Liability for Sheriff's Hiring Decisions by The United States Supreme Court held that a county is not liable for a sheriffs decision to hire a reserve deputy without adequate screening. While driving from Texas to their home in Bryan County, Okalahoma, Jill Brown (respondent) and her husband approached a police …
Tenth Circuit Reverses Disciplinary Convictions For Pursuing Post-conviction Relief by Tenth Circuit Reverses Disciplinary Convictions For Pursuing Post-conviction Relief The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reversed two Oklahoma State prisoners disciplinary convictions for violating a state statute. The prisoners were wrongly convicted and punished for a misinterpretation …
Oklahoma Prisoner's Federal Civil Rights Complaint For Alleged Rapes Denied by Oklahoma state prisoner Pamela Smith filed a Federal civil rights complaint against former Oklahoma Department of Public Safety ("ODPS") employee Don Cochran, claiming violations of her Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights for repeatedly being raped by Cochran …
City Liable when Informant Killed by City Liable When informant Killed A prisoner's wife sued the Muskogee, Oklahoma city/federal jail under § 1983 for failing to protect her husband, an informant killed by jail prisoners. Plaintiff's husband was convicted but not yet sentenced. Case went to trial and jury awarded …
No Right to Free Photocopies by The court of appeals for the Tenth circuit held that an Oklahoma BOP prisoner did not have a right to free photocopying for filing legal documents. In this case the BOP charged 10 cents per copy and would debit the prison trust accounts of …
Oklahoma Prisoner's Eighth Amendment Diet Claims Frivolous by The U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an Oklahoma Department of Corrections (OKDOC) prisoner's claims regarding his diet were frivolous. Terry D. Thompson, an OKDOC prisoner serving a 2,000 year sentence at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary (OSP), sued OSP officials …
Dismissal for Local Rule Violation Reversed in OK Jail Beating by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held the dismissal of a complaint for violation of a local rule of procedure is too harsh, that Oklahoma's two- year statue of limitations applies to §1983 suits, and that the prisoner stated …
No Notice of Reconsideration is Abuse of Discretion by The Oklahoma Supreme Court held that a trial court abused its discretion in failing to notify a prisoner that it had reconsidered its earlier order allowing him to attend a hearing. Oklahoma prisoner Steve Kordis brought suit against several family members …
OK Prisoner Has Right To File Civil Complaint To Enforce Property Rights by The Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, Division 3, held that the Ottowa County, District Court, erred when it dismissed a prisoner's complaint citing a statute that suspends a prisoners civil rights. A prisoner serving a life …
FBI Not Liable for Wrongful Incarceration of Federal Prisoner for Eight Years by The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit dismissed former federal prisoner Frank Boldoc's civil rights complaint for eight years of wrongful incarceration. Boldoc and another former federal prisoner, Francis Larkin, filed this claim under …
Police Not Liable for Killing Bystander During Chase by A municipality cannot be held liable for a constitutional violation under § 1983 unless there is a violation by individual officers. The court repudiates its prior decision to the contrary, Williams v. City and County of Denver, 140 F.3d 855 (10th …
Oklahoma DOC Grievance System Passes Muster by At 1032: "We review de novo the district court's finding of failure to exhaust administrative remedies." Id.: An inmate who begins the grievance process but does not complete it is barred from pursuing a § 1983 claim under PLRA for failure to exhaust …
Tenth Circuit Affirms Suicide Verdict in Trentadue Case by The decedent, arrested for a traffic violation and found to have an outstanding warrant for federal parole violations, was sent to a federal prison for a parole violation hearing, asked for protective custody two days later, and was found in his …
Oklahoma Escape Conviction Reversed for Jail Trusty by The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has reversed a conviction for a misdemeanant's escape from the Grady County Jail because the language of the escape statute didn't encompass such an escape. On August 20, 2003, Gary Barnard was serving time in the …
Transfer of Hawaii Prisoners to CCA Prison in Oklahoma Upheld by The petitioners convicted in Hawai'i, were transferred to a private prison in Oklahoma, which was then bought by Oklahoma for operation as a state-owned prison. Their due process claim is foreclosed by Olim v. Wakinekona; notwithstanding various factual distinctions …
No Qualified Immunity in Prison Murder by The Tenth circuit affirmed an Oklahoma district court order denying summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds, and a stay of discovery, to Oklahoma prison officials. The appeals court held that the prisoner's stabbing and strangulation death by other prisoners created a genuine issue …
Vegetarian Diet Required for Seventh Day Adventist by The court of appeals for the Tenth circuit held that a district court erred in dismissing an Oklahoma prisoner's lawsuit seeking a vegetarian diet to accommodate his Seventh Day Adventist beliefs. Prison official's claims vegetarian diets are not nutritionally adequate. Prisoner presented …
Attorney Fees Awarded in OK Jail Suit by The court of appeals for the Tenth circuit affirmed an attorney fee award of $144,930.43 to prisoners who successfully sued over conditions in the Tulsa, Oklahoma jail. Court held prisoners' counsel was entitled to a fee enhancement. See: Clayton v. Thurman, 775 …
Rectal Search Requires Reasonable Suspicion by The court of appeals for the Tenth circuit vacated the criminal conviction of a federal prisoner in Oklahoma, holding the prison warden lacked "reasonable suspicion" to order a rectal search of the prisoner. The warden also failed to follow BOP regulations outlining the procedure …
Prisoners Have Right to Pay for Photocopies by The court of appeals for the Tenth circuit held that a district court erred in dismissing an Oklahoma prisoner's lawsuit that prison officials refused to photocopy legal documents for filing in a lawsuit. The prisoner had the money to pay for the …
