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Kansas Prisoner's Sexually Motivated Behavior In Custody Leads To Sex Offender Classification

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Prisoner-Staff Harassment, Discrimination, Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Sexually Explicit Materials

Kansas Prisoner's Sexually Motivated Behavior In Custody Leads To Sex Offender Classification by The Kansas Court of Appeals ruled in State prisoner Roland Hill's state habeas corpus petition that he could be classified and managed as a sex offender while incarcerated and under post release supervision based on sexually motivated …

Kansas Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction on In-Cell Book Cap

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Injunctions, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Publications/Books, Religious Freedom, Religious Property

Kansas Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction on In-Cell Book Cap by By Matthew T. Clarke A federal district court in Kansas has issued a preliminary injunction requiring state prison officials to retain and give a prisoner access to religious books in excess of the 15-book maximum allow in a cell. …

Title VII Suit Dismissed for Lack of Exhaustion

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion, Federal Statutory Law, Title VII, Employee Litigation

Title VII Suit Dismissed for Lack of Exhaustion by The plaintiff's Title VII hostile work environment claim is dismissed for nonexhaustion because he didn't include it in his EEOC charge and it is not "reasonably related" to the claims he did assert. At 1100: "Pro se plaintiffs must strictly comply …

Summary Judgment For Free Exercise Of Religion Upheld: Untimely Appeal Dismissed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Work, Prison Labor, Limitations, Religious Practices

Summary Judgment For Free Exercise Of Religion Upheld: Untimely Appeal Dismissed by Summary Judgment For Free Exercise Of Religion Upheld: Untimely Appeal Dismissed Kansas state prisoner Jimmy Searles filed a Federal civil rights complaint against State Department of Corrections (DOC) personnel for allegedly violating his First Amendment right to freedom …

Criminal History Trumps Reporter Liability For Denial Of Parole

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Complaints, Sentencing, Parole

Criminal History Trumps Reporter Liability For Denial Of Parole by Kansas state prisoner Thomas Lamb filed a State Court complaint against Tony Rizzo, a newspaper reporter, alleging libel for published articles containing alleged "lies and false information" which caused Lamb to be denied parole. Rizzo removed the case to the …

Brutality Case Against Kansas Jail Dismissed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Brutality Case Against Kansas Jail Dismissed by The plaintiff complained of excessive force. At 1245: "Jail officials are given some latitude in dealing with disruptive inmates." "On the other hand, jail officials may not use a disruption as an excuse for exercising unfettered and unjustified force." Here the only evidence …

Kansas Prisoner Convicted of Sodomy Entitled to DNA Testing

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Searches, DNA Testing/Samples

Kansas Prisoner Convicted of Sodomy Entitled to DNA Testing by Dale Denney, a Kansas state prisoner, was convicted of sodomy in 1992. He later filed a motion in the trial court requesting that DNA tests be performed, pursuant to KSA 2003 § 21-2512.p The trial court denied the motion because …

No Contempt for KS Jail Sheriff

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Staffing, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Consent Decrees

No Contempt for KS Jail Sheriff by A consent judgment in a jail conditions case was entered in 1987; the jail was replaced in 1989; the new jail was found to be operating in violation of the consent decree in 1992. After further proceedings a final judgment was entered creating …

Arrestees' Kansas Jail Conditions Suit Dismissed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Eighth Amendment, Juveniles

Arrestees' Kansas Jail Conditions Suit Dismissed by The five plaintiffs were arrested for planning to shoot up the local school, and spent from 11 to 27 days in jail. Eventually the charges were dismissed after they said they were just kidding. The constitutional standards for pre-trial detention conditions are the …

Delay in Treating Spinal Injury Survives Summary Judgment

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Skeletal Injury, Failure to Treat, Staffing, Immunity/Liability, Failure to Train/Supervise

Delay in Treating Spinal Injury Survives Summary Judgment by The plaintiff injured himself in a fall, sustaining a spinal cord injury resulting in incontinence and other consequences. At 1221-22: "A delay in providing medical treatment is not actionable unless it is occasioned by 'deliberate indifference which results in substantial harm.' …

