Due Process Required when Porn Censored by Due Process Required When Porn Censored A federal district court in Missouri upheld the prison censorship of sexually explicit materials. The court notes that due process requires that the censorship of prisoner mail be done with due process safeguards, including notice to the …
Warden Liable for Inhumane Seg Conditions/Placement by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that a Missouri prisoner's lawsuit claiming he was placed in solitary confinement for no articulated reason, in a cell with no hot water, fresh air or ventilation and a vermin infested mattress, stated a …
PLRA Doesn't Apply to Mental Patients by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) does not apply to mental patients. Cyrill Koloctronis was found not guilty by reason of insanity of a criminal charge in 1960 and has been confined to …
Total Ban on Mail Violates First and Fourteenth Amendments by The 8th Circuit held that a total ban on prisoners' mail without exception and without perusing the contents violated prisoners' First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Michael Murphy and several other prisoners incarcerated at the Missouri Training Center for Men (MTCM) …
Mandamus Appropriate in MO Ad Seg Case by The Supreme Court of Missouri ruled that an administrative segregation prisoner's habeas corpus petition was inappropriate because prison conditions of cruel and unusual punishment were not alleged. The state prisoner was seeking release from protective custody and into the general population. The …
Guard's Drug Test Constitutional by The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed with modification a federal district court's grant of summary judgment and dismissal to municipal defendants who fired a guard who had failed a random drug test. Eugene Booker was a guard at the Medium Security Institution (MSI) …
$600 Awarded in MO Detainee's Illegal Segregation Claim by A Missouri Federal District Court, in a bench trial, held officials at the Medium Security Institution of the City of St. Louis violated a pre-trial detainee's due process rights by their custom of not distinguishing between pre-trial detainees and convicted prisoners. …
Supreme Court Holds Guard Liable For Punitive Damages In § 1983 Suit by Supreme Court Holds Guard Liable For Punitive Damages In § 1983 Suit The U.S. Supreme Court held that punitive damages are available in § 1983 actions. A prisoner in a Missouri juvenile prison filed a 42 U.S.C. …
Prisoner's Damages from Civil Suit May Not Be Taken for Recovery of Incarceration by Prisoner's Damages from Civil Suit May Not Be Taken for Recovery of Incarceration Ronald Hankins (plaintiff), a prisoner at the Missouri State Penitentiary (MSP), filed a lawsuit against William Finnel (defendant), a teacher at MSP, for …
Attorney Fee Awards Determined on Case Facts by The United States Supreme Court held that the amount of an attorney award, under 42 U.S.C. § 1988, must be determined on the facts specific for the case, that success on the various issues is a crucial factor, and that such awards …
Eighth Circuit Upholds Judgment Against CMS For Delayed Dental Care by In an unpublished opinion filed on August 7, 2001, the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a judgment against Correctional Medical Services (CMS) for failing to provide adequate dental care to a Missouri prisoner. While imprisoned in the …
Prisoner Denied Workers' Compensation for Injury In State Community Job by The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of state prisoner Weldon Richard's workers' compensation claim for a fall he suffered while trimming trees in a community prison job. Richard filed a claim for benefits with the State Labor …
Suit Dismissed as Discovery Sanction by The plaintiff's complaint is dismissed for discovery abuse; he refused to respond to defendants' interrogatories because he believed the defendants had abused discovery in other litigation against him. See: Lindstedt v. City of Granby, 238 F.3d 933 (8th Cir. 2000).
BOP Denial of Bone Marrow Transplant Questioned by The plaintiff complained that the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Missouri refused him an autologous bone marrow transplant. The court affirms the district court's dismissal because during the pendency of the appeal the plaintiff was permitted to take the first steps toward …
Court Rejects Mental Patient's Toilet Deprivation Suit by The plaintiff, an involuntarily committed psychiatric patient, urinated on himself when an aide did not let him go the bathroom immediately. His claim is adjudicated under the Eighth Amendment, even though it is inapplicable to mental patients, because neither party questioned its …
No Media Filming of Missouri Execution Allowed by Two Reverends and the New Life Evangelistic Center challenged the prison system's ban on cameras and tape recorders at executions. The case is not mooted by the completion of the execution the plaintiffs wanted to videotape. The case falls squarely within the …
Court Upholds Denial of Jail Credit to Parole Violator by The plaintiff, who was released on parole and returned to prison on a parole violation and then on new criminal charges arising from the same conduct, had 70 days added to his sentence by prison authorities based on their view …
Censorship of Music Tape Upheld by The plaintiff ordered a music cassette tape which was then denied to her on the ground that it was a security risk. The court affirms the district court's summary judgment for defendants on First Amendment and due process theories without describing the controversy further, …
Trial in Prison Clothes Harmless Error by At 879: "A prisoner may not be compelled to go to trial in prison clothing." But due process is satisfied if there is not actual compulsion; if the defendant doesn't object, he hasn't been compelled, and may also have waived the right to …
Missouri Elective Abortion Ban Ruled Unconstitutional In Class Action by A federal court in Missouri held in a class action lawsuit that a prison policy barring elective abortions was unconstitutional and invalid. The Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) and its medical provider, Correctional Medical Services (CMS), routinely transported women prisoners …
