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 …
Prisoner Lawsuits Not Subject to Heightened Pleading Standard in Seventh Circuit by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a prisoner's complaint need only state the prisoner's legal claim together with some indication of the time and place: detailed facts need not be supplied. Brian K. Thomson, an Illinois …
Former Illinois Governor Indicted on Federal Charges by Former Illinois governor and Nobel Peace Prize nominee George Ryan was indicted December 17, 2003, on federal charges of racketeering, mail and tax fraud, and lying to investigators. Federal prosecutors allege that Ryan and his political bedfellows treated state employees and the …
No Qualified Immunity in Jail Suicide Attempt by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of qualified immunity to a police officer on a claim of deliberate indifference to an Illinois pretrial detainee's suicide risk. On June 4, 1998, Steven Cavalieri kidnapped his former girlfriend, Stephanie Rouse, and …
Illinois Appeals Court Overturns Warden's Reckless Homicide Convictions by Illinois Appeals Court Overturns Warden's Reckless Homicide Convictions by Matthew T. Clarke Near midnight on the night of Octo-ber 14, 2000, a state-owned car driven by William Barham, Warden of the Shawnee Correctional Center, spun off a road and down an …
Facts Contained in Administrative Remedies Not Automatically Deemed Facts Alleged in Complaints by The Seventh Circuit Court of Apeals held the attachment of grievances to a complaint, for the purpose of demonstrating exhaustion of remedies, does not permit holding that the plaintiff vouches for the truth of the statements in …
$3 Million in Settlements for Wrongful Illinois Convictions by by Matthew T. Clarke On June 17, 2003, Illinois passed a state budget that includes around $1.5 million in settlements for wrongly convicted former prisoners, including Rolondo Cruz and Aaron Patterson, former death row prisoners pardoned by former Governor George Ryan. …
$1.5 Million Illinois Prison Rape Verdict Overturned by In a 2-to-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned a jury's $1.5 million verdict in favor of a prisoner who was sexually assaulted by his cellmate. Anthony Riccardo and Juan Garcia were both housed in the segregation …
Illinois Segregation Brutality Suit Fails Because Injury Was De Minimis by John E Dannenberg Illinois Segregation Brutality Suit Fails Because Injury Was De Minimis by John E. Dannenberg An Illinois state prisoner who alleged in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights complaint that he had been maliciously injured by …
RFRA May Protect Federal Prisoners' Right to Cast Spells by RFRA May Protect Federal Prisoners' Right to Cast Spells The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Circuit) has reinstated a federal prisoner's religious freedom lawsuit under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-1. Kerry …
$15 Million Award for Wrongful Conviction Upheld by $15 Million Award for Wrongful Conviction Upheld The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of qualified immunity for two Chicago policemen who had concealed evidence and induced witnesses to testify falsely against a man wrongfully …
Illinois County Necessary Party in Suit Against Elected Official by Illinois County Necessary Party in Suit Against Elected Official In a case of great importance to those seeking damages in suits on jail conditions in Illinois, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held a county must satisfy any judgment or …
Physical Injury Rule Doesn't Bar Strip Search Suit by Vacating dismissal by the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a prisoner adequately pleaded an Eighth Amendment violation in a prison strip-search and that 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(e) does not bar …
