Discriminatory Jury Selection Reversed by In the September, 1994, issue of PLN we reported on the unconstitutionality of racially discriminatory jury discrimination with regards to criminal trials. The right to a jury composed of members of the community also applies to civil rights suits. Frederick Davidson, a black Missouri state …
Failure to Treat Teeth States Claim by Mark Kinney is a Missouri state prisoner. Kinney went to the prison dentist, Dr. Kalfus, for removal of a tooth that was chipped and decayed, to have a cavity filled and for treatment of gum disease. Kalfus pulled the wrong tooth and acknowledged …
Correct Jury Instructions Needed for Beating Trial by Keith Howard is a Missouri state prisoner. Upon returning to the prison after an outside medical visit, Howard was ordered to strip for a search. He refused and was thrown to the floor by several guards, hand-cuffed, forcibly stripped and taken to …
MO Court's HIV Disclosure Rule Struck Down by Judges in Cole County, Missouri enacted a local court rule requiring that jail officials inform them, in camera, whether a prisoner scheduled for a court appearance had an infectious disease or carried the HIV virus believed to cause AIDS. The purported reason …
New Trial Required for Improper Testimony by Michael Kemp is a Missouri state prisoner. He filed suit under § 1983 claiming that a prison guard, Antonio Balboa, had confiscated his epilepsy medication and flushed it down the toilet. This resulted in Kemp having epileptic seizures during which he injured himself. …
Delay in Dental Care Creates Fact Dispute by Wardell Patterson is a Missouri state prisoner. On February 12, 1992, Patterson had a tooth filled by William Pearson, the prison dentist. The next day Patterson began suffering from swelling, headaches and severe pain. Patterson's unit manager contacted Pearson about the problem …
Prisoners Retain Right Against Self-Incrimination by Coy Phelps is a patient involuntarily committed in a Federal Medical Center (FMC) after having been acquitted of criminal charges by reason of insanity. He filed suit challenging both the statutes allowing his commitment and the conditions of confinement he was subjected to. He …
Guards Have Duty to Protect Prisoners by Oscar Williams is a Missouri state prisoner. He was assaulted and beaten by two other prisoners in his dormitory. The guard on duty at the time, Clarence Davis, witnessed the attack but did not intervene. When Williams attempted to escape his assailants Davis …
Phone Company State Actor for Section 1983 by Milton Griffin-El is a Missouri state prisoner. He filed suit against MCI Telecommunications Corporation and state prison officials over the phone company's practice of announcing to persons called by prisoners that the calls originated from a prison. The court upheld MCI's practice …
Stay of Suit Not Appealable by Oscar Bean is a Missouri state prisoner. He filed suit claiming he was denied due process at a disciplinary hearing accusing him of assault. He sought declaratory relief, damages and attorneys fees. The district court granted the defendants' motion to stay Bean's suit for …
MO Ad Seg Practices Unlawful by Several prisoners at the Missouri State Penitentiary (MSP) filed suit after they were held in administrative segregation (ad seg) for periods ranging between nine and thirty days without a hearing or an opportunity to challenge the information upon which the ad seg was allegedly …
Exposure to Cold Weather States Claim by Ronald Chandler is a Missouri state prisoner. He filed suit claiming that prison officials violated his constitutional rights by providing a dining room too small to accommodate all the prisoners in his housing unit at once; poorly supervising the noisy and chaotic dining …
Nominal Damages in Eighth Amendment Claim Upheld by Rederick Cummings was accused of attempting to rape a prison employee. During the course of "investigating" the rape allegations prison officials beat Cummings several times. Cummings filed suit alleging that the beatings violated his eighth amendment rights. At trial a jury found …
Discipline For Rude Letter Struck Down by Lobester Loggins is a Missouri State prisoner. In 1989 he sent his brother a letter. Pursuant to prison policy a prison mail clerk opened and read the letter, which stated in part that "there's a beetle eyed bitch back here who enjoys reading …
No Right to Unmonitored Mail to Media, Clergy by Astate prison regulation that requires inspection of outgoing mail directed to members of the media and the clergy does not violate inmates' first amendment rights, a majority of the U.S. court of appeals for the eighth circuit recently held. The majority …
Well Established Right to Release From Control Unit by Well Established Right To Release From Control Unit Harvey hall is a Missouri State prisoner. While in protective custody at the Missouri State penitentiary (MSP) Hall was found in possession of contraband and placed in the Special Management Facility (SMF). After …
Destruction of Evidence Allows Adverse Inference by Jerry McCrary-El is a Missouri state prisoner. He filed suit under § 1983 claiming that prison guards used excessive force in moving him to the back of his cell, within the prison's segregation unit, to place a cellmate in his cell. After a …
No Qualified Immunity for Denial of Medical Care by George Cornelious was assaulted and badly beaten in Jefferson City, MO. While receiving treatment at a local hospital he was arrested due to an outstanding warrant. The treating doctor gave the arresting police a head injury monitoring sheet on which to …
Notice of Appeal Filed When Given to Prison Officials by Samuel Hamm is a Missouri state prisoner. While employed as a prison law clerk he claims prison officials threatened and harassed him in retaliation for the performance of his duties. The defendants' conduct included threatening him with administrative segregation, infracting …
DOC Guard Liable for Not Stopping Beating by Roger Buckner is a Missouri state prisoner. He was transported from the Jackson county jail for commitment to the Missouri DOC prison at Fulton. Larry Hollins was a jail guard transporting Buckner. Once at Fulton, Hollins stripped Buckner naked, handcuffed him and …
