Search | Prison Legal News

Rehabilitation Act, Title II of ADA, Held Unconstitutional

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Boot Camps, Civil Procedure, Defenses, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Eleventh Amendment Immunity

Rehabilitation Act, Title II of ADA, Held Unconstitutional by In two separate rulings the courts of appeal for the Fourth and Fifth Circuits have held that section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (RA), 29 U.S.C. §794(a), and, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §12312, do …

Delay in MAP Implementation Violates Washington Law

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole

Delay in MAP Implementation Violates Washington Law by The Washington State Court of Appeals held that the Washington parole board (Board) violated statutes and its own procedures by imposing a Mutual Agreement Program (MAP) with no time frame. The court also held that the Board must clarify a prisoner's right …

PI Issued in Arizona Internet Communications Ban

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Injunctions (PLRA), Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Death Penalty, Mail Regulations, Media, Internet, State Legislation

PI Issued in Arizona Internet Communications Ban by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg On December 16, 2002, the U.S. District Court (D. Ariz.) granted plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction (PI) enjoining the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADOC) from enforcing laws arising from Arizona House Bill 2376 (HB …

California Approves Forced DNA Extractions

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Searches, DNA Testing/Samples, State Legislation

California Approves Forced DNA Extractions by California's Governor Gray Davis authorized the use of force to take DNA samples from state prisoners, when he signed Senate Bill 1242 into law on Sept. 17, 2002. Existing California Penal Code §§ 296, 296.1 and 296.2 codify the requirement and procedure for taking …

Forced DNA Sampling of California Prisoners Upheld

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Gender Discrimination -- Women, DNA Testing/Samples, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Row

Forced DNA Sampling of California Prisoners Upheld by The California Court of Appeals upheld the California Department of Corrections (CDC) procedure of forcibly collecting blood and saliva DNA samples from prisoners convicted of specified violent crimes, including capital murder. Rejecting the privacy claims of eight women on Death Row, the …

Murder, Mayhem, Corruption and Snitches: BOP Florence Exposed

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Gang Policies, Racial Discrimination, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Prison/Jail Murders, Informants, Escapes, Failure to Protect (General), Guard Brutality/Beatings, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Guard Unions

Murder, Mayhem, Corruption and Snitches: BOP Florence Exposed by Bob Williams Located in the gently rolling hills of Southern Colorado, dotted with juniper, poplar and cedar trees, Florence is a quiet, small town that was once a prison town without a prison. At just over 5,000 town residents, Florence shares …

Arizona Guards Continue to Rape Prisoners

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct

Arizona Guards Continue to Rape Prisoners by Michael Rigby Two guards at Arizona's Perryville prison are facing numerous charges, substantiated by internal investigations, of sexual misconduct with prisoners. Derrick Renard Allen was indicted in late April 2002 by a state grand jury on 8 counts of sexual assault and 2 …

New Jersey Jail Guards Awarded $1.2 Million Following Retaliation for Protesting Jail Conditions

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Gender Discrimination -- Women, Racial Discrimination, Retaliation, Retaliation for Media Contact, Retaliation against Staff, Overcrowding, Employee Litigation, Guard Unions

New Jersey Jail Guards Awarded $1.2 Million Following Retaliation for Protesting Jail Conditions by On April 10, 2002, a federal jury in New Jersey awarded four Atlantic County Jail guards $300,000 each for retaliation taken against them after they publicly protested unsafe jail conditions. In May, 1997, Edward Clopp, Noriss …

California Guards Convicted of Arranging Prison Beatings, New Conspiracy Accusations Leveled

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Gang Policies, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Prison/Jail Murders, Informants, Failure to Protect (General), Attorney Misconduct, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Guard Unions

California Guards Convicted of Arranging Prison Beatings, New Conspiracy Accusations Leveled by by Marvin Mentor On May 15, 2002, a federal criminal jury convicted two Pelican Bay State Prison (CA) guards of violating the civil rights of eight prisoners whom they conspired to have beaten and stabbed - two fatally; …

Georgia Parole Board's "90% Policy" Ruled Ex Post Facto

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole

Georgia Parole Board's "90% Policy" Ruled Ex Post Facto by Georgia Parole Board's "90% Policy" Ruled Ex Post Facto by John E. Dannenberg The United States District Court (N.D. Ga.) held that the retroactive application by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles ("Board") of its 1998 policy revision requiring …

$400,000 Jury Award in Illinois Ruptured Appendix Suit

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Medical, Appendicitis, Gastrointestinal, Damages

