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Missouri Ordered to Pay Prisoner's $250,000 Judgment Plus Fees and Costs for Sexual Assaults by Work Supervisor

Article • February 15, 2008 • from PLN February, 2008

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Attorney Fee Awards, Damages, Mandamus, Immunity/Liability, Sovereign Immunity

Missouri Ordered to Pay Prisoner's $250,000 Judgment Plus Fees and Costs for Sexual Assaults by Work Supervisor by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg On June 29, 2007, the Missouri Court of Appeals ruled that the state must pay a $250,000 judgment awarded in federal district court to a prisoner …

Removal to Federal Court Denied State Court Jurisdiction

Article • January 15, 2008

Filed under: CMS, Dental Care, Damages, Money/Property, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Removal to Federal Court Denied State Court Jurisdiction by The Missouri Court of Appeals held that a state circuit court lacked jurisdiction to rule on a summary judgment motion in a case that had been removed to federal court. Missouri prisoner Edward Moore successfully sued Correctional Medical Services (CMS) for …

Missouri: New State Law Conceals Identity of Executioners

Article • December 15, 2007 • from PLN December, 2007

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Medical Misconduct, Disclosure of Records, Death Penalty, State Legislation

Missouri: New State Law Conceals Identity of Executioners by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg Missouri enacted a new law declaring the identity of those personnel participating in the execution process to be a state secret. The statute provides a legal cause of action for damages and punitive damages against …

Eighth Circuit Holds Partial Exhaustion Requires Total Dismissal

Article • December 15, 2007

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Civil Procedure, Complaints, Parties

Eighth Circuit Holds Partial Exhaustion Requires Total Dismissal by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) requires dismissal of a complaint alleging multiple prison conditions claims against multiple defendants, when each claim against each defendant was not fully exhausted administratively before filing. Missouri prisoners Malik …

Sovereign Immunity Not Waived by Federal Extradition Act

Article • December 15, 2007

Filed under: Transportation, Costs, Federal Extradition Act, Immunity/Liability, Eleventh Amendment Immunity, Sovereign Immunity

Sovereign Immunity Not Waived by Federal Extradition Act by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the Federal Extradition Act does not waive a state's sovereign immunity. This action was filed by St. Charles County, Missouri (County), seeking $5,421.86 from the State of Wisconsin for costs incurred for …

Bakhtiari v. Lutz, MO, Spoliation, Employment Discrimination, 2007

Brief • November 15, 2007

Filed under: Immigration

Bakhtiari v. Lutz, MO, Spoliation, Employment Discrimination, 2007 507 F.3d 1132 he received in that course, Bakhtiari filed a grade appeal in August 2002, alleging that Dr. Long excessively missed class, mismanaged the course, and graded capriciously. A hearing on the matter was conducted in November 2002, and Bakhtiari's grade …

Eighth Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment Dismissal of Excessive Force Claims

Article • October 15, 2007 • from PLN October, 2007

Filed under: Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints

Eighth Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment Dismissal of Excessive Force Claims by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court?s grant of summary judgment to jail officials on a detainee?s excessive force claim. Patti Johnson and her sisters Laura Johnson, Stacey Hall and Karen Mitchell were all confined in …

Eighth Circuit Reverses Dismissal on Wrong Medication Claims

Article • September 15, 2007 • from PLN September, 2007

Filed under: Medication, Expert Witnesses, Mental Health

Eighth Circuit Reverses Dismissal on Wrong Medication Claims by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court?s grant of summary judgment to prison officials, related to erroneous administration of another prisoner?s psychotropic medication. On January 26, 2004, Nurse Assistant Lorna Bell mistakenly required Missouri prisoner James Spann to …

Erroneous Jury Instruction Nets Raped Missouri Prisoner New Civil Trial

Article • September 15, 2007 • from PLN September, 2007

Filed under: Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Jury Instructions, Protective Custody

Erroneous Jury Instruction Nets Raped Missouri Prisoner New Civil Trial by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a jury verdict against a prisoner-plaintiff, finding that the lower court erred in responding to a jury question during deliberations. Missouri Department of Corrections (MDOC) prisoner Ronnie Conley was raped repeatedly by …

Retroactive Application of Missouri Sex Offender Registration Law Banned

Article • July 15, 2007 • from PLN July, 2007

Filed under: Sex Offender Registration, Sentencing, Ex Post Facto

Retroactive Application of Missouri Sex Offender Registration Law Banned by Missouri's Supreme Court has held that the state's "Megan's Law" cannot be retroactively applied to persons convicted prior to January 1, 1995. The ruling affects about half of the people previously required to register as sex offenders, but allows information …

