Family Awarded $229,000 Against CMS in Illinois Hepatitis C Jail Death by A jury has awarded the family of a prisoner who died while in the Kane County Illinois Jail $229,500. On May 16, 2002, after 92 hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict against Correctional Medical Services of …
Federal Appeals Courts Address Finality of Dismissals, Grievance Contents by In two, separate, unrelated cases, the Third and Seventh U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals have addressed the finality of dismissals without prejudice, the contents of grievances, and various procedural points under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) and prisoner suits …
Illinois Settles Visitor Strip Search Suit for $237,000 by by Matthew T. Clarke In 2001, the Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC) has settled a lawsuit by visitors who claimed strip searches conducted during their visit to the Pontiac Correctional Center (PCC) were unconstitutional. In 1997, Marylin Tompkins and Jess Burgess …
No Qualified Immunity When Denying Pain Medication by The Seventh Circuit US Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment against an Illinois state prisoner's 42 USC § 1983 principal complaint alleging negligent medical treatment, but denied the defendants' qualified immunity defense to the included claim regarding denial of pain medications. John …
Gov. Ryan's Song by Mumia Abu-Jamal by Mumia Abu Jamal Illinois Gov. George Ryan, in the last passing days of his first and only term, saved the best for last. He sent shock waves across the nation when he issued four pardons to men sitting on the Condemned Units of …
Illinois Governor Commutes All Death Sentences by Michael Rigby On January 11, 2003 Governor George Ryan ensured himself a place in the history of criminal justice reform by commuting the death sentences of 167 people. It was the most sweeping act of its kind by a governor in U.S. history. …
Gay Bashing Illinois Guards to Pay $65,000 for Savage Beating by A man who was brutally beaten by jail guards while in custody at the Cook County Jail in Chicago will receive $65,000 in a settlement approved in June 2002. Terry Phalen, now 42 and admittedly gay, was awaiting a …
Deposition Testimony Not Hearsay; Expert Must Satisfy Daubert in BOP Van Accident by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a district court erred in failing to make findings of fact on critical issues, excluding the deposition testimony of a prisoner as hearsay, and in failing to conduct a …
Seventh Circuit Vacates $1.8 Million Award in BOP Suicide by by Mathew T. Clarke The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a case in which the survivors of a federal prisoner who committed suicide in jail received a $1.8 million award, rendering judgment in the government's favor. Robert Johnson, …
Failure to Allege Imminent Threat Precludes Justification Defenses in BOP Weapons Prosecution by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that the district court did not error in excluding evidence or argument regarding affirmative defenses of necessity and duress in trials for prisoners' weapon possession. On May 18, 1999, Terry …
$400,000 Jury Award in Illinois Ruptured Appendix Suit by In April, 2002, a federal jury in East St. Louis, Illinois, awarded $400,000 in damages to former prisoner David Sherrod, finding that Illinois Department of Corrections medical staff had shown deliberate indifference to his medical needs by failing to treat a …
State Tolling Statute Applied in § 1983 Action by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that an underlying state tolling statute applied to a state prisoner's 42 USC § 1983 civil rights complaint, thus giving him time to complete his administrative …
Snyder v. Ross, IL, Answer, Hunger Strike over Denial of Muslim Diet, 2003 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST JUDICIAL CIRCUIT ALEXANDER COUNTY, ILLINOIS People of the State of Illinois, ex rel. DONALD SNYDER, No. 03-MR-27 Plaintiff, v. TYSHAWN ROSS, Defendant. ANSWER, AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES, AND COUNTERCLAIM Defendant, Tyshawn Ross, …
U.S. Torture: A Sordid History Of Official And Systematic Abuse by G. Flint Taylor by G . Flint Taylor The brutal and sadistic torture by U.S. military prison guards, military intelligence officers, and CIA interrogators which is being revealed daily in the mainstream media has brought protestations from President Bush, …
Denial of Reporter's Access to Jail Unconstitutional by An Illinois Federal District Court has granted summary judgment in favor of a reporter denied access to the Cook County Jail. Access to a legal aid program for incarcerated mothers was denied in retaliation for a previously published and unflattering article. Tori …
Medical Claim Accrues on Last Date of Treatment Denial by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a prisoner's medical claim accrues on the last date that he was refused treatment and damages could be claimed back to the first date of refusal. Delbert Heard was in the …
Jones v. Markham et al, IL, Complaint, Wrongful Conviction Imprisonment, 2003 • 1 > Attorney Code: 55091 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT, LAW DIVISION RONALD JONES, ) ) ) ) Plaintiff, v. No. 00 L 5608 ) JOHN MARKHAM, #2913, STEVEN HOOD, ) #11885, CARL …
Diabetic's Amputation Suit Set for Trial by A federal district court in Illinois has held a diabetic detainee's claim of deprivation of medical treatment is sufficient to deny the doctor's motion for summary judgment. Cook County Jail pre-trial detainee Andrew Spencer filed a 42 U.S. C. §1983 action alleging on …
7th Circuit: PLRA Exhaustion Requirements Retroactive; BOP Has Late Grievance Hardship Exception by The Seventh Circuit Court of Ap-peals held that the administrative exhaustion provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) apply retroactively. In October 1995, federal prisoner Anthony McCoy was housed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Greenville, …
Prisoners, Politics, Money and the Census by Gary Hunter It's a standing joke that the Texas economy has been grounded in the 3 C's: cattle, crude, and convicts. But while Texas gets most of the publicity for its massive prison build-up, the human-warehousing trend is literally sweeping the countrysideand it …
