No Immunity for Cop Who Shot Arrestee in Holding Cell by The plaintiff was arrested for DWI; while in a police holding cell, an officer shot him in the abdomen under disputed circumstances. The Fourteenth Amendment use of force standard is governed by the factors set out in Johnson v. …
Police Liable for Hob Tying Death of Arrestee by The decedent was arrested after a high-speed chase and after he tried to flee on foot. He was then sprayed with pepper spray and hog-tied (ankles tied to wrists) and died of positional asphyxia. The municipality did not have a written …
Appeal Courts Have Jurisdiction Over Consent Decree Modifications by Courts of Appeals have appellate jurisdiction over modifications of decrees. At 1029: A Georgia district court's interpretation of a consent decree operates as a modification when it changes the legal relationship among the parties. . . . This determination is not …
PLRA's Exhaustion Requirement Contains Procedural Default Component by The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act's (PLRA) exhaustion requirement contains a procedural default component. Before the Court was an interlocutory appeal of a Georgia district court's denial of prison officials' motion to dismiss the …
GA Prisoner's Conviction of Distributing Obscene Material in Movie Theater Reversed by GA Prisoner's Conviction of Distributing Obscene Material in Movie Theater Reversed A movie theater worker identified only as Jenkins, a Georgia state prisoner, was convicted of distributing obscene material after showing the movie Carnal Knowledge. He unsuccessfully appealed …
Eleventh Circuit Remands ADA and Section 1983 Claims for Amended Complaint by John Dannenberg Eleventh Circuit Remands ADA and § 1983 Claims for Amended Complaint by John E. Dannenberg In two similar cases, the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued orders remanding prisoner complaints of Georgia?s violations of Title …
$12,000 Award Against Jail Guard who Witnessed Police Beating and Did Nothing by $12,000 Award Against Jail Guard Who Witnessed Police Beating and Did Nothing The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit affirmed a jury verdict of 112,000 against a policeman who beat a Georgia jail detainee after he …
BOP Liable under State Law for Failure to Protect by BOP Liable Under State Law For Failure to Protect A federal district court in Georgia denied summary judgment, in part, to federal prison officials who were sued by a federal pre trial detainee who was stabbed in the Metro Correctional …
Directed Verdict of Prisoner's Failure to Treat Medical Need Claim Reversed by The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court's grant of a directed verdict on a prisoner's Eighth Amendment claim of denial of medical treatment. The suit was brought against officials at the Georgia State Prison and …
Eleventh Circuit Holds RLUIPA Constitutional by David Reutter By David M. Reutter The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) does not violate either the Spending Clause, the Establishment Clause, or the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Georgia Prisoner Ralph …
Contempt Order Extends Life of Georgia Jail Settlement Agreement by Georgia's Third Division Court of Appeals has held that the failure to purge a contempt finding was sufficient to extend the duration of a settlement agreement. The Georgia trial court found that Dekalb County and various county officials had failed …
Georgia Man Falsely Arrested by Bond Agent Awarded $5,172 by On December 3, 2002, a man jailed after being mistakenly identified by a bond agent was awarded $5,172 in damages by a superior court in Fulton County, Georgia. Plaintiff Charles Leeks was arrested at his place of employment by an …
Georgia Sheriff Sues Over Using Prisoner Labor by A Georgia federal district court has found that the defendants in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging claims of (1) bad faith prosecution; (2) arrest without probable cause; (3) deprivation of liberty without due process; (4) unlawful search and seizure of …
Dismissal of Prisoner's Access to Courts, Due Process Claims Erroneous by The U.S Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that a U.S. District Court improperly dismissed a prisoner's pro se federal civil rights action. Plaintiff, a Georgia state prisoner, brought federal civil rights action against prison officials alleging …
$334,432 Award for Woman Raped In Georgia Jail by In December 1992, a federal jury in Fulton County, Georgia, awarded $334,432 to a woman who claimed she was raped by a guard while imprisoned in the Forest Park city jail. The plaintiff, Mary Isdell, claimed that while imprisoned in the …
Segregation Conditions at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary Not Unconstitutional by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court's order holding the conditions of confinement in the segregation building at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary were not unconstitutional. This action was brought by two prisoners at the Penitentiary and certified as …
Private Possession of Obscene Material Not a Crime by In a case on appeal from the Georgia Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court held the First Amendment, as made applicable to the States by the Fourteenth Amendment, prohibits making mere private possession of obscene material a crime. During a search …
Georgia $892,138 Settlement For Stroke/Brain Damage Caused By Cops by In March 1996, the County of Decatur, Georgia, agreed to pay $892,138 to a man who claimed he was assaulted by deputies while imprisoned in the county jail and suffered a stroke and brain damage as a direct result. Following …
GA Prisoner Gets 5 Years Fed Time for Mailing Threatening Letter to Judge by In March of 2005, Tracey Dudley, a Georgia State prisoner, mailed a threatening letter from the prison to Judge Louisa Abbot. In it was talcum powder which he claimed was anthrax. Half of the courthouse was …
No Immunity For Cop Who Sprays Woman With Pepper Spray in Patrol Car by The plaintiff alleged that a police officer sprayed her with pepper gas while she was under arrest for a minor offense and secured in the back of a patrol car, separated from the officer by a …
