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Frivolous Qualified Immunity Appeals Warrant Sanctions

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Workplace Injury, Injury -- Misc., Attorney Fee Awards, Civil Procedure, Frivolous Litigation, Costs, Appeals, Sanctions, Qualified Immunity

Frivolous Qualified Immunity Appeals Warrant Sanctions by The court of appeals for the Sixth Circuit that it lacked jurisdiction over an interlocutory appeal from an order denying qualified immunity because the prison medical personnel defendants would not concede to view the facts in a light most favorable to the prisoner. …

Individual Capacity Claims Not Applicable to RA and ADA

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Civil Procedure, Defenses, Class Certification, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Qualified Immunity

Individual Capacity Claims Not Applicable to RA and ADA by Afederal district court in Colorado held that individual defendants in their individual capacities are not liable under the Rehabilitation Act (RA) or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Additionally, these defendants were held to be entitled to qualified immunity from …

Franklin Reversed; DC Prisoners Have No Right to Qualified Interpreters

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Disciplinary Hearings, Interpreters (Disciplinary Hearings), Parole, Interpreters

Franklin Reversed; DC Prisoners Have No Right to Qualified Interpreters by The court of appeals for the D. C. Circuit held that Spanish-speaking prisoners have no right to qualified interpreters at parole hearings, disciplinary hearings, or for medical and mental health treatment. Spanish-speaking prisoners in the District of Columbia (District) …

No Qualified Immunity for Texas Sheriff and CCRI Guards Who Abused Missouri Prisoners

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Out of State Transfers, Private Prisons, Capital Correctional Resources Inc, Contractor Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Strip Searches, Prison/Common Area Searches, Body Cavity Searches, Staffing, Clothing, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Stun Guns/Tasers, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Dogs, Qualified Immunity, Supervisory Liability, Municipal Liability, Contractor Liability

No Qualified Immunity for Texas Sheriff and CCRI Guards Who Abused Missouri Prisoners by by Matthew Clarke Afederal district court in Texas has ruled that prisoners who were kicked, bitten by dogs, shocked, and subjected to a public strip and body cavity search by untrained, improperly supervised private guards during …

No Liberty Interest in Illinois Parole Laws

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Liberty Interests, Parole

No Liberty Interest in Illinois Parole Laws by The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit held that Illinois prisoners have no liberty interest in parole. In doing so, the court overruled a prior ruling that had held otherwise. Two Illinois state prisoners filed a habeas corpus petition in federal …

Denial of Pain Medication Violates Eighth Amendment

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Medical, Medication, Pain, Cancer, Qualified Immunity

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 …

Washington 35% Law Struck Down by State Court

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Money/Property, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Washington 35% Law Struck Down by State Court by 0n May 17, 1999, King County (Seattle) superior court judge Glenna Hall held that RCW 72.09.480 was unconstitutional. In 1995 the Washington legislature enacted RCW 72.09.480 which mandates the seizure by the Department of Corrections (DOC) of 35% of all funds …

Washington Legislature Amends 35% Law, Again

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Death Row, Mail, Postage, State Legislation

Washington Legislature Amends 35% Law, Again by Paul Wright RCW 72.09:480 was enacted in 1995 as part of House Bill (FIB) 2410, a massive prisoner bashing bill that unanimously passed the legislature that year. RCW 72.09.480 was slipped into HB 2010 with no public hearings, debate or notice. The law …

Washington DOC Illegally Penalizes Indigents

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Money/Property, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Washington DOC Illegally Penalizes Indigents by On December 24, 1998, Thurston county superior court judge Daniel Bershauer held that Washington prison officials had unlawfully converted an indigent prisoner's funds. Roger Smith, a prisoner at the Airway Heights Correctional Center (AHCC), was indigent when he was sent $10. AHCC officials then …

Class Action Suits Challenge Rip-Off Prison and Jail Phone Rates

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

Class Action Suits Challenge Rip-Off Prison and Jail Phone Rates by Suit Filed in Illinois On May 5, 1999, a class action suit was filed by Illinois consumers who receive collect calls from Illinois state and county jail prisoners alleging that they are forced to pay exorbitant phone rates as …

