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District Court Vacates KS Jury Verdict of $500,000 in Jail Beating

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Civil Procedure, Damages, Municipal Liability, Failure to Train/Supervise

District Court Vacates KS Jury Verdict of $500,000 in Jail Beating by The plaintiff alleged that he was beaten by jail staff and sued the county and individual officers; he dropped the latter and obtained a jury verdict of $500,000 against the county. Undisputed testimony showed that the officers were …

Total Exhaustion Rule Should Apply Separately to Each Plaintiff

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Trust Accounts, Mail, Sexually Explicit Materials

Total Exhaustion Rule Should Apply Separately to Each Plaintiff by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that when multiple prisoners join in a civil rights complaint, but only one of those prisoners has exhausted administrative remedies on all of the claims asserted, it is error to dismiss the …

Muslim Halal Diet Suit Against Kansas DOC Dismissed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Religious Diet

Muslim Halal Diet Suit Against Kansas DOC Dismissed by The Muslim plaintiffs complained that prison officials did not provide Halal meat, even though they provided Kosher meals to Jewish prisoners. The plaintiffs sued the defendants only in their official capacities, so they are immune under the Eleventh Amendment. The court …

FTCA Doesn't Apply to BOP Surgeon Contractor

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Medical, Surgery, Malpractice, Federal Tort Claims Act, Municipal Liability, Contractor Liability

FTCA Doesn't Apply to BOP Surgeon Contractor by The plaintiff federal prisoner sued his surgeon for malpractice; the court substituted the United States as defendant per the Federal Tort Claims Act; the U.S. said that the surgeon is an independent contractor, not a federal employee, so the substitution was wrong …

Pro Se Sewage Exposure Claim Dismissed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Work Conditions/Safety, Conditions of Confinement, Sewage

Pro Se Sewage Exposure Claim Dismissed by The plaintiff alleged that inmate workers had to handle quantities of sewage because of the deficiencies of the prison sewage system, and that she got some on her because her protective clothing was the wrong size and wasn't able to wash the sewage …

FTCA Does Not Apply to Prisoner's Property Mailed Outside Prison

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Federal Tort Claims Act, Immunity/Liability, Sovereign Immunity

FTCA Does Not Apply to Prisoner's Property Mailed Outside Prison by Affirming the District Court of Kansas, the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) does not apply to a federal prisoner's personal property mailed outside of prison. Samuel Haywood Myles, a prisoner …

Prisoners In 13 States Allowed Work-Access To Social Security Numbers

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

Filed under: Prison Industries, Prison Labor, News, Federal Legislation

Prisoners In 13 States Allowed Work-Access To Social Security Numbers by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The U.S. Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported that prisoners in thirteen states had access to Social Security numbers (SSNs) during the course of their prison employment. Following a nationwide survey, the …

From the Editor

Article • March 15, 2007 • from PLN March, 2007

Filed under: Editorials, Mail, Publications/Books, PLN Litigation

From the Editor by Paul Wright This editorial is being written in Wichita, Kansas on February 14, 2007. For the past two days PLN?s executive director, Don Miniken, and I have been attending the bench trial before USDC Judge Monte Belot in Prison Legal News v. Werholtz. PLN filed the …

Hate-Filled Religious Fanatics Find a Home in Kansas Corrections

Article • December 15, 2006 • from PLN December, 2006

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Jail Misconduct

Hate-Filled Religious Fanatics Find a Home in Kansas Corrections by Alex Friedmann Hate is a strong word. Many prison employees and DOC officials are contemptuous of or indifferent to the prisoners in their custody. Detention facility staff are sometimes negligent, retaliatory and even abusive,(1) but they seldom display a fanatical …

Sovereign Immunity No Bar to BOP Prisoners' Eighth Amendment Mandamus Suit

Article • November 15, 2006 • from PLN November, 2006

Filed under: Dental Care, Failure to Treat, PLRA, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Injunctions, Mandamus, Declaratory Judgment, Sovereign Immunity

Sovereign Immunity No Bar to BOP Prisoners' Eighth Amendment Mandamus Suit by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a federal prisoner's mandamus action alleging an Eighth Amendment violation is not barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. This action was brought by Bureau of Prisons (BOP) prisoner …

PLNs Publication-Ban Suit Against Kansas DOC Set For Trial On Declaratory And Injunctive Relief

Article • October 15, 2006 • from PLN October, 2006

Filed under: Mootness, Qualified Immunity, Publications/Books, Due Process, Media, PLN Litigation

