Summary Judgment Denied For Arkansas Officials Accused of Excessive Force and Deliberate Indifference by Harry Barnes, U.S. District Judge, has denied summary judgment to a group of Arkansas officials accused of using excessive force and exhibiting deliberate indifference toward serious medical needs in the arrest of an individual. Harry Hill, …
Eighth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Due Process Challenge to Continued Confinement in Administrative Segregation by On May 12, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed a grant of summary judgment for Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) officials alleged to have denied a prisoner due process by …
Washington DOC Restarts Private Industry Prison Jobs Following State Constitutional Amendment by John Dannenberg Washington DOC Restarts Private Industry Prison Jobs Following State Constitutional Amendment by John E. Dannenberg After eliminating private industry prison work programs in response to a Washington State Supreme Court ruling declaring the underlying statute unconstitutional …
Arkansas Juvenile Center Continues Violating Rights Despite 2003 Court Enforceable Agreement by Bob Williams By Bob Williams Arkansas protection and advocacy group Disability Rights Center (DRC) reported on conditions at the Alexander Youth Services Center (Center) in 2006. The programs at the Center were determined inadequate and discriminatory in some …
Arkansas Woman Left in Cell for Four Days Without Food or Water by Arkansas Woman Left in Cell for Four Days Without Food or Water In March 2008, a woman was locked in a small courthouse holding cell without food or water for four days after an Arkansas bailiff forgot …
ADA Valid Exercise of Congressional Authority by The Americans with Disabilities Act is not invalid under the Eleventh Amendment because it is a proper exercise of Congress's authority under 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Unlike the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the legislative record of which lacked examples of modern instances …
IDEA is Constitutional by The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was valid under 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment and therefore Congress successfully abrogated states' Eleventh Amendment immunity. Alternatively, it provides an unambiguous waiver of Eleventh Amendment immunity by clearly conditioning the receipt of federal funds on states' willingness to …
Eighth Circuit: Administrator of Prisoner's Estate May Not Sue Pro Se by On March 29, 2005, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the administrator of the estate of a prisoner who died of cancer while incarcerated in the Arkansas Department of Corrections may not file a suit for …
Eighth Circuit Upholds Arkansas Sex Offender Registration/Residency Restrictions by Matthew Clarke by Matthew T. Clarke On July 13, 2006, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a civil rights challenge to provisions of the Arkansas Sex Offender Registration Act, Ark. Code Ann. § 12-12-901 et seq., and …
Arkansas Trooper Mistakes Mentally Disabled Man for Fugitive and Kills Him; Deceased's Family Paid $1 Million by Former Arkansas State Trooper Larry Norman pled guilty to a charge of misdemeanor negligent homicide after killing mentally disabled Joseph Erin Hamley. Norman had mistaken Hamley, 21, for an escaped fugitive, and shot …
Federal Prison Guard's Drug Smuggling and Sexual Activities Warrant 46 Month Sentence by Former federal prison guard Celeste Akers appealed her sentence after smuggling drugs into a Bureau of Prisons facility in Forest City, Arkansas. The judgment was affirmed. Akers’ federal employment lasted from 2001 to 2005. A 2004 Department …
$64,900 Award in Arkansas Excessive Force Claim; Warden Held Not Liable by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a judgment against the warden of Arkansas’ Cummins Unit, finding he did not have sufficient knowledge that the guards under his supervision were inflicting …
Jail Not Liable for Prisoner’s Rape by Cellmate by The plaintiff was raped by his cellmate in a county jail holding cell after being arrested for public intoxication. Defendants knew the cellmate was a disruptive individual but the district court found that they did not know he posed a risk …
Jail Guards Get Qualified Immunity for Beating, Pepper Spraying Prisoner Who Commits Suicide by The decedent was arrested for public intoxication; there was a fight when he was booked, resulting in his being sprayed with pepper spray or other chemical restraint. The officers carried him to a cell and sprayed …
Arkansas State Agency Prepared Taxpayer Documents Ordered Disclosed by Arkansas State corporation Ryan & Company AR, Inc. (Ryan) appealed a court ruling exempting the disclosure of specific taxpayer related legal opinions under the state Freedom of Information Act (Act). The ruling was reversed and the redacted disclosure was ordered. Ryan …
Arkansas Chief Probation Officer's Termination Suit Settles for $32,500 by Former City of Searcy, Arkansas chief probation officer Denny Bishop brought suit against the city after being terminated when he voiced opposition to allegedly discriminatory employment practices. The suit was settled out of court for $32,500. Bishop filed the lawsuit …
Arkansas Law Discloses Legislators’ Business Ties to State by David Reutter Of concern to taxpayers should be the private business interests of their legislators. An Arkansas law enacted in 2007 requires disclosure of those interests when a lawmaker or his or her spouse owns at least 10 percent of a …
Prisoner Must Have Notice of Forfeiture; Sanctions Denied for Lying Prison Official by A prisoner alleged that he never received notice of forfeiture which was signed for by a prison official, had the return receipt marked by a prison official, and the notice marked as delivered. Notice of forfeiture must …
Jail Uprisings in Oklahoma and Arkansas by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke June 2007 saw three disturbances at two jails in Oklahoma and Arkansas. The Pittsburg County, Oklahoma jail was built in 1974 and designed to hold 64 prisoners. On June 26, 2007 almost 100 were packed into the facility. …
Factor 8: the Arkansas Prison Blood Mining Scandal Movie review and Director Interview by Brandon Eng Filmmaker Kelly Duda’s first documentary, Factor 8: the Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal, chronicles the decades of abuse towards prisoners and patients from blood mining in search of profits. Traveling back to his home state …
