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9th Circuit Invalidates Prisoner-to-Prisoner Mail Ban

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Court Access, Prisoner Legal Assistance, Mail Regulations, Legal Mail

9th Circuit Invalidates Prisoner-to-Prisoner Mail Ban by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a complete ban on prisoner-to-prisoner mail violated the First Amendment rights of both prisoners. The court also held that a Washington state prisoner did not have a constitutional right to the services of a prison …

Prison Programs Receive Federal Funds Under Civil Rights Restoration Act Definition

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Disciplinary Hearings, Interpreters (Disciplinary Hearings), Rehabilitation Act

Prison Programs Receive Federal Funds Under Civil Rights Restoration Act Definition by Prison Programs Receive Federal Funds Under Civil Rights Restoration Act Definition The U.S. District Court for the District of Arkansas held that Arizona Department of Corrections (ADOC) "programs or activities" received federal funds for 'purposes of a prisoner's …

Court Has Duty to Appoint Counsel in Appropriate Civil Cases

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Appointment of Counsel, Court Access, Social Security

Court Has Duty to Appoint Counsel in Appropriate Civil Cases by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a district court to exercise its discretion to request counsel for a civil litigant and inquire whether the litigant was incompetent, which required action be taken to protect his rights. This action …

No Constitutional Right Created By State Jail Standards

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Eighth Amendment, Jail Specific

No Constitutional Right Created By State Jail Standards by The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Texas jail standards did not create a constitutional right and therefore were not enforceable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards was created by the Texas Legislature to …

South Dakota Prison Conditions Unconstitutional

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Totality of Conditions, Overcrowding, Guards/Staff, ACA, American Correctional Association

South Dakota Prison Conditions Unconstitutional by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that double ceiling may violate the Eighth Amendment in light of other serious deficient conditions of confinement, and a district court may use expert testimony to set prison maximum capacity. This was a class action filed by …

Retaliation Claim Does Not Precede Exhaustion of State Administrative Remedies

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Disciplinary Hearings, Retaliatory Discipline, False Charges (Disciplinary Hearings), Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA)

Retaliation Claim Does Not Precede Exhaustion of State Administrative Remedies by The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court determined that a prisoner's retaliation claim was required to be preceded by exhaustion of state administrative remedies. Robert Lawrence, a prisoner at Otisville State Prison …

Los Angeles County Jail Conditions Unconstitutional

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Totality of Conditions, Ventilation, Exercise, Jail Specific, Lighting, Court Access, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Court Appearances, Telephone Access

Los Angeles County Jail Conditions Unconstitutional by A California federal district court held the conditions at the Los Angeles County Jail were unconstitutional. This class action suit resulted in a non-jury trial that alleged violations of the pre-trial detainees' constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. The court found the detainees …

Pretrial Detainees, Unsentenced Prisoners Entitled To Stay At Local Jail

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Classification, Transfers, Liberty Interests

Pretrial Detainees, Unsentenced Prisoners Entitled To Stay At Local Jail by The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that pretrial detainees have a liberty interest in remaining at a local jail, but convicted prisoners have no right to stay at a given prison. In May 1973, the warden and …

Fact Issues Preclude Summary Judgment In Prisoner Rape Case

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Misconduct/Corruption, Jail Misconduct, Summary Judgment

Fact Issues Preclude Summary Judgment In Prisoner Rape Case by The United States District Court for the District of Maine held that fact issues precluded summary judgment of a sexually assaulted prisoner's § 1983 lawsuit. Plaintiff Linda Faas alleged that while she was in the Washington County Jail (Maine), she …

Ban on "Communist Political Propaganda" Violates First Amendment

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Publications/Books, Mail Regulations, Media, Censorship

Ban on "Communist Political Propaganda" Violates First Amendment by Ban on "Communist Political Propaganda" Violates First Amendment The U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment is violated by a statute requiring postal service officials to detain and destroy unsealed mail from foreign countries determined to be communist political propaganda …