PLNs Publication-Ban Suit Against Kansas DOC Set For Trial On Declaratory And Injunctive Relief by John Dannenberg PLNs Publication-Ban Suit Against Kansas DOC Set For Trial On Declaratory And Injunctive Relief by John E. Dannenberg Seeking to overturn restrictive bans on prisoner receipt of publications in the Kansas Department of …

Harris v. Terrell, KS, Order, Bivens complaint, 2006

Brief • August 17, 2006

Filed under: Due Process

Harris v. Terrell, KS, Order, Bivens complaint, 2006 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS SETH H. HARRIS, SR., Plaintiff, v. CASE NO. 06-3202-SAC DUKE TERRELL, et al., Defendants. O R D E R Plaintiff, a prisoner confined in the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, …

Crimes of the Heart: Incarceration Collusion

Article • July 15, 2006 • from PLN July, 2006

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Prison/Jail Murders, Escapes

Crimes of the Heart: Incarceration Collusion by Bob Williams by Bob Williams & G.A.Bowers What would a woman do for her man? Run a frontend loader through a jail wall? Drive her lover out of prison in a food service truck? Murder witnesses? Smuggle in guns and drugs? Melt her …

PLRAs 150% Attorney Fee Cap Applied in Nominal Damages, Non Prison Case Against Police

Article • June 15, 2006 • from PLN June, 2006

Filed under: PLRA, Attorney Fees (PLRA)

PLRAs 150% Attorney Fee Cap Applied in Nominal Damages, Non Prison Case Against Police by PLRAs 150% Attorney Fee Cap Applied in Nominal Damages, Non Prison Case Against Police The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, has reversed a panel ruling holding that the Prison Litigation Reform Act …

Withholding Legal Mail States Legal Access Claim

Article • March 15, 2006 • from PLN March, 2006

Filed under: Qualified Immunity, Mail, Mail Regulations, Legal Mail

Withholding Legal Mail States Legal Access Claim by by Bob Williams The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has held that withholding legal mail while a prisoner is out to court states a colorable claim for denial of legal access because it impedes efforts to pursue litigation. …

Feres Doctrine Bars FTCA Actions

Article • January 15, 2006 • from PLN January, 2006

Filed under: Federal Tort Claims Act, Premises Liability, Military, Military Prisons

Feres Doctrine Bars FTCA Actions by by Military Prisoners The Unites States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the Feres doctrine, adopted by the United States Supreme Court in Feres v. United States, 340 U.S. 135 (1950), bars suits brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) …

Army Prison Ban On PLN Containing Postage-Stamp-Exchange Ad Is Enjoined, But Ban On Internet Mail Up

Article • August 15, 2005 • from PLN August, 2005

Filed under: Injunctions (PLRA), Habeas Corpus, Media, PLN Litigation, Censorship, Internet, Military Prisons

Army Prison Ban On PLN Containing Postage-Stamp-Exchange Ad Is Enjoined, But Ban On Internet Mail Up by Army Prison Ban On PLN Containing Postage-Stamp-Exchange Ad Is Enjoined, But Ban On Internet Mail Upheld by John E. Dannenberg The U.S. District Court (D. KS) enjoined Ft. Leavenworth prison officials from banning …

Tenth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of PLN Suit Challenging Kansas DOC Ban On Gift Subscriptions

Article • February 15, 2005 • from PLN February, 2005

Filed under: Mail, Mail Regulations

Tenth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of PLN Suit Challenging Kansas DOC Ban On Gift Subscriptions by John E Dannenberg Tenth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of PLN Suit Challenging Kansas DOC Ban On Gift Subscriptions by John E. Dannenberg The Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the district court's grant …

Kansas Supreme Court Upholds Gift Subscription Ban

Article • January 15, 2005 • from PLN January, 2005

Filed under: Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Mail, Publications/Books, Mail Regulations

Kansas Supreme Court Upholds Gift Subscription Ban by The Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the Kansas Department of Corrections' (KDOC) rule IMPP 11-101, which prohibits prisoners from receiving gift subscriptions to magazines and newspapers, does not violate the prisoners' constitutional rights under the First Amendment. Reversing the Kansas Court of …

$76,000 in Fees and Damages Awarded in Kansas Excessive Force Claim

Article • September 15, 2004 • from PLN September, 2004

Filed under: Injury -- Misc., Attorney Fees (PLRA), Guard Brutality/Beatings, Civil Procedure, Damages, Costs, Expert Witnesses, Qualified Immunity

$76,000 in Fees and Damages Awarded in Kansas Excessive Force Claim by Bob Williams The federal district court in Kansas has awarded a state prisoner $45,000 plus $30,913.90 for attorney fees and expenses in an excessive force claim brought against three prison guards. The court also denied qualified immunity, found …