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DC Prisoner Wins $175,000 in Conditions Case

Article • August 15, 2001 • from PLN August, 2001

Filed under: Transfers, Cancer, Skin, Vision, Ventilation, Clothing, Exposure to Heat, Damages, Supervisory Liability, Municipal Liability, Ad-Seg Hearings, Mental Health

DC Prisoner Wins $175,000 in Conditions Case by David C Fathi by David C. Fathi On January 25, 2001, a federal jury in Washington, D.C. awarded nearly $175,000 to D.C. prisoner Lawrence Caldwell in his challenge to conditions at the District of Columbia's Maximum Security Facility (MSF) in Lorton, Virginia. …

Maynor v. Morgan County, AL, Complaint, Inmate Funds Misappropriation, 2001

Brief • April 5, 2001

Filed under: Classification, Totality of Conditions, Fire Hazards, Food, Overcrowding, Eighth Amendment, Staffing, Ventilation, Exercise, Exposure to Cold, Showers, Toilets, Plumbing, Sewage, Water, Sanitation, Bedding, Hygiene Supplies, Reading Materials, Lighting, Laundry, Vermin, Exposure to Heat, Education, Legal Materials, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

Maynor v. Morgan County, AL, Complaint, Inmate Funds Misappropriation, 2001 Case 5:01-cv-00851-AKK Document 1 Filed 04/05/01 Page 1 of 17 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA C. / "~i - 3 i.. ; ~·: NORTHERN DMSION JOHNNY MAYNOR, Anthony Murphree, Christopher Nichols, Yvette Barbee, …

Lorton Conditions Unconstitutional

Article • March 15, 2001 • from PLN March, 2001

Filed under: Transfers, Racial Discrimination, Cancer, Skin, Vision, Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Smoking, Eighth Amendment, Ventilation, Clothing, Plumbing, Water, Sanitation, Exposure to Heat, Qualified Immunity, Ad-Seg Hearings

Lorton Conditions Unconstitutional by A federal district court for the District of Columbia held that a prisoner stated claims for an assortment of constitutional injuries and a violation of the Lorton Act. The defendants' motion to dismiss the complaint or, in the alternative, for summary judgment was denied in part. …

No Qualified Immunity from ETS Exposure

Article • September 15, 2000 • from PLN September, 2000

Filed under: Smoking, Ventilation, Civil Procedure, Costs, Appeals, Qualified Immunity

No Qualified Immunity from ETS Exposure by The U.S. court of appeals for the Second Circuit held that it was clearly established after Helling v. McKinney, 509 U.S. 25 (1993), that prison officials could not be deliberately indifferent to exposure of prisoners to levels of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) that …

$53,000 Settlement in AL Conditions Suit

Article • September 15, 2000 • from PLN September, 2000

Filed under: Prison Industries, Fire Hazards, Overcrowding, Ventilation, Toilets, Water, Bedding, Lighting, Vermin, Exposure to Heat, Civil Procedure, Damages