoner. He filed suit under § 1983 claiming he was arrested and indicted for a burglary even though no evidence linked him to the crime. After nine months in jail the charges were dropped and he …
State Liable for County Jail Overcrowding by Jail prisoners in the Harris County Jail, Texas, filed suit against county and state officials claiming that overcrowding at the jail violated the eighth amendment. The district court found that it did and that both state and county officials had acted with deliberate …
Punishment of Pretrial Detainees Unlawful by Spencer Parker is a pretrial detainee in Texas. While awaiting trial in the jail's minimum security section he was moved to the violent offenders section in retaliation for arguing with a guard. As a result of the transfer he was assaulted and lost his …
Supreme Court Strikes Blow Against Attorney Fees by Adrian Lomax Since 1976, the Civil Rights Attorney Fees Award Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1988, has ensured that state officials would be forced to pay the attorney fees of the litigants who successfully sue state officials for violations of federal rights. This …
