No Collateral-Order Review of Refusal to Quash; Seventh Circuit Would Affirm on Merits by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that it lacked jurisdiction to hear a collateral-order appeal of two non-party state agencies that unsuccessfully moved to quash subpoenas. Even if it had appellate jurisdiction, however, the court …
Wisconsin Appeals Court Orders Appointment of Examiner in Commitment Case by Derek Gilna Prisoner Dennis Thiel had appealed the denial of his petition for supervised release under Wisconsin Statute Chapter 980 (2003-04) (the Act), wherein the court had previously ordered that an examiner be appointed to take another look at …
No Free Speech Protection for Prisoners Who Copy Excerpts from Books by Christopher Zoukis Prisoners who copy "arguably inflammatory” or “incendiary” passages from the books they check out from a prison library or are allowed to purchase are not entitled to rely on the First Amendment to protect them from …
7th Circuit: Minimal Use of Force Not an Eighth Amendment Violation by Wisconsin prisoner Juan Guitron alleged that a prison guard bent and injured his wrist. Following a preliminary screening required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, the district court dismissed the complaint and the 7th Circuit affirmed. While prison guards …
Wisconsin Appeals Court Orders Photos Delivered to Prisoner by Michael Rigby On July 22, 2010, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District IV, held that three prison employees – sued over their involvement in withholding pictures deemed pornographic by Department of Corrections policy – were entitled to qualified immunity. The court …
Seventh Circuit: No Minimum Wage for Civilly Committed Sex Offenders by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that civilly committed sexually violent offenders are not entitled to minimum wage for the labor they perform. After serving his prison sentence, Paschall L. Sanders, III, was civilly committed to a secure …
Wisconsin Prisoner's Pro-Se AEDPA Action Dismissed, Reversed and Remanded by Derek Gilna The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin's denial of a pro-se application for a writ of habeas corpus by prisoner Stanley E. Martin, Jr., was reversed and remanded by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals …
Wisconsin Prisoner's Pro-se AEDPA Action Rejected by Seventh Circuit by Derek Gilna In an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Ronald Romanelli, a prisoner at the Columbia County Jail, was unsuccessful in convincing the Seventh Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals to …
Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds Disciplinary Result by David Reutter By: David M. Reutter The Supreme Court of Wisconsin held, on December 14, 2010 that a prison guard’s involvement in the investigation in an incident is not “substantial involvement” that violates the due process right to an impartial decision maker in …
Wisconsin Supreme Court Clarifies Sex Offender Registration for Homeless Prison Releasees by William Dinkins, Sr. was about to be released from a Wisconsin state prison, having completed a ten-year sentence for a sex offense, when he was informed that at least 10 days before his release he must register the …
7th Circuit Limits Use of FOIA Requests in Case Against Federal EPA by Derek Gilna The Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, is a valuable tool in piercing the veil of secrecy that often surrounds government investigations and decision making. After Appleton Paper Inc, or API, and other companies were …
Wisconsin Prisoner Injured Dismantling Horse Stalls Awarded $14,000 by On July 2, 2010, the Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed an award of about $14,000 to a prisoner injured while disassembling metal horse stalls at the state fair. The award followed the trial court’s finding a state fair supervisor was negligent in …
Prepaid Telephone Credits Theft Leads to Change of Provider in Wisconsin Jail by On September 21, 2011, the Lake County, Wisconsin, Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to change the telephone service provider at the Lake County Jail from Public Communications Service (PCS) of Los Angeles to Telemate, LLC of Ontario, …
Seventh Circuit Upholds Injunction Against Wisconsin Transgender Prisoner Treatment Ban by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s injunction barring the application of a Wisconsin law that prohibits certain types of medical care for transgender prisoners. Several Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WDOC) prisoners have been diagnosed with …
Prison Guard's Racial Demotion Nets $18,000; Court Approves $82,000 Attorney Fee Award by A federal jury found that an African-American Wisconsin prison guard was demoted on the basis of race. The parties stipulated to damages of $18,000 and the court awarded attorney's fees of $82,000. In 1997, Mr. Davis was …
Seventh Circuit Dismisses Wisconsin Deputy Sheriff’s Retaliation Claim by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a Wisconsin deputy sheriff's retaliation and state law claims against his boss. On May 17, 2007, Milwaukee County Deputy Sheriff David Hutchins called into a popular talk radio show and made critical comments about …
Escabedo v. Martin, IN, Proposed Jury Instruction - Loss of Life Damages, 2012 Proposed Jury Instruction No. 17: If you find in favor of Plaintiff, then you must determine the amount of money that will fairly compensate Plaintiff for any injury that you find Plaintiff sustained as a direct result …
$950,000 Settlement in Wisconsin Police Shooting of Handcuffed Man by In May 2007, Wisconsin officials agreed to pay $950,000 to the family of a man who was shot in the head while handcuffed. In October of 2004, city of Portage police received information that Keith Galster, a convicted felon, had …
Louisiana Sex Offender Agrees to Surgical Castration by David Reutter What should be done with sex offenders who are not prison guards, cops or priests is an emotionally-charged issue. Most states have adopted some form of civil commitment, but others have adopted the more drastic option of chemical and surgical …
Seventh Circuit: Wisconsin DOC Mail Ban On Commercially Published Photos Of Celebrities Upheld by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WDOC) policy that bans prisoners from receiving in the mail commercially published photographs of “celebrity figures, movie …
