VA Death Row Prisoners Not Entitled to Appointed Counsel by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that indigent death row prisoners did not have a constitutional right to counsel at state expense when pursuing habeas corpus relief in state courts. Prisoners on Virginia's death row brought …
Summary Judgment Granted to Virginia Jail Officials in Pretrial Detainee's Death by Summary Judgment Granted to Virginia Jail Officials in Pretrial Detainee's Death The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a District Court's grant of summary judgment dismissing a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging Eighth Amendment claims of deliberate …
Virginia's One-Ounce Incoming Mail Policy Upheld by A Virginia federal district court has upheld a Virginia Department of Corrections policy that limits a prisoner's incoming mail to a one- ounce envelope. The prisoner filed suit under 42 U.S.C. §1983, alleging the policy, Division Operating Procedure 851, violated the First Amendment. …
Qualified Immunity Denied In Use Of 5-Point Restraint by A Federal District Court in Virginia has held that prison officials are not entitled to qualified immunity on excessive force, racial discrimination, and due process claims rising from use of 5-point restraints. Trini Davis, a prisoner at Wallens Ridge State Prison …
Virginia Prisoner's § 1983 Action Over Prison Policies Dismissed by Virginia Prisoner's § 1983 Action Over Prison Policies Dismissed The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, granted summary judgment against a prisoner's § 1983 action in which he claimed harassment, denial of access to …
Virginia Jail Acted Under Color Of State Law For § 1983 Purposes by Virginia Jail Acted Under Color Of State Law For § 1983 Purposes The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held that a jail had acted under color of state law for purposes of …
Virginia Supreme Court Resolves Administrative Exhaustion Issues in VDOC Sexual Assault Suit by The Virginia Supreme Court reversed a trial court's dismissal of a prisoner's suit alleging sexual abuse by a Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) employee. VDOC prisoner Paula Billups was assigned to work in the kitchen at the …
Coerced Participation in Religious Substance Abuse Program Unconstitutional; Prison Officials Granted Qualified Immunity by Coerced Participation in Religious Substance Abuse Program Unconstitutional; Prison Officials Granted Qualified Immunity A Virginia federal district court held that officials at the Indian Creek Correctional Center violated a prisoner's First Amendment rights under the Establishment …
Criminal Contempt Requires Criminal Procedure Rights by The U.S. Supreme Court held that imposing a criminal contempt fine without benefit of a jury trial is unconstitutional. The International Union and the United Mine Workers of America (petitioners) were enjoined from collectively conducting unlawful strike related activities against the Clinchfield Coal …
Stun Gun Claim Properly Exhausted by Defendants said plaintiff's grievances were rejected because he didn't first file an informal grievance, so he hadn't exhausted. The plaintiff said he did indeed file an informal grievance, and he produced a copy. Also he produced his copy of the second grievance, which showed …
Suit Over Virginia DOC Drug Testing Practices Dismissed by The plaintiffs alleged that Virginia accepted money under the Violent Offenders Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants program, which require it to implement a program of controlled substance testing for drug use, which must be consistent with the Attorney General's guidelines. The …
Limits on Free Legal Supplies in Virginia Upheld by The plaintiff said prison officials did not provide him enough legal supplies and asked for a preliminary injunction. At 671-72: "The mere fact that he has chosen to pursue four lawsuits at one time does not require prison officials to alter …
Beating, Tasering Claim Withstands Summary Judgment by The plaintiff alleged that he was beaten and repeatedly shocked with an electric stun gun by staff without justification and while he was in restraints. These allegations are sufficient to defeat summary judgment for defendants since the conduct alleged is "repugnant to the …
Virginia Jail Housing Fee Upheld by A Virginia statute allows local and regional jails to charge inmates a daily fee of no more than $1.00 a day to help defray the costs of their incarceration. The court dismisses at preliminary screening for failure to state a claim. There is no …
No Liability for Medical Neglect Death of Mental Patient by The plaintiff, involuntarily committed to a civil mental hospital, suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She was prescribed clozapine, which presented risks for someone in her condition and also caused weight gain, which further aggravated the risk. Her problems were …
No One Liable in Jail Prisoner's Mysterious Death by The decedent, a 39-year-old homemaker, dropped her kids off at school, then was arrested for driving while drugged because she was having difficulty speaking and walking. A few hours later she was found strangled to death. Nobody knows who did it …
Government Agent Authorizes Drug Deals Behind Bars by The Western District of Virginia on remand from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that estoppel by entrapment does not require that a government actor was correct in his representation. Michael Fulcher, his wife Ethel and his mother Rosanna created a …
U.S. Supreme Court Invalidates Violence Against Women Act by The United States Supreme Court held that the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA), 42 U.S.C. § 13981, is unconstitutional as an exercise of Congressional power under both the Commerce Clause, Article I, section 8, U.S. Constitution, and section 5 …
Monitored Jail Phone Calls Admissible Evidence by The criminal defendants' telephone conversations were tape-recorded pursuant to standard jail policy. They could be used as evidence notwithstanding the protections against telephone surveillance of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act. Their recording fell into the statute's exception for interception "by …
Disabled Prisoner's Handcuffing Suit Proceeds to trial Under RA by The plaintiff alleged that he was injured when prison staff ignored an order to handcuff him in front because of a medical problem with his shoulder, which he said resulted in dislocation of his shoulder. The plaintiff alleged a violation …
