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 …
$279,000 Harassment Award Upheld in Missouri Nurses' Suit by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld judgment against Missouri Department of Corrections (MODOC) officials in favor of nurses who sued for retaliation and sexual harassment. The court also upheld attorney fee awards. Rebecca Hunt and Susan Nurnberg were recruited by …
$9,000 Jury Award Against Missouri: Religious Halfway House by A Missouri federal district court upheld a jury's verdict and damage award, but reversed the award of punitive damages. The suit was filed by a probationer sentenced to the Agape House, a state sponsored halfway house in Sedalia, who alleged the …
Eighth Circuit Denies Police Board Sovereign Immunity; Upholds ADA/RA Damages by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a case that may have implications for arrestees and prisoners nationwide, has denied Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity protection to a state-created police board and, splitting with the Sixth Circuit, has ruled that …
Sweat Patch Drug Test Admissible at BOP Parole Revocation Hearing by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that laboratory reports may be admitted into evidence at a federal parolee's revocation hearing without accompanying expert testimony. The Missouri parolee's supervised release revocation hearing ensued after he tested positive for cocaine …
Fugitive Disentitlement Rule by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the fugitive from justice rule does not mandate the automatic dismissal of a civil case under the fugitive rule. In May 1987, James Perko, while confined at a Missouri State Penitentiary, brought suit under § 1983 for deliberate …
BOP Rule Limiting Detainee's Ability to Publish Books Unconstitutional by A Missouri federal district court held that a Bureau of Prisons (BOP) regulation that limited an unconvicted prisoner's ability to produce and to have published manuscripts violated the prisoner's fundamental constitutional rights. This habeas corpus proceeding was filed by a …
$16,000 Paid in Excessive Force Use on Missouri Prisoner by While a prisoner at Missouri's Jackson County Prison, guards manacled 24-year-old Neil Houston to a bed for several days while he was stripped naked. His complaint for cruel and unusual punishment also alleged guards used excessive force when they entered …
Supreme Court Issues Test for Prison Rules by In response to a class action suit filed by prisoners, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Missouri prison's mail regulations were constitutionally valid, but its policy of not allowing prisoner marriages without the warden's approval was not. The Court also established, …
Seizure of MO Escapee's Prison Account Upheld by The Missouri Court of Appeals upheld the confiscation of a state prisoner's trust fund account after he escaped from work release and remained at large for a month. The defendant prison officials claimed he abandoned the funds when he escaped. The trial …
Consent Judgment Entered to Improve Confinement Conditions at MO Jail by A Missouri federal District Court approved a consent decree in litigation challenging conditions at the Jackson County Jail in Kansas City. The consent judgment requires jail authorities to: (1) fumigate the jail weekly for insects and rodents; (2) make …
