Colorado Settles Class Action Prison Disability Discrimination Suit For Over $3 Million by The Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) has settled a class action disability discrimination suit over accessibility inside its state prisons for prisoners with impairments in mobility, hearing, sight and for diabetics. Over $3 million will be spent …
Adams v. CCA, CO, Appeal Brief, prison riot, 2007 Certification of Word Count: 9,474 COURT OF APPEALS, STATE OF COLORADO rd 2 East 14 th Avenue, 3 Floor Denver, CO 80203 Appeal from order entered by Judge Michael Schiferl, Crowley County District COUlt, 2005CV60 Plaintiffs-Appellants: Vance A. Adams,et. a1. Defendants-Appellees: …
Lifetime Supervision or Lifetime Incarceration for Colorado Sex Offenders? by by G.A. Bowers Colorado has one of the toughest sex offender laws in the nation, according to University of Denver law professor Karen Steinhauser. Under the 1998 Lifetime Supervision of Sex Offenders Act (Act), over 800 sex offenders have been …
Colorado Successfully Pressures FBI To Release DNA Info; Racial Bias Infects DNA Databases by Gary Hunter State law enforcement agencies have struck a tentative deal with FBI officials that allows agencies to share previously privileged information. The deal resulted from the brutal rape and beating of a Colorado woman who …
District Court Reversed in Christian Identity Case by The Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed in part and reversed in part a case involving prisoners who adhere to the "Christian Identity Faith." Jacob Ind and Jeffrey Pfleger are prisoners at the Colorado State Penitentiary. They adhere sincerely to …
District Court Reversed; Failure to Allow Amendment Abuse of Discretion by The U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the U.S. District Court, Colorado, holding that the district court's refusal to permit a Colorado state prisoner to amend his complaint was an abuse of discretion and, moreover, the complaint stated …
Garnishment of Prisoner's Wages not Actionable in State Court by The Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled that state prisoners may not seek relief under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) or C.R.C.P. Rule 106 to address claims of unlawful garnishment of wages by the Department of Corrections (CDOC). Adam Jones, …
Third-Party Book Seller's Records Subject to Constitutional Protections by The Colorado Supreme Court has found that individuals have a constitutionally protected right to purchase books anonymously, free from government interference, and thus records of an innocent, third-party bookstore are subject to both state and federal free speech protections and an …
Order Halting Sex Offender Registration Reversed by The Colorado Court of Appeals has reversed a district court's order that allowed a sex offender to stop registering. A former state juvenile probationer, C.C.V., petitioned a state district court to discontinue his duty to register as a sex offender two years after …
High-Speed Police Pursuit Did Not Waive State Immunity by The Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled that the state is entitled to immunity under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (CGIA), because the evidence in this case supported a finding that police did not endanger life or property in a high-speed …
Federal Prisoner's Retaliation Claims Survive Summary Judgment by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg A Bureau of Prisons (BOP) prisoner who had testified for the government and against co-defendants, prison guards and other prisoners, found himself in the line of fire of numerous retaliatory actions by prison staff. His Bivens …
Dismissal of Prisoner Civil Rights Complaint Against State Sponsored Substance Abuse Program Affirmed by Dismissal of Prisoner Civil Rights Complaint Against State Sponsored Substance Abuse Program Affirmed Colorado state prisoner David K. Jenner, and several other prisoners, filed a federal complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985 alleging …
No Equal Protection Violation For Sex/Non-Sex Offense Parole Periods by Colorado Department of Corrections prisoner John Harper filed a post-conviction motion claiming an equal protection violation for imposing an additional period of mandatory parole for a non-sex offense, while those convicted of sex offenses committed prior to July 1, 2002, …
Parolee Sex Offender Classification Without Conviction Requires Heightened Procedural Safeguards by by Bob Williams The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has held that sex offender classification requires more due process for parolees than for incarcerated prisoners, but failed to delineate what process is due. In 1987, …
Selective BOP Prosecution Based On Race Unproven by Federal prisoner Frederick DeBerry (an African-American) located at the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Florence, Colorado, facility, and two other African-American prisoners at this facility, appealed the District of Colorado's decision that they had not met their burden of proof of both discriminatory …
Lawsuit Challenging BOP's Reporter/Writer Pay Ban Regulation Remanded to District Court by David Reutter Lawsuit Challenging BOP's Reporter/Writer Pay Ban Regulation Remanded to District Court By David M. Reutter The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that it does not have jurisdiction to hear an appeal of a partial …
CO Medical Co-Pay Fee Overturned, Plaintiffs Awarded Atty Fees by Colorado prisoners successfully challenged a state statute charging prisoners $3 each time they sought medical care. The lawsuit alleged the co-pay statute violated their Eighth amendment rights. Before trial the state amended the statute to exclude most services. The district …
Tenth Circuit Holds COA Required on All State Habeas Appeals by The Tenth District Court of Appeals has denied a certificate of appealability (COA) to, and dismissed the appeal of the habeas corpus petition of a Wyoming state prisoner housed in a private Colorado prison. In so ruling, the appeals …
BOP Prisoner Had Right to Duress Defense by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado erred when it denied a prisoner from using the duress defense in a criminal trial for possession of escape paraphernalia in prison. …