PLRA's Attorney Fee Cap Held Unconstitutional by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg A federal district court in Wisconsin held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) cap on recovery of attorney fees in successful prisoner civil rights complaints violated Fifth Amendment equal protection principles and determined that $80,000 …
Failure to Notify Prisoner of Hearing Violates Procedural Rights by The Supreme Court of Wisconsin found that when prison officials ignore their own rules requiring a prisoner to be notified of the date, time, and location of disciplinary proceedings against him, the prisoner's fundamental rights are violated and the disciplinary …
Wisconsin Prisoners to Farm Worms by The Wisconsin Department of Corrections gained approval of the state Building Commission on November 22, 2000 to construct a $765,000 building at the Oshkosh Correctional Institution to house a "vermi-composting" operation as part of the DOC prison industries program. Prisoners working in the building …
Riot at CCA Prison Hospitalizes 15 Guards by Gary Hunter A minor riot on July 15 2000, left fifteen guards and one prisoner injured at the North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre, Oklahoma. Six guards were sent to area hospitals where they were treated for minor cuts and bruises. One …
Bag'm, Tag'm and Bury'm; Wisconsin Prisoners Dying for Health Care by Dan Pens [The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (www.jsonline.com) published an investigative series titled: "Wisconsin's Death Penalty," by Mary Zahn and Jessica McBride, October 22-24, 2000. Wisconsin doesn't have capital punishment, but the Journal Sentinel revealed the routine "execution" of state …
Wisconsin Supermax Bans Local Paper by When the southwestern Wisconsin town of Boscobel celebrated the grand opening of a 509bed supermax prison in September 1999, the festive atmosphere was likened to a carnival or state fair so happy were the townspeople to bring in jobs, jobs, jobs. Venders hawked sodas, …
Family Impact of Out of State Transfers Immaterial by The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit held that no due process right of minor children was violated when their imprisoned mother was transferred to a federal prison in West Virginia from a Wisconsin prison. Carin Froehlich is a Wisconsin …
Wisconsin Ban on Crosses Struck Down by The court of appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a Wisconsin prison rule banning crosses unless it was attached to a rosary violated the First amendment rights of Protestants. This is the latest installment in a long running lawsuit over the Wisconsin …
WI DOC Ends Censorship of PLN by In early August 2000, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) announced it would end its haphazard ban on PLN in Wisconsin prisons. Since January 2000, some Wisconsin prisons had refused to allow prisoners to subscribe or renew their subscriptions to PLN by paying …
Wisconsin Prisoners Rebel at Private Tennessee Prison by On November 30, 1999, Wisconsin state prison officials were touring the Whiteville Correctional Facility (WCF) in Tennessee. The prison is operated by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and houses 1,500 Wisconsin prisoners. Just minutes after WCF warden Percy Pitzer led an entourage …
Seventh Circuit Prisoners Must Exhaust Futile Grievance Remedies by In two separate rulings, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that prisoners must exhaust administrative remedies before filing suit, regardless of the relief sought and no matter how ineffectual the prison grievance system may be. Eduardo Perez, a Wisconsin …
Habeas Challenging Transfer to Private Prison Dismissed by The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit held that habeas corpus was not the proper means to challenge a state statute allowing states to confine their prisoners in private prisons in other states. The court also held that a lawsuit challenging …
Wisconsin Release Account Used to Pay Filing Fees by A federal district court in Wisconsin held that a prisoner's "release account" can be used to pay PLRA filing fees. The Wisconsin DOC takes a percentage of prisoners' money which it places in an account that can only be accessed when …
IFP Plaintiffs Must Have Opportunity to Challenge Reasons for "Bad Faith" Certifications by The U.S. court of appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that prisoners, who proceed in forma pauperis (IFP) before a district court, are entitled to an opportunity to give reasons justifying an appeal, whenever a district court …
Federal Parolee Has Right to Hearing Under 18 USC § 4211(a)(2) by Federal Parolee Has Right to Hearing Under 18 USC § 4211(a)(2) The Seventh Circuit court of appeals has held that a pre-Guidelines federal parolee has the right to a hearing under 18 U.S.C. § 4211(a)(2), five years after …
No Exhaustion Required in Wisconsin When Only Money Damages Are Sought by A federal district court in Wisconsin held that Wisconsin prisoners filing suit and seeking only money damages, are not required to exhaust their administrative remedies under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) because the Wisconsin prison grievance system does not …
PLRA Doesn't Require Notice of Claim for Exhaustion by Afederal district court in Wisconsin held that 42 U. S.C. 1997e(a) of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) does not require prisoners to file a notice of claim with the state attorney general's office in order to exhaust their administrative remedies. …
Denial of Pain Medication Violates Eighth Amendment by The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit held that a guard's denial of prescribed pain medication to a prisoner undergoing cancer treatment violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. James Ralston, a Wisconsin state prisoner, was given radiation …
Wisconsin Prisoners Stage Food Protest by On January 18 and 19, 1999, Wisconsin prisoners housed at a private prison in Sayre, Oklahoma, refused to show up at the prison's chow hall for meals. John Wisener, chief of security at the North Fork Correctional Center, said that only 75-80 of the …
Mitigation Instruction and Excluding Indemnification Evidence Reversible Error by The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit held that a district court erred when it did not allow a jail detainee plaintiff to introduce evidence of a state indemnification statute after the defendants told a jury that a damages verdict …
