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Open Prison Barracks Unsafe by In the past fifteen years of massive prison expansion many prison systems have opted to build open dormitory type prison barracks because they are substantially cheaper to build than conventional cell blocks. There are inherent shortcomings in this type of prison design. The Connecticut DOC …
Job Discrimination States Claim by While prisoners have no right to a job or work assignment they may not be discriminated against on the basis of their race. Lawrence Quinn, a white Pennsylvania state prisoner, applied for the position of clerk in a prison shoe plant. The plant foreman told …
Article • December 15, 1995 • from PLN December, 1995
Opening Legal Mail Violates Access to Courts by The court of appeals for the third circuit has held that opening a prisoner's legal mail outside his presence violates his right of access to the courts. The court also held that this right is well established so that prison officials who …
Jail Detainee Entitled to Law Library Access by A district court in Texas has held that jail prisoners have a right to law library access in order to defend against lawsuits in which they are the defendant, the court also held that a "bookmobile" system of allowing prisoners to check …
Missouri Ad Seg Damages Award Upheld by The eighth circuit court of appeals has affirmed an award of money damages to Michael Weems, a Missouri state prisoner, who was denied a review hearing while in administrative segregation. The court reaffirmed that Missouri state prisoners have a due process liberty interest …
Prisoners Entitled to Safe Jail by The eleventh circuit court of appeals has reaffirmed that county officials can be held liable for failing to protect jail detainees from violence by other detainees. In 1990 Larry Hale was held in the Tallapoosa County Jail in Alabama after failing to appear in …
Qualified Immunity for Hearing Officers by The second circuit court of appeals has reaffirmed that prison disciplinary hearing officers are only entitled to qualified immunity, not absolute immunity from suit. As part of a pilot project the New York Department of Corrections in 1986 instituted the Inmate Hearing Officer program …
Medical Evidence Required to Win Delay Claim by The court of appeals for the eighth circuit has held that in order to prevail on an eighth amendment deliberate indifference to serious medical needs claim, the prisoner plaintiff must submit verifying medical evidence at the summary judgment stage. Larry Beyerbach, a …
Article • October 15, 1995 • from PLN October, 1995
Delay in Dental Care States Claim by The eighth circuit court of appeals has reaffirmed the long-standing principle that delaying dental care for prisoners violates the eighth amendment. Ronald Boyd, a Missouri state prisoner, began suffering pain to his jaw on June 1, 1991. He requested to see a dentist. …
Retaliatory Infraction Illegal by The court of appeals for the second circuit reaffirmed that infractions in retaliation for prisoners' exercise of constitutionally protected rights are unlawful. The court also noted that administrative dismissal of such charges do not bar § 1983 actions for damages resulting from punishment imposed at the …
No Immunity for Hearing Officers by Prison officials who hear and decide prisoners' administrative appeals from disciplinary hearings are only entitled to qualified immunity for their actions. Jerry Young is a New York state prisoner. He was found guilty of misconduct at five separate prison disciplinary hearings and sentenced to …
Article • October 15, 1995 • from PLN October, 1995
Detainees Entitled to Exercise and Law Library by Pretrial detainees, like convicted prisoners, retain a right of access to the courts and to outdoor exercise. Jim Housley was a pretrial detainee in the Custer County jail in Oklahoma. He filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming that his constitutional …
All Writs Act Limited by The seventh circuit court of appeals has given a narrow interpretation to the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651, by holding that a district court lacked the authority to order the Illinois DOC to transport a prisoner to a medical expert witness's office for …
Trial Required on Clothing Claim by When prison guards apply force maliciously and sadistically, they are violating the eighth amendment and can be held liable for their actions. Courtney Wilkens is a Missouri state prisoner. Prison guards claimed Wilkens was wearing gang colors in the prison dining hall and attempted …
Article • September 15, 1995 • from PLN September, 1995
Court Formulates New "Use of Force" Standard by While pretrial detainees are imprisoned against their will and in many cases are similar in circumstance to convicted detainees they are legally innocent of any crime. This is an important distinction when it comes to detainees litigating jail conditions. PLN regularly reports …
Article • September 15, 1995 • from PLN September, 1995
Medical Care Ordered by If a prisoner sustains a serious injury they are entitled to competent medical attention. Richard Sappington is a Texas state prisoner. He injured his foot playing basketball and x-rays revealed multiple fractures in the foot. The prison hospital lacked resources to treat the injuries and his …
Law on Retaliation Well Established in 9th Cir. by In the October, 1993, issue of PLN we reported Schroeder v. McDonald, 823 F. Supp. 750 (D HI 1993) in which a Hawaii prisoner filed suit over a retaliatory transfer from a minimum to a medium security prison. The district court …
Article • September 15, 1995 • from PLN September, 1995
No Immunity for Visitor Searches by On March 3, 1989, a Kings County Assistant DA contacted the New York DOC's Inspector General (IG) and told him that he had received information that Joseph Varrone, a New York state prisoner, was involved in drug smuggling. More specifically, the DA claimed that …
Some Evidence Must Support Guilty Finding by When prison officials violate clearly defined procedural due process standards in a prison disciplinary hearing, they are not immune from § 1983 liability. Frederick Gilbert is a New York state prisoner. After 25 tape decks and 37 AC adapters were stolen from the …
Supreme Court Rejects Govt Inter-Locutory Appeals in Civil Rights Suits by In a significant ruling the supreme court, in a unanimous opinion, has held that public officials who are sued cannot file inter-locutory appeals when a district court denies their motion for summary judgment based on the sufficiency of the …
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