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Denial of Paper Enjoined

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Court Access, Legal Materials, Writing Implements, Injunctions

Denial of Paper Enjoined by A federal district court in Nevada issued an injunction requiring Nevada prison officials to provide adequate supplies of paper and envelopes to prisoners engaged in litigation. The court held that the right of access to the courts of necessity requires prison officials to supply prisoners …

Right to Impartial Disciplinary Hearing Officers

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Disciplinary Litigation, Hearing Officers, Qualified Immunity

Right to Impartial Disciplinary Hearing Officers by A federal district court in Nevada held that prisoners have a well established right to impartial disciplinary hearing officers. Biased or partial hearing officers for disciplinary and administrative segregation hearings violate due process. The defendants were not entitled to qualified immunity because this …

Due Process Required for Disciplinary Segregation

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Notice of Charges, Notice of Hearing, Ad-Seg Hearings

Due Process Required for Disciplinary Segregation by A federal district court in Nevada granted partial summary judgment to a Nevada state prisoner holding that the plaintiff's right to due process was violated when he was placed in disciplinary segregation from administrative segregation without notice of the charges or a hearing …

Inspection of Outgoing Legal Mail Upheld

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Mail, Mail Regulations, Legal Mail

Inspection of Outgoing Legal Mail Upheld by The court of appeals for the Ninth circuit upheld a Nevada prison practice of inspecting, but not reading, mail prisoners sent to the state attorney general's office for offensive and dangerous materials. See: Witherow v. Paff, 52 F.3d 264 (9th Cir. 1995).

Infliction of Fear with Tasers Unconstitutional

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Threats by Staff, Stun Guns/Tasers

Infliction of Fear with Tasers Unconstitutional by Infliction of Fear With Tasers Unconstitutional A federal district court in Nevada held that a prisoner had stated an Eighth amendment claim when he alleged that a guard had threatened to shoot him with a taser gun for no apparent reason. Guards cannot …

Race Discrimination in Hobby-craft Privileges Unconstitutional

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Discrimination, Racial Discrimination

Race Discrimination in Hobby-craft Privileges Unconstitutional by A federal district court in Nevada held that prison officials were not entitled to summary judgment on a prisoner's claim that he was denied hobby-craft privileges because of his race. Such discrimination violates the Eighth and Fourteenth amendments. Summary judgment was denied to …

Medical Co-Pay Challenge Dismissed, Denial of Medication & Surgery Remanded

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Medical, Medical Expenses, Frivolous Litigation

Medical Co-Pay Challenge Dismissed, Denial of Medication & Surgery Remanded by Medical Co-Pay Challenge Dismissed, Denial of Medication & Surgery Remanded The court of appeals for the Ninth circuit held that a challenge to a Nevada prison policy charging prisoners $3 each time they sought medical attention was frivolous where …

Law Library Must Provide Paper to Indigent Prisoners

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Court Access, Legal Materials, Law Library Access/Adequacy

Law Library Must Provide Paper to Indigent Prisoners by Law Library Must Provide Paper To Indigent Prisoners The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada held that a prison law library must provide paper to indigent prisoners. A Nevada state prisoner wrote a letter to the district court judge …

Participation in Internal Affairs Investigation Doesn't Satisfy PLRA Exhaustion

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Participation in Internal Affairs Investigation Doesn't Satisfy PLRA Exhaustion by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that participation in an internal affairs investigation is not sufficient to satisfy the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) exhaustion requirement. Prisoners must utilize the internal grievance procedures. In 1998, Robert Panaro was a …

Nevada Prisoner's Dismissed Deliberate Indifference Claim on ETS Exposure Reversed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Smoking

Nevada Prisoner's Dismissed Deliberate Indifference Claim on ETS Exposure Reversed by Nevada Prisoner's Dismissed Deliberate Indifference Claim on ETS Exposure Reversed The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the U.S. District Court of Nevada's dismissal of a prisoner's claim that state prison officials were deliberately indifferent in exposing him …

$4,000 Injury Award for Body Cavity Search

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Body Cavity Searches, Civil Procedure, Damages, Qualified Immunity, Supervisory Liability

