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Immunity Granted to Wisconsin Sex Offenders in Treatment

Article • January 15, 2004 • from PLN January, 2004

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Disciplinary Hearings, Self Incrimination, Probation, Sex Offender Treatment

Immunity Granted to Wisconsin Sex Offenders in Treatment by Immunity Granted to Wisconsin Sex Offenders in Treatment The Wisconsin Supreme Court has held that Gary Tate is entitled to immunity for statements made at court imposed sex offender treatment, and the revocation of his probation for refusing to make admissions …

Overt Act Unnecessary to Allege Conspiracy Claim in 7th Circuit

Article • August 15, 2003 • from PLN August, 2003

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Civil Procedure, Complaints, Conspiracy (Civil Procedure), Wrongful Imprisonment

Overt Act Unnecessary to Allege Conspiracy Claim in 7th Circuit by The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that it is not necessary to allege an overt act to state a conspiracy claim. The court also held that dismissal of a prisoner's retaliation claim for failure …

Pregnant Wisconsin Prisoner Punished for Sexual Contact While Guard Walks Free

Article • August 15, 2003 • from PLN August, 2003

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Mental Health, State Legislation

Pregnant Wisconsin Prisoner Punished for Sexual Contact While Guard Walks Free by Lonnie Burton In December, 2002, a mentally ill female prisoner at the Taycheedah Correctional Institution (TCI) in Wisconsin was given a year of solitary confinement after being impregnated by a prison guard, while the guard, Mathew Emery, was …

No Right to Renounce Citizenship - U.S. Not "at War"

Article • July 15, 2003 • from PLN July, 2003

Filed under: Classification, Out of State Transfers, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Habeas Corpus, Immigration

No Right to Renounce Citizenship - U.S. Not "at War" by No Right to Renounce Citizenship - U.S. Not "at War" Judge Bernice B. Donald of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee has denied habeas corpus relief to a Wisconsin prisoner seeking to renounce his …

Wisconsin Lacks Authority Over Funds of Out-of-State Prisoners

Article • May 15, 2003 • from PLN May, 2003

Filed under: Classification, Out of State Transfers, Appeals, Filing Fees, Habeas Corpus, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Wisconsin Lacks Authority Over Funds of Out-of-State Prisoners by A federal court in Wisconsin held that the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WDOC) lacks the authority to divert the funds of an out-of-state prisoner into a release account, or to cause the receiving state to do so. In 1998, Wisconsin prisoner …

Parents of Deceased Wisconsin Boot Camp Prisoner Settle for $462,000

Article • March 15, 2003 • from PLN October, 2004

Filed under: Respiratory, Boot Camps, Wrongful Death, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Parents of Deceased Wisconsin Boot Camp Prisoner Settle for $462,000 by The parents of a Wisconsin state prisoner who died due to exercise stress after his medical complaints were ignored settled their wrongful death suit for $462,000. The Homeslys were parents of a male 20-year-old Wisconsin state prisoner who died …

Sandin Applied to Wisconsin Sexual Offender Civil Commitment

Article • March 15, 2003 • from PLN March, 2003

Filed under: Liberty Interests, Conditions of Confinement, Transportation, Restraints, Civil Commitment

Sandin Applied to Wisconsin Sexual Offender Civil Commitment by In analyzing a district court's order finding Richard Thielman, a sexual offender civil committee, did not have a liberty interest from being restrained by waistchains, blackbox, and leg irons when being transported outside the Wisconsin Resource Center for medical treatment, the …

Failure to Timely Raise Exhaustion Defense Waives that Defense

Article • February 15, 2003 • from PLN February, 2003

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Civil Procedure, Defenses, Class Certification

Failure to Timely Raise Exhaustion Defense Waives that Defense by Failure To Timely Raise Exhaustion Defense Waives That Defense In a successful class-action 42 USC § 1983 civil rights complaint brought by seriously mentally ill Wisconsin Supermax prisoners for injunctive relief [see 164 F.Supp.2d 1096], prison official defendants' motion to …

7th Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity on ETS Claim

Article • January 15, 2003 • from PLN January, 2003

Filed under: Medical, Respiratory, Allergy, Smoking, Qualified Immunity

7th Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity on ETS Claim by The Seventh Circuit Court of Ap-peals held that prison officials were not entitled to qualified immunity on a claim of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Wisconsin DOC prisoner Chad J. Alvarado brought suit against prison officials alleging an Eighth Amendment …

Prisoners, Politics, Money and the Census

Article • November 15, 2002 • from PLN November, 2002

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Voting, Crime/Demographics, Census, State Legislation

Prisoners, Politics, Money and the Census by Gary Hunter It's a standing joke that the Texas economy has been grounded in the 3 C's: cattle, crude, and convicts. But while Texas gets most of the publicity for its massive prison build-up, the human-warehousing trend is literally sweeping the countrysideand it …

Prison Guards Can Be Liable for Prisoner Suicide

Article • November 15, 2002 • from PLN November, 2002

Filed under: Medical, Appendicitis, Food, Qualified Immunity, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides

