Indiana Supreme Court Strikes Down Prisoner Frivolous Litigator Law by By John E. Dannenberg The Indiana Supreme Court held that Indiana's 2004 "Three Strikes Law," which forever barred a prisoner from filing another lawsuit if he had earlier had three prior suits dismissed as frivolous, violated the Open Courts Clause …
No FTCA Claim for Property Erroneously Mailed Home By BOP; Failure to Protect Claim Cognizable by Brandon Sample No FTCA Claim for Property Erroneously Mailed Home by BOP; Failure to Protect Claim Cognizable by Brandon Sample The United States is immune from suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) …
"Public Concern" Test Does Not Apply To Prisoner Claims of Retaliation; Speech Must Be Consistent with Status as Prisoner by Brandon Sample "Public Concern" Test Does Not Apply To Prisoner Claims of Retaliation; Speech Must Be Consistent with Status as Prisoner By Brandon Sample The "public concern" test does not …
Seventh Circuit: No Right to Jury Trial in Exhaustion Dispute by Mark Wilson By Mark Wilson The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a prisoner is not entitled to a jury trial to resolve factual disputes about his exhaustion of administrative remedies. Indiana prisoner Christopher Pavey sued several guards …
Seventh Circuit Upholds Rejection of Excessive Force Claim by On August 28, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a jury’s verdict rejecting a prisoner’s claim of excessive force. Oscar Cruz, a prisoner at Pendleton Correctional Facility, alleged that John Safford, a guard at Pendleton, had …
Seventh Circuit: Habitual Disciplinary Offender Finding Does Not Open Door to Attacking Prior Disciplinary Convictions by On September 12, 2008, the Seventh Circuit court of appeals held that a prison's finding that a prisoner was a habitual disciplinary offender and punishing him therefore does not open the door for a …
Prisoners Who Fear for Their Safety Must Give Details to Prison Officials, Seventh Circuit Decides by Brandon Sample By Brandon Sample Prisoners who feel that their safety is in danger must do more than make generalized assertions of potential harm, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decided …
7th Circuit: Reverse and Remand “Inherently Transitory” Complaint by On February 4, 2010, the 7th Circuit reversed and remanded a district court ruling dismissing as moot a case alleging various constitutional and state law violations against Tippecanoe County, Indiana Sheriff Tracy Brown. The initial complaint was filed on January 2, …
Twelve Indiana Prison Employees Suspended for Positive Drug Tests, Contraband by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke In September 2010, Indiana Department of Corrections (DOC) officials announced the suspension of a dozen employees at the Pendleton Correctional Facility following a crackdown on contraband smuggling. [See: PLN, Oct. 2010, p.50]. Pendleton houses …
$1,000 Jury Award in Indiana Negligence Claim Arising from Prisoner’s Assault by An Indiana state jury awarded $1,000 to a prisoner for injuries sustained in a prisoner-on-prisoner assault. The jury’s award was for a state law negligence claim, but the jury found for the defendants on the civil rights claim. …
Indiana Excessive Force Suit Not Heck-Barred by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s dismissal of an Indiana prisoner’s excessive force suit, concluding that the prisoner’s claims were not barred by Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994). “Police burst into the home of Ty Evans to …
Indiana DOC Hires Convicted Former Legislator for Re-Entry Job by A former Indiana democratic state representative convicted of impersonating a public servant was hired by the Indiana Department of Corrections to run its re-entry program at the Branchville Correctional Facility. In June 2009, Dennie Oxley II attempted to avoid arrest …
Thou Shalt Not: Sexual Misconduct by Prison and Jail Chaplains by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Traditionally, the role of a chaplain in the correctional setting is to serve as a spiritual advisor to prisoners and help them meet the requirements of their religious faiths. Equally traditionally, chaplains have …
$35,000 Settlement in Indiana Jail Failure to Protect and Medical Care Suit by David Reutter by David M. Reutter & Mark Wilson Indiana’s Marion County Jail (MCJ) has paid $35,000 to settle a federal civil rights complaint that alleged deliberate indifference to a prisoner’s safety and serious medical needs. The …
SORNA Challenges Produce Mixed Results; Supreme Court Weighs In by Brandon Sample Over the past several years a split has developed between the federal courts of appeal over the scope and constitutionality of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), a component of the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection …
Benkahla v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, IN, Order Dismissed, Wrongful CMU Confinement, 2010 Case 2:09-cv-00025-WTL-DML Document 67 Filed 07/29/10 Page 1 of 2 PageID #: 452 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA TERRE HAUTE DIVISION SABRI BENKAHLA, ) Plaintiff, v. ) FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS, Defendant. ) ) …
Erroneously Released Texas Prisoner Entitled to Credit on Sentence by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On February 4, 2009, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that a state prisoner who had been erroneously released through no fault of his own, and who had not violated any of the conditions …
Indiana Sex Offender Registration Law Can Not Be Retroactively Applied by The Indiana Sex Offender Registration Act (ISRA) can not be applied to offenders who committed their crimes before the statute’s enactment, the Indiana Supreme Court decided on January 6, 2010. Gary M. Hevner was convicted in 2008 of possessing …
Kress et al v. CCA, IN, Order, PLRA Administrative Exhaustion, 2010 Case 1:08-cv-00431-LJM-DML Document 85 Filed 07/02/10 Page 1 of 14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION ALAN KRESS, BILLY FORD, ERIC STAGGS, TIMOTHY-PATRICK TREACY, RANDY CARR, on their own behalf and on behalf of a …
Being in Unauthorized Jail Area Without Escape Intent Not a Crime in Indiana by The Indiana Court of Appeals held that when prisoners “have no intent or plan to flee from detention in the penal facility in which they are confined, they cannot be guilty of the crime of escape …
