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 …
WI Parole Board's Labeling Necrophiliac a Sex Offender Doesn't Violate the U.S. Constitution by WI Parole Board's Labeling Necrophiliac a Sex Offender Doesn't Violate the U.S. Constitution Richard Grennier, a Wisconsin state prisoner, killed a teenage hitchhiker and raped and mutilated her body in 1973. He's been in prison ever …
Burden of Proof in Retaliatory Transfer Suit Discussed by The plaintiff alleged he was transferred in retaliation for his winning one lawsuit and testifying in another prisoner's suit against an officer. Under the Federal Rules' notice pleading standard, the plaintiff stated a claim. Stating a claim requires only the "bare …
Prison Psychologist Not Liable for Failing to Treat Suicidal, Feces Eating Prisoner by Prison Psychologist Not Liable for Failing to Treat Suicidal, Feces Eating Prisoner The plaintiff sued a prison psychologist. The defendant did not argue that the plaintiff did not have a serious mental illness. A legitimate risk of …
Mentally Ill WI Prisoner Sues over Control Unit Conditions by The plaintiff raised various constitutional claims, discussed below, and moved for class certification. The court denies it because the case is pro se and absent class members are "entitled at least to the assurance of competent representation afforded by licensed …
Seventh Circuit Discusses Injury in Court Access Suits by The plaintiff, seeking post-conviction relief, was held in a jail whose law library he deemed inadequate, and he was not able to obtain disbursement forms to buy legal materials because he did not provide prison officials with the reason for his …
Lawsuit Filed Over Health Care at Wisconsin Women’s Prison, More Possible by Michael Rigby Lawsuit Filed Over Health Care at Wisconsin Women's Prison, More Possible by Michael Rigby The medical, dental, and mental health care provided to female prisoners at the Taycheedah Correctional Institution in Fon du Lac, Wisconsin, is …
Wisconsin “Boondoggled” Into Buying Broken Down New Private Prison by Wisconsin "Boondoggled" Into Buying Broken Down New Private Prison After buying a private prison for $87.1 million, the Wisconsin Legislature is crying foul upon discovering the Stanley prison violates electrical, plumbing, and safety codes that will cost $5 million to …
Wrongfully Imprisoned Wisconsin Man Awarded $400,000, Now Accused of Murder by Michael Rigby On February 14, 2006, a Wisconsin man who spent 18 years in prison for a rape he didnt commit settled his lawsuit against Manitowoc County for $400,000. Hell likely use the money to defend himself against a …
Wisconsin Prison Psychiatrists License Suspended After Prisoners Death by Gary Hunter Wisconsin Prison Psychiatrists License Suspended After Prisoners Death by Gary Hunter Yoges Pareek, had his medical license suspended by the Wisconsin Examining Board in October 2005. Pareek is a former psychiatrist at the Waupun Correctional Institution (WCT). He was …
