Dental Infection Imminent Physical Injury Under PLRA by Dental Infection Imminent Physical Injury Under PLRA Plaintiff alleged that he needed dental work, was sent to a half-completed prison in Arkansas that could not accommodate his needs, as of filing the complaint he had had five extractions and needed two more, …
Expert Witness Not Disqualified Based on Confidential Relationship with Plaintiff by Expert Witness Not Disqualified Based on Confidential Relationship with Plaintiff The plaintiff sought to disqualify the defendants' expert witness based on a prior confidential relationship with the plaintiff (the attorney for the plaintiff estate had consulted the CPA firm …
Eighth Circuit Requires Total Exhaustion Before Suit Filed by Dismissal is required if the plaintiff did not complete exhaustion before filing his complaint. The court does not require dismissal in this case. At 628: "In this posture, and because we are the first panel in this circuit to explicitly rule …
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 …
Prisoners In 13 States Allowed Work-Access To Social Security Numbers by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The U.S. Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported that prisoners in thirteen states had access to Social Security numbers (SSNs) during the course of their prison employment. Following a nationwide survey, the …
Three Work-Release Van Drivers Escape from Arkansas Prison; Practice Discontinued by Gary Hunter Two prisoners escaped from Arkansas? Benton Unit prison on July 9, 2006. Tab Delancey and Clifton Sanders were drivers in the prison?s work-release program. Arkansas was one of the few states that, until recently, allowed unsupervised prisoners …
Native American Entitled to Prayer Feather by An Arkansas federal district court has held that a Native American prisoner has a constitutional right to possess or use a prayer feather for religious purposes. This action was brought by Billy Joe Wolf, complaining about acts while he was imprisoned at Arkansas? …
Mentally Ill Arkansas Prisoners Removed From Supermax, CMS Contract Renewed by Michael Rigby On April 21, 2006, the Arkansas Board of Corrections approved a new policy designed to keep mentally ill prisoners out of sensory-deprived environments like the Varner Supermax Unit in Lincoln County. The Board also renewed the prison …
Arkansas County Pays $40,000 To Handicapped Man Raped In Jail by Michael Rigby On May 22, 2006, Saline County, Arkansas, agreed to pay $40,000 to a deaf man who was raped by other prisoners in the Saline County Detention Center. Johnny Jones, a deaf man who is unable to speak, …
Arkansas Mayor, Sheriff, Wife Jailed for Burglary, Drugs, Sex and More by Gary Hunter On February 6, 2006, just weeks after Lonoke Arkansas Mayor Thomas Privett, 68, and Sheriff Jay Campbell, 46, admitted to a state monitoring committee that they had illegally used state prisoners for personal benefit, the two …
No Qualified Immunity for Arkansas Detainees Miscarriage by No Qualified Immunity for Arkansas Detainee's Miscarriage The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court's denial of qualified immunity to jail officials who denied medical care to a female detainee, causing a miscarriage of her 4-5 month old fetus. Talisa …
Denial of Medication/Prescribed Treatment States Eighth Amendment Claim by In two separate cases the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a prisoners claim of being denied medication, or not given prescribed treatment, states a claim under the Eighth Amendment. Arkansas prisoner Willie Munn appealed a district courts dismissal of …
Arkansas Considers Prison Rape Law, Problems Evident by by Michael Rigby Nearly two years after the Prison Rape Elimination Act, (PREA) passed unopposed in the U.S. House and Senate, an attitude of indifference and skepticism surrounding prison sexual assaults still permeates the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC). Signed into law …
$97,000 in Damages and Fees Awarded in Arkansas Over Detention Suit by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a judgment awarding compensatory damages of $50,000 in a civil rights suit filed by James M. Hayes, alleging his 38-day pre-appearance detention violated his right to due process. The Court …
New York City Settles Wrongful Imprisonment Suit For $1 Million by On February 4, 2005, a man convicted of murder and wrongfully imprisoned for five years based on testimony fabricated by prosecutors settled his claim against the City of New York for $1,000,000. Milton Lantigua, 20,was sitting in front of …
Dental Treatment Denial Claim Cannot Be Subdivided By Court by The court of appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that a prisoner's allegation of denial of dental treatment cannot be split into three separate sub-claims then dismissed for failure to exhaust state remedies on the sub-claims. James McAlphin, an Arkansas …
Section 1983 Complaint Dismissed as Mixed Petition, But Amendment Allowed by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a complaint that contains issues that were not administratively exhausted may be dismissed, but the plaintiff should be allowed to amend his complaint to include only those issues that were exhausted. …
Arkansas Work Release Prisoner Entitled to Unemployment Benefits by The Arkansas Court of Appeals, Division, II, held that a work release prisoner who loses his job as a result of a transfer to a prison to prepare him for parole is entitled to unemployment benefits as a result of losing …
DOJ Investigation: Conditions in Arkansas Prisons Unconstitutional by Michael Rigby Conditions at the McPherson and Grimes Correctional Units in Newport, Arkansas are unconstitutional, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded after an 18-month investigation. According to the investigation report, dated November 25, 2003, investigators found that prisoners at both units experienced …
Use of Pepper Spray States Eighth Amendment Claim by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of summary judgment for prison guards who pepper sprayed a prisoner and threw him to the ground. In October 1998, prison guards confiscated a radio from the …
