Supreme Court Discusses Standing to Sue by The U.S. Supreme Court held that environmental groups (respondent) lacked sufficient standing to pursue their claim against Secretary of the Interior (petitioner). Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 directed petitioner to review the actions of federally funded agencies to ensure …
Prisoner's Disciplinary Conviction for Possession of Unauthorized Medication Affirmed by The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, affirming the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, held that a federal prisoner could be disciplined for possessing psychotropic medications at one prison that were prescribed for him at a different prison. Daniel Wesley …
Minnesota Sex Predator Not Entitled to Jury Trial before Being Civilly Committed by Minnesota Sex Predator Not Entitled to Jury Trial before Being Civilly Committed James Poole, a Minnesota state prisoner, was civilly committed for an indefinite period of time under that state's sexual predator laws. He was not allowed …
Supreme Court Clarifies Limitations on Removed State Law Claims by The plaintiffs filed federal claims and state claims in federal court; the state claims were dismissed on Eleventh Amendment grounds and then refiled in state court, where they were dismissed on limitations grounds. 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a), the supplemental jurisdiction …
BOP Must Follow its own Rules by BOP Must Follow its Own Rules The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that a Missouri BOP prisoner was entitled to expect the BOP to follow its own policies. Federal prisoners can seek relief from such failures where constitutional rights are …
Due Process Required in BOP "Special Offenders" Classification by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a case involving two federal prisoners in Minnesota, found due process is required for "special offender" (later changed to "central monitoring case") classification. Upon entering the prison, the two prisoner-petitioners were classified as "special …
Consent Decree Entered Regarding Minnesota Prison Medical Care by On May 27, 1997, a consent decree enumerating the medical rights of prisoners in the Minnesota State Prison was entered in the District Court for the District of Minnesota. Plaintiffs, Minnesota state prisoners, brought an action under the Civil Rights Act …
Minnesota Supreme Court: Comparative Fault Analysis Inappropriate in Jail Suicide Case by Minnesota Supreme Court: Comparative Fault Analysis Inappropriate in Jail Suicide Case by Matthew T. Clarke The Minnesota Supreme Court (MSC) has held that it is inappropriate to perform a comparative fault analysis in the case of a prisoner …
Complaint Must State Defendant's Capacity When Sued by The plaintiff did not explicitly plead that she was suing the defendant police officers in their individual capacities, though she says so now. The court invoked the Eighth Circuit's rigid rule on this point and then denies her motion to file an …
Informant Statement Enough for Disciplinary Conviction by The plaintiff lost 13 days' good time in a disciplinary hearing. The identity of a confidential informant and the specifics of the informant's statement need not have been disclosed. Non-disclosure is acceptable when there is a valid reason for keeping the information confidential …
$75,000 Nominal Damage Award Improper; Reduced to $1.00 by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision reducing a $75,000 nominal damages award to $1.00. On November 18, 1995, Jose Alonzo Corpus was arrested in Minnesota on an outstanding warrant. While being booked into jail, Corpus exchanged …
Witness Protection Program Prisoners Double Celled by Witness protection Program Prisoners Double Celled The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that BOP prisoners in Minnesota who are in the witness protection program had no right not to be double celled. No breach of contract claim existed. The lower …
8th Circuit Upholds Minnesota Law Requiring Registration For Non-Sexual Offenses by The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Minnesota law requiring certain individuals convicted of non-sexual offenses to register as sexual predators. Brian Gunderson was charged with first degree criminal sexual conduct stemming from an alleged rape. The …
County Jail Not Liable for Failure to Treat Knee Injury by The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, affirming the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, held that a county jail was not liable for failure to schedule an operation on a jail prisoner's knee injured by a jail guard. Steven …
Limited Attorney Fee Award for Partial Victory by The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota has held that a plaintiff who successfully challenged a jail strip search policy was the "prevailing party" for purpose of an attorney fee award as outlined in 42 U.S.C.A. §1988. Plaintiff brought a …
Transferred Prisoner States Claim As To Legal, Indigent Mail Policies by The United States Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a prisoner's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against prison officials stated a claim as to prison policy of not providing free postage or writing supplies for legal correspondence, forbidding …
Dismissal of Minnesota Sex Offender's Search and Seizure Claim Upheld by The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a civilly committed Minnesota prisoner's claim that the search and seizure of his property violated his constitutional rights and state law. While imprisoned at the Moose Lake facility …
MO Ad-Seg Regulations Create Liberty Interest by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Missouri State Penitentiary Regulation 20-212.040 creates a protected liberty interest that controls the placement of prisoners from the general population into administrative segregation. Two Missouri prisoners filed a 42 U.S.C § 1983 seeking damages for …
Qualified Immunity: An Objective Legal Reasonableness Test by Qualified Immunity: An Objective Legal Reasonableness Test The U.S. Supreme Court held that police officers conducting warrantless searches of innocent third party homes in search of fugitives are entitled to qualified immunity, if objective legal reasonableness is met. Russell Anderson, an agent …
Federal Prisoner's Retaliation and Pain Suit Reinstated by John Dasta, a federal prisoner in Minnesota, sued prison administrators and a guard in federal district court, claiming they were deliberately indifferent to his painful back condition, and that they retaliated against him for filing grievances, in violation of the 8th Amendment …
