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$275,000 Awarded in Stun Belt Settlement

Article • November 15, 2002 • from PLN November, 2002

Filed under: Stun Guns/Tasers, Restraints, Court Access, Court Appearances, Standing, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Class Certification, Mootness

$275,000 Awarded in Stun Belt Settlement by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals partially reversed a preliminary injunction order that had enjoined the Los Angeles County Sheriff from using a stun belt on prisoners. After remand, a settlement for $275,000 and a change in policy was reached. Ronnie Hawkins, a …

Order for Attorney Not to Contact Class Members Void

Article • February 15, 2002 • from PLN February, 2002

Filed under: Medical, HIV/AIDS, Systemic Medical Neglect, Attorney Fee Awards, Attorney Client, Attorney Misconduct, Settlements, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Class Certification, Rehabilitation Act

Order for Attorney Not to Contact Class Members Void by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has invalidated an order by a district court for ACLU National Prison Project (NPP) lawyers not to contact class members in a suit brought by Mississippi state prisoners. The Fifth Circuit also ordered substitution …

Michigan Disciplinary Hearing Class Action Settled

Article • January 15, 2002 • from PLN January, 2002

Filed under: Hearing Officers, Civil Procedure, Settlements, Class Certification, Class Notice

Michigan Disciplinary Hearing Class Action Settled by A federal district court in Michigan has approved a proposed settlement agreement in a classaction lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC). The Court also modified class representation. In 1996, Richard Heit and two others filed a complaint on behalf of themselves …

Released NYC Prisoners Win Mental Health Benefits

Article • January 15, 2002 • from PLN January, 2002

Filed under: State Law Claims, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Class Certification, Parole, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

Released NYC Prisoners Win Mental Health Benefits by Prisoners in New York City jails who received treatment for mental illness won class certification and a preliminary injunction requiring defendants to provide written discharge plans for prisoners who, during their confinement, received treatment for mental illness. Plaintiffs sought certification of the …

Kentucky Judge Orders Hepatitis C Treatment

Article • July 15, 2001 • from PLN July, 2001

Filed under: Medical, Medical Expenses, Hepatitis, Class Certification, Veterans

Kentucky Judge Orders Hepatitis C Treatment by A federal court in Kentucky has ordered the Kentucky Department of Corrections (KDOC) to provide hepatitis C treatment to a prisoner suffering from both hepatitis C and cirrhosis of the liver. In response, the KDOC has implemented a treatment plan whereby up to …

NY School-Age Prisoners Entitled to Educational Services

Article • November 15, 2000 • from PLN November, 2000

Filed under: Jail Specific, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Education, Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Class Certification, Americans with Disabilities Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

NY School-Age Prisoners Entitled to Educational Services by New York City school-age prisoners were granted declaratory judgment establishing defendants' liability for failure to provide adequate general and special educational services to class members at the Rikers Island facility. Plaintiffs in this class action § 1983 suit are 16- to 21-year-old …

Individual Analysis Required for Diabetic Class Action Damage Award

Article • July 15, 2000 • from PLN July, 2000

Filed under: Diabetes, Civil Procedure, Damages, Parties, Class Certification, Qualified Immunity

Individual Analysis Required for Diabetic Class Action Damage Award by Ronald Young By Ronald Young The court of appeals for the Third circuit held that the lower court erred in holding that all members of the plaintiff class past, present, and future of insulin-dependent diabetic prisoners alleged violation of their …

Attica Uprising Verdict Reversed

Article • June 15, 2000 • from PLN June, 2000

Filed under: Prison Rebellion, Eighth Amendment, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Civil Procedure, Defenses, Jury Instructions, Class Certification, Supervisory Liability

Attica Uprising Verdict Reversed by The Second Circuit Court of Appeals added insult to brutal injury when it overturned two jury awards - totaling $4 million and $75,000 - stemming from the murder of 39 people and the torture of hundreds of prisoners immediately following the 1971 Attica riot. Holding …

Wyoming Prisoners Win Summary Judgment for Increased Security

Article • May 15, 2000 • from PLN May, 2000

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Failure to Protect (General), Injunctions (PLRA), Summary Judgment, Class Certification, Supervisory Liability

Wyoming Prisoners Win Summary Judgment for Increased Security by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The class of all Wyoming state pris-oners won injunctive relief forcing prison officials to protect them from unprovoked assault, bodily injury and death at the hands of other prisoners, now, and in the future. …

Class Action Prisoners Must Show Actual Injury to Maintain Access to Courts Relief

