Seventh Circuit Reinstates Claim of Illinois Prisoner Held 18 Months After Release for Refusing to Sign Incomplete Form by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke “Justice delayed is justice denied,” as former British Prime Minister William Gladstone famously said. On August 7, 2023, a former Illinois prisoner finally got a measure …
BOP Slammed for Prisoner Abuse in Now-Shuttered Segregation Unit at USP-Thomson in Illinois by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney A report on July 6, 2023, from the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs (WLCCR&UA) exposed abuses suffered by prisoners at the hands of Bureau of Prisons (BOP) …
$3 Million Settlement for Illinois Pretrial Detainee’s Opioid Withdrawal Death by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A $3 million settlement in the 2020 withdrawal death of Illinois pretrial detainee Elissa A. Lindhorst at the Madison County Jail was fully executed on May 10, 2023. Lindhorst, 28, was another casualty …
Cash Bail Eliminated in Illinois, Reduced in Los Angeles County by In separate decisions on the same day, the Supreme Court of Illinois and the Superior Court of Los Angeles County reformed their jurisdictions’ cash bail systems on July 18, 2023. Illinois became the first state in the nation to …
Seventh Circuit Reinstates Illinois Prisoner’s Claim Against Kitchen Supervisor for Scalding From Spilled Hot Water by by Matt Clarke On July 14, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reinstated a claim brought by an Illinois prisoner who was severely burned when he tripped on a damaged …
Seventh Circuit Slams Illinois Civil Commitment Program but Reverses Injunction by “Very weighty interests are at stake when a state institutes a program of civil commitment for sex offenders who, though never tried for or convicted of a crime, are found too dangerous for release.” So began a ruling by …
Phillips v. Hulett, IL, Order on Final Approval and Final Judgment, Strip Search, 2023 3:12-cv-03087-JEH # 323 Filed: 12/08/23 Page 1 of 4 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS PATRICIA PHILLIPS, et al., Plaintiffs, -vsMELODY HULETT, et al., Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) …
News in Brief by Alabama: Within 48-hours of booking into the Morgan County Jail on August 29, 2023, Miles Rea Batson, 39, had two second-degree assault charges added to his public intoxication charge as well as another for disarming a law enforcement agent. WHNT in Huntsville reported that during booking …
Wrongfully Imprisoned for 26 Years, Chicago Brothers Sue Cop Who Framed Them by A year after their murder convictions were tossed and they were freed from an Illinois prison where they’d spent 26 years, a pair of brothers got a certificate of innocence from a state court on May 31, …
Wexford Handbook Warns That Illinois Prisoners “Can Be Very Manipulative” by A “Provider Handbook” for “Physicians, Psychiatrists, Dentists, Nurse Practitioners, and Physician Assistants” employed in Illinois state prisons by Wexford Health Sources warns that “[i]nmates can be very manipulative,” so healthcare workers are advised to “[n]ever take anything from or …
In Suit Over Moldy Cells Causing Fungal Infection, Illinois Warden Denied Summary Judgment Wins Anyway by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On May 19, 2023, the federal court for the Southern District of Illinois denied a state prison warden’s motion for summary judgment in a federal civil rights lawsuit over …
Phillips v. Hulett, IL, Settlement, Strip Searches, 2023 3:12-cv-03087-JEH # 322-2 Filed: 11/29/23 EXHIBIT 1 Page 1 of 25 3:12-cv-03087-JEH # 322-2 Filed: 11/29/23 Page 2 of 25 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD DIVISION PATRICIA PIDLLIPS, et al., Plaintiffs, -vsMELODY HULETT, et …
News in Brief by Alabama: Three jail guards in the Yellowhammer State were hit with drug smuggling charges in August 2023 and another the month after. WAFF in Huntsville reported that Morgan County Jail guard Bobby Simmons, 19, was arrested on August 3, 2023, when he was charged with promoting …
USA v. Prince, IL, Memo Opinion and Order, Felon in Possession of Firearm, 2023 Case: 1:22-cr-00240 Document #: 73 Filed: 11/02/23 Page 1 of 22 PageID #:576 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. GLEN PRINCE, Defendant. …
Seventh Circuit Revives Illinois Prisoner’s Claim Over Knee Surgery Delayed 29 Months by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson On September 19, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment to Illinois prison officials accused of violating a state prisoner’s civil …
News in Brief by Alabama: According to WSFA in Montgomery, a guard at the Montgomery County Detention Center was charged on July 18, 2023, with conspiracy to provide contraband to a prisoner as well as bribing a public official. Timothy Bernard Summerlin, 33, had worked at the lockup for roughly …
$50,002 Jury Award to Illinois Prisoner Retaliated Against for Daughter’s Facebook Posts by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On March 30, 2023, a jury sitting in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois awarded $50,002 in damages to state prisoner Larry ‘Rocky’ Harris on his claim …
Kyles v. Beaugard, IL, Judgment, Retaliation, 2023 ILND 45o<Refan~oti>1,-§.ilgMe.Q~ij~~i1Q_ggiment #: 601 Filed: 08/21/23 Pa~e 1 of 2 PagelD #:20871 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS Timothy Kyles, Plaintiff(s), Case No. 1: 15-cv-08895 Judge Steven C. Seeger v. Fred Beaugard, et al., Defendant(s); · .. …
Seventh Circuit: Cook County Jail Grievance Procedure An “Incomprehensible Trap” by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On March 16, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that the grievance procedure in Chicago’s Cook County Jail is an “incomprehensible trap,” making it effectively unavailable to a detainee …
BOP Closes Deadliest Unit by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman On February 14, 2023, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) announced it was closing Special Management Unit (SMU) at the U.S. Penitentiary (USP) in Thomson, Illinois, where seven deaths have been recorded since it opened in 2019, the highest death …
