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Retaliatory Harassment and Transfer of Law Clerk Nets $2,100 Award by A federal district court in Tennessee, after a bench trial, held that the Warden at Tennessee State Prison (TSP) violated a prisoner's right to access to the courts for taking retaliatory action against the prisoner. After the prisoner helped …
Seventh Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Race/Exposure Claims by In an unpublished order, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of an Illinois prisoner's racial discrimination and pepper spray exposure claims. Illinois prisoner Johnnie Flournoy brought suit in federal court asserting several unrelated constitutional violations. The district court dismissed …
Article • May 15, 2007
Class Certification Explained by As to numerosity (at 286): "Numbers alone are not dispositive when the numbers are small, but will dictate impracticability when the numbers are large." Here there are at least 168 members, far more than necessary to establish numerosity. Other factors supporting certification include that most class …
Article • May 15, 2007
Trial Court Must Make Fact Findings Before Ordering Stun Belt by The application of a stun belt to a criminal defendant is governed by the same considerations and body of law as restraint devices. Such a decision "must be subjected to close judicial scrutiny to determine if there was an …
Article • May 15, 2007
Court Authorizes Use of Stun Belt on Criminal Defendant by The requirement that the criminal defendant wear a stun belt during his trial is upheld given the defendant's "rare combination of skill, ingenuity, cunning, and fearlessness" and his love of attempting to escape (extensively described), not to mention his violent …
Article • May 15, 2007
No Prejudice in 45 Uniformed Guards Presence at Murder Trial of Guard by The Florida Supreme Court has held that the presence of forty-five uniformed prison guards at a prisoner's trial for the murder of a guard was not a prejudicial influence on the jury. The Court's ruling came in …
Prisoner Legal Aide's Firing Upheld for Violating Prison Rules by The plaintiff was terminated from the prison legal clinic after misusing his position to send mail to unauthorized places and signed letters indicating he was the representative of other inmates, which was contrary to prison policy. He was fired after …
Article • May 15, 2007
Court Orders Leg Shackled for Criminal Defendant by The court makes findings of fact memorializing its decision to require the plaintiff to be leg- shackled during his jury trial. He had a history of one escape, significant mental disability, and numerous disciplinary charges. The court relied in part on the …
Article • May 15, 2007
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 …
Article • May 15, 2007
Prejudice Required for Courtroom Shackling Claim by The plaintiff's claim of courtroom shackling amounts only to harmless error, since only one juror saw the plaintiff in handcuffs and none saw his leg restraints. At 691: ". . . [A] jury's brief or inadvertent glimpse of a defendant in physical restraints …
Article • May 15, 2007
Having Won Compensatory Damages in State Court, Suit for Punitives Dismissed by The plaintiff, having won his excessive force case in the state Court of Claims and been awarded $3,151.38, cannot pursue an Eighth Amendment claim based on the same incident, even though he wished to pursue punitive damages, which …
Retaliatory Discipline Claims Dismissed, Conditions Claims Remain by The plaintiff's damage claim alleging that officers planted a key which led to a disciplinary proceeding in which he lost good time is barred by Heck v. Humphrey, as is his claim that the hearing itself was defective. In any case, federal …
Article • May 15, 2007
12 Day Delay Between Arrest, First Court Appearance Illegal by The law is clearly established that a pre-trial detainee cannot be held for 12 days before being brought before a judge or allowed to pay bail. This is another case where the plaintiff was picked up on a warrant, there …
Article • May 15, 2007
No Law Library Required When Defendant Has Standby Counsel by The criminal defendant elected to defend himself but contends that he should have had access to a law library. At 1051: . . . [P]retrial detainees are not entitled to law library usage if other available means of access to …
Article • May 15, 2007
No Court Access Claim for Loss of Legal Papers by The plaintiff alleged that his legal papers were lost, preventing him from making important submissions in his criminal appeal (in which he had counsel) and "perhaps" causing the loss of the new trial he obtained. At 261: "Interferences that merely …
Article • May 15, 2007
Third Circuit Terminates Prison Paralegal Clinic Injunction by Prison officials moved to terminate an injunction requiring a prisoner-run law clinic. Plaintiffs conceded that there was no current and ongoing constitutional violation, but said if the judgment is terminated there will be because the defendants will shut down the clinic. At …
Article • May 15, 2007
Cover Up of Police Misconduct May Violate Court Access Rights by Allegations that after a drunken police officer ran over the decedent, other police officers conspired to select a sobriety test the officer might beat, delayed administration of the test, intimidated witnesses, and destroyed material evidence at the crime scene, …
Legal Aid Lawyers Entitled to Fees in Jail Conditions Suit by Idaho jail prisoners filed suit over jail conditions. The jail was a converted house with rat droppings and a leaking sewage pipe in the kitchen, fire hazards caused by lack of exits, no law library access, including items such …
Article • May 15, 2007
Jail Detainees Have Right to Meet with Counsel by The court of appeals for the Third Circuit held that a district court erred in dismissing a Pennsylvania jail prisoner's claim that he was denied an adequate opportunity to meet with his trial lawyer to prepare his defense. The appeals court …
Article • May 15, 2007
Destruction of Court Papers States Claim by The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit held that an Illinois state prisoner had stated a claim for violation of his right to due process when jail guards destroyed court papers he needed to seek post conviction relief. Lower court erred in …
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