Article • April 15, 2000 • from PLN April, 2000

Filed under: Injunctions (PLRA), Court Access, Class Certification

Class Action Prisoners Must Show Actual Injury to Maintain Access to Courts Relief by by Matthew T. Clarke The Sixth Circuit has held that prisoner plaintiffs in a class action access to courts lawsuit must show widespread actual injury to maintain an injunction previously ordered by the federal district court. …

Class Certification Appeals Must Be Timely

Article • March 15, 2000 • from PLN March, 2000

Filed under: Gender Discrimination -- Women, Searches, Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches, Class Certification, Appeals

Class Certification Appeals Must Be Timely by The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that parties seeking to immediately appeal decisions to grant or deny class certification must do so within the ten days prescribed by Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure (FRAP) 23(f). Women prisoners in the Cook …

Stun Belts in Court Unconstitutional

Article • September 15, 1999 • from PLN September, 1999

Filed under: Judicial Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Stun Guns/Tasers, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Class Certification, International Law, Immunity/Liability, Eleventh Amendment Immunity, Municipal Liability, Judicial Immunity

Stun Belts in Court Unconstitutional by A federal district court in California held that the use of stun belts, as a control device on criminal defendants in courtroom proceedings, raises serious questions as to the practices' constitutionality. As a result, the court issued a preliminary injunction (PI) enjoining the Los …

Lack of Standing Eviscerates Court Access Class Action

Article • September 15, 1999 • from PLN September, 1999

Filed under: Court Access, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Standing, Class Certification

Lack of Standing Eviscerates Court Access Class Action by The U.S. court of appeals of the Seventh Circuit held that the two nominal prisoner/plaintiffs in a long-running class action lacked standing to assert a denial of their right of access-to-the-courts. Without standing, the district court was without jurisdiction, and the …

Individual Capacity Claims Not Applicable to RA and ADA

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Civil Procedure, Defenses, Class Certification, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Qualified Immunity

Individual Capacity Claims Not Applicable to RA and ADA by Afederal district court in Colorado held that individual defendants in their individual capacities are not liable under the Rehabilitation Act (RA) or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Additionally, these defendants were held to be entitled to qualified immunity from …

Costs Imposed Regardless of Ability to Pay

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Costs, Class Certification, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Costs Imposed Regardless of Ability to Pay by The court of appeals for the Sixth circuit held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) allows courts to impose costs on losing prisoner litigants regardless of their ability to pay. The court held that the PLRA overruled prior circuit precedent to …

PLRA Doesn't Ban Class Actions

Article • April 15, 1999 • from PLN April, 1999

Filed under: Prison/Common Area Searches, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Class Certification

PLRA Doesn't Ban Class Actions by A federal district court in Georgia held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) does not ban class action suits by prisoners. In the October, 1998, issue of PLN we reported the Georgia DOC's settlement of a class action suit involving the beating and …

Pennsylvania Consent Decree Clarified

Article • July 15, 1998 • from PLN July, 1998

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Administrative Exhaustion, Class Certification, Consent Decrees

Pennsylvania Consent Decree Clarified by Afederal district court in Pennsylvania held that a consent decree was applicable only to prisoners confined to six prisons named therein. The court further held that violations of the decree could be considered by the court in contempt proceedings. However, the court would only entertain …

Class Action Certification Clarified

Article • March 15, 1998 • from PLN March, 1998

Filed under: Transfers, Chain Gangs, Civil Procedure, Standing, Class Certification, Appeals, Mootness

Class Action Certification Clarified by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit held that a district court erred when it dismissed as moot a jail detainee's lawsuit challenging conditions on a jail chain gang, before ruling on the plaintiff's motion for class certification. Timothy Wade filed a lawsuit seeking …

Idaho Court Access Class Action Suit Proceeds

Article • February 15, 1998 • from PLN February, 1998

Filed under: Law Library Access/Adequacy, Civil Procedure, Standing, Class Certification, Class Notice

Idaho Court Access Class Action Suit Proceeds by Afederal district court in Idaho denied prison officials' motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging inadequate court access and to decertify the case as a class action suit. In 1992 Idaho prisoners at two prisons filed a class action suit challenging the operation …

Iowa Grievance Retaliation Suit Set for Trial

Article • September 15, 1997 • from PLN September, 1997

Filed under: Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Disciplinary Hearings, Retaliatory Discipline, False Charges (Disciplinary Hearings), Standard of Proof, Administrative Exhaustion, Class Certification

Iowa Grievance Retaliation Suit Set for Trial by A federal district court in Iowa held that an Iowa DOC practice of punishing prisoners who filed grievances may violate the first amendment. The court also held that a higher standard of proof than the "some evidence" standard, was required before prisoners …