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 …
Weapon Possession in Federal Prison Always Considered a "Violent Offense" by The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit held that possession of any weapons in prison constitute a "violent offense" for federal sentencing guidelines purposes. Grant Vahovick, a federal prisoner, stabbed prisoner Jeremy Darin in the head and neck …
Wisconsin Resists Out-of-State Transfers by In October, 1996, Wisconsin's legislature granted the Department of Corrections (WDOC) authorization to house 700 prisoners in Texas County Jails. WDOC Secretary Michael Sullivan overcame the opposition to that first prisoner-export proposal by assuring the public that the crossborder option was merely a stop-gap measure …
Trial Required in Wisconsin Excessive Force Suit by Afederal district court in Wisconsin held that a trial was required to determine if excessive force was used during a prison cell search. The court held that defendant prison officials had failed to present sufficient evidence to support their motion for summary …
Abuse of Prisoners Confirmed at CCA Facility by On August 5, 1998, Jerry Reeves, a guard at Tennessee's Whiteville Correctional Facility (WCF), suffered near-fatal injuries in an altercation with prisoners. WCF, which houses prisoners from Wisconsin, is owned and operated by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). In the days …
Abuse of Discretion to Dismiss Medical Suit by The Seventh Circuit court of appeals has held that a district court abused its discretion when, on technical procedural grounds, it refused to grant a prisoner leave to amend his suit adding the full names of defendants and dismissed the suit. Ralphfield …
Seventh Circuit Split on Self-Defense in Prison by The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit held that a federal prisoner criminally charged with assault could not assert a defense of self defense when he had the time and opportunity to seek protection from guards. Charles Haynes was a prisoner …
Court Responsible for Prisoner Access to Teleconference by The Court of Appeals for the State of Wisconsin held that the court is responsible for a pro se prisoner's access to a telephone to attend a court-ordered teleconference hearing. Debra Christie, a Wisconsin prisoner, filed a pro se state petition for …
PLRA Physical Injury Requirement Does Not Apply to Ex-Cons by The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit held that the PLRA's physical injury requirement does not apply to suits filed after a prisoner is released from prison. The court also held that secular substance abuse programs do not violate …
Wisconsin Transfers Spark Protest by On Sunday June 28, 1998, prisoners at the Fox Lake Correctional Institution staged a protest against the scheduled transfer of 160 Wisconsin prisoners to a private prison in Oklahoma. According to eye-witnesses, about 155 prisoners refused orders to return to their cells from a recreation …
PLRA Fees Don't Apply to Mandamus by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit held "that this circuit will no longer require mandatory fees under the PLRA for filing petitions for writs of mandamus seeking to compel district courts to hear and decide actions brought solely under 28 U.S.C. …
PLRA Filing fees Don't Apply to Civil Commitments by PLRA Filing Fees Don't Apply to Civil Commitments: A federal district court in Wisconsin held that the filing fee provisions of the PLRA do not apply to so called "sex predators" civilly committed in detention facilities for "treatment." 28 U.S.C. § …
