Westefer v. Snyder, IL, Class Action Memo, ad seg condition of confinement, 2010 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS ROBERT WESTEFER, et al., No. 00-162-GPM Plaintiffs, v. DONALD SNYDER, et al., Defendants. MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO CERTIFY THE PLAINTIFF CLASS INTRODUCTION …
Excessive Force Claim Nets $3,200 in Attorney's Fees; $1,000 in Damages by An Illinois Federal District Court has awarded $3,200 in attorney's fees in a prisoner's claim that his Eighth Amendment rights were violated. The civil rights action was brought by Illinois prisoner Frank Farella against Logan Correctional Center guards …
Seventh Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Retaliation Claim by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court's dismissal of an Illinois prisoner's retaliation claim. On January 17, 2003, Illinois prisoner Robert Hoskins worked in the Dixon Correctional Center (Dixon) cafeteria when Food Services Supervisor Connie Lenear called him a …
"Actual Innocence" Rule Inapplicable to Breach of Contract by Lawyer by "Actual Innocence" Rule Inapplicable to Breach of Contract by Lawyer The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court's dismissal of a diversity suit, holding that the actual innocence" rule does not bar claims of breach of contract/fiduciary …
Rising Deaths and Violence Among Problems In Illinois Prisons, Jails by by Michael Rigby Imprisonment in Illinois is becoming more perilous, according to the John Howard Association, a Chicago-based nonprofit group that monitors prisons and jails. Between August 2003 and May 2004, according to the association, several state prisoners died …
Illinois Jail Conditions Suit Nets $150,000 Attorney Fee Award by An Illinois Federal District Court has awarded attorneys representing prisoners at the Winnebago County Jail (WCJ) $150,000 in attorney fees and costs. This class action suit alleged the conditions at WCJ were unconstitutionally deficient in numerous respects. The suit alleged …
Dismissal of Failure to Protect Claim Reversed; No Showing Necessary to Survive Rule 12(b)(6) Dism by Dismissal of Failure to Protect Claim Reversed; No Showing Necessary to Survive Rule 12(b)(6) Dismissal The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court's dismissal of a civil committee's failure to protect and …
Seventh Circuit Reverses Indemnification for Guard's Abuse; Jury Awards $400,000 in Damages Against by Seventh Circuit Reverses Indemnification for Guard's Abuse; Jury Awards $400,000 in Damages Against Guard The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's order granting indemnification against Macon County, Illinois. The court found that a …
$175,000 Award in Chicago Jail Failure to Protect Case by While held at Illinois' Cook County Jail, Stanley Davis Jones was beaten by two fellow prisoners in March 1999. He suffered a dislocated shoulder and broken wrist from the attack, which he alleged was caused by jail officials' failure to …
Grand Jury Finds Criminal Conduct In Chicago Jail Prisoner Abuse Scandal by Matthew T. Clarke As previously reported in PLN, the Cook County Jail has been the scene of controversy involving the wanton beating of prisoners by an elite squad of guards known as the SORT team. [PLN Feb. 2004, …
Seventh Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment for CMS, Prison Doctor by In an unpublished decision, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a grant of summary judgment to a prison doctor, holding that the doctor manifested a substantial departure from accepted professional judgment in the treatment of a prisoner's cluster headache …
$7,500 of Personal Injury Award Exempt From Attachment By Illinois DOC by A court of appeals in Illinois ruled that the Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC), which was seeking to attach a settlement awarded a prisoner in a personal injury suit, could not attach $7,500 of the award. That ruling …
Chicago Jail Still Rife With Prisoner Abuse, Crimes By Guards by Chicago Jail Still Rife With Prisoner Abuse, Crimes By Guards by Matthew T. Clarke The Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois, remains the scene of controversy involving beatings of prisoners, stealing of drugs held for evidence, and guards having …
Concentration Of Paroled Illinois Sex Offenders Stirs Controversy by Michael Rigby Following news that a disproportionate number of paroled sex offenders were concentrated on Chicago’s South Side, Illinois officials instituted more rigid oversight of transitional group homes and returned 55 parolees to prison. The Chicago Tribune reported on January 3l, …
Illinois Appeals Court Reinstates Prisoner's Disciplinary Mandamus Petition by The Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District, held that prisoner in the Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC) had adequately stated causes of action for mandamus relief pertaining to disciplinary sanctions imposed against him. On September 11, 2002, William Cannon, Jr., a …
Problems Plague Illinois Jails And Prisons, Employees Watch Television for Pay by Michael Rigby Problems Plague Illinois Jails And Prisons, Employees Watch Television for Pay by Michael Rigby While Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was using Department of Corrections (DOC) resources to monitor his image on television, sex, drugs, and violence …
Seventh Circuit Interprets "Brought" As Used 42 U.S.C. § 1197e(a) by Seventh Circuit Interprets "Brought" As Used 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit has interpreted the word "brought" in 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) to mean "when the complaint is tendered to the district …
Illinois ETS Injury Claim Allowed To Proceed; Out-of-State Legal Materials Ordered Provided by John E Dannenberg by John K Dannenberg Resolving two distinct complaints of an Illinois state prisoner, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that (1) where injury from ETS [second-hand cigarette smoke] was alleged at one …
Illinois Appeals Court Reinstates Prisoner's Telephone Disconnect Suit by The Illinois Court of Appeals for the Third District reinstated a prisoner's lawsuit against Ameritech over the company's alleged fraudulent intentional early disconnecting of prisoner phone calls. Johnnie Flournoy, an Illinois state prisoner, filed suit in state court alleging fraud and …
CMS Must Pay $1.75 Million in Illinois Jail Suicide by John E Dannenberg CMS Must Pay $1.75 Million In Illinois Jail Suicide by John E. Dannenberg Correctional Medical Services (CMS), a private contractor providing all medical and mental health services at the Lake County, Ill. Jail, was ordered by a …
