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Guards Have Constitutional Privacy Right to Associate with Ex-Prisoners Off-Duty

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Guards/Staff, Employee Litigation

Guards Have Constitutional Privacy Right to Associate with Ex-Prisoners Off-Duty by Guards Have Constitutional Privacy Right to Associate with Ex-Prisoners Off-Duty A Delaware federal district court has held that a prison regulation that prohibits guards from associating with ex-prisoners violates the guard's privacy rights. This action was filed by a …

Limits Imposed on Court Conversion of Actions; BOP Law Enforcement Notification Implicitly Approved

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Habeas Corpus, Federal Statutory Law, Administrative Procedures Act (Federal)

Limits Imposed on Court Conversion of Actions; BOP Law Enforcement Notification Implicitly Approved by Limits Imposed on Court Conversion of Actions; BOP Law Enforcement Notification Implicitly Approved The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a district court's re-characterization of a prisoner's action was improper. This action was filed …

Federal Class C Felony Permits 24 Months or Less Imprisonment Upon Supervision Revocation

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole, Parole Conditions

Federal Class C Felony Permits 24 Months or Less Imprisonment Upon Supervision Revocation by Federal Class C Felony Permits 24 Months or Less Imprisonment Upon Supervision Revocation The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a defendant may not be sentenced to more than 24 months imprisonment upon the revocation …

California Disability Statute Tolls Limitation Statute for §1983 Suit

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Limitations

California Disability Statute Tolls Limitation Statute for §1983 Suit by California Disability Statute Tolls Limitation Statute for §1983 Suit The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that California's Disability Statute, Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §352(a)(3), tolls California's one-year statute to file a 42 U.S.C. §1983 action. This action sought to …

Guards Must have Knowledge of Risk of Harm

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Failure to Protect (General)

Guards Must have Knowledge of Risk of Harm by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held a prisoner failed to show guards acted with deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm when they placed him in a cell with two Latin King gang member prisoners. This action was filed …

FL Prisoner's Petition Deemed Filed When Given to Prison Officials

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Mandamus

FL Prisoner's Petition Deemed Filed When Given to Prison Officials by Florida's First District Court of Appeal held that a prisoner's petition for a writ of mandamus was timely filed under the "mailbox rule." The circuit court dismissed as untimely the underlying petition challenging disciplinary sanctions, which must be filed …

Florida Jail Liable in Medical Neglect Death by PHS

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Prison Health Services, Systemic Medical Neglect, Immunity/Liability, Municipal Liability, Contractor Liability, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Florida Jail Liable in Medical Neglect Death by PHS by Carol Ancata, personal representative of Anthony Ancata, deceased, and natural guardian of Tara Ancata, filed a lawsuit against Prison Health Services, Inc. (PHS), the Broward County Jail and the Sheriff of Broward County (defendants) for violating Anthony Ancata's Fourteenth and …

Florida's "Right-of-Reply" Statute Unconstitutional

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Media, Censorship

Florida's "Right-of-Reply" Statute Unconstitutional by Florida's "Right-of-Reply" Statute Unconstitutional The U.S. Supreme Court held unconstitutional Florida's "right-of-reply" statute, which grants a political candidate the right to equal space to answer criticism and attacks on his record by a newspaper, and makes it a misdemeanor for the newspaper to fail to …

Gender Discrimination Permissible in Guard Shift Assignment

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Discrimination, Gender Discrimination -- Women, Title VII, Employee Litigation

Gender Discrimination Permissible in Guard Shift Assignment by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held a Title VII claim under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is not stated where a Sheriff transferred a female guard from the first shift to third shift to comply with state law. The guard …

Georgia Man Falsely Arrested by Bond Agent Awarded $5,172

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, False Arrest

Georgia Man Falsely Arrested by Bond Agent Awarded $5,172 by On December 3, 2002, a man jailed after being mistakenly identified by a bond agent was awarded $5,172 in damages by a superior court in Fulton County, Georgia. Plaintiff Charles Leeks was arrested at his place of employment by an …

