Conditions on Federal Death Row “Horrendous,” ACLU Finds by Brandon Sample The conditions of confinement on federal death row fall below minimum constitutional standards and jeopardize the lives and safety of condemned prisoners, according to an investigation by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The results of the ACLU’s investigation …
Allegedly Beaten Federal Prisoner Settles For $75; Pays § 1983 Filing Fee by Brian Lane, a Bureau of Prisons prisoner, brought a pro se 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action in 1998 after allegedly being beaten by USP Terre Haute guard Fred Thomas, Jr. The suit settled for $75 in 2000. …
Royer v. Jett, IN, Complaint and Jury Demand, Communications Management Unit, 2009 Case 2:09-cv-00025-WTL-DML Document 1 Filed 01/21/09 Page 1 of 22 PageID #: 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA Terre Haute Division RANDALL TODD ROYER, SEIFULLAH CHAPMAN, and SABRI BENKAHLA, Plaintiffs,1 B.R. JETT, PAUL …
Jury Awards Indiana Prison Law Library Clerk $1,150 for Retaliation by Jury Awards Indiana Prison Law Library Clerk $1,150 for Retaliation On April 3, 2008, a federal jury awarded $1,150 to a prison law library clerk in a lawsuit claiming retaliation by a prison librarian. Charles Watkins, a law clerk …
Indiana Prisoner Receives $200,000 in Excessive Force Case by Indiana Prisoner Receives $200,000 in Excessive Force Case An Indiana federal jury has awarded a state prisoner $200,000 for a guard’s use of excessive force. The claim arose from an incident that occurred at the Wabash Correctional Facility on April 21, …
Indiana DOC Policy Banning Group Worship by Odinists Enjoined by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg On June 19, 2008, a U.S. District Court held that the Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC) failed to meet its burden of proving that a blanket ban on group worship by Odinists was the …
Buford-Lewis v. Marion County, IN, Settlement, jail conditions, 2008 Case 1:07-cv-00527-SEB-DML Document 58 Filed 12/01/2008 Page 1 of 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION ANTHONY BUFORD-LEWIS, III, et al., Plaintiffs, v. MARION COUNTY, INDIANA, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) No. …
Indiana Judge Refuses to Send Juveniles to Unsafe Facility by On December 17, 2007, Judge Peter Nemeth of St. Joseph County, Indiana informed Governor Mitch Daniels that he would no longer send female juvenile offenders to the Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility (formerly known as the Indiana Girls School). Nemeth found …
IPAS v. ID DOC, IN, Complaint, mentally ill prisoner segregation, 2008 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION ( INDIANA PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SERVICES COMMISSION, Plaintiff, v. COMMISSIONER, INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) No. MS � 1 : 08 -cv-1317-DFH-J …
New Jersey Joins Other States in Restricting Internet Use by Sex Offenders by New Jersey Joins Other States in Restricting ?Internet Use by Sex Offenders On December 27, 2007, New Jersey enacted legislation to restrict convicted sex offenders’ Internet use. Acting Governor Richard J. Codey relied on public hysteria over …
“Defense of Another” Not Applicable to Prison Disciplinary Defense by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that it is no defense to a prison disciplinary charge for battery that the blows were struck to prevent the further stabbing of a third person. Aaron B. Scruggs, an Indiana state prisoner, …
Claims by Beaten Indiana Jail Prisoner Upheld; Guard’s Indemnification Claim Denied by The plaintiff said he was beaten by guards; the defendants said he was beaten by one officer, who was fired and recommended for criminal investigation. He was allegedly unruly, was gassed with pepper spray and then strapped into …
Holding Prisoner 57 Days Without Judicial Appearance Unconstitutional by The plaintiff turned himself in at the county jail after he learned that a warrant had been issued because he missed a court appearance concerning child support arrearages. The sheriff's office misfiled his records and kept him for 57 days despite …
Dismissal of Suit With Prejudice But No Costs Upheld by The plaintiff asked the district court for a dismissal without costs or for more time to answer the defendants' summary judgment motion. The court gave him more time and then dismissed with prejudice before the time had expired. The plaintiff …
Sandin Inapplicable to Pretrial Detainees by Procedural Due Process--Disciplinary Proceedings (920): Sandin does not apply to detainees, who are entitled to procedural due process in disciplinary proceedings. Here there was some evidence because staff said the plaintiff had confessed. Procedural Due Process--Administrative Segregation (921): Placement of an escape risk in …
IFRP Not an Improper Delegation of Judicial Authority to BOP by The Bureau of Prisons did not usurp a judicial function by imposing a schedule governing the plaintiff's payment of the criminal fine imposed as part of his sentence. The court did not delegate its function to the Bureau; it …
Indiana Bank Not Liable for BOP Restrictions Placed on Federal Prisoner's Account by Indiana federal prisoner John Burnside appealed a summary judgment dismissal in favor of Old National Bank (ONB) in his complaint for contractual and fiduciary breaches under Indiana law. Burnside alleged that ONB did not honor his request …
Court Rejects Disciplinary Habeas on Merits, Despite Time Bar by The plaintiff's habeas challenge to a disciplinary proceeding is time-barred under AEDPA, since the proceeding was concluded in 1997 and the plaintiff missed the one-year grace period provided by the statute. The court finds no authority supporting a requirement that …
Indiana Public Strip Search Held Unconstitutional by Indiana state resident James Campbell appealed a jury's dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action for Fourth Amendment violations after being strip searched in public. The court partially affirmed, but remanded for damages against the cop who had searched him. A police …
Outside Spiritual Leaders Must be Allowed Access to Prisoners by In 2004, prisoners at the Indiana State Penitentiary were denied Moorish Science services because spiritual leaders were suspended from entering the prison. The warden said the suspension was only temporary, but wasn’t clear about what had to be done to …
