Michigan DOC Employees Immune From State Court Damages for Raping Women Prisoners by The Michigan Court of Appeals has held that claims for monetary damages from violations of The Michigan Constitution do not exist against individual government employees. Such claims, however, may ensue for violations of Michigan's Civil Rights Act. …
Abuse of Discretion to Deny Leave to Amend by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's erroneous grant of summary judgment to police on claims that they unlawfully detained a man, then evicted him from his home. The Court also found that it was an abuse of …
Months of Cold-Wet Conditions States Inadequate Shelter Claim by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a Michigan prisoner offered sufficient evidence to support his Eighth Amendment inadequate shelter claim. The Court's decision came in the appeal of William Spencer, who brought claims relating to his pre-trial detention …
State Law Claims in Federal Suits Must Be Exhausted by Use of force is a prison condition for purposes of PLRA; the unavailability of damages does not excuse exhaustion (citing prior circuit authority for both propositions) This court uses the 18 U.S.C. § 3626(g)(2) definition of "conditions of confinement" as …
False Arrest and Broken Jaw Results in $300,000 Michigan Jury Verdict by A Michigan man who sustained a broken jaw and related injuries during a false arrest was awarded $300,000. Mr. Sharp was falsely arrested and detained for two weeks in a Detroit, Michigan jail. While confined and under guard …
Skin Ulcer from Delouser Nets Michigan Jail Prisoner $3,500 Settlement by A Michigan prisoner was awarded $3,500 for a skin ulcer he sustained from being sprayed with a delousing product. Mr. Young was sprayed with a delousing product when he entered the Eaton County Jail. The product caused a skin …
Prison Drinking Water and Wastewater Pollution Threaten Environmental Safety Nationwide by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg Aging infrastructure concerns are not limited to America's highways, bridges and dams. Today, crumbling, overcrowded prisons and jails nationwide are bursting at the seams -- literally -- leaking environmentally dangerous effluents not just …
Michigan’s Law Attaching Prisoner Retirement Benefits Trumped By Federal Law by Michigan's Law Attaching Prisoner Retirement Benefits Trumped By Federal Law Michigan requires financially able prisoners to contribute up to 90% of monies received at their prison address to the state's coffers as an offset to the cost of their …
Collection-Rate of Appellate Costs Taxed to Prisoner Reduced to Rate for PLRA Filing-Fees by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that the payment of $1,619 in costs owed to Michigan state by an unsuccessful prisoner litigator could not be deducted from his …
Sixth Circuit Now Permits § 1983 Complaint to Proceed Even if Prisoner Did Not Initially Plead Exhaustion Below by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has vacated its precedent which held that a prisoner had an affirmative burden to plead exhaustion of administrative …
Big Brother Monitoring Michigan Sex Offenders by Not satisfied with conventional methods of monitoring sex offenders, Michigan is taking a hi-tech approach. Along with the ubiquitous ?school safety zones? and residency restrictions, concerned citizens can now be notified by email when changes are made to the state?s online sex offender …
$5 Million Jury Award Against Doctor in Death of Michigan Prisoner by A federal jury awarded $5,000,000 to the estate of a deceased state prisoner who died after a prison psychiatrist prescribed him psychotropic medication without conducting a proper evaluation. Ozy Vaughn was a Michigan state prisoner who suffered from …
Michigan Prisoner Boycotts Rape Trial, Still Acquitted by Facing a sexual assault trial of a fellow prisoner is a pretty serious felony, making one think they would want to be present during the trial. Feeling he could not get a fair trial, Charlie Lee Floyd, 46, boycotted that trial. Despite …
Hadix v. Caruso, MI, Independent Medical Montor's Report, Systemic Medical Neglect Class Action, 2007 Case 4:92-cv-00110-RJJ Doc #2535 Filed 07/10/07 Page 1 of 52 Page ID#8926 First Report of the Office of the Independent Medical Monitor Introduction In an effort to provide the prisoners at the Hadix facilities, many of …
City of Detroit Must Record Suspect Confessions; $4 Million Wrongful Incarceration Award by A Michigan federal district court has approved a settlement that requires the City of Detroit to record all interrogations of criminal suspects and awards the estate of a wrongfully convicted man $4,075,000. The complaint in this action …
Michigan Sex Offender Registration Enjoined by The United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division found that the Michigan statute requiring the registration of sexual offenders violated due process. The statute was challenged by a plaintiff convicted of a sex offense which mandated continuing legal obligations, public disclosure, and criminal …
Sixth Circuit Applies Publisher-Only Rule to Publications by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held in a Michigan case that a jail's regulation limiting prisoners to receipt of magazines from publishers only did not violate the First Amendment. Citing Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 99 S.Ct. 1861 (1979), and …
Failure to Administer Doctor's Treatment Plan States Eighth Amendment Claim by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a nurse's failure to administer treatment ordered by a doctor states an Eighth Amendment violation that is not entitled to a qualified immunity defense. David G. Boretti, a Michigan prisoner, was …
Placing Prisoner on Modified Grievance Access Held Constitutional Under Circumstances by Placing Prisoner on Modified Grievance Access Held Constitutional Under Circumstances The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Michigan federal district court's dismissal of a state prisoner's claim that his civil rights were violated when prison officials placed …
Prison Can Deduct All Wages from Prisoner to Satisfy Debt by The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, affirming a federal district court in Michigan, held that withdrawal of all funds from a prisoner's account to satisfy court debts did not violate due process, did not block access to the …
