Skip navigation

Search

4723 results
Page 187 of 237. « Previous | 1 2 3 4 ... 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 ... 233 234 235 236 237 | Next »

Article • May 15, 2007
Filed under: Organizing, Voting
Paying Taxes Not Entitlement to Vote by In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of a 42 U.S.C. §1983 action filed by a California State prisoner as frivolous. The suit sought the Registrar of Voters to permit registration to vote or return of …
Article • May 15, 2007
Filed under: Prison Labor, Organizing
Prisoners Union Cannot Hold Meetings at a State Prison by The California Supreme Court held that pursuant to California Penal Code §2600 (CPC), prisoner's union meetings held inside the prison with "outside" members and representatives present a security risk. Thus, Prison Official's refusal to allow such meetings is justified. The …
Article • May 15, 2007
Child Visitation Permitted; Receipt of Non Publisher Publications Banned by The California Court of Appeals held the "publishers only" rule for receiving publications did not violate pre-trial detainees' freedom of expression or rights to equal protection. However, the prevention of minor children visits is unconstitutional. Three pre-trial detainees filed a …
Article • May 15, 2007
Supreme Court Adopts Expert Testimony Standard by The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Federal Rules of Evidence supersedes the "Frye Test" in providing the standard for admitting expert scientific testimony in a federal trial. Two minor children and their parents (petitioners) argued that the children's serious birth defects had …
Article • May 15, 2007
Filed under: Media, Access to Media
Broadcast Company Denied Special Access to Jail by The Supreme Court ruled that a broadcasting company had no more rights of access to certain areas of Alameda County Jail (California), or to interviews with its prisoners, than any other person. The decision stemmed from a suit filed by KQED alleging …
Job Discrimination Due to Disability from Hepatitis-C Treatment Violates California Worker's Rights by Job Discrimination Due to Disability from Hepatitis-C Treatment Violates California Worker's Rights by John E. Dannenberg A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) stationary (plant maintenance) engineer who suffered from Hepatitis-C (HCV) sued for disability discrimination …
Article • May 15, 2007
Supreme Court Holds Damage Awards to be Reviewed De Novo by Review of a trial court's determination of the constitutionality of punitive damages should be de novo. At 1684: Despite the broad discretion that States possess with respect to the imposition of criminal penalties and punitive damages, the Due Process …
CA Peer Review Records Not Privileged in Jail Death Suit by The decedent died in jail after making repeated complaints of abdominal pain. He was diagnosed after his third complaint with gastroenteritis and prescribed palliatives; nine days later he died of peritonitis due to idiopathic perforation of the descended colon. …
Article • May 15, 2007
Discovery of Absent Class Members Not Allowed by At 455: ". . . [D]iscovery of absent class members is ordinarily not permitted in class actions." Some courts say they are not "parties" and hence not subject to certain forms of discovery, like interrogatories. At 456: "Another, perhaps more compelling, reason …
Retroactive Federal DNA Testing for Parolees Upheld by The federal statute requiring DNA samples from everybody on supervised release was retroactively applicable to all persons who were on supervised release when it was enacted. This retroactive application did not deny due process or the Ex Post Facto Clause and was …
Police Union Allowed to Intervene in U.S. Brutality Suit by The federal government brought suit about excessive force and improper arrests and searches by the city police, and the parties submitted a proposed consent degree. The police union and various community groups (inter alia, the SCLC, the ACLU, and Homeboy …
Article • May 15, 2007
Involuntary Drugging of Criminal Defendant Upheld by The plaintiff was administered a powerful combination of drugs by jail medical personnel for various medical problems without informed consent. However, she took the medication voluntarily, so the rule of Riggins v. Nevada barring involuntary medication to render a prisoner competent has no …
Qualified Immunity for Prison Psychiatrist Who Fails to Protect Prisoner by The plaintiff told a prison psychologist that he thought he was at risk of attack, and she did nothing, concluding that it was all in his head (i.e., he was reliving past trauma). Also, in subsequent sessions, he indicated …
Article • May 15, 2007
Prejudice Required for Courtroom Shackling Claim by The plaintiff's claim of courtroom shackling amounts only to harmless error, since only one juror saw the plaintiff in handcuffs and none saw his leg restraints. At 691: ". . . [A] jury's brief or inadvertent glimpse of a defendant in physical restraints …
Article • May 15, 2007
Federal Injunctions Against State Agencies Must be Narrow by At 1092: "Due to concerns of comity and federalism, the scope of federal injunctive relief against an agency of state government must always be narrowly tailored to enforce federal constitutional and statutory law only." (Citation omitted) Anything more is an abuse …
Article • May 15, 2007
Ninth Circuit Defines Arrest by Ninth Circuit Defines Arrest The plaintiff's conviction for resisting arrest precludes his § 1983 claim for excessive force because under California law, an arrest involving excessive force is unlawful, and the lawfulness of the arrest is an element of the offense of resisting arrest. The …
Article • May 15, 2007
Okay to Hold Sexually Violent Predator in Jail for Trial by The plaintiff was held after the expiration of his sentence pursuant to the state Sexually Violent Predators Act. He spent some time in a county jail after that point, in connection with hearings on his commitment, and alleges that …
Article • May 15, 2007
Filed under: Media, Censorship
Sexually Explicit Speech Protected if not Obscene by The U.S. Supreme Court held section 223(b) of the Communications Act ban on indecent telephone messages violates the First Amendment since the statute's denial of adult access to such messages far exceeds what is necessary to prevent minors from being exposed to …
Article • May 15, 2007
Filed under: Civil Procedure, Damages
Only $1.00 in Nominal Damages Despite Multiple Illegal Acts by At 1190: "Typically, a plaintiff who proves a violation of his or her constitutional rights is 'legally entitled to judgment with a mandatory nominal damages award of $1.00 as a symbolic vindication of [his or her] constitutional right.'" (Citation omitted) …
Article • May 15, 2007
Filed under: Sentencing
Sentence Requiring Defendant to Wear Sign in Public Upheld by The defendant was sentenced (i.e., required as a condition of supervised release) to stand in front of a postal facility for 100 hours wearing a sandwich board reading "I stole mail. This is my punishment." The requirement does not violate …
Page 187 of 237. « Previous | 1 2 3 4 ... 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 ... 233 234 235 236 237 | Next »