FCC Requires Rate Disclosure for Prison Phones

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

FCC Requires Rate Disclosure for Prison Phones by The Federal Communications Commission, (FCC) has issued regulations mandating the disclosure rates consumers will actually pay for phone calls received from prisoners. Effective October 1, 1999, 47 C.F.R. § 67.710 "Operator Services for Prison Inmate Phones", states in its entirety: "(a) Each …

Kentucky Utilities Commission Reduces Prison and Jail Phone Rates

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

Kentucky Utilities Commission Reduces Prison and Jail Phone Rates by On January 10, 1999, the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) issued an order, requiring: prison and Jail phone service providers to reduce the rates they charge for prison and Jail collect calls to the tariff charged for non prison and …

Private Prison Operators Enter Medical Care Market

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Classification, Geriatric Classification, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Corrections National Corp, Justice Care Inc, Private Contractors

Private Prison Operators Enter Medical Care Market by Alex Friedmann As criminals receive longer sentences and serve a greater portion of them under threestrikes, truth-in-sentencing and mandatory minimum laws, the number of elderly prisoners with health problems has increased accordingly. Some consider this trend to be the result of a …

Warden Used "Force" in Sexual Assault

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines

Warden Used "Force" in Sexual Assault by Warden Used "Force" in Sexual Assault Walter Lucas was Acting Warden of the River County Jail in River City, Mississippi, when he asked a male prisoner to act as lookout so that he could take care of some "business" with a female prisoner …

Physical Injury Rule Applied to Pre-PLRA Asbestos Exposure

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Eighth Amendment, Asbestos, PLRA, Physical Injury Rule, Damages

Physical Injury Rule Applied to Pre-PLRA Asbestos Exposure by The court of appeals for the Third Circuit held that a prisoner does not have a cause of action, under 42 U. S. C. section 1983, for damages for emotional distress caused by exposure to asbestos, without proof of physical injury. …

Jury Awards Beaten Texas Prisoner $250,000

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Jury Awards Beaten Texas Prisoner $250,000 by On December 15 1998, a federal jury in San Antonio, Texas, awarded Texas state prisoner Robert Sikes $250,000 in damages for a beating administered by prison guards. In 1995 Sikes was imprisoned in a Karnes county state prison. During a dispute with a …

BOP Erred in Denying Early Release Eligibility

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Good Time, Habeas Corpus, Mental Health, Drug Treatment/Rehab

BOP Erred in Denying Early Release Eligibility by Afederal disctrict court in Oregon granted habeas corpus relief to two federal prisoners who challenged the Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) denial of early release eligibility. In 1994 Congress enacted the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act which amended 18 U. S. …

Tarrant County Jail's Christian Education Unit May Violate Texas and Federal Establishment Clauses

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Required Religious Programming

Tarrant County Jail's Christian Education Unit May Violate Texas and Federal Establishment Clauses by In a detailed and well-reasoned opinion, a Texas state appellate court held that the establishment of a Christian Education Unit (CEU) in a county jail may violate the Establishment Clauses in the Texas and federal constitutions. …

Motive Question Precludes Summary Judgment in Medical Suit

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Medical, Injury -- Misc., Summary Judgment, Premises Liability

Motive Question Precludes Summary Judgment in Medical Suit by The U. S. court of appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that the existence of a factual dispute as to whether jail guards and medical staff intended to punish a detainee for requesting medical treatment, precluded summary judgment. While Ronald Davis …

Iowa Ban on Tapes with Parental Warning Upheld

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Gang Policies, Prisoner Property, Mail, Tapes/Music (Mail), Censorship

Iowa Ban on Tapes with Parental Warning Upheld by Paul Wright By Paul Wight The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that an Iowa prison's ban on cassette tapes with parental advisory notices due to "explicit lyrics" was permissible. Michael Herlein, a former Iowa state prisoner, filed suit …