$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Michigan Prisoner Civil Suit for Sexual Abuse by In an unpublished ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that a Michigan district court erred in dismissing a prisoner's civil rights suit for sexual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 …
6th Circuit: § 1983 Claims Against County Must Connect Policy, Violation by In this case involving the death of a prisoner in the Washtenaw (Michigan) County Jail, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the decedent's estate had not shown that his death resulted from a county custom …
Costs Improperly Denied to Prevailing Prisoner by In an unpublished opinion, the court of appeals for the Sixth circuit held that a district court had improperly denied Costs to a pro se prisoner who won his case, at a jury trial. William Walker, a Michigan state prisoner, filed suit alleging …
Michigan Doctor's Termination of Prisoner's Suicide Watch Upheld by On March 2, 1995, Billy Montgomery was on suicide watch in a Michigan prison. He was interviewed by Norris McCrary, a prison psychologist, who, without reviewing his file, found that Montgomery no longer needed to be on suicide watch. McCrary had …
Rooker-Feldman Doctrine Bars Federal Review of Michigan Indigent Filing Fees Statute As Applied by Matthew Clarke Rooker-Feldman Doctrine Bars Federal Review of Michigan Indigent Filing Fees Statute As Applied by Matthew T. Clarke On August 31, 2004 the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an indigent Michigan state prisoner …
Stripping Detainees Naked for Hours States Claim by The plaintiffs are arrestees who refused to answer suicide screening questions. They were treated as posing a suicide risk and were placed in a cell completely naked for periods from 6 to 18 hours, subjected to video surveillance and in most cases …
Tight Handcuffs State Claim by The plaintiff, who had a pre-existing deformity of his wrist, complained of being handcuffed too tightly and being pulled, kicked, and pushed during an arrest. These allegations would not state a claim absent injury, but the injury need not be significant, and unspecified injuries to …
Detention in Underwear Upheld by The plaintiffs, after arrest, were placed in jail cells in their underwear, and their outer clothing was removed in the presence of female officers. This allegedly was to prevent suicide (three of four plaintiffs refused to answer relevant questions), and they retained their underwear only …
ADA Claim Dismissed for Non Exhaustion by The plaintiff brought an ADA suit against prison staff. He "stated that he had not exhausted his administrative remedies because, when he asked his counselor, one of the defendants, for a grievance form, the counselor told him to get out of his office." …
Failure to Protect Claim Fails by The plaintiff complained that, while a detainee, he was housed with a convict of known violent propensities who injured him. At 1078: ". . . [T]he overwhelming weight of persuasive authority holds that unless the state has an intent to punish, or at least …
Grievance Must Name All Parties to Be Sued by Here the Sixth Circuit's "exhaust per defendant" rule is turned into a heightened pleading requirement. At 943: In his fifth objection, Plaintiff argues that Defendant Correctional Medical Services was named throughout all stages of the grievance process. However, the court finds …
Grievance Must Name Defendants, Complaint Must Specify Exhaustion by The plaintiff filed a complaint, followed by an amended complaint, and the district court brings out all the regressive armament of Sixth Circuit exhaustion law (and worse) against him. At 789: After a thorough review of Plaintiff's original complaint, it has …
No One Liable in Jail Suicide of 16 Year Old by The plaintiff's 16-year-old grandson committed suicide in jail. He was placed in an observation cell and got lots of attention; after months he seemed better and was placed in general population after signing a "no-harm contract" pledging not to …
Michigan Jail Not Liable for Suicide by The decedent was admitted to jail drunk and hanged himself with a telephone cord within two hours. To recover, the plaintiff must show (1) that he demonstrated a strong likelihood of taking his life, and (2) that defendants acted with deliberate indifference to …