No Immunity in Kansas Jail Suicide

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Qualified Immunity, Supervisory Liability, Mental Health, Suicides

No Immunity in Kansas Jail Suicide by The decedent's mother notified the prison's second-shift supervisor that her son had threatened suicide; he directed a search of the decedent's cell, where a tear-stained suicide note was found. The supervisor ordered him placed on suicide watch and moved to a "hard lockdown" …

Expert Witness Rate for Discovery Reduced

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Prison Health Services, Medical, Medical Records, Costs, Discovery, Expert Witnesses, Cross Examination

Expert Witness Rate for Discovery Reduced by Compensation to an expert for time spent in responding to discovery includes a reasonable amount of time preparing for a deposition. Here, 3.5 hours was reasonable for a review of medical records more than a year after the expert prepared his report (no …

$500,000 Awarded Kansas Citizen For 25 Days False Imprisonment

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, False Arrest

$500,000 Awarded Kansas Citizen For 25 Days False Imprisonment by Alonzo Echols, 48, is not Alonzo Eacholes, despite repeatedly telling officers, jails, and courts this. In February of 2000, Echols was arrested for felony battery on a warrant that should have been for Eacholes. His release took 18 months, though …

Second Hand Smoke Exposure States Claim

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Smoking

Second Hand Smoke Exposure States Claim by A Kansas state prisoner filed suit alleging violation of his Eighth amendment rights after being exposed to second hand smoke (AKA environmental Tobacco Smoke, FTS). The district court awarded summary judgment to the defendants. The court of appeals for the Tenth circuit affirmed …

KS Statute Allowing Blood Samples for DNA Databank Upheld

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Searches, DNA Testing/Samples

KS Statute Allowing Blood Samples for DNA Databank Upheld by The court of appeals for the Tenth circuit upheld the constitutionality of a Kansas statute allowing the collection of blood samples from prisoners for a DNA databank. All circuits to consider this issue have affirmed the practice, finding DNA information …

Use of Force While Prisoner Restrained Defeats Summary Judgment

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints

Use of Force While Prisoner Restrained Defeats Summary Judgment by A Kansas Federal District Court held a guard's initial use of force to restrain a prisoner was permissible under the circumstances of the case, but found a genuine issue of material fact existed as to the reasonableness of force used …

Sending State Must Provide Transferred Prisoner Legal Assistance

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Classification, Out of State Transfers, Prisoner Legal Assistance, Law Library Access/Adequacy

Sending State Must Provide Transferred Prisoner Legal Assistance by The First Circuit Court of Appeals held that prisoners transferred from the State of Maine to a Leavenworth, Kansas prison are entitled to receive legal assistance from Maine. After being transferred from Maine State Prison to a federal prison in Leavenworth …

Kansas: Habeas Corpus Proper Avenue for Prisoner Mistreatment Allegations

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Habeas Corpus

Kansas: Habeas Corpus Proper Avenue for Prisoner Mistreatment Allegations by The Supreme Court of Kansas held that habeas corpus was the proper avenue for prisoners seeking relief from mistreatment. State prisoners who had been subjected to solitary confinement petitioned separately for writs of habeas corpus alleging, among other things, denial …

Libel-Proof Doctrine Applied to Kansas Prisoner's Libel Suit

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Media

Libel-Proof Doctrine Applied to Kansas Prisoner's Libel Suit by A Kansas Federal District Court applied the "libel proof" doctrine to dismiss a Kansas prisoner's suit for libel against a newspaper reporter. The prisoner's suit sought damages for misstatement of facts pertaining to his convictions for murder and two counts of …

Prisoner's Claim of Censorship of Non-Obscene Materials Remanded

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Administrative Exhaustion, Mail Regulations, Censorship

Prisoner's Claim of Censorship of Non-Obscene Materials Remanded by The U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing the U.S. District Court in Kansas, held that dismissal of a Kansas prisoner's claim against Kansas Department of Corrections (DOC) officials accused of censoring "obscene" materials was properly dismissed but that the prisoner's …