Cause Of Action For Monetary Damages Available Under Montana Constitution

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Damages, State Law Claims, Police, False Arrest

Cause Of Action For Monetary Damages Available Under Montana Constitution by The Montana Supreme Court held that the Montana Constitution provided a cause of action for money damages for certain violations of rights guaranteed by the state constitution and that qualified immunity was not available for those committing such violations. …

Discipline for Content of Outgoing Mail Reversed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Disciplinary Litigation, Notice of Rules, Legality of Rules, Mail Regulations

Discipline for Content of Outgoing Mail Reversed by The United States District Court for the Southern district of New York held that prison officials violated a New York prisoner's First Amendment rights of expression by censoring his outgoing mail and disciplining him for complaints about prison conditions and officials in …

Attorneys Not Entitled To Meet With Cooperating Witnesses

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorneys, Attorney Client, Public Defenders

Attorneys Not Entitled To Meet With Cooperating Witnesses by The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a legal aid organization and its potential clients (witnesses who were cooperating with. police) had no right requiring the police to inform the client that an attorney representing them was at the …

Social Security Benefit Suspension For Civilly Committed Upheld

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Social Security, Mental Health, Civil Commitment

Social Security Benefit Suspension For Civilly Committed Upheld by The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that Social Security benefits may be suspended to a person confined "in connection with" a prior Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) verdict. The claimant was found by a jury to be NGRI …

Confiscation of Social Security Benefits Actionable Under Rehabilitation Act

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Money/Property, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Social Security, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act

Confiscation of Social Security Benefits Actionable Under Rehabilitation Act by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that juveniles formerly in state custody whose benefits were seized by the Tennessee Department of Children's Services (DCS) to pay for their "maintenance," could pursue a claim under the Rehabilitation …

Fact Issues Preclude Summary Judgment Of Prisoner's Sixth Amendment Claim

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Appointment of Counsel, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Summary Judgment, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty

Fact Issues Preclude Summary Judgment Of Prisoner's Sixth Amendment Claim by The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that genuine issues of material fact precluded summary judgment of a prisoner's claim against prison officials for allegedly violating his Sixth Amendment right to self-representation. In 1976, Nevada state prisoner James …

Transferred Prisoner States Claim As To Legal, Indigent Mail Policies

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Retaliation, Retaliation for Litigating, Writing Implements, Mail Regulations, Postage, Legal Mail

Transferred Prisoner States Claim As To Legal, Indigent Mail Policies by The United States Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a prisoner's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against prison officials stated a claim as to prison policy of not providing free postage or writing supplies for legal correspondence, forbidding …

Delay in Treating Broken Foot States Cause and Shows Deliberate Indifference

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Skeletal Injury, Failure to Treat, Conditions of Confinement, Failure to Protect (General), Prisoner Property

Delay in Treating Broken Foot States Cause and Shows Deliberate Indifference by The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that the delay of a few hours in treating a prisoner's broken foot states a constitutional claim. This action was filed by a prisoner of the Hamilton County Jail. The prisoner …

Massachusetts Prisoner Sufficiently Alleges Violations Of State Civil Rights Act

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Retaliation, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Censorship, TV/Movies

Massachusetts Prisoner Sufficiently Alleges Violations Of State Civil Rights Act by Massachusetts Prisoner Sufficiently Alleges Violations Of State Civil Rights Act The Appeals Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk, held that a prisoner sufficiently alleged violations of the state constitution by prison officials but lacked standing to pursue a federal civil rights …

Ninth Circuit: Prisoner May Amend Complaint To Allege Deliberate Indifference

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Medical, Blood, Hepatitis, Complaints

Ninth Circuit: Prisoner May Amend Complaint To Allege Deliberate Indifference by The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an Arizona state prisoner, who alleged he contracted hepatitis from a blood plasma drawing procedure and that upon diagnosis he was not adequately treated by prison medical staff, should be …