Censorship of Religious Mail Reversed by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that a district court erred when it dismissed, for failure to state a claim, a Missouri prisoner's lawsuit that mail sent by the Moorish Science Temple was wrongly censored. The appeals court held that while …
MO Jury Awards $781,000 in BOP Suicide by On July 7, 1998 a federal jury in Missouri awarded the estate of a federal prisoner $781,000. William Chilton was serving a 30 month sentence for bank fraud. When he entered the federal prison system he was taking Desryl and Xanax to …
Jury Instructions on Eighth Amendment Claim by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that a district court erred in sua sponte awarding nominal damages to a Missouri prisoner after a jury found his Eighth amendment rights had been violated by a guard who slammed a food service …
Prevailing Pro Se Prisoners Entitled to Costs, But Not Fees by Successful pro se prisoner litigants are entitled to costs under FRCP 54(d). They are not entitled to attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. A Female prisoner in Missouri and prison employee she later married filed suit claiming they …
Religious Headgear Ban Upheld by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit upheld Missouri prison if rules banning Moorish Science Temple prisoners from wearing a fez and rules requiring a prison guard to attend all religious services held by prisoners. The court gives ample discussion to religious rights in …
Court Questions Prison Administrative Remedies by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that a federal prisoner in Missouri's lawsuit should be stayed while he exhausted administrative remedies. This is no longer good law since the PLRA was enacted. Court's comment is useful: "We question whether any adequate …
No Right to Interest Bearing Accounts by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that Missouri prisoners have no right to open or continue making bank deposits into interest bearing accounts. Prisons are not obligated to pay interest on trust fund accounts. Note that other courts have held …
Mail Between Prisoner and Former Prison Employee Allowed by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit granted habeas relief to a wheelchair bound, paraplegic BOP prisoner in Missouri who was denied correspondence with a former female BOP employee he became romantically involved with. The court held that on the …
Prisoners Win Conditions Suit by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit affirmed a lower court ruling enjoining overcrowding, inadequate medical care, ad seg procedures and other assorted constitutional violations in a Missouri prison. See: Burks v. Teasdale, 603 F.2d 59 (8th Cir. 1979).
Protective Custody Conditions Suit Remanded by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that a lower court erred when it dismissed as frivolous a lawsuit that Missouri prisoners in Protective Custody (PC) were deprived of religious services, only received 45 minutes of exercise a week, were denied adequate …
Jail Vermin States Claim by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit, sitting en Banc, held that a Missouri jail prisoner had stated a constitutional claim because he was held in a six foot by six foot cell for 72 hours at a time and allowed only one fifteen …
Disparate Treatment of PC Prisoners, Denial of Exercise States Claim by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that claims of disparate treatment of Missouri prisoners in protective custody was not frivolous and stated an equal protection claim. Limiting the PC prisoners to only 45 minutes of outdoor …
No Right to Artificial Insemination by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that a BOP prisoner in Missouri had no right to artificially inseminate his wife, assuming prisoners retain a right to procreate after incarceration. One judge dissented and would have ruled in the prisoner's favor. The …
Prisoner Cannot Be Punished for Engaging in Permitted Conduct by The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a district court jury verdict in favor of a prison warden who punished a prisoner for engaging in conduct not prohibited by prison rules. Larry Coffman, a prisoner at Missouri …
Damages Denied, Surgery Ordered in Prisoner Medical Claim by The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Missouri District Court's denial of damages in a prisoner's 42 U.S.C. §1983 medical claim but reversed the denial of equitable relief. Van Johnson was a prisoner at the Missouri State Penitentiary (MSP). …
Attorney Fee Awards Determined on Case Facts by The United States Supreme Court held that the amount of an attorney fee 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 …
Punitive Damages Can Be Awarded in § 1983 Claim by Punitive Damages can be Awarded in § 1983 Claim The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a jury verdict of the United States District Court of the Western District of Missouri in favor of an assaulted prisoner. The court also …
Eighth Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment in Failure to Protect Claim by The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the District Court for the Western District of Missouri on that court's grant of summary judgment to a prison captain in a prisoner's failure to protect claim. Michael Cleaver, a …
Prisoners' Rights to Correspond and Marry Upheld by The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, upholding the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, affirmed the rights of prisoners to correspond and marry. The case was a 42 U.S.C. § 1983, class-action suit against the Missouri Department of …
Prisoners Have Right to Correspond and Marry by The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, in a class-action suit under 42 U.S.C. §1983, held that the Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) policies prohibiting prisoner-to-prisoner correspondence and generally prohibiting prisoners from getting married, violated fundamental constitutional rights. The …
