Forcing Prisoner to Do Work He is Incapable of Performing Violates 8th Amendment by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that a district court erred when it dismissed, for failing to state a claim, an Arkansas prisoner's lawsuit that alleged he was forced to do work he …
Prisoner Ordered Transferred to Escape Warden's Death Threats by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit ruled that a notorious Arkansas prisoner's life was in danger after the prison warden threatened to kill him. The court ordered the prisoner's transfer to a state or federal prison outside of Arkansas …
Denial of Clothes Upheld by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that making an Arkansas prisoner spend 14 days in his underwear in segregation, when absolutely no penological reason justified the denial of clothes, was constitutional where the prisoner had sheets and blankets and the cell was …
Stamp Ban, Mail Denial in Segregation Upheld by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit upheld an Arkansas prison ban on postage stamps since embossed envelopes could be purchased from the prison commissary. The court upheld a 30 day ban on the receipt and sending of personal mail to …
No Right to Radio by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that an Arkansas prisoner had no right to possess a radio in prison. The court accepted prison officials claim that radios pose a security threat in prison. No other court has held that prisoners have a …
Postage Stamp Ban Permissible by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit upheld an Arkansas prison ban on postage stamps. Court notes that indigent prisoners must be provided with some postage at state expense. Postage stamps were replaced by embossed envelopes. See: Kaestel v. Lockhart, 746 F.2d 1323 (8th …
Attorney Fee Award, 30 Day Punitive Isolation Limit Upheld by The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision wherein plaintiff prisoners' attorney fees were levied against the Arkansas Department of Correction and limits placed on time spent in punitive isolation. After a U.S. district court found conditions in the …
37 Days Disciplinary Segregation Without Hearings Not Atypical and Significant Hardship by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the deprivation of exercise, religious services and contact visits for 37 days is not a due process violation, nor is the failure to provide a hearing before placement in disciplinary …
Visitor Passing Through Metal Detector Partly Disrobed Not "Strip Search" by Visitor Passing Through Metal Detector Partly Disrobed Not "Strip Search" The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, affirming the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, held that a state prison guard's requirement that an eight-year-old female …
Jailers Denied Qualified Immunity on Prisoner Assault by The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing an Arkansas U.S. District Court, denied qualified immunity to jailers who knowingly celled an arrestee with his known enemy, resulting in an assault on the arrestee. Rod White was arrested and booked at the …
Dismissal Of § 1983 Religious Name Change Claims Vacated by The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded a district court's dismissal of prisoners' § 1983 claims challenging refusal of the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) to acknowledge their Islamic names. Plaintiffs, Arkansas state prisoners who converted to …
Arkansas Must Acknowledge Prisoner's Muslim Name by The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Arkansas prison officials must acknowledge a Muslim prisoner's Islamic name. An Arkansas state prisoner of the Islamic faith who had his name legally changed to Bilal Ali Salaam while imprisoned brought pro se civil …
US Supreme Court Held That Officials Are Not Qualifiedly Immune From Injunctive And Declaratory Reliefli by US Supreme Court Held That Officials Are Not Qualifiedly Immune From Injunctive And Declaratory Relief The US Supreme Court held that Public Officials are not immune from damages when they violate clearly established constitutional …
Overcrowding, Bad Prison Conditions Enjoined by The court of appeals for the eighth circuit held that a district court erred when it dismissed a suit against a an Arkansas county jail. The court held the plaintiffs had presented sufficient evidence of a deficient diet, overcrowding, inadequate excercise, and forced exposure …
Amended Complaint Timely Under Prison Mailbox Rule by In an unpublished opinion, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's dismissal of a prisoner's § 1983 action for failure to prosecute. Under the prison mailbox rule, the amended complaint was timely. In December 2003, Arkansas prisoner Patricia Sorenson …
Arkansas Guards Not Entitled to Qualified Immunity for Rape of Female Prisoner by Erma Trammell, an Arkansas state prisoner, was raped at the Tucker Women's Unit by a guard named Lee Davis. Trammell sued Davis and a host of prison officials in federal district court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, …
Arkansas Jailers Not Responsible for Prisoner's Beating by Scott Crow, a state prisoner in Arkansas' Faulkner County Detention Center (Jail), was punched and his jaw broken by a prisoner in his cell. He sued several jail administrators under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in federal district court. Although the defendants knew …
Prisoner Bears Burden of Proving Mailbox Claim by Prisoner who did not establish that there was a prison mailbox or that he used it, and did not provide an affidavit or notarized statement recounting the precise date he left his notice of appeal with prison authorities, is not entitled to …
Arkansas Field Death Suit Dismissed by The decedent died of heat exhaustion on his first day on the hoe squad (on November 6, mid-afternoon temperature 72 degrees). Although overweight, he had been medically cleared for the work detail; there were hourly breaks for rest, water, and smoking; there was no …
No Hiring Liability for Brutal Arkansas Jail Guards by The plaintiff alleged excessive force. The deputy who allegedly used a "knee drop" on the plaintiff, severing his intestine, has previously been found not entitled to qualified immunity. A deputy who hit the plaintiff several times in the face while he …
