Ban on Interprison Travel for Religious Services Overturned by Jewish Michigan state prisoners filed suit alleging First Amendment violations in response to a ban on inter-prison travel which effectively denied them the right to participate in Sabbath services and a Passover Seder. A U.S. district court held that the prisoners …
Sixth Circuit Reverses Jury in Retaliation Case, Verdict Was Unreasonable by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has again reversed and remanded the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in a case involving a prison guard's retaliation against a prisoner and his mother. Stephen Neal was a …
No Qualified Immunity for Guards Who Seized Prisoner's Legal Papers by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed a district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of prison guards who had confiscated a prisoner's legal papers as an alleged act of retaliation for the prisoner's exercise …
Sixth Circuit Upholds $54,750 ETS Damage Award by The Sixth Circuit US Court of Appeals upheld the district court's bench trial findings of fact and law, $54,750 damages award and $51,786 attorney fees award in a state prisoner 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights suit claiming injury from environmental tobacco …
MI Court Holds RLUIPA Constitutional by A Michigan Federal Court held the religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) of 2000, 42 U.S.C. section 2000cc, is constitutional. Members of the Melanic Islamic Palace of the Rising Sun brought this class action suit after the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) …
State Tolling Statute Must be Applied to §1983 Suits by State Tolling Statute Must be Applied to §1983 Suits The United States Supreme Court has held that a federal court applying a state statute of limitations to a prisoner's federal civil rights action should give effect to the State's provision …
Factual Issues Preclude Summary Judgment on Eighth Amendment, ADA Claims by A U.S. district court dismissed a .prisoner's First Amendment and retaliation claims but held that summary judgment of his Eighth Amendment and ADA claims was precluded by remaining issues of fact. A Michigan state prisoner brought §1983 action against …
Prison Warden Granted Qualified Immunity in Employee's Death by The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan was correct in denying a prison warden's motion to dismiss a 42 U.S.C. §1983 complaint for failure to state a claim, but …
Celling Non-Smoker with Smoker Negligence, Not Constitutional Claim by Affirming a federal district court in Michigan, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld dismissal of a state prisoner's 42 U.S.C. §1983 suit for failure to state a claim. Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) prisoner Maurice Taylor, incarcerated at Brooks …
Compensatory Damages Not Allowed for Value of Violated Rights by The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Sixth Circuit's affirmation of a district court's award of compensatory damages. A Michigan public school teacher brought suit against a school district under 42 U.S.C. §1983 upon suspension for his teaching methods. A jury …
Court Appearance Governed by Fundamental Fairness by A Michigan prisoner appealed the trial court's denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum and his motion for leave to testify by deposition which effectively foreclosed him from obtaining a divorce. In Michigan, a judgment of divorce may not …
Prisoner Awarded $130,000 in § 1983 Claim, JNWV Motion Denied by Prisoner Awarded $130,000 in § 1983 Claim, JNWV Motion Denied Prisoner brought an action under 4.2 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Director of the Michigan DOC, a nurse supervisor and others after he was raped in a prison infirmary. …
Prisoner Not Retaliated Against, Whistleblower Claim Not Allowed by The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Michigan state prisoner did not present sufficient evidence of retaliation to survive summary judgment, and refused to consider the prisoner's claim of whistleblower protection presented for the first time on appeal. …
Disciplinary Findings Do Not Preclude Subsequent Factual Litigation; QI Denied by A Federal District Court in Michigan has held that findings made in prisoner disciplinary hearings should not be given preclusive effect when litigating factual issues in § 1983 claims. Qualified immunity was denied as untimely. Arthur Johnson claimed James …
Dismissal for Failure of Service Reversed; District Court Abused Discretion by The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a federal district court's dismissal of a Michigan prisoner's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit for failure of timely service, holding that the state, not the prisoner, was responsible for …
Saginaw County Jail Practices Unconstitutional by A Michigan federal district court held that practices and procedures, affecting pre-trial detainees at the Saginaw County Jail are unconstitutional and enjoined them. This is a class action suit that did not challenge the general physical conditions, but the practices and procedures of the …
Written Statements Not A Substitute For Live Testimony by The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan held that a Michigan state prisoner should have been allowed to (a) call witnesses at his disciplinary hearing and (b) review documents relevant to the disciplinary charge. Wesley King was charged …
Sixth Circuit Remands Bazetta, Yet Again by In an unpublished ruling, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to peremptorily reverse two post-judgment orders entered by a Michigan district court in a prisoner class action civil rights case challenging certain Michigan prison visitation regulations. Prison officials argued that those orders, …
Michigan Prisoner Wearing Leg Irons During Jury Trial Harmless Error by Michigan State prisoner David Lakin appealed the denial of his Federal habeas corpus petition alleging a due process violation for being forced to wear leg irons during a jury trial. Lakin and four other prisoners attempted to escape from …
Michigan Law Bars Tort Claims If Intoxication Causes 50% Or More Responsibility On Injured Party. by Michigan Law Bars Tort Claims If Intoxication Causes 50% Or More Responsibility On Injured Party. Michigan's Court of Appeals has held that a claim alleging medical malpractice, intentional misconduct, and ordinary negligence arising from …
