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 …
Removal Not Precluded By Single Eleventh Amendment Barred Claim by The United States Supreme Court held that a single claim barred by the Eleventh Amendment doctrine of sovereign immunity did not preclude removal to federal court. Keith Schacht, a former guard employed by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, was fired …
Theft of Property During Search by Police Officer Actionable by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a police officer may be sued for the theft of a soda pop during a search executed pursuant to a warrant. This action was filed by the owner of the Lone Mallard …
Correspondence Regulation Must be Reasonable and Necessary to Advancement of Purpose of Imprisonment by Correspondence Regulation Must be Reasonable and Necessary to Advancement of Purpose of Imprisonment A district court in Wisconsin entered an injunction enjoining prison officials from restricting correspondence between a prisoner and his sister-in-law. Morales v. Schmidt, …
US Supreme Court Held Prisoners And Mental Patients Have Due Process Right To Be Protected by US Supreme Court Held Prisoners And Mental Patients Have Due Process Right To Be Protected The Supreme Court held that a State's failure to protect an individual against private violence, generally does not constitute …
Wisconsin Prisoner Starved As Punishment Awarded $1.25 Million by Michael Rigby On November 30, 2004, federal jurors in Wisconsin awarded $1.25 million to a state prisoner who was denied hundreds of meals over a 3 to 4-year period. Berrell Freeman, a prisoner serving 58 years for murder, was imprisoned in …
Muslim Head Scarf Lawsuit Dismissed After Prison Policy Change by The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin dismissed a Federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Cynthia Rhouni, the ex- wife of a State prisoner who was forced to remove her head scarf (a part of her …
Wisconsin Prisoner's Interference-With-Mail Suit Mooted by Policy Change by William West, a Wisconsin state prisoner, sued guards in federal district court for denying him mail containing downloaded internet material about Hepatitis C. He complained that the policy under which his mail was rejected Doc 309 IMP 1, which disallowed prisoner …
Suit Challenging WI Civil Commitment Conditions Dismissed by The plaintiff, committed involuntarily as a sexually violent person, challenged various institutional practices. The plaintiff's complaint that he was required to disclose his history of sexual assaults, charged and uncharged, before he could be eligible for the main treatment program and be …
PLRA Three Strikes Statute Held Unconstitutional by PLRA Three Strikes Statute Held Unconstitutional The court holds that the three strikes provision unconstitutionally restricts court access unless read to affect only non-constitutional claims. At 957: "Although the federal government has a legitimate interest in deterring the filing of frivolous and malicious …
WI Mental Health Records Ordered Disclosed by The plaintiff, a Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) organization, sought records from a private mental health facility about two patients who choked to death on food. The facility didn't want to produce them. Notwithstanding defendants' claim that the question …
Sovereign Immunity Not Waived by Federal Extradition Act by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the Federal Extradition Act does not waive a state's sovereign immunity. This action was filed by St. Charles County, Missouri (County), seeking $5,421.86 from the State of Wisconsin for costs incurred for …
