"The Judge Gave Me Ten Years--He Didn't Sentence Me to Death" by Anne-Marie Cusac "The Judge Gave Me Ten Years--He Didn't Sentence Me to Death" Prisoners with HIV deprived of proper care By Anne-Marie Cusac In prisons and jails across the country, prisoners with HIV or AIDS are denied proper …
Fifth Circuit Says Rotting to Death in Prison Okay by Ronald Young How often have you heard it said of prisoners, "Let them rot in prison?" Probably more times than you care to remember. In the case of Mississippi prisoner Eugene Stewart, such a hellish and cruel death as literally …
Sleep Deprivation Not Frivolous Claim by Ronald Young by Ronald Young The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that a prisoner's claim based on custodial classification was frivolous, and the prisoner's Eighth Amendment claim was frivolous insofar as it sought damages for emotional suffering. The court also held …
Warden Used "Force" in Sexual Assault by Warden Used "Force" in Sexual Assault Walter Lucas was Acting Warden of the River County Jail in River City, Mississippi, when he asked a male prisoner to act as lookout so that he could take care of some "business" with a female prisoner …
Failing to Provide Disabled Prisoner Showers for Two Months Cruel and Unusual by The Fifth Circuit court of appeals has held that failing to accommodate a disabled prisoner whose disability and close confinement accommodations prevented him from showering states a claim under the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause of the …
5th Circuit Upholds Mississippi Disenfranchisement Law by The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of a Mississippi state prisoner's claim that he is improperly being denied the right to vote. The Mississippi Constitution denies the right to vote to any person "convicted of murder, …
Fifth Circuit Expands Qualified Immunity Defense by In a lengthy opinion which may have dire consequences for prisoners seeking to resist qualified immunity defenses, the Fifth Circuit held that city jail guards had a duty, which was clearly established in 1989, to protect prisoners from suicide. However, the court also …
Delay in Treatment for Jail Prisoner Actionable by Afederal district court in Mississippi held that disputed issues of fact involving claims by a jail prisoner that he was beaten by his cellmates required a trial to resolve. Emmett Davis was sentenced to 54 days in the Greenville, Mississippi, jail because …
Mississippi Good Time Violates Ex Post Facto by The supreme court of Mississippi held that retroactive application of a statute requiring felons to serve 85% of their sentence before release violated the ex post facto provisions of the Mississippi and United States constitutions. In 1995 the Mississippi legislature enacted Senate …
Recent US Supreme Court Rulings of Interest: Court Access by The court struck down a Mississippi law that conditioned appeals in parental rights cases to prepayment of record preparation fees, with no provisions for indigents. The case involved a mother who lost parental rights, forever, to her two minor children …
Former Mississippi Guards Lose Sentencing Appeal by On November 17, 1991, Larry Floyd escaped from the Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP) at Parchman. He was captured the following day in an abandoned house near the prison. Upon his capture he was beaten by several MSP guards while others looked on. A …
No Right to TV or Radio by A federal district court in Mississippi upheld a state statute prohibiting prisoners from using televisions or radios. In the January, 1995, issue of PLN we reported the enactment of Miss. Code Ann. § 47-5-124 which states: "No convict incarcerated in a state correctional …
Mississippi Detainees Awarded Damages in Disciplinary Suit by A federal district court in Mississippi held that the due process rights of two pre trial detainees were violated when they were placed in disciplinary segregation without a hearing. The court awarded each detainee $600 in damages. The court also taxed litigation …
County Liable for Trustee's Work; No Remedy for Illegal Detention by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that a county was properly liable where it did not reimburse a jail detainee for work he performed on public property. The court also held that a pretrial detainee's work …
Attorney Fees Awarded for Opposing Motion to Vacate by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit affirmed a district court's award of almost $38,000 in attorney fees to class counsel for opposing a jail defendant's motion to vacate a consent decree. In 1978 prisoners at the Madison County jail …
Fifth Circuit Applies New Standard to Detainee Claims by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit has significantly weakened the constitutional protections afforded pretrial detainees by adopting a new standard affording significantly less protection than prior supreme court decisions had mandated. Haley Hare committed suicide while in the Corinth, …
Mississippi Unable to Pay the Piper by Last year Mississippi implemented the country's toughest sentencing bill, requiring all convicts (not just 'serious" or violent" criminals) to serve 85 percent of their sentences. Corrections Commissioner Steve Puckett said that law is causing a serious financial dilemma and needs to be reviewed. …
MS Prison Rights Litigator Threatened by Julio Wicks is a pro se litigator who has been struggling for years to improve conditions at Mississippis Parchman Penitentiary, which he characterizes as a "Plantation." As he puts it, "There are 8,000 Black slaves [of a total prison population of 10,000] on this …
MS Jail Officials Held in Contempt by In l978 prisoners at the Madison County jail in Mississippi filed a class action suit challenging conditions at the jail. Prior to going to trial the parties negotiated a consent decree incorporating a wide range of issues, everything from racial discrimination to the …
MS Bans Appliances by In August, 1994, the Mississippi state legislature held a special session to deal with prison overcrowding. Rather than deal with that issue, the legislature soon became embroiled in a debate on how to worsen prison conditions even more. Proposals were made to "restore fear to prison," …