$30,000 Settlement For Woman Raped By Missouri Jail Prisoner

Article • July 15, 2007 • from PLN July, 2007

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Prisoner-Prisoner Assault

$30,000 Settlement For Woman Raped By Missouri Jail Prisoner by In May, 2006, Jefferson County, Missouri, settled a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by a female prisoner who was allegedly raped by a male prisoner a guard placed in her cell. Tracy Mundy, 24, a former Jefferson County Jail prisoner, …

Missouri Legislature Allows Wrongfully Convicted to Receive Compensation

Article • June 15, 2007 • from PLN June, 2007

Filed under: Searches, DNA Testing/Samples, Damages, Wrongful Conviction, State Legislation

Missouri Legislature Allows Wrongfully Convicted to Receive Compensation by The Missouri Legislature has enacted legislation to compensate all persons declared "actually innocent" after DNA testing. In the last 15 years, five such prisoners in Missouri were released after being exonerated by DNA testing. The latest action by that legislature sought …

Washington v. Denney, MO, Complaint, Smoking, 2007

Brief • June 4, 2007

Filed under: Respiratory, Smoking

Washington v. Denney, MO, Complaint, Smoking, 2007 j IN THE UNITED STATE DISTICT COURT EASTERD OF MISSOURI MR. ECCLESIASTICAL DENZEL WASHINGTON S. vs. 01--tf /IJ1 GOVENOR MATT BLUNT CASE NO. --(V-{ --SOW QUESTION JURY TRIAL DEMEND DEFENDANT LARRY CRAWFORD DEFENDANT DAVE DORMINE DEFENDANT WENDELL ENLOE DEFENDANT JAY CASSADY DEFENDANT BRAD …

Michigan Prisons: Another CMS Failure in Privatized Prisoner Health Care

Article • May 15, 2007 • from PLN May, 2007

Filed under: CMS, Contractor Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Medical Misconduct, Medication, Systemic Medical Neglect, Cancer, Blood, Medical Records, Gastrointestinal, Amputations, Failure to Treat, Staffing, PLRA, Injunctions (PLRA), Restraints, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

Michigan Prisons: Another CMS Failure in Privatized Prisoner Health Care by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Another state prison system that subjected itself to the experiment of privatized medical services has learned the same hard lesson suffered by other states: a trail of inadequate care that leaves prisoners dead …

Eighth Circuit Upholds Seizure of Incoming Mail Without Notice

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct, Due Process

Eighth Circuit Upholds Seizure of Incoming Mail Without Notice by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Missouri prisoner failed to allege an adequate procedural due process claim with respect to the seizure of his incoming mail without notice, stating: "although the failure to promptly notify [the prisoner] …

Eighth Circuit Upholds Outgoing Mail Ban

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Mail, Mail Regulations

Eighth Circuit Upholds Outgoing Mail Ban by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Missouri prison policy authorizing an outgoing mail restriction on mail addressed to parties who have indicated that they do not wish to receive mail from a prisoner. Following Finney v. Arkansas Bd. of Corrections, 505 …

Dismissal of Federal Habeas Claim Over Living Conditions Reversed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion, Sentencing, Habeas Corpus

Dismissal of Federal Habeas Claim Over Living Conditions Reversed by The U.S. Supreme Court reversed and remanded the dismissal of prisoners' habeas corpus action challenging their living conditions. Missouri state prisoners confined in maximum security brought state habeas corpus action challenging living conditions but did not seek release. The action …

Adequate Facts Must be Stated in 1983 Legal Mail Claim

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Retaliation, Retaliation for Litigating, Retaliatory Discipline, False Charges (Disciplinary Hearings), Conspiracy (Civil Procedure), Legal Mail

Adequate Facts Must be Stated in 1983 Legal Mail Claim by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a District Court's order dismissing a Missouri prisoner's 42.U.S.C §1983 action alleging retaliation and requiring him to open legal mail in front of prison officials, and the grant of summary judgment on …

Excessive Account Deductions May State First Amendment Claim

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Money/Property, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Excessive Account Deductions May State First Amendment Claim by The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals partly reversed dismissal of a Missouri prisoner's civil rights complaint alleging that a prison official was retaliating against him for filing lawsuits by deducting excessive amounts of money from his prison account. George Brown, …

Federal District Court Orders Missouri's Platte County Jail Closed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Injunctions

Federal District Court Orders Missouri's Platte County Jail Closed by The United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri ordered the Platte County Jail closed due to substandard conditions. Platte County jail prisoners filed suit under 42 U.S.C. §1983 against the jail, claiming violations of the Eighth Amendment's …