Retaliation Claim Legitimate, Res Judicata Claim Not by A New York state prisoner brought a § 1983 action against prison authorities alleging retaliation for previous legal action. Prison officials introduced motion for summary judgment asserting principle of res judicata. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York …
Intercepted Conversation of Jail Visitor Not Protected by The United States Supreme Court held that a state court conviction, for refusing to answer questions interposed by a state legislative committee, did not present a federal due process question, under the circumstances of the case. Although the Court declined to explicitly …
New York Jail Good Time Statute Held Constitutional by The U.S. Supreme Court held a New York good-time statute to be constitutional. New York prisoners brought action against state prison officials alleging violation of the Equal Protection Clause. Under § 230(3) of the New York Correction Law, prisoners were not …
Beard Length Restriction Upheld, Prior Ruling Reversed by The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing its prior ruling in the same case, upheld a rule by the New York Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) restricting prisoners' beards to one inch in length. Yevgen Fromer, a observant Orthodox Jew, sued …
Second Circuit Cites Factors for Appointing Counsel for Indigent Litigants by The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, vacating and remanding a New York district court decision, held that the district court judge abused her discretion in refusing to appoint counsel for an indigent civil litigant. Allen Hodge was arrested …
New York County Could Be Liable for Jail Strip Searches by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that Herkimer County (New York) was not entitled to qualified immunity if it maintained a policy that allowed the routine strip-searching of misdemeanor arrestees without reasonable suspicion that they …
Errors in § 1983 Dismissal, Reasonableness for Indigent Mail Policy Unproven by Errors in § 1983 Dismissal, Reasonableness for Indigent Mail Policy Unproven The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a U.S. district court procedurally erred in dismissing a prisoner's §1983 action for failure to state …
Jail Grievance Procedure Not Available to New York State Prisoner by A federal court in New York held that a prisoner who was transferred from a jail to prison prior to bringing an action against jail officials did not fail to exhaust available administrative remedies, because the jail's grievnace procedure …
New York Department of Corrections Sued Over Systemic Rape of Women Prisoners by Ava Azizi New York Department of Corrections Sued Over Systemic Rape of Women Prisoners by Ava Azizi Bobbie Kidd was raped on August 9, 2001 while serving time in Albion Correctional Facility. She claims she was raped …
Minimum Wage Provisions Apply to Prisoners Employed by Community College by The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that the status of being a prisoner does not exclude the prisoner from being entitled to minimum wage for employment services by non-prison employers. This action was filed by a New York …
Retaliation for Litigation, Grievances States Claim by A New York federal district court held the prisoner in this civil rights action stated a claim for retaliation and failure to provide adequate medical care. This action was filed by a New York prisoner transferred from the Elmira Correctional Facility to the …
Diabetic Prisoner Entitled to Special Diet by A New York federal district court ordered prison officials at the Green Haven Penitentiary to transfer a "brittle diabetic" to a facility equipped to provide his physical and dietary needs, or to insure he is forthwith provided with fully adequate care, including a …
No Immunity for DOC Under Rehabilitation Act or ADA by No Immunity for DOC under Rehabilitation Act or ADA The U.S. Southern District of New York held that DOC was a state agency but was not necessarily entitled to qualified immunity. New York state DOC was sued by a former …
$500 Award in Sing Sing Medical Neglect Suit by $500 Award In Sing Sing Medical Neglect Suit Willie Sykes, a prisoner at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility (SSCF), filed a pro se law suit against the State of New York, claiming that the SSCF medical staff failed to treat him …
$98,500 Settlement In Jail Negligence Suit Prisoner Beating by Darrin Rvdberg, filed a civil law suit in 1997, against the Nassau County Correctional Center (jail), for 3 million dollars in damages for the jail's negligence in failing to protect him from being assaulted by another prisoner (Porter), while Rydberg was …
$450 Award in Prisoner Wrongful Keeplock Suit by $450 Award In Prisoner Wrongful Keeplock Suit Ignacio Rosado, a prisoner at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility (SSCF), filed a pro se law suit against SSCF, for wrongfully placing him on "keeplock" status for 7-days. In 1999, a prison guard told Rosado …
$21,213.76 in Fees/Costs Awarded for Discovery Sanctions by NY jail Officials by $21,213.76 in Fees/Costs Awarded for Discovery Sanctions by NY jail Officials A federal court in New York awarded $20,950 in fees and $263.76 in costs as a sanction against jail officials related to discovery violations. Gary Smith, a …
Sanction Imposed for NY AG's 1-Year Delay in Answering Complaint by A New York federal district court set aside a default judgment in a prisoner's civil rights case, but imposed a $500 sanction for the one- year delay in responding. A prisoner at New York's Woodburns Correctional Facility sued under …
Officials Engaged in Routine Medical Procedures not Deliberately Indifferent; Supervisors May be Liable by The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has held that persons engaged in the performance of routine medical procedures were not deliberately indifferent to the plaintiff prisoner's serious medical needs in this case. Supervisory prison officials, however, …
Habeas Corpus Granted; State Used Wrong Standard to Convict by The U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing the federal district court of New Mexico, held that a New Mexico prisoner was wrongly convicted of child abuse when the state court applied the civil negligence standard rather than the criminal …
