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Supreme Court Holds No Special Access to Prisoners for Media

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Media, Access to Media, Censorship

Supreme Court Holds No Special Access to Prisoners for Media by The U.S. Supreme Court held that reporters have no more right of access to individual prisoners than does the general public. Action was brought against Federal Bureau of Prisons by the Washington Post newspaper alleging the Bureau's ban on …

Hearsay Police Report with Indicia of Reliability Allowed in Parole Revocation Hearing

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sentencing, Habeas Corpus

Hearsay Police Report with Indicia of Reliability Allowed in Parole Revocation Hearing by Hearsay Police Report with Indicia of Reliability Allowed in Parole Revocation Hearing The Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that a parole board may consider a police report when other evidence of reliability …

$12,000 Paid in D.C. Prisoner's Beating by Guard

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Police, False Arrest

$12,000 Paid in D.C. Prisoner's Beating by Guard by Jeffrey Jones was arrested for disorderly conduct in the District of Columbia. A prison guard beat him and hung him on the wall by his shorts for no reason. Jones sustained a broken jaw and broken ribs, and when he was …

Stun Belt Allowed in Criminal Trial

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Stun Guns/Tasers, Court Access, Court Appearances

Stun Belt Allowed in Criminal Trial by A federal district court in the District of Columbia overruled a murder defendant's objection over being forced to wear a stun belt during his trial. The court set forth a series of factors to be weighed in deciding whether the defendant should be …

Local Rules Govern Appointment of Counsel in FOIA Case

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Appointment of Counsel, Federal Statutory Law, Freedom of Information Act

Local Rules Govern Appointment of Counsel in FOIA Case by The court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit held that a local rule, not 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1) governed the appointment of counsel in a Freedom of Information Act suit brought by a federal prisoner seeking records from …

Videotaping States Claim, District of Columbia Can be Sued Under §1983

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Videotaping, Immunity/Liability, Qualified Immunity, Municipal Liability

Videotaping States Claim, District of Columbia Can be Sued Under §1983 by Videotaping States Claim, District of Columbia Can be Sued Under §1983 The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held that the District of Columbia could be sued under 42 U.S.C. §1983 and that prisoners' allegations of …

Injunction Against Placing New Prisoners in Lorton

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Overcrowding, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's

Injunction Against Placing New Prisoners in Lorton by The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted prisoner-plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction enjoining the District of Columbia Department of Corrections from designating the Lorton Correctional Complex as the place of confinement for any newly-sentenced prisoners due to serious …

Ban on "Communist Political Propaganda" Violates First Amendment

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Publications/Books, Mail Regulations, Media, Censorship

Ban on "Communist Political Propaganda" Violates First Amendment by Ban on "Communist Political Propaganda" Violates First Amendment The U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment is violated by a statute requiring postal service officials to detain and destroy unsealed mail from foreign countries determined to be communist political propaganda …

Prisoner-to-Prisoner Mail Ban Upheld But Can Be Unconstitutional

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Court Access, Prisoner Legal Assistance, Publications/Books, Mail Regulations

Prisoner-to-Prisoner Mail Ban Upheld But Can Be Unconstitutional by The United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit upheld a federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) regulation prohibiting prisoner-to-prisoner correspondence. The court also invalidated a regulation authorizing the rejection of publications, finding that the regulation failed to satisfy the minimal …

Former Prisoner Paralegal's Entry Into BOP Upheld

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorney Client, Paralegals, Visiting, Attorney Visits

Former Prisoner Paralegal's Entry Into BOP Upheld by The Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) may prohibit a former prisoner with a record of disruptive proclivities from entering BOP prisons as a paralegal to interview prisoners. This action was brought …

Former Guard's Sexual Harassment Suit Against CCA Dismissed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Staff-Staff Harassment, Supervisor-Staff Harassment, Retaliation for Litigating, Retaliation against Staff, Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Employee Litigation

Former Guard's Sexual Harassment Suit Against CCA Dismissed by The United States District Court for the District of Columbia held that a former guard suing CCA of Tennessee under the District of Columbia Human Rights Act (DCHRA) had not proven she was subjected to a hostile work environment, that lack …

Supreme Court Sets Summary, Judgment Standard of Proof

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Media

Supreme Court Sets Summary, Judgment Standard of Proof by Respondents Liberty Lobby, a nonprofit corporation, and its founder and treasurer, Willis Carto, filed a federal diversity libel suit against the company publishing The Investigator magazine (Petitioners), and some of its officers after the magazine ran articles depicting Respondents as neo-Nazis, …

$2.4 Million Awarded In District of Columbia Jail Suicide

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Suicides, Police, False Arrest

$2.4 Million Awarded In District of Columbia Jail Suicide by In 1982, a 32 year old District of Colombia (DC) man drove his car into a utility pole after which he was arrested and incarcerated in a DC jail for driving under the influence of alcohol. The man committed suicide …

Designation as Terrorist Organization Requires Due Process

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: International, Terrorism

Designation as Terrorist Organization Requires Due Process by Designation as Terrorist Organization Requires Due Process Designating an entity as a "foreign terrorist organization" and freezing its assets, prohibiting support for it, and barring its members from entering the country requires due process protections by providing notice of the planned action …

DC Circuit Awards Fees in CIA FOIA Suit

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Federal Statutory Law, Freedom of Information Act

DC Circuit Awards Fees in CIA FOIA Suit by The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has held that the appellee in this case was a prevailing party in a lawsuit to enforce his request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and remanded to determine if he …

FBI Must Take Reasonable Steps to Locate Information on Records Requested Under FOIA

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Federal Statutory Law, Freedom of Information Act

FBI Must Take Reasonable Steps to Locate Information on Records Requested Under FOIA by FBI Must Take Reasonable Steps to Locate Information on Records Requested Under FOIA John Davis, an author, requested from the FBI surveillance tapes used to prosecute mob boss Carlos Marcello, pursuant to the federal Freedom of …

FCC Radio License Can Unconstitutional

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Frivolous Litigation (PLRA), Media, Censorship

FCC Radio License Can Unconstitutional by An FCC regulation that permanently prohibited anyone who had ever operated an unlicensed radio station from obtaining a low-power FM radio license violated the First Amendment, since it would not pass any scrutiny more stringent than minimum rationality, being both underinclusive and overinclusive. The …

BOP Prisoner Suit Dismissed for Failing to Exhaust

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Administrative Exhaustion

BOP Prisoner Suit Dismissed for Failing to Exhaust by Plaintiff failed to exhaust because he did not try to resolve his claims informally and did not file a remedy request with the warden. Though the regulations permit bypassing these steps if the inmate reasonably believes the issues are too "sensitive," …

Court Denies Certification to Class of Involuntarily Operated On Mental Patients

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Medical, Abortion, Surgery, Consent to Treatment, Standing, Class Certification, Involuntary Treatment/Drugging

Court Denies Certification to Class of Involuntarily Operated On Mental Patients by Court Denies Certification to Class of Involuntarily Operated On Mental Patients Developmentally disabled persons challenged the District's policy of allowing city officials to consent to elective surgical procedures on their behalf (in the named plaintiffs' cases, two involuntary …

RLUIPA and RFRA Substantial Burden Defined

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Federal Statutory Law, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, RLUIPA

RLUIPA and RFRA Substantial Burden Defined by RLUIPA and RFRA Substantial Burden Defined Substantial burden is a necessary element of claims under RLUIPA and RFRA; that term is "akin to significant pressure which directly coerces the religious adherent to conform his or her behavior accordingly. Thus, a substantial burden can …