Raped Georgia Prisoner Awarded $300,000 Against Jailer, City by In this civil rights lawsuit, a Georgia-prisoner who was allegedly raped in her cell by a city jailer was awarded $300,000 plus attorneys fees and court costs. Plaintiff, Mary Isdell, claimed that while she was imprisoned in the Forest Park Jail, …
Georgia Student's Personal Injury Suit Against Guards Dismissed by The Court of Appeals of Georgia affirmed the Tattnall County, Superior Court's decision to enter summary judgment for prison guards in a personal injury complaint brought by a fifteen-year-old boy (plaintiff) who was physically restrained by the two guards during a …
Partial Amputation Defeats Summary Judgment by A Georgia federal district court has denied summary judgment to a doctor who treated a pre-trial detainee, holding the disputed facts merit resolution by a jury. Kenneth J. Seals asserted a state law claim of medical malpractice and Eighth Amendment violations for cruel and …
Jury Need Decide Superintendents Liability in GA Prisoner's Death by This case was before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals for the second time on a 42 U.S.C. §1983 action arising from the death, after a severe asthma attack, of a Georgia prisoner. The first appeal, Howell v. Evans, 922 …
Injured Georgia Prisoner's Negligence Claim Survives, Others Fail by In this case involving a Georgia state prisoner who was injured while on a work detail, the Court of Appeals of Georgia, Fourth Division, held that the prisoner's failure to provide ante litem notice to one of the defendants, the Stone …
Ga. County Not Liable for Sheriff's Policies by Georgia's First Division Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of claims against Dekalb County in the murder of Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown. The matter was before the appellate court after the lower court grated Dekalb County summary judgment. When Brown's widow's interlocutory …
Confession Not Linked to Tasering by The plaintiff's allegation that while in jail in Gwinnett county awaiting trial he was held in solitary confinement, shocked with a stun gun, and denied a shower for three months did not render his confession involuntary because he did not show a causal relationship. …
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 …
