Snitch-jacketing States Retaliation Claim by The court of appeals for the Eleventh circuit held that an Alabama prisoner had stated a claim that prison officials had retaliated against him for filing lawsuits by falsely labeling him a snitch. The snitch jacketing exposed him to harm by other prisoners. District court …
U.S. Liable to Victim for Failing to Treat Psychotic Prisoner by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that the United States was liable for the behavior of an untreated, psychotic prisoner who raped and killed three women in Alabama after being released from BOP custody. U.S. was …
Ban on Documentary Evidence in Disciplinary Hearings Struck Down by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that an Alabama prison rule prohibiting prisoners from presenting documentary evidence in their defense at prison disciplinary hearings is unconstitutional. Key to the issue is whether the evidence requested by the …
Exclusion of Sex Offenders from Work Release Upheld by The court of appeals for the Eleventh circuit upheld an Alabama prison policy that excluded violent sex offenders from minimum security, work release and furlough programs. Interesting comment by the court is that few people commit more than one murder in …
Prisoners Have No Absolute Right to Visits by The United State Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that a convicted prisoner has no absolute right to visitation. According to the court, family visits are a privilege that is subject to the discretion of the prison authorities, so long …
No Supervisor Liability in Excessive Force Case by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that an Alabama district court granting of summary judgment in favor of state prison guards who broke a prisoner's arm was precluded by unresolved issues of material fact. The court further held …
Dismissal Denied in Suit Against Alabama Sheriff and County in Detainee's Death From Lack of Medical by Dismissal Denied in Suit Against Alabama Sheriff and County in Detainee's Death From Lack of Medical Treatment. An Alabama federal district court held that a county can be held liable for failing to …
§ 1983 Suit Improper Remedy for Good Time Loss by The court of appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that it was improper for a prisoner to file a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action seeking monetary damages, declaratory and injunctive relief that prohibited prison officials from removing, rescinding or suspending …
Alabama Prisoners Assault and Battery Fails After Guard Given Immunity by An Alabama Civil Appeals Court has held that a prisoner submitted sufficient evidence to survive summary judgment on one claim of assault and battery by a guard, but affirmed dismissal of the remaining assault and property deprivation claims. The …
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 …
US Supreme Court Holds That There Is No Interlocutory Appeals on Municipal Liability by US Supreme Court Holds That There Is No Interlocutory Appeals on Municipal Liability The US Supreme Court held that Municipalities are not qualifiedly immune from suit, and that the appellate courts do not have authority to …
Alabama Sheriffs Entitled to Immunity in §1983 Actions by The U.S. Supreme Court held that Alabama sheriffs were officials of the state rather than the county and therefore entitled to immunity in §1983 actions. An Alabama prisoner who had been sentenced to death had his conviction overturned and subsequently brought …
Alabama DOC's Mail Accumulation Policy Unconstitutional, Denial Of Motion To Amend Erroneous by Alabama DOC's Mail Accumulation Policy Unconstitutional, Denial Of Motion To Amend Erroneous The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that an Alabama Department of Corrections (DOC) policy of accumulating prisoner mail before dispersing …
Alabama Prison Conditions Unconstitutional by A district court in Alabama declared the conditions of confinement in Alabama state prisons unconstitutionally cruel and unusual in a class- action suit. The court ordered that: (1) prison populations be reduced to design capacity; (2) isolation prisoners be single-celled with not less than 40 …
Fifth Circuits Upholds Pugh v. Loch Injunction by The Fifth Circuit upheld the district court's ranting of relief to ensure Alabama state prisoners reasonably adequate food, clothing, shelter, sanitation, necessary medical attention, personal safety, and recreational opportunities. The Fifth Circuit vacated the district court's instructions that all prisoners be single …
Alabama Prisoner Assaulted By Guard Awarded $100 by On June 11, 2003, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama awarded $100 to a state prisoner who claimed a previous rib injury was aggravated when he was assaulted by two guards. Harold Ivory, a state prisoner at the …
AL Control Unit Ban on Publications Not Moot Or Ripe by The defendants prohibited administrative segregation prisoners from receiving publications by subscription. When sued, they agreed to allow a subscriptions to newspapers and magazines up to a total of four. However, they put in their regulation an apparent limitation to …
Alabama Prisoners Injured By Unhealthy Living Conditions Settle For $53,000 by Eight prisoners injured by unhealthy living conditions at the Loxley Community Work Center settled their claim for $53,000. The prisoners had alleged multiple injuries, including one who suffered dehydration and a rash. In their lawsuit, filed in Mobile County, …
Attempted Rape by Cop States Claim by The plaintiff alleged that the defendant police officer stopped him, conducted an unlawful pat down search, handcuffed him, took him to a remote location, and tried to sodomize him. The allegations state a constitutional claim under the Fourth Amendment's protection against unlawful searches …
Alabama Transfers Prisoners to Louisiana Rather Than Use In-State Prison by Gary Hunter Overcrowded prisons in Alabama almost landed state prison commissioner Richard Allen in jail. Under current state law the DOC has thirty days to pick up prisoners from county jails once they?ve been convicted. But the prison population …
