Mississippi Prison and Jail Officials Immune From Medical Neglect Suits by The Mississippi Supreme Court held that prison medical personnel are immune from any suit brought by a prisoner alleging negligence or wrongful death. This suit was brought by the estate of a Mississippi prisoner who died of meningitis. The …
Municipalities Must Have Unconstitutional Policy To Be Liable Under §1983 by Municipalities Must Have Unconstitutional Policy To Be Liable Under §1983 The U.S. Supreme Court held that the city of St. Louis was not liable in an employee's §1983 action because the employee had not shown the alleged violation was …
Judicial and Good Faith Immunity Available under § 1983 by Judicial and Good Faith Immunity Available under § 1983 The United States Supreme Court held that the Civil Rights Act did not abolish the traditional immunity accorded to judges for acts within their judicial role, and that police officers can …
Don't Sue Agreement Enforced in Jail Fire by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit vacated a jury verdict of $200,000 in favor of a Mississippi prisoner injured in a jail fire because plaintiff had signed an agreement saying he wouldn't sue the jail in exchange for probation and …
Jail Has Duty to Provide Legal Material by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that a district court erred in dismissing a Mississippi prisoner's claim that the Jackson county jail lacked adequate legal material. Due to overcrowding in the state prison system, plaintiff and other state prisoners …
Jail Newspaper Ban Unconstitutional by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that a jail ban on newspapers violates the First amendment. The appeals court reversed the trial court verdict in favor of Adams County, Mississippi, jail prisoners on the issues of laundry services, outdoor and indoor exercise …
Class Certification Confers Subject Matter Jurisdiction by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that a district court erred when it dismissed a class action suit against the Adams county jail in Mississippi for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The appeals court held that courts must reach the …
MS Jail Conditions Unconstitutional by In a seminal jail conditions case, the court of appeals for the Fifth circuit, en banc, set forth standards for future jail litigation. The court gives an extensive discussion of unconstitutional conditions in this Mississippi jail including: racial segregation of prisoners, overcrowding, prisoner run housing …
No Right to Breastfeed by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that neither a woman prisoner nor her child had any right to breastfeed the child while she was imprisoned. See: Southerland v. Thigpen, 784 F.2d 713 (5th Cir. 1986).
Nine Month Delay in Bringing Mississippi Detainee Before Court Defeats Qualified Immunity by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held jail officials at Mississippi's Hinds County Jail were not entitled to qualified immunity for failing to take a pretrial detainee before a court for nine months. The detainee was arrested …
Mississippi Cancer Death Suit Dismissed by The decedent died of cancer in prison. There was a two-month delay between the recurrence of his cancer symptoms and the institution of treatment; his symptoms reappeared while he was in a county jail, where he received a recommendation for the immediate commencement of …
Fed. Parolee's Waiver of Right to Counsel at Revocation Hearing Must be Knowing and Voluntary under the Circumstances by Fed. Parolee's Waiver of Right to Counsel at Revocation Hearing Must be Knowing and Voluntary under the Circumstances Tony Hodges, a federal parolee, was summoned to a federal district court for …
Cleaning up Mississippi’s Supermax: Conditions Suit Settled by David Reutter Cleaning up Mississippi's Supermax: Conditions Suit Settled by David M. Reutter A class action lawsuit filed on behalf of prisoners at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman charged that the totality of conditions are so "hellish" that it makes "Unit …
Mississippi DOC Guts TB Program by For many years the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) has led the nation in controlling tuberculosis (TB) in its prison system. This was accomplished by giving chest x-rays to all incoming prisoners to determine whether they had the disease. Unfortunately this practice has been …
Mississippi Beating Suit Nets $348,960 — Upheld on Appeal by Mississippi Beating Suit Nets $348,960 -- Upheld on Appeal The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a Mississippi district court's award of damages after a bench trial. The civil rights action was brought by Mississippi prisoner Stephen Michael Combs …
Company Uses Prison Slave Labor for $100 Million Military Contract by The prison and military industrial complexes have collided, with a private military contractor poised to make millions off the sweaty backs of prisoners. Pennsylvania-based Woolrich Inc. plans to use the labor of federal prisoners to fulfill two multi-million-dollar contracts …
Mississippi Juvenile Legal Access Class Action Settled by On January 12, 2005, Mississippi settled a class action suit challenging a policy at the Colombia Training School (CTS) which severely limited residents' access to legal counsel. CTS is a co-ed juvenile detention facility in Mississippi. The residents range in age from …
Fifth Circuit Upholds $5,000 Excessive Force Verdict Against Wackenhut Guard by In an unpublished opinion, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict finding that a prison guard used excessive force against a prisoner and awarding $5,000 in damages. Mississippi prisoner Thomas Unger sued Wackenhut (now Geo Corporation), …
Federal Court Orders Mississippi to Desegregate HIV+ Prisoners by Federal Court Orders Mississippi to Desegregate HIV+ Prisoners by Matthew T. Clarke On June 7, 2004, a federal district court in Greenville, Mississippi, ordered the Mississippi Department of Corrections (DOC) to cease excluding HIV+ prisoners from being housed in a Community …
