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No Interlocutory Appeal of Discovery Order

Article • July 15, 1995 • from PLN July, 1995

Filed under: Attorney Client, Civil Procedure, Disclosure of Records, Appeals, Discovery

No Interlocutory Appeal of Discovery Order by In a sharply worded opinion the eighth circuit court of appeals has described the limited circumstances in which it will entertain an interlocutory appeal from a district courts discovery orders. The case involves Sherman White, an Iowa state prisoner, who filed suit under …

Contempt Finding Reversed

Article • February 15, 1995 • from PLN February, 1995

Filed under: Cell Searches, Court Access, Legal Property, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Consent Decrees, Legal Mail

Contempt Finding Reversed by In 1980 prisoners at the Iowa State Penitentiary (ISP) entered into a consent decree, Dee v. Brewer, with prison officials which prohibited guards from searching or removing prisoners legal papers from their cells when the prisoner was not present, unless exigent circumstances existed. In 1993 ISP …

Damage Awards Can be Used for Restitution

Article • February 15, 1995 • from PLN February, 1995

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Damages, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Restitution

Damage Awards Can be Used for Restitution by Under Iowa state law all felons must pay victim restitution. The DOC sets up a restitution plan whereby up to half of a prisoners earnings can be confiscated and sent to the county court clerk who disburses the funds to the victims. …

Prisoners Entitled to Free Legal Mail Postage

Article • February 15, 1995 • from PLN February, 1995

Filed under: Injunctions, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Mail, Mail Regulations, Postage, Legal Mail

Prisoners Entitled to Free Legal Mail Postage by Several prisoners at the Iowa Mens Reformatory (IMP) f led suit under 42 U.S.A. § 1983 seeking injunctive relief from the prisons policy of denying indigent prisoners in administrative segregation any free legal or personal postage. Prisoners in ad seg are not …

No Help for Disciplinary Hearings

Article • December 15, 1994 • from PLN December, 1994

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Staff Assistance, Counsel, Mental Health

No Help for Disciplinary Hearings by Ronald Kulow is an Iowa state prisoner. Kulow suffers from brain damage, has an IQ between 70 and 74 and borderline intellectual functioning. After having an altercation with another prisoner he was placed in involuntary protective custody where he received numerous disciplinary infractions. At …

No Immunity for Beating

Article • November 15, 1994 • from PLN November, 1994

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints, Immunity/Liability, Qualified Immunity

No Immunity for Beating by Thomas Munz was an Iowa state prisoner called to testify in federal court. Munz was taken to the court by federal marshals. En route to the court, while bound hand and foot, Munz became violent and vandalized the interior of the marshal's car. When Munz …

Prison Alcohol Program May Violate Free Speech

Article • November 15, 1994 • from PLN November, 1994

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Standing, Mootness, Qualified Immunity, Drug Treatment/Rehab, Required Religious Programming

Prison Alcohol Program May Violate Free Speech by The Iowa Civil Liberties Union (ICLU) and prisoners at the Clarinda Correctional Facility (CCF) filed suit under § 1983 challenging the DOC's expenditure of taxpayer funds on an alcohol rehabilitation program called "The Other Way." According to the complaint, this program has …

Prison Industries Supervisor Liable for Attack

Article • July 15, 1994 • from PLN July, 1994

Filed under: Prison Industries, Crime/Demographics, Informants, Failure to Protect (General), Attorney Fee Awards, Damages, Witnesses, Supervisory Liability

Prison Industries Supervisor Liable for Attack by Jay Holloway is a prisoner at the Iowa State Penitentiary (ISP). He was assigned to work in the prison industries building under the supervision of Ray Miller. While at work Holloway was attacked by four other prisoners who believed he had summoned a …

Non-English Mail Okay

Article • July 15, 1994 • from PLN July, 1994

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Civil Procedure, Damages, Interpreters, Mail Regulations

Non-English Mail Okay by Khannfeuang Thongvanh is an Iowa state prisoner. Thongvahn is a native Laotian whose primary language is Lao, though he speaks some English. Prison rules mandate that all incoming and outgoing prisoner correspondence be in English to allow for censorship. Prison officials at the Iowa State Reformatory …

HIV+ Cellmate Doesn't State Claim

Article • July 15, 1994 • from PLN July, 1994

Filed under: Medical, HIV/AIDS

HIV+ Cellmate Doesn't State Claim by This is yet another addition to the growing area of HIV/AIDS in prison case law. Andrew Marcussen is an Iowa state prisoner. He filed suit claiming prison officials were deliberately indifferent to his safety by assigning an HIV+ prisoner to his cell, thus, he …

