$450,000 Award Against CMS, County In Death of Illinois Jail Prisoner by On May 16, 2002, a jury found Correctional Medical Services (CMS) of Illinois and Kane County liable for the death of Ethel Hare--a prisoner with chronic liver disease, hepatitis, and HIV--and awarded her estate $450,000. While imprisoned in …
Cook County, Illinois, Settles Wrongful Death Claim for $550,000 by On September 5, 2003, Cook County, Illinois, agreed to pay $550,000 to the estate of a man who was apparently beaten to death by three jailers at theCook County Jail. Louis Schmude, 40, was arrested in May 2000 for violating a …
Illinois Jail Prisoner Beaten By Gang Members Awarded $775,000 by On July 24, 2003, a federal jury in Chicago, Illinois, awarded $775,000 to a man who was beaten by gang members while imprisoned in the Cook County Jail. Plaintiff Stanley Jones, 57, claimed that on March 7, 1999, CCJ jailers …
Illinois Man Awarded $750,000 for 15 Days Wrongful Imprisonment by On November 25, 2003, a federal jury in Chicago, Illinois, awarded $750,000 to a man who was wrongfully imprisoned for 15 days in the Cook County Jail. Emillano Hernandez was pulled over on June 19, 1999, for allegedly failing to …
7th Circuit Holds $60,000 Illinois Strip Search Award Not Excessive by On Nov. 29, 1983, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a strip-search claimant's $60,000 jury award against the City of Chicago was not excessive even though it was larger than awards in similar cases. Four female …
Illinois Prisoners Win Ex Post Facto Good Time Claim by The Illinois Court Of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the circuit court should not have dismissed a prisoner's law suit against the Department of Corrections for denial of good time credits. Prisoners of an Illinois state prison filed …
Denial of Vegan Diet Meets PLRA's Physical Injury Requirement by An Illinois federal district court has held that a prisoner's allegation that he was deprived of a vegan diet meets the physical injury requirement under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). Illinois prisoner Stanley Wofford brought suit under the Religious …
Seizure of Prisoner's Pretrial Discovery Materials Upheld by State prisoner David Savage filed a motion for relief from prosecutorial misconduct alleging Macon County Illinois jail officials confiscated discovery materials given to him by his counsel prior to trial. The confiscation was based upon advice from the State Attorney's Office that …
IL Guards' Single Instance of Indifference to Prisoner's Medical Needs Not Unconstitutional by IL Guards' Single Instance of Indifference to Prisoner's Medical Needs Not Unconstitutional In June of 1999 Norman Calhoun reported to begin serving a 120 day sentence in the jail for Kane County, Illinois. He had called the …
IL Guards May Withhold Showers and Meals Until Prisoner Complies With Prison Rules by IL Guards May Withhold Showers and Meals Until Prisoner Complies With Prison Rules Harry Rodriguez, an Illinois state prisoner, refused to comply with a prison rule requiring prisoners to store certain of their property in a …
Illinois Residential Picketing Statute Unconstitutional by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a residential picketing statute that makes the picketing of residences or dwellings a misdemeanor, with certain enumerated exceptions, violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The plaintiffs in this action were fourteen members …
Deposition Testimony Admissible in Beating Trial by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that the defendants in a civil rights action were improperly precluded from entering evidence to support their defense, the deposition of an unavailable witness was properly admitted, and admitted statements of a prisoner to a treating …
$125,000 Awarded in Illinois Prisoner's Rape; Jury Instruction Explaining Directed Verdict Harmless by $125,000 Awarded in Illinois Prisone's Rape; Jury Instruction Explaining Directed Verdict Harmless The Seventh Circuit of Appeal upheld a jury instruction that explained the directed verdict in favor of the supervisory defendants, and held that even if …
Dead Illinois Prisoner's Representative Filed Suit Too Late by Michael Shannon, an Illinois state prisoner, learned that he had stomach cancer on December 22, 1997. He knew then that an earlier diagnosis of cirrhosis of the liver was incorrect, and that he was suffering injury as a result. He later …
$678,478 Awarded In Federal Prisoner's Death From Misdiagnosed Lung Cancer by In April 1997, the U.S District Court for the Northern District of Illinois awarded $678,678 to the estate of a federal prisoner who died from advanced lung cancer that had been misdiagnosed and improperly treated by prison medical personnel. …
Attorney-Client Privilege Doesn't Protect All Discovery by In an employment discrimination case, the defendants asserted various privileges. A document from the vice president of communications to an EEO coordinator was not protected by the attorney-client privilege. At 499: It is important to remember that, because the privilege impairs the court's …
Murdered Illinois Prisoner's Estate Awarded $942,364 For Wrongful Death by In October 1998, an unknown state court awarded $942,344 to the estate of a teenage Illinois prisoner who was murdered by his cellmate on his very first night in prison. In their lawsuit, filed in April 1995, the 19-year-old prisoner's …
Attorney's Must Have Express Authorization To Enter Into Settlement Agreements by In January 1995, Illinois State prisoner Donchii Malone was transferred to Stateville prison where he learned of a contract out on his life. Malone reported this to Warden Godinez and requested transfer to protective custody. Neither happened. A week …
Injured Jail Prisoner Denied Crutches, Lower Cell States Claim by The plaintiff, who had had a serious leg injury, was forced to stand, walk, and/or hop for several hours after he was arrested and the police refused to retrieve his crutches. Upon entering jail, he had to do the same …
Law Library Claims Must Be Brought Under § 1983 by Law Library Claims Must Be Brought Under § 1983 Prisoners are entitled to sufficient law library access to "enable them to research law and to determine what facts may be necessary to state a cause of action." However, such a …
