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 …
BOP Hernia Suit Dismissed for Non Exhaustion by The plaintiff complained of delay in hernia surgery but did not exhaust administrative remedies. His argument that the remedy doesn't provide damages was rejected in Booth v. Churner. His claim that he was denied the necessary forms is rejected because he filed …
No Liability for Death of Arrestee Who Caused Police Car Crash by The decedent was arrested while drunk and was placed in the back of a police car rear-cuffed. The officer did not shackle his legs, fasten his seatbelt, or close the plexiglass partition between front and back seats. The …
Punishment for Refusing Polygraph Upheld by A prisoner who was placed in segregation pending a hearing was provided due process by the "postdeprivation" disciplinary hearing he received. Review of a disciplinary proceeding to determine if it was supported by "some evidence" must be limited to evidence in the administrative record. …
No Filing Fee Waiver of Appeals in Three Strikes Cases by No Filing Fee Waiver of Appeals in Three Strikes Cases Plaintiff got his third strike in the district court, which, contrary to the literal language of the three strikes provision, granted him IFP status on appeal. At 541: That …
No Immunity for Police in Tight Handcuffs Suit by Defendant police officers are not entitled to summary judgment on the plaintiff's claim of excessively tight handcuffing in light of evidence that the cuffs left a mark visible nearly two years later and continuing pain in the plaintiff's wrists; there is …
IL Civil Commitment Law Upheld by In 1998 Herbert Varner, an Illinois state prisoner, was finishing a thirteen-year sentence for sexually abusing his five-year-old niece when the state initiated civil commitment proceedings against him under ILCS § 207/1, et seq. A jury found that Varner suffered from a mental disorder …
Prisoner Suit Filed When Mailed to Court by Prisoner Suit Filed When Mailed to Court The plaintiff's suit was filed, tolling the limitations period, when his mailed complaint was received by the district court, even though it was returned to him for a failure to comply with local rules (i.e., …
Prison Not Liable for Cold Cell by The court rejects the plaintiff's claim that he was kept in an unconstitutionally cold cell for two winters, since temperature measurements showed nothing colder than 64.6 degrees, except for a 24-hour period with no heat, and that period was too short to "cause …