Prison Guards Can Be Liable for Prisoner Suicide by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed and remanded the dismissal of a 42 U.S.C. §1983 suit against Wisconsin prison officials. In so ruling, the court held that prison guards can be held liable under Eighth Amendment "deliberate indifference" claims …

Settlement Agreement Reached in Wisconsin Supermax Suit

Article • November 15, 2002 • from PLN November, 2002

Filed under: Food, Exercise, Exposure to Cold, Reading Materials, Lighting, Exposure to Heat, Restraints, Education, Telephone Access, Ad-Seg Hearings, Mental Health

Settlement Agreement Reached in Wisconsin Supermax Suit by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) officials settled the 42 USC § 1983 class action civil rights suit brought by seriously mentally ill prisoners housed in the Boscobel, WI Supermax state prison by agreeing not to …

Wisconsin DOC in Contempt for Not Collecting PLRA Fees

Article • August 15, 2002 • from PLN August, 2002

Filed under: Classification, Out of State Transfers, Filing Fees (PLRA), Contempt (Civil Procedure)

Wisconsin DOC in Contempt for Not Collecting PLRA Fees by Wisconsin DOC in Contempt For Not Collecting PLRA Fees The US District Court (E.D. Wis.) issued an Order to Show Cause to Wisconsin DOC Secretary Jon E. Litscher as to why he should not be held in contempt for declaring …

Forced AA/NA for Parolee Defeats Qualified Immunity

Article • June 15, 2002 • from PLN June, 2002

Filed under: Parole, Qualified Immunity, Mental Health, Drug Treatment/Rehab, Required Religious Programming

Forced AA/NA for Parolee Defeats Qualified Immunity by A Wisconsin federal district court has held that officials are not entitled to qualified immunity when they require atheist parolees to participate in religious based substance abuse programs. John Bausch, a former prisoner and parolee, filed an action under 42 U.S.C. § …

Failure to Timely Pay Filing Fee Dismissal Reversed

Article • May 15, 2002 • from PLN May, 2002

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Filing Fees, Sanctions

Failure to Timely Pay Filing Fee Dismissal Reversed by The Court of Appeals for the Seventh circuit held that a district court erred when it dismissed a prisoner's suit for failure to pay the filing fee in a timely manner. Bernard Beyer, a Wisconsin prisoner held in a private prison …

Wisconsin Ban on Sexually Explicit Materials Unconstitutional

Article • May 15, 2002 • from PLN May, 2002

Filed under: Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Civil Procedure, Summary Judgment, Settlements, Class Notice, Sexually Explicit Materials, Tapes/Music (Mail)

Wisconsin Ban on Sexually Explicit Materials Unconstitutional by Bob Williams The Federal District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin has denied a motion for summary judgment finding the Wisconsin Department of Corrections' (WDOC) ban on sexually explicit materials violated prisoners' First Amendment freedom of speech and Fourteenth Amendment due …

Wisconsin Jail Settles Escape Lawsuit with Escapee

Article • May 15, 2002 • from PLN May, 2002

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Escapes, Settlements

Wisconsin Jail Settles Escape Lawsuit with Escapee by In September, 2001, Wausau Insurance, the insurer for the city of Shawano, Wisconsin, agreed to pay Nicholas Bishop, 22, $5,000 to settle a lawsuit Bishop had filed against the city in federal court in Madison. The lawsuit claimed that two city policemen …

"Barbaric Conditions" At Wisconsin Supermax Result in Preliminary Injunction To Transfer Mentally Ill Prisoners

Article • April 15, 2002 • from PLN April, 2002

Filed under: Medication, Food, Exercise, Lighting, Restraints, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

"Barbaric Conditions" At Wisconsin Supermax Result in Preliminary Injunction To Transfer Mentally Ill Prisoners by John E Dannenberg "Barbaric Conditions" At Wisconsin Supermax Result in Preliminary Injunction To Transfer Mentally Ill Prisoners by John Dannenberg Noting that the Eighth Amendment's cruel and unusual punishment clause protects the mental health of …

Wisconsin Medical Care Substandard, Even for Prisoners

Article • April 15, 2002 • from PLN April, 2002

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Medication, Systemic Medical Neglect, Respiratory, Dental Care, Appendicitis, Hepatitis, Staffing, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), State Legislation

Wisconsin Medical Care Substandard, Even for Prisoners by Gary Hunter Michelle Greer had asthma, the operative word being had past tense. Her asthma no longer exists because Michelle Greer is dead. On February 29, 2000, at the Taycheedah Correctional Institution, she died of an asthma attack, suffocated by the apathy …

Jonesel v. Berge, WI, Order Injunction, Mental Health Supermax, 2001

Brief • October 10, 2001

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Mental Health

Jonesel v. Berge, WI, Order Injunction, Mental Health Supermax, 2001 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN --------------------------------------------DENNIS E. JONES `EL, MICHAEL JOHNSON, DE'ONDRE CONQUEST, LUIS NIEVES, SCOTT SEAL, ALEX FIGUEROA, ROBERT SALLIE, CHAD GOETSCH, EDWARD PISCITELLO, QUINTIN L'MINGGIO, LORENZO BALLI, DONALD BROWN, CHRISTOPHER SCARVER, …