Sixth Circuit Finds No Deliberate Indifference in Prison Employee's Death by The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court's grant of summary judgment to officials of the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) and the Huron Valley Men's Facility (HVMF) in a case alleging that a prison employee's …
Michigan Use of Food Loaf Violates Prisoners' Due Process Rights by The U.S. District Court, W.D. Michigan, Southern Division, held that the use of "food loaf" as punishment even when prisoners' misconduct charges were dismissed, violated their right to due process. The United States brought action against the State of …
Heck Bars §1983 Relief for Michigan Prisoner Assaulted by Guard by Heck Bars §1983 Relief for Michigan Prisoner Assaulted by Guard In a peculiar and narrow application of a 1994 Supreme Court ruling, the Sixth Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of §1983 relief to a prisoner who was assaulted …
Sixth Circuit Remands Hadix For Termination on Hearing by The Sixth Circuit has reversed the district court's order "terminating" the Hadix consent decree because the order did not comply with the requirements of the PLRA on termination orders, 18 U.S.C. § 3026(b). This case involves a class action civil rights …
Court Appoints Monitor to Oversee Michigan Prison Implementation by Court Appoints Monitor To Oversee Michigan Prison Implementation The District Court, E.D. Michigan, S.D., on remand from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, ordered the Michigan Corrections Commission to appoint a Special Administrator to bring the female prisoner educational programs to …
Sanctions Ordered Against Michigan Prison by For failing to comply with district court orders to implement vocational programs, the District Court, E.D. Michigan, S.D., ordered contempt sanctions against Michigan prison officials. See: Glover v. Johnson, 9 F.Supp. 799 (ED MI 1998).
Prison Officials' Request for Stay Denied by The District Court, E.D. Michigan, S.D., denied a stay of relief to Michigan prison officials in a 20-year old class action suit. The defendants filed for relief under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) seeking termination of previous court orders to provided educational …
Educational Administrator Appointment Ordered in Michigan Discrimination Case by The District Court, E.D. Michigan, S.D., held that the Michigan Department of Corrections failed to comply with court order requiring the appointment of an educational administrator to bring female prisoners' education programs to parity with male counterparts. The court ordered (1) …
Education Administrator Appointment Vacated and Remanded by Education Administrator Appointment Vacated And Remanded The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the order of the E.D. Michigan, S.D., District Court appointing an educational administrator for the female prisoners who sought to have educational parity with the male prisoners. The court held …
Court Orders Appointment of Education Administrator in Michigan Discrimination Case by The District Court, E.D. Michigan, S.D., appointed an education administrator after the Michigan Department of Corrections failed to hire one on their own. The court ordered the defendants to pay the administrator $1,000/40-hour week to implement educational programs for …
Shocks the Conscience" Standard Incorrect for First Amendment Claims by Shocks the Conscience" Standard Incorrect for First Amendment Claims Affirming its prior holding in Bell v Johnson, 308 F.3d 594 (6th Cir. 2002), the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a district court in Michigan incorrectly granted summary …
Michigan: Relevant Documents Must Be Provided in Disciplinary Action by The Court of Appeals of Michigan held that a state prisoner's due process rights were violated when he was refused access to documents relevant to his disciplinary case. Joseph Tocco received a major disciplinary case for allegedly participating in a …
Sixth Circuit Vacates Dismissal of § 1983 Suit by Sixth Circuit Vacates Dismissal of § 1983 Suit The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, in an unpublished opinion, has vacated and remanded a Michigan District Court's grant of summary judgment to prison officials on grounds that the prisoner-plaintiff failed to exhaust …
$975,000 Paid in Michigan Guards Wrongful Discharge Suit by In January 1996, Michigan prison guard James E. Legrow saw a paroled prisoner and three guards in a bar, which violated the parolee's conditions of parole and prison rules against fraternization with prison guards. Because the guards were friends of the …
$259,000 Paid in Michigan Guard's Discrimination Claim by Michigan prison guard Kenneth McIntyre, who had been employed for 7 years, had lifting restrictions due to congenital spinal bifida. An MRI disclosed he developed bulging discs and had his lifting restrictions changed from 50 to 20 pounds. The State said he …
Arbitrary Censorship and Abuse of Disabled Prisoners Unlawful by The Sixth Circuit has held that the First Amendment protects prisoners from capricious interference with their incoming mail and that actual physical injury is not a requisite to show an Eighth Amendment violation of cruel and unusual punishment. George Parrish and …
Michigan Prisoner Civil Suit for Sexual Abuse by In an unpublished ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that a Michigan district court erred in dismissing a prisoner's civil rights suit for sexual assault by two guards and an emergency room doctor. The prisoner had chest …
Sixth Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity Denial; MDOC Director's Policy Challenged by Sixth Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity Denial; MDOC Director's Policy Challenged The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed denial of qualified immunity to the director of the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) in a complaint brought by the father …
Pension Fund Garnished to Satisfy Criminal Restitution Order. by A Michigan federal District Court held the government may garnish a criminal defendant's pension fund to satisfy a criminal restitution order. Both the Employee's Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. 1056 (d)(1), and the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U. S.C.§ …
State and Official Capacity Defendants Not "Persons" Under § 1983 by The U.S. Supreme Court held that neither a state nor its employees acting in their official capacity were "persons" under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. After being fired for allegedly invalid reasons, a Michigan state employee sued the Michigan Department …
