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 …
$95,000 Settlement in Guards Dropping Prisoner Suit by After being involved in a fight with another prisoner at Georgia's Youth Detention Center in Atlanta, guard intervened and attempted to carry prisoner Mark Thomas back to his cell, carrying him by each guard holding a limb. Two of the guards lost …
Dead GA Prisoner's Family Dismissed in Federal Court, Allowed to Refile in State Court Without Paying Costs by Dead GA Prisoner's Family Dismissed in Federal Court, Allowed to Refile in State Court Without Paying Costs In October of 1997, Alfonso Roberson died of unreported causes in the county jail for …
Jail Failure to Treat Psoriasis Upheld by In this seemingly incompetently litigated case, the plaintiff filed a response to a summary judgment stating that the facts are "voluminous" and incorporating the complaint and brief's statement of facts by reference, instead of complying with the rule requiring a "separate and concise" …
Georgia False Arrest Suit Dismissed by At 1374: This case demonstrates the proclivity of American citizens today to search for legal causes of action to redress every imaginable wrong. As we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Allied's [sic] invasion of Normandy during World War II, the Court must decide …
Georgia Detainee's Excessive Force Suit Dismissed by Allegations that the plaintiff was pushed repeatedly in connection with his arrest do not state a Fourth Amendment claim, since they did not result in injury, even though the alleged pushes were entirely gratuitous. Allegations that a deputy handcuffed the plaintiff without justification …
