New York Guard Awarded $120,000 for Hostile Work Environment From Racial Discrimination by New York Guard Awarded $120,000 for Hostile Work Environment From Racial Discrimination A New York federal jury has awarded a guard $120,000 in his claim that fellow guards created a hostile work environment for him because he …
New York County and Sheriff Liable For Illegal Strip/Body Cavity Search by A New York woman filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 after being arrested on misdemeanor charges and subjected to a strip/body cavity search at the jail. A U.S. district court granted Respondents' motion for summary judgment, 630 …
Prisoners Selected For Random Urinalysis Must Be Chosen Blindly by A U.S. District Court issued a preliminary injunction enjoining prison officials from selecting prisoners for random drug tests in a manner that revealed their identities to the selector. Four New York state prisoners brought an action challenging the constitutionality of …
Heck Does Not Bar Damage Suit Alleging Violation of Extradition Procedures by The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit seeking damages and declatory relief for the violation of a state prisoner's federally protected extradition rights was not barred by Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. …
§1983 Remedies Only Federal Law, Right to Witnesses at Hearing by After a New York state prisoner brought a §1983 action alleging constitutional violations at his prison disciplinary hearing, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York held: 1) The prisoner's civil rights were not violated by …
Confinement in Strip Cells as Disciplinary Tool Unconstitutional by New York prisoners Mosher and Wright brought separate § 1983 actions, later consolidated, against a prison warden for Eighth Amendment violations stemming from their confinement in a strip cell." Strip cells are used for psychiatric observation; they are bare and have …
Retaliation Claim Does Not Precede Exhaustion of State Administrative Remedies by The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court determined that a prisoner's retaliation claim was required to be preceded by exhaustion of state administrative remedies. Robert Lawrence, a prisoner at Otisville State Prison …
Discipline for Content of Outgoing Mail Reversed by The United States District Court for the Southern district of New York held that prison officials violated a New York prisoner's First Amendment rights of expression by censoring his outgoing mail and disciplining him for complaints about prison conditions and officials in …
NY DOCS Policy Possibly Violates ADA Prohibition Against Disability Inquiry by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a New York Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) policy requiring employees to provide general diagnoses as part of a medical certification procedure following certain absences generally fell within …
General or Residual Personal Injury Statute Limitations Applies to § 1983 Cases by General or Residual Personal Injury Statute Limitations Applies to § 1983 Cases The United States Supreme Court has held that district courts considering 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims should borrow a state's general or residual statute for …
Confiscation of Political Literature, Denial of Hearing Notice and Witnesses States Claim by Confiscation of Political Literature, Denial of Hearing Notice and Witnesses States Claim The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held a district court erred in dismissing a prisoner's civil rights complaint for failure to state a cause of …
Publication, Postage Stamp Ban States Claim by The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held the rejection of a prisoner's publication and refusal to allow him to receive postage stamps through the mail may violate the prisoner's First Amendment rights. This action was filed by a prisoner at New York's Clinton …
No Punishment for Possession of Radical Religious Literature by The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held a prisoner's complaint was sufficient to defeat summary judgment and require a trial. The civil rights action was filed by a New York prisoner who spent 7 of his 15 years in prison in …
Decision Enjoining New York DOC Beard Ban Vacated, Remanded by The United States Supreme Court vacated and remanded a Second Circuit ruling that enjoined the New York Department of Corrections (DOC) from enforcing a rule banning beards in excess of one inch in length against a Jewish prisoner. Yevgen Fromer, …
New York DOCS Sick Leave Policy Violates ADA by The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York held that a New York Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) sick leave policy requiring employees to provide general diagnoses following certain absences from work violated the Americans With Disabilities Act …
New York Prison Beard Ban Unconstitutional, Enforcement Enjoined by The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York held that a New York Department of Corrections rule banning beards longer than one inch was unconstitutional as it applied to an Orthodox Jewish prisoner and enjoined the Department …
Award of Nominal Damages Only Affirmed in Excessive Force Suit by The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court's denial of a plaintiff's motion for new trial following a jury's award of only nominal damages against prison guards charged with use of excessive force on the prisoner-plaintiff. …
Second Circuit Addresses Time Claim Accrues by The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in part and vacated in part a district court order granting summary judgment to the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and various individual defendants for false arrest. Clifton Morris was arrested in 1990 by …
Dismissal with Prejudice Vacated; Plaintiff Ordered to Replead by The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated dismissal with prejudice of a New York State prisoner's medical claims and instructed the district court to dismiss without prejudice to the filing of a second amended complaint. Fernando Pratts, a New York …
New York: Malpractice Suit Over Guard's Death Settles For $2,500,000 by On March 21, 2002, an unidentified plaintiff settled this medical malpractice claim against two physicians for $2,500,000. At issue was the medical treatment of a Riker's Island guard who suffered a heart attack in front of the jail's infirmary. …
