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. …
Colorado District Court Refuses to Dismiss Probationer's §1983 Suit by Colorado District Court Refuses to Dismiss Probationer's §1983 Suit The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado refused to dismiss a Colorado probationer's civil rights suit challenging the conditions of his probation. Mark Fritz was placed on 20 years …
Colorado COA: Claim Concerning Restitution Deductions Should Name DOC by The Colorado Court of Appeals held that an action brought by a prisoner challenging deductions from his prisoner bank account for victim restitution should have been brought against the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC). In December 1993, Anthony J. Carrillo …
Colorado: Limiting Prisoner to One Grievance Per Month Constitutional by The Colorado Court of Appeals held that a state prisoner's right to due process was not violated by his confinement in administrative segregation, nor was he subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. Plaintiff Clovis Green brought an action against prison …
Colorado Prisoners Win Partial Reversal on Religious Claims by Two Colorado state prisoners won partial reversal of an adverse summary judgment ruling in their civil rights suit contesting Colorado Department of Corrections (CODOC) administrative regulations prohibiting practice of their Christian Identity Faith and classifying Christian Identity as a Security Threat …
Colorado DOC Contractor Communications Privileged by The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that communications between the Department of Corrections (CDOC) attorney and an independent contractor are protected by attorney-client privilege. The CDOC sought relief under C.A.R. Rule 21 (original jurisdiction writ) from a district court order to disclose documents and …
Colorado COA Reverses Dismissal Of Individual's State Law, § 1983 Claims by Colorado COA Reverses Dismissal Of Individual's State Law, § 1983 Claims The Colorado Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of a man's state law and § 1983 claims against the Sheriff of Arapahoe County and four deputies for …
Prisoner Claim of Medical Co-payment and Delay in Treatment for Aspirin Dismissed by Prisoner Claim of Medical Co-payment and Delay in Treatment for Aspirin Dismissed Colorado Department of Corrections prisoner Benito Negron filed a State mandamus action seeking relief from a prison policy of co-payment for medical services and an …
Limits on Prisoner Legal Mail and Photocopy Expenses Affirmed by Colorado Department of Corrections prisoner Benito Negron filed a state court lawsuit against prison officials alleging that administrative regulations violated his right to court access and freedom of speech by limiting legal photocopies and postage, amounting to cruel and unusual …
First Amendment Protects Prisoners' Negative Statements About Prisons by Robert Gandy is a prisoner in the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC). He wrote a letter to Home Depot, a mail-order supplier of DOC prisoners, about a DOC policy that he thought would illegally impinge on Home Depot's business. Guards opened …
Colorado: City Pays $240,000 to Victims of Serial Rapist by On January 30, 2006, the city of Aurora, Colorado, announced it would pay $240,000 to four women raped by a man they claimed should have been arrested months earlier. In November 2004, Brent J. Brents admitted to molesting an 8 …
CO Prisoners Need Not Obtain Post-Conviction Relief Before Filing Malpractice Suit Against Trial Lawyers by Geoffrey Rantz was convicted in a Colorado court of sexually assaulting two boys and sentenced to sixty-years in prison. While his case was on appeal, Rantz filed a malpractice suit against his trial lawyers. The …
Court Certifies Class Challenging Denial of treatment to Mental Patients by The plaintiffs, committed to a mental hospital as a result of findings of not guilty by reason of insanity, challenged conditions and policies that they alleged kept them from getting adequate medical and mental health care. At 307: A …