Georgia Sheriff Sues Over Using Prisoner Labor

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Work, Prison Labor, Malicious Prosecution, Wrongful Imprisonment, False Arrest, Property

Georgia Sheriff Sues Over Using Prisoner Labor by A Georgia federal district court has found that the defendants in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging claims of (1) bad faith prosecution; (2) arrest without probable cause; (3) deprivation of liberty without due process; (4) unlawful search and seizure of …

Washington Prisoner Awarded $125 for Failure to Timely Respond to Public Records Request

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Disclosure of Records, Sentencing, Good Time, Wrongful Imprisonment

Washington Prisoner Awarded $125 for Failure to Timely Respond to Public Records Request by Washington Prisoner Awarded $125 for Failure to Timely Respond to Public Records Request A Thurston County, Superior Court in Washington State awarded Airway Heights Correction Center prisoner Derek E. Grunquist $125 for a 114 business day …

$750 Paid in Washington Public Records Case

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Disclosure of Records

$750 Paid in Washington Public Records Case by The State of Washington agreed to pay $750 to Airway Heights Correctional Center (AHCC) prisoner Derek E. Gronquist for the failure of defendants Cly Evans and Sheree Raska to disclose public records that Gronquist had requested. Gronquist sought release of training records …

Guard Denied Qualified Immunity in Prisoner's Assault

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Failure to Protect (General), Qualified Immunity

Guard Denied Qualified Immunity in Prisoner's Assault by The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed denial of summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds by a California federal district court to a lieutenant at the California Men's Colony in a case where a prisoner was assaulted by his cellmate. Michael …

Habeas Corpus Granted; State Used Wrong Standard to Convict

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Retroactivity, Sentencing, Wrongful Conviction, Habeas Corpus

Habeas Corpus Granted; State Used Wrong Standard to Convict by The U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing the federal district court of New Mexico, held that a New Mexico prisoner was wrongly convicted of child abuse when the state court applied the civil negligence standard rather than the criminal …

Guard Properly Convicted, Sentenced for Extorting Prisoners

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines

Guard Properly Convicted, Sentenced for Extorting Prisoners by The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the sentence of a prison guard convicted of extorting prisoners. William D. Coger, a prison guard in West Virginia, was convicted of extorting money and favors from prisoners in the amount of $90,104. He …

Due Process Required in Mail Censorship

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Legal Materials, Civil Procedure, Complaints, Publications/Books, Mail Regulations, Due Process, Catalogs

Due Process Required in Mail Censorship by The court of appeals for the Ninth circuit upheld the dismissal under FRCP 12(b)(6) of a California prisoner's lawsuit concerning the censorship of law rook catalogs the prisoner attempted to send his mother. The appeals court reversed the dismissal of the due process …

Prisoner Entitled to Be Present During Opening of Legal Mail Addressed to Him

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorney Client, Mail, Legal Mail

Prisoner Entitled to Be Present During Opening of Legal Mail Addressed to Him by Prisoner Entitled to Be Present During Opening of Legal Mail Addressed to Him The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a prisoner's 42 U.S.C. §1983 action that alleges prison officials opened his legal mail outside …

$8.2 Million Awarded for Florida Malicious Prosecution

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, False Arrest

$8.2 Million Awarded for Florida Malicious Prosecution by A Florida federal jury awarded a former employee of Brinks, Inc. $8,261,050 for malicious prosecution by Brinks' failure to provide complete information and withholding important evidence from the police regarding a theft. In 1996, while plaintiff was an employee of Brinks, $350,000 …

State Tolling Statute Must be Applied to §1983 Suits

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Limitations

State Tolling Statute Must be Applied to §1983 Suits by State Tolling Statute Must be Applied to §1983 Suits The United States Supreme Court has held that a federal court applying a state statute of limitations to a prisoner's federal civil rights action should give effect to the State's provision …