$400,000 Jury Award in Illinois Ruptured Appendix Suit by In April, 2002, a federal jury in East St. Louis, Illinois, awarded $400,000 in damages to former prisoner David Sherrod, finding that Illinois Department of Corrections medical staff had shown deliberate indifference to his medical needs by failing to treat a …

PLRA Requires More Than De Minimus Physical Injury

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Overcrowding, Eighth Amendment, Jail Specific, Physical Injury Rule, Damages

PLRA Requires More Than De Minimus Physical Injury by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that 42 U.S.C. §1997e(e) requires a prisoner demonstrate more than de minimus physical injury to receive compensatory damages for mental and emotional claims. Pre-trial detainee Eric Oliver filed a civil rights action alleging …

Property Use Versus Non-Use Texas Tort Claim Standard Explained in Medical Death Claim

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Medication, Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Sovereign Immunity, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Property Use Versus Non-Use Texas Tort Claim Standard Explained in Medical Death Claim by by Matthew T. Clarke The Texas Supreme Court (TSC) has held that using pain medication to fatally mask meningitis symptoms was not a "use" of tangible state property within the meaning of the Texas Tort Claims …

Idaho Free Speech Claim Reinstated, Voluntary Dismissal Clarified

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Nervous System, Disciplinary Hearings, Legality of Rules, Retaliatory Discipline, Grooming Rules, Complaints

Idaho Free Speech Claim Reinstated, Voluntary Dismissal Clarified by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that factual issues precluded summary judgment on a prisoner's free speech claim and that dismissal with prejudice of his remaining claims was an abuse of discretion. Idaho prison regulations require prisoners to shave daily. …

State Tolling Statute Applied in § 1983 Action

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Limitations

State Tolling Statute Applied in § 1983 Action by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that an underlying state tolling statute applied to a state prisoner's 42 USC § 1983 civil rights complaint, thus giving him time to complete his administrative …

Warden, Security Director Liable for Iowa Guard's Sexual Assault of Prisoner, $45K Verdict Upheld

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Damages, Supervisory Liability

Warden, Security Director Liable for Iowa Guard's Sexual Assault of Prisoner, $45K Verdict Upheld by Affirming the judgments of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the jury verdict and the denial of post-trial motions in a case awarding …

Book Review: Law and the Rise of Capitalism

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Reviews, Court Access, Judiciary

Book Review: Law and the Rise of Capitalism by Peter Wagner by Michael E. Tigar & Madeleine R. Levy, New (2000) Edition by Michael E. Tigar, Monthly Review Press, 348 pages, $18.00 Review by Peter Wagner Famed litigator and scholar Michael Tigar has reissued his 1977 classic Law and the …

Johnson v. CCA, TN, Complaint, inmate-inmate assault gang in ad seg, 2003

Brief • April 15, 2003

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Prison Gangs, Failure to Protect (General), Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Informants (Failure to Protect)

Johnson v. CCA, TN, Complaint, inmate-inmate assault gang in ad seg, 2003 CCA-AF (6/2/14 PRA) 0276 CCA-AF (6/2/14 PRA) 0277 CCA-AF (6/2/14 PRA) 0278 CCA-AF (6/2/14 PRA) 0279 CCA-AF (6/2/14 PRA) 0280 CCA-AF (6/2/14 PRA) 0281 CCA-AF (6/2/14 PRA) 0282 CCA-AF (6/2/14 PRA) 0283 CCA-AF (6/2/14 PRA) 0284 CCA-AF (6/2/14 …

Snyder v. Ross, IL, Answer, Hunger Strike over Denial of Muslim Diet, 2003

Brief • April 13, 2003

Filed under: Hunger Strikes, Religious Diet

Snyder v. Ross, IL, Answer, Hunger Strike over Denial of Muslim Diet, 2003 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST JUDICIAL CIRCUIT ALEXANDER COUNTY, ILLINOIS People of the State of Illinois, ex rel. DONALD SNYDER, No. 03-MR-27 Plaintiff, v. TYSHAWN ROSS, Defendant. ANSWER, AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES, AND COUNTERCLAIM Defendant, Tyshawn Ross, …

Gartrell v. Ashcroft, DC, Order, 2003

Brief • April 11, 2003

Gartrell v. Ashcroft, DC, Order, 2003 Gartrell v. Ashcroft, Not Reported in F.3d (2003) 2003 WL 1873847 Only the Westlaw citation is currently available. United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. Isadore GARTRELL, et al., Appellees v. John D. ASHCROFT, et al., Appellants No. 02-5179. | April 11, …