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 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 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 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 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 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 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 …
Kansas: Jail Time Must be Applied to Felony Sentence First by The Kansas Court of Appeals held that in cases where consecutive felony and misdemeanor sentences are imposed, jail time credits must be applied to the felony sentence first. Dennis Harper was convicted on one count of felony battery and …
Restraining Chair Beating Heads for Trial by A federal district court in Kansas has denied the defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment in the beating of pretrial detainee William S. Davis. While detained in the Sedgwick County Adult Detention Facility (jail) for driving under the influence of alcohol, Davis was placed …
Mailing Out Property Protects Property Interest by The court of appeals for the Tenth circuit held that requiring a federal prisoner to mail out property he was not allowed to have in prison did not deprive the prisoner of his property interest in the property. The court noted that prisoners …
Attorney/Client Privileged Waived When Conversation Knowingly Recorded; Interstate Commerce Proven With De Minimus Effect by Attorney/Client Privileged Waived When Conversation Knowingly Recorded; Interstate Commerce Proven With De Minimus Effect The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held the government proved that robberies of a jewelry store affected interstate commerce and the …
Sua Sponte Dismissal for Factual Frivolity Appropriate Only if Facts Alleged Are Clearly Baseless by Sua Sponte Dismissal for Factual Frivolity Appropriate Only if Facts Alleged Are Clearly Baseless Billie Elliott is a prisoner at the Lansing Correctional Facility (LCF) in Lansing, Kansas. LCF mailroom guards denied him several issues …
Private Industries Employee Liable for using Disciplinary Hearing to Secure Restitution by Private Industries Employee Liable for using Disciplinary Hearing to Secure Restitution A Kansas federal district court denied in part and granted in part a motion for summary judgment filed by defendants in a 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 action …
Absurdity Exception Applied to PLRA Attorney Fee Cap in Pre-incarceration Claim by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the attorney's fees of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) does not apply to prisoner lawsuits arising before their incarceration. The Civil Rights Action, filed by Ralph Robbins, sought …
Suicide Suits Must be Filed by Decedent's Estate by The plaintiff sued the Sheriff because her son committed suicide in his jail. She sued in her own behalf and not as representative of her son's estate. The plaintiff does not have standing to assert her son's rights and recover for …
Court Dismisses Kansas Beating Suit by The plaintiff alleged excessive force but did not respond to defendants' summary judgment motion, though he filed a verified complaint with affidavit attached. Defendants' version, not specifically controverted by the plaintiff, is that they used necessary force to subdue an actively resisting prisoner. The …
CCA Employees Can Be Sued Under Bivens For Retaliation, Court Access Issues by Individual employees of a private prison corporation contracting with the federal government may be sued under Bivens. The holding of Malesko that Bivens does not authorize suit against corporations contracting with federal agencies does not extend to …
Class Certification Denied in Delay of Probable Cause Hearings Suit by The plaintiffs (196 of them) sought to represent a class of persons arrested without prior probable cause determinations challenging failure to provide timely probable cause hearings. The Supreme Court has said that generally, probable cause hearings should occur within …
Kansas Jail Retaliates Against Nurse Whistleblower by The plaintiff, a jail nurse, filed a complaint with the state Nurses Association about what she believed to be violations of acceptable nursing practice, and was fired. The violations included crushing medication before dispensing it without any governing protocol, inadequate nurse staffing, giving …
Prison Officials Must Offer Evidence to Support Denial of Sukkot Booths by The plaintiff complained that the defendants interfered with his right to observe Sukkot in 1997 through 2000 by first failing to provide him with a Sukkah booth and then failing to secure the one they provided. (The chaplain, …
