Kansas DOC Restrictions on Thelema Religion Upheld by The plaintiff complained of restrictions on his religious practice as a follower of the First Hermetic Order of Thelema, a religion founded in 1904 by Aleister Crowley. Prison officials recognized the religion and arranged for a visit from Thelemic clergy from the …
Parole Denial for Lack of Sex Offender Treatment Upheld by The plaintiff, a convicted sex offender, was denied parole inter alia because he failed to participate in mental health counseling or sex offender treatment. Later he refused to agree to a program plan which would have remedied those lacks. Then …
Kansas Prison Double Bunking Approved if ACA Standards Met by Thomas Porter and other Kansas state prisoners filed suit against the state and prison officials (defendants) alleging prison overcrowding, and subsequently objected to a proposed increase in the prison population by double bunking. The action alleged too little space per …
Excessive Force Kansas Juvenile Death Case Settled for $185,000 by A 17-year-old Kansas prisoner’s estate was paid $185,000 to settle claims related to his death. Mr. Mapes, a 17-year-old juvenile detainee, had an altercation with a guard, who restrained him by handcuffing him and sitting on his chest. Mapes died …
Kansas Jail Excessive Force Death Case Settled for $125,000 by A Kansas man’s estate was paid $125,000 to settle a suit related to his death. Mr. Tolon, father of two minor children, was confined in the Johnson County Jail. He “was handcuffed with hands behind his back and then his …
Kansas Jail Suicide Case Settled for $16,000 by A Kansas Man’s estate was paid $16,000 to settle a suit related to his suicide by hanging. A relative of Mr. Fira, Jr., called for medical assistance at Fira’s home. He was taken to an emergency room for observation. While at Fira’s …
Tenth Circuit Applies Harmless Error in Prison Discipline by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that precluding a prisoner from presenting witness testimony at a prison disciplinary proceeding was harmless error. Kansas prisoner Patrick Grossman was charged with inciting a riot in relation to a December 21, 2002 incident …
U.S. Releases Highest Ranking Soldier Convicted For Abu Ghraib Prisoner Abuse by On October 1, 2007, former U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick, 40, was released from the military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after having served three years of his eight year prison sentence for abusing prisoners at …
Kansas Prisoner not Consumer under State Consumer Protection Act by Nathaniel Ellibee, a Kansas state prisoner, sued the vender which provides meals for the state Department of Corrections (DOC) in state court under the state Consumer Protection Act (Act) because the vender wasn't providing kosher meals. The trial court dismissed …
Monitoring and Limiting Phone Calls by Kansas Prisoners Upheld by Prisoners can make telephone calls only collect and to persons previously placed on a list limited to 10; calls can be recorded and monitored; calls are automatically terminated when the outside party tries to transfer the call or make it …
Sender’s Right to Privacy in Mail Ends at Delivery by Sender's Right to Privacy in Mail Ends at Delivery Letters are generally protected by an expectation of privacy, but the sender's expectation ordinarily terminates upon delivery. At 1228: "Because Defendant sent the letters to an inmate at a correctional facility, …
Court Upholds Kansas Sex Offender Treatment Protocol by The plaintiff, who pleaded nolo contendere to sexual exploitation of a child, was assigned to a Sexual Abuse Treatment Program, which requires that he sign an "Admission of Responsibility" form, listing all past behavior, charged or uncharged, that might have been a …
Multiple Sclerosis Not Covered by ADA by The multiple sclerosis of the plaintiff, a former corrections investigator, was not a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, since it precluded him only from performing his own job and not a broad class of jobs, and the defendants were therefore not …
Wrongful Death Suit Reinstated for Plaintiff Substitution; Dismissed Again by by Bob Williams The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has reversed the dismissal of a wrongful death suit and allowed the deceased prisoner's wife to be substituted as plaintiff. On remand, the United States District Court …
Tenth Circuit Applies Harmless Error in Prison Discipline by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that precluding a prisoner from presenting witness testimony at a prison disciplinary proceeding was harmless error. Kansas prisoner Patrick Grossman was charged with inciting a riot in relation to a December 21, 2002 incident …
Total Exhaustion Rule Should Apply Separately to Each Plaintiff by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that when multiple prisoners join in a civil rights complaint, but only one of those prisoners has exhausted administrative remedies on all of the claims asserted, it is error to dismiss the …
Kansas Medical Neglect Death Case Settled for $35,000 by A Kansas prisoner's estate was paid $35,000 to settle a case related to his death. While confined in the Sedgwick County Correctional Facility, Mr. Stockwell suffered from acute chronic alcohol withdrawal. He was denied medical care, placed in wrist shackles and …
Bivens Claims Against Private Prison Employees May Fail When Other Remedies Available by In an evenly divided en banc rehearing, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit was unable to decide whether a Bivens action is available against employees of a privately?operated prison. In 2001, Cornelius E. …
Prison's Spending Cap Policy May State First Amendment Claim by The U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed in part pre- service dismissal of a prisoner's civil rights complaint in which he claimed that a prison policy capping the amount of money prisoners can spend monthly from their accounts violates …
Escape Statute Encompasses Man's Departure From Courtroom Over Judge's Orders by Escape Statute Encompasses Man's Departure From Courtroom Over Judge's Orders The Court of Appeals of Kansas held that a man who left the courtroom after a judge informed him he was in custody was in violation of the state's …
