Right to Elective Abortions by The court of appeals for the Third circuit upheld a lower court injunction requiring jail officials to provide female prisoners with elective abortions upon request. The suit was filed as a class action suit against the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in New Jersey over its …
No Qualified Immunity for Failing to Protect Jail Prisoner by The court of appeals for the Third circuit held that jail officials were not entitled to qualified immunity for failing to protect a pretrial detainee from harm by other prisoners. The plaintiff was detained for traffic violations and placed in …
Summary Judgment Precluded in Beating, Qualified Immunity for Hearing Officer by A New Jersey prisoner brought § 1983 action alleging violations of his constitutional rights. Defendant prison officials and guards motioned for partial summary judgment. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey held: 1) Summary judgment against …
Attorney Fee Award in New Jersey Jail Case by The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey held that Cape May County Jail prisoners, who won a consent decree in a jail conditions case, were the "prevailing parties" for the purpose of an attorney fee award under the …
Muslim Prisoners' Right to Jumu'ah Denied by The U.S. District Court of New Jersey held that minimum security Muslim prisoners working outside a prison perimeter did not have a compelling right to be off work on Friday afternoons to attend Jumu'ah services, a form of Muslim congregational worship. Ahmad Uthman …
Third Circuit Holds Right to Jumu'ah Services Outweighs Security Concerns by Reversing the District Court of New Jersey, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that material questions of fact precluded dismissal of prisoner-plaintiffs' claims that the New Jersey State Prison at Leesburg ("Leesburg") unfairly infringed on the constitutional …
New Jersey Prisoner Denied Right to Artificially Inseminate Wife by The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, held that a state prisoner had no constitutionally protected right to artificially inseminate his wife. Robert G. Percy, a 45-year-old prisoner sentenced in 1985 to 30 years to life for homicide, sought …
Court Orders Minor Child Visitation in NJ Jail by A federal court in New Jersey ordered that visits by minor children be allowed for pretrial detainees at the Passaic County jail in New Jersey. The court also ordered a special master to file a report on the adequacy of visiting …
NJ Parole Class Action Settled by A U.S. District Court for New Jersey held that a group of New Jersey state prisoners, who were seeking injunctive relief from the state's Parole Board for its consistent failure to conduct timely parole hearings, warranted certification as a class action for the purpose …
New Jersey DOC Must Clarify Disciplinary Hearing Record by The Supreme Court of New Jersey remanded a prison disciplinary proceeding to the state Department of Corrections for clarification of whether a prisoner was denied the opportunity to cross-examine and confront witnesses. Gallimore McDonald, a New Jersey state prisoner, was charged …
Supreme Court Sets Standard for Stay of Injunctions by The United States Supreme Court held that a federal court should follow the general standards for staying a civil judgment when determining if a successful habeas corpus petitioner should be released pending appeal. The respondent, a New Jersey prisoner convicted of …
New Jersey Supreme Court Orders Parole, Halfway House Placement by The Supreme Court of New Jersey ordered a prisoner to be released on parole after satisfactory completion of 12 months in a halfway house. Thomas Trantino, a New Jersey state prisoner, was convicted of murdering a police officer in 1963. …
Prisoners Have Right to Informed Consent and to Refuse Medical Treatment by The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held prisoners have a right to be informed of their medical treatment and may refuse that treatment; that the instituting of disciplinary action as retaliation for refusing treatment is unconstitutional, and the …
New Jersey Juvenile Raped By Guards Settles For $500,000 by On May 24, 2002, Morris County, New Jersey, paid $500,000 to settle with a former prisoner who was sexually assaulted by two guards at the Morris County Juvenile Detention Center. While imprisoned in the detention center in September 1997, Mary …
Negligence Insufficient to Make Prison Officials Liable by Robert Davidson, a New Jersey state prisoner, filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against prison officials for negligent failure to protect him from another prisoner. After being threatened by the other prisoner, Davidson sent a note reporting the threat which found …
No Presentence Entitlement to NJ Prison Commutation Credit by Robert Buncie and three other New Jersey state prisoners filed a state court action claiming equal protection and due process violations for not receiving prison commutation credit prior to sentencing. The trial court held that prisoners are not entitled to such …
Searching Vehicle Of Prison Visitor Suspected Of Illegal Drug Possession Upheld by New Jersey resident Janice Daniels appealed a State court denial of her motion to suppress heroin seized from her vehicle's interior. Mrs, Daniels and her husband were visiting her son who was incarcerated at the Garden State Youth …
Aliens May Sue Private Detention Companies Under ATCA by A federal court in New Jersey became the first court to hold that corporations which operate privatized immigration detention facilities may be sued under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA). The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) contracted with Esmor Correctional Services, …
New Jersey Prison Doctors Pay Over $5k for Concealing Documents by Joseph Tarlton, a former New Jersey state prisoner, sued prisons and their medical staff for being deliberately indifferent to his medical needs while he was in prison. Two of the defendants, both prison doctors, lied about the existence of …
Appeals Courts Have Wide Discretion in Class Certification Appeals by Courts of appeals have unfettered discretion to permit or deny interlocutory appeals of class certification orders, provided for by a 1998 amendment to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This discretion is analogous to that exercised by the Supreme Court …
