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 …
WI PLRA Allows Access to Release Account Funds by A Wisconsin appeals court held that the state's Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), Wis. Statute 801.02(7), allows access to funds in prisoners' release accounts. The court further held that if a prisoner has filed three frivolous actions in either state or …
WI Release Fund Can Be Used to Pay Filing Fee by A federal district court in Wisconsin held that a Wisconsin state prisoner transferred to a private prison in Tennessee cannot have funds from his release account transferred to his general trust account. The release account is created under a …
Wisconsin: PLRA Does Not Apply to Out of State Prisoners by A Wisconsin appellate court held that a Wisconsin prisoner held at a private out-of-state prison or jail is not a "prisoner" as defined by Wisconsin's Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). First, the court determined that the definition of "correctional …
Liberty Interest in Ad-Seg Early Release Program by Affirming the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Wisconsin state prisoners do not have a liberty interest related to participation in a prison program that helps prisoners in administrative segregation …
Segregated Prisoner Allowed Visits with His Children by A federal District Court in Wisconsin held that refusing to grant visitation with a prisoner's minor children was unconstitutional. A Wisconsin state prisoner filed a civil rights action challenging a prison's denial of visitation with his two minor children because he was …
