Class Certification Criteria Recited by The court usefully recites class certification boilerplate. At 289-90: The key factor in determining the impracticability of joinder is the size of the class. . . . A plaintiff is not required to prove the identity of each class member or specify the exact number …
Loss of Sentence Reduction for Positive Drug Test Upheld by The petitioner was prescribed an opiate for medical reasons and the next day tested positive for cocaine metabolites. The plaintiff was not denied due process by the failure to call the doctor who prescribed the opiate as a witness at …
Injunction Issued Against Proposed New Mexico DOC Staffing Reductions by The U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico held that state prisoners were entitled to an injunction barring a proposed reduction of medical, mental health and security staff as the scope of the proposed reductions may have compromised …
Dismissal Reversed on Disciplinary Segregation Case Where Fact Issues Remained by The U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, partly reversing the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, affirmed its prior decision in Gaines v. Stensberg, 292 F.3d 1222 (10th Cir. 2002), holding that dismissal of a 42 …
New Mexico County Settles Sex Assault Claim for $40,000 by During the week of June 26, 2000, San Juan County, New Mexico, agreed to settle for $40,000 a former prisoner's lawsuit that claimed she was sexually assaulted by two jailers at the county jail. Plaintiff Sandra Lucero alleged that during …
WICC Not Federal Law by In a case filed by New Mexico prisoners transferred to Washington, a Washington federal district court has held that the Western Interstate Corrections Compact (WICC) does not confer federal rights on prisoners, which are enforceable via 42 U.S. C. §1983. The Court made this holding …
New Mexico: $50,000 Settlement For False Arrest, Unconstitutional Strip Search by In the week of January 1, 2001, a lawsuit alleging false arrest and an unconstitutional strip search in retaliation for supporting a particular candidate for district attorney settled for $50,000. In 1999, while attending Gallup High School, Emily Ellison …
No Jurisdiction for Claim of Rape in Indian Jail by The plaintiff alleged that while she was in a detention center operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs she was sexually assaulted and battered by a guard. The court lacked jurisdiction over her claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress …
Legal Mail Use Required to Invoke Mail Box Rule by Rule 4(c)(1), Fed.R.App.P., allows an incarcerated appellant to rely on timely placement of a notice of appeal in the institution's internal mail system, but requires a declaration or notarized statement setting forth the date of deposit and that first-class postage …
Tenth Circuit Upholds Guards' Convictions for Prisoner Beating; Remands for Sentencing by Tenth Circuit Upholds Guards' Convictions for Prisoner Beating; Remands for Sentencing The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the criminal convictions of three GEO Corporation (formerly Wackenhut) guards for beating a prisoner. The court remanded for re-sentencing. On …
City Liable for Retaliation Against Cop Whistleblower and Code of Silence by The plaintiff police officer reported misconduct by other officers that resulted in their suspension. At 943: "Blair had the right under the First Amendment to inform his superiors of misconduct in the police department." He was then subjected …
Sex Offenders Have No Right to Treatment by The court of appeals for the Tenth circuit held that New Mexico sex offenders were not entitled to treatment for sexual disorders under the Eighth amendment. With the proliferation of civil commitment laws that purport to imprison sex offenders after completion of …
Ban on Staff Witnesses in Disciplinary Hearings Unconstitutional by The court of appeals for the Tenth circuit granted a certificate of appealability in a habeas corpus action. The court held that a New Mexico state prison's blanket policy of banning all staff members as witnesses in disciplinary hearings was unconstitutional …
Tenth Circuit: Indigent Plaintiffs Not Responsible For Service by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that when plaintiffs were granted in forma pauperis status, the district court was obligated to serve process for them. Plaintiffs Tom and Naomi Olsen brought action in the U.S. District Court …
Brother Sentenced in Attempted Escape of Federal Prisoner by The United States District Court of New Mexico sentenced Adalberto Nava-Sotelo, alias Robert Montoya and El Guero, in the attempted escape of his older brother Oswaldo Nava-Sotelo, a prisoner in federal custody. On May 8, 2001, Adalberto Nava-Sotelo drove from his …
Private Prison State Actor for Liability Purposes by In an unpublished ruling, the court of appeals for the Tenth circuit upheld dismissal of a New Mexico prisoner's claim that he was unlawfully transferred from a state prison to one run by a private, for profit company. Judge McKay concurred with …
Tenth Circuit Affirms Total Exhaustion Rule by New Mexico State prisoner Michael Rene Ross claimed Eighth Amendment violation for dangerous conditions of confinement and deliberate indifference to medical needs. His § 1983 suit was dismissed based on the total exhaustion rule. While housed at the McKinley County Detention Center (MCDC) …
Unfiled Lawsuit Protected Speech by The plaintiff got a traffic ticket for reckless driving for an incident in which he was injured after a police chase. His attorney then wrote letters to law enforcement demanding that all evidence be preserved, and then he was charged with six criminal counts of …
Prisoners In 13 States Allowed Work-Access To Social Security Numbers by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The U.S. Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported that prisoners in thirteen states had access to Social Security numbers (SSNs) during the course of their prison employment. Following a nationwide survey, the …
Illegal Strip Searches Cost MTC, New Mexico County $8.5 Million by Michael Rigby Management and Training Corporation (MTC) and Santa Fe County, New Mexico, will pay $8.5 million to settle with an estimated 13,000 former prisoners who were unconstitutionally strip searched at the Santa. Fe County Detention Facility between January …
