Summary Judgment Against Sexually Assaulted Prisoner Denied in Part by The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio granted in part and denied in part Ohio officials' motion for summary judgment against a prisoner who was sexually assaulted by a guard. While a prisoner at the Ohio Reformatory …
Waiver of Right to Sue Questioned in Prisoner's §1983 Claim by Waiver of Right to Sue Questioned in Prisoner's §1983 Claim The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed dismissal by the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, in a state prisoner's dental care suit and ordered the lower …
Deposition Sufficient to Present Testimony by An imprisoned attorney petitioned the Ohio Supreme Court for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum compelling his conveyance to a hearing of the State Bar to answer a complaint filed against him. Absent a showing that his personal appearance outweighed …
$4.1 Million Settlement Approved in Deadly Ohio Riot Litigation by An Ohio Federal District Court approved a settlement agreement and awarded attorney fees and costs from a common fund in litigation in the third- deadliest prison riot in recent United States history, during which nine prisoners and one guard were …
Sixth Circuit Explains Attorney Fee Awards in Brutality Cases by The court of appeals for the Sixth circuit held that a district court erred when it added a multiplier to the base attorney fee award, reduced it and then added another multiplier. The underlying case involves Ohio prisoner activist, jailhouse …
Warden Denied Qualified Immunity in Guard's Race Discrimination Suit by The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed an interlocutory appeal from a district court's denial of summary judgment to an Ohio prison warden. Richard Parks was a guard at Warren Correctional Institution (WCI), where Anthony Brigano was warden. Parks …
Ohio: Wrongfully Convicted Man Awarded $641,858 Against Attorney by On August 22, 2002, an Ohio jury awarded a man who spent four years in prison $641,858 against the attorney who represented him in his criminal trial. Plaintiff Michael Javorina had been charged with, among other things, attempted murder and felonious …
Ohio Court Of Appeals Awards Injured Prisoner $100,000 by On June 4, 1988, the Ohio Court of Appeals, Tenth Appellate District, awarded a state prisoner $100,000 for severe burns to his leg, reversing a Court of Claims judgment awarding the prisoner $20,000. While working to unplug a drain at the …
OH Prison Guards Liable for Destroying Prisoner's TV by Anthony Mayfield, a state prisoner, exchanged his personal 11-year-old television for one owned by the prison that worked better. Guards destroyed Mayfield's TV without documented authorization. Mayfield filed a negligence claim against the guards in the Court of Claims of Ohio. …
Black Prison Guards Discrimination Suit Dismissed by The plaintiff, an African-American correction officer, was reprimanded while a probationary officer. That action was not sufficiently adverse to support a Title VII suit, and his claims of disparate treatment with respect to white staff fail because they were not probationary and therefore …
BOP Prisoners Bunk Injury Dismissed Under FTCA by The plaintiff fell out of a bunk bed and injured his knee. He had an order to be placed in a lower bunk but didn't tell anybody about it. The order was in the prison computer but the responsible employee didn't look …
Ex Post Facto Parole Claim Can Be Brought Under § 1983 by The plaintiff challenged the retroactive application of new parole eligibility regulations under the Ex Post Facto Clause. That claim is not barred by Heck and Balisok since a challenge to eligibility rules does not "necessarily imply" the invalidity …
Resisting Arrest Doesn't Bar Excessive Force Suit against Police by It is clearly established that using substantial force without any prior inquiry against an already subdued unarmed and unresisting individual violates the Fourth Amendment. The plaintiff's conviction for resisting arrest does not foreclose the possibility of a finding of excessive …
Parole Retaliation Suit Dismissed by The plaintiff alleged that prosecutors reneged on a plea bargain by failing to submit favorable letters to the parole board and instead submitting unfavorable letters, and that the parole board retaliated against him for having filed federal court litigation. The plaintiff's claim for breach of …
Ohio Religious Grievance Process Doesn't Exhaust Claim by The plaintiff, who declared himself Jewish in prison, was denied various religious accommodations on the ground that he was "not Jewish enough." He used the general inmate grievance procedure, rather than the separate religious accommodation grievance procedure, and consequently did not exhaust. …
Cash Only Bail Violates Ohio Constitution by The Ohio Supreme Court held that cash-only bail violates Article I, Section 9, of the Ohio Constitution and Crim.R.46. On May 16, 2001, Gary Smith was arrested for the shooting of four individuals and his bond was set at $250,000. One of the …
RLUIPA Kouplock Injunction Reversed; Deference to Prison Officials Required by David Reutter By David M. Reutter The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed an Ohio federal district court's temporary injunction that allowed a Native American Indian prisoner to grow and maintain a kouplock. The district court, using RLUIPA as …
Tight Handcuffs, Exposure to Heat in Police Car Actionable by At 944-45: The right to be free from "excessively forceful handcuffing" is a clearly established right for qualified immunity purposes, . . . and applying handcuffs so tightly that the detainee's hands become numb and turn blue certainly raises concerns …
OH Prisoner's Criminal Retaliation Conviction Reversed by In April of 2000, Justin Farthing, an Ohio state prisoner, sent a letter to another prisoner at the Pickaway Correctional Institution in Pickaway County, Ohio. The letter suggested that they both rape his former parole officer, Susan Johnson, who'd violated Farthings parole on …
Registration Requirements Expanded to Non-Sex Crimes and Unconvicted Offenses by Matthew Clarke by Matthew T. Clarke Ohio and Illinois have recently expanded the scope of persons required to register with the state as sex offenders to include persons who have never been charged with or convicted of a sex crime. …
