Prisoner's Complaint Dismissed; Administrative Exhaustion Untimely; Excessive Force Not Used by Prisoner's Complaint Dismissed; Administrative Exhaustion Untimely; Excessive Force Not Used The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, affirming a Wisconsin federal district court, held that a state prisoner's complaint was properly dismissed where some claims were not timely exhausted …
Court Lists Alternatives for Prisoners Seeking In Forma Pauperis by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held the PLRA's three strikes provision for prisoners seeking in forma pauperis status is constitutional, and listed alternatives for prisoners seeking in forma pauperis status. Wisconsin prisoner William C. Lewis filed suit against …
Seventh Circuit Upholds RLUIPA as Constitutional Under Spending, Establishment Clauses by Seventh Circuit Upholds RLUIPA as Constitutional Under Spending, Establishment Clauses The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, affirming the federal district court, Western District of Wisconsin, held that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) was constitutional …
Voluntary Cessation of Practice Does Not Moot Suit by . . . [T]he general rule that voluntary cessation of a challenged practice rarely moots a federal case . . . traces to the principle that a party should not be able to evade judicial review, or to defeat a judgment, …
Exhaustion Required for Retaliatory Transfer Claim by The plaintiff complained that after he won a lawsuit for the denial of a liver transplant, he became the object of a blitz of disciplinary reports and was then transferred to a maximum security prison. The district court dismissed for nonexhaustion. The court …
Parole Board Can Consider Dismissed Sex Offenders by The plaintiff's sex offense charge had been dismissed as part of a plea bargain, with the parole board forbidden to consider it. Seventeen years later, prison staff classified him as in need of sex offender treatment. He was paroled and then his …
No Qualified Immunity for Holding WI Prisoner Past Release Date by The plaintiff alleged that he was held 65 days beyond his release date as a result of a miscalculation, despite his advising the defendants of their mistake and requesting that they correct it. At 720: Incarcerating a prisoner beyond …
Court Refuses to Stay BOP Good Time Order Pending Appeal by The court previously ruled that the Bureau of Prisons was obliged to calculate the petitioner's good time based on his sentence and not time actually served. The respondent now seeks a stay pending appeal, arguing that the recalculation would …
Work Release Prisoners Subject to PLRA Exhaustion Requirement by A plaintiff is a "prisoner" for exhaustion purposes if he was in prison when the complaint was filed. At 750: "We have previously explained that prisoners encounter a uniquely low opportunity cost relative to the typical litigant." The plaintiff, whose claims …
Jail Staff Not Liable for Violating No Contact Order by The female plaintiff had a court order barring Smith, the father of her child, who was in the Marathon, Wisconsin, jail for trying to have her murdered, from having any contact with her. She was then brought to the jail …
Court Upholds Strip Search, Nudity During Urine Test by The plaintiff was strip searched and made to stand naked for 20 minutes in a bathroom stall until he produced a urine sample pursuant to a random drug-testing program. At 934 (citations omitted): In the context of body searches performed upon …
WI Prisoner Unconstitutionally Denied Correspondence with Sister-In-Law by Juan Morales, a Wisconsin state prisoner mailed a letter to his sister-in-law. Prison guards intercepted the letter, read it, and after finding that it suggested that Morales was the father of his sister-in-law's illegitimate child, refused to mail it or others like …
Informant Statements Require Reliability Finding in Record by The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit affirmed a district court ruling in favor of Wisconsin prison officials over the use of confidential informants. A Wisconsin prisoner filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 challenging the use of statements by a …
Change in Infraction Level Requires Due Process in Wisconsin by A Wisconsin federal district court held that Wisconsin administrative code § HHS 303.68(4) creates a liberty interest which requires the security director to consider the regulation's criteria and make a statement of the criteria applicable to upgrade a prisoner's misconduct …
Disciplinary Finding Must Give Evidence Relied On by The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit held, in this Wisconsin case, that prison disciplinary hearing committees must give a statement of the evidentiary basis for finding a prisoner "guilty" of disciplinary charges. Court discusses the right and importance of such …
Strip Searches for Misdemeanor Arrestees Illegal by The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit upheld an injunction prohibiting the Racine county jail in Wisconsin from strip searching people arrested for non traffic related misdemeanors. Court affirmed an order published at: Tinetti v. Wittke, 479 F. Supp. 486 (ED WI …
Survivors Win $1,825,000 in Wisconsin Prisoner Suicide Suit by The parents and estate of a Wisconsin state prisoner who committed suicide after being taken off of his anti-psychotic medication won a $1,825,000 jury award in Wisconsin federal court. Matthew Sanville, a 26 year-old Wisconsin state prisoner, was prosecuted for assaulting …
Dismissal for Frivolousness is Basis for Res Judicata by The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit by a civilly-committed person filed against officials of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services (WDHFS) was barred by res judicata because a prior suit …
Use of Chemical Agents Not Per Se Unconstitutional by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that prison officials may use mace, tear gas, or chemical agents on prisoners when reasonably necessary to prevent riots or escapes or subdue recalcitrant prisoners. The class action suit filed by Wisconsin prisoner's alleged …
Dismissal of Double-Celling, ETS Claims Vacated in Part by The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals partly vacated a Wisconsin federal district court's dismissal of a prisoner's federal civil rights suit claiming Eighth Amendment violations by state prison officials. Quordalis V. Sanders, a Wisconsin state prisoner currently housed at the …