$4,000 Injury Award for Body Cavity Search by The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada held that anal body cavity searches conducted on two Nevada prisoners were not unconstitutional but that a subsequent cavity search of one of the prisoners was, and that the associate warden was liable …

Fact Issues Preclude Summary Judgment Of Prisoner's Sixth Amendment Claim

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Appointment of Counsel, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Summary Judgment, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty

Fact Issues Preclude Summary Judgment Of Prisoner's Sixth Amendment Claim by The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that genuine issues of material fact precluded summary judgment of a prisoner's claim against prison officials for allegedly violating his Sixth Amendment right to self-representation. In 1976, Nevada state prisoner James …

Nevada: Imprisonment Is Affirmative Defense To Felony Nonsupport

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Family, Family Law

Nevada: Imprisonment Is Affirmative Defense To Felony Nonsupport by The Supreme Court of Nevada held that a father's imprisonment was an affirmative defense for nonpayment of child support but that a jury was justified in rejecting it. Paul Sanders was charged with failure to pay child support for a 33 …

Inevitable Arrest Precludes Downward Departure Sentence for Escape

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Classification, Work Release, Escapes

Inevitable Arrest Precludes Downward Departure Sentence for Escape by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a prisoner being sentenced for escape was not entitled to a downward departure sentence for voluntarily surrendering because his willingness to cooperate arose in connection with his arrest for trespassing. Christopher Blandin …

$4,000 Paid for Retaliation Claim

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Retaliation, Retaliation for Media Contact

$4,000 Paid for Retaliation Claim by In April 1993, a Nevada prisoner sent a letter critical of a prison official to a local newspaper. When prison officials learned of it, the warden disciplined the prisoner, subjecting him to five days of disciplinary detention and certain privileges were revoked, The prisoner's …

Contract Rabbi Acting In Ecclesiastical Nature

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Immunity/Liability, Contractor Liability, Clergy, Proselytizing

Contract Rabbi Acting In Ecclesiastical Nature by Washington state prisoner James Shilling, a converted orthodox Jew, filed a Federal civil rights complaint against Washington and Nevada Department of Corrections (DOC) personnel, as well as Rabbi Gary Friedman, alleging that they denied him kosher meals while housed in Nevada DOC as …

Private Medical Company Not Municipality Subject to Punitive Damages

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: EMSA, Medical, Injury -- Misc., Private Contractors, Surgery, Failure to Treat

Private Medical Company Not Municipality Subject to Punitive Damages by The plaintiff, who had had repeated shoulder surgery, reinjured his shoulder in jail. He got an x-ray but no treatment except pain killers and referrals to mental health. After release, he had to have two additional surgeries on his shoulder. …

Nominal Damages Verdict Against Nevada Police Upheld

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Retaliation, Damages, Immunity/Liability, Prosecutorial Immunity

Nominal Damages Verdict Against Nevada Police Upheld by The plaintiff was arrested, but the district attorney declined to prosecute. The plaintiff then filed an excessive force complaint. The officer accused of excessive force notified the district attorney's office, which then filed misdemeanor battery charges against her. The court affirms a …

Raped Prisoner's § 1983 Suit States Claim

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Conditions of Confinement, Failure to Protect (General)

Raped Prisoner's § 1983 Suit States Claim by Raped Prisoner's § 1983 Suit States Claim The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada held that a prisoner's civil rights suit against county commissioners stated a claim. After allegedly being raped by fellow prisoners in the Washoe County (Nevada) Jail, …

Early Release Debacle Prompts Nevada Prison Director’s Resignation

Article • April 15, 2007 • from PLN April, 2007

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Work, Prison Labor, Good Time, Wrongful Release

Early Release Debacle Prompts Nevada Prison Director’s Resignation by Matthew Clarke Early Release Debacle Prompts Nevada Prison Director's Resignation by Matthew T. Clarke Jackie Crawford, director of the Nevada state prison system since May 2000, announced her resignation from the $116,000-a-year position on September 15, 2005. The announcement cited health …