Medical Claims Standards Discussed

Article • May 15, 1994 • from PLN May, 1994

Filed under: CMS, Medical, Medication, Systemic Medical Neglect, Cardiovascular

Medical Claims Standards Discussed by Ronald Brewer is an Iowa state prisoner. He suffers from coronary artery disease. Employees of Correctional Medical Services (CMS), a contractor with the Iowa DOC, prescribed medicine for Brewer's illness but the treating doctor made an error in the dosage. Brewer filed suit claiming that …

Eighth Circuit Clarifies Retaliation Standard

Article • March 15, 1994 • from PLN March, 1994

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Retaliatory Transfers, Disciplinary Hearings, Informants (Disciplinary Hearings), Retaliatory Discipline, Standard of Proof

Eighth Circuit Clarifies Retaliation Standard by George Goff is an Iowa state prisoner. On January 15, 1990, another prisoner at a medium security facility reported being stabbed. Confidential informants allegedly told prison officials that Goff was the culprit. On January 19, 1990, the prison's warden and deputy warden were served …

Outgoing Mail May Contain Slander

Article • January 15, 1994 • from PLN January, 1994

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Legality of Rules, Guilty Pleas, Qualified Immunity, Mail Regulations

Outgoing Mail May Contain Slander by Aprisoner at the Iowa Men's Reformatory received a major disciplinary infraction for "verbal abuse" as a result of comments included in a letter he had written to his brother. The prisoner, Rick Bressman, wrote: "yeah, their (sic) real assholes, my counselor is a dick …

Law of Medical Treatment Explained

Article • January 15, 1994 • from PLN January, 1994

Filed under: Blind Prisoners, Medical, Medical Expenses, Vision, Eyeglasses, Damages, Frivolous Litigation, Administrative Exhaustion, Qualified Immunity

Law of Medical Treatment Explained by Ed Mead By Ed Mead Case Goes to Trial Over $12.40 Pair of Glasses Aprisoner at the Iowa State Penitentiary (ISP), Dean Benter, filed a suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging he was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the …

Some Evidence Standard Meets Due Process

Article • August 15, 1993 • from PLN August, 1993

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Standard of Proof

Some Evidence Standard Meets Due Process by Prison discipline imposed on the basis of "some evidence" that an inmate has violated prison regulations does not violate the fourteenth amendment's due process clause, a majority of the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held. In the prison setting, due process …

Disobeying State Court Order Basis for Section 1983 Liability

Article • August 15, 1993 • from PLN August, 1993

Filed under: Classification, Disciplinary Litigation, Damages, Costs, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Qualified Immunity

Disobeying State Court Order Basis for Section 1983 Liability by Ernest Walters is an Iowa state prisoner. He was infracted for allegedly lying to a guard. He was found guilty at a disciplinary hearing and punished. Walters filed a post conviction action in state court and won a default judgement …

Equal Protection for Handicapped Explained

Article • July 15, 1993 • from PLN July, 1993

Filed under: Discrimination, Disabled Prisoners, Prisoner Privileges, Americans with Disabilities Act

Equal Protection for Handicapped Explained by Wheelchair bound prisoners at the Iowa State Penitentiary (ISP) filed suit concerning denial of physical access and programming because of their disability. The parties settled most of the problems in a consent decree. The one issue not settled was prison officials' refusal to provide …

Court Dissolves 1-800 Injunction

Article • May 15, 1993 • from PLN May, 1993

Filed under: Attorney Client, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Telephones, Telephone Rates, Attorney Calls

Court Dissolves 1-800 Injunction by Iowa state prisoners filed suit seeking preliminary and injunctive relief against an Iowa prison policy prohibiting them from calling their attorneys toll free 1-800 numbers. They claimed this practice violated their right of access to the courts. The district court agreed and granted a preliminary …

Prison Officials Liable for Haircuts

Article • May 15, 1993 • from PLN May, 1993

Filed under: Gang Policies, Racial Discrimination, Disciplinary Hearings, Liberty Interests, Grooming Rules, Qualified Immunity

Prison Officials Liable for Haircuts by Four prisoners at the Iowa State Penitentiary (ISP) with shag haircuts (where the hair is long in back and short in the front and on the sides) were ordered to get haircuts by prison officials. Two of the prisoners agreed to the haircuts, the …

Comic Book Censorship Overturned

Article • May 15, 1993 • from PLN May, 1993

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Injunctions, Eleventh Amendment Immunity, Mail, Publications/Books, Mail Regulations, Religious Property

Comic Book Censorship Overturned by Everett Lyon is an Iowa state prisoner. He ordered several religious comic books which prison officials censored claiming they would be "disruptive and produce violence" because they were allegedly "anti-catholic and blatantly bigoted." After exhausting his administrative remedies Lyon filed suit under § 1983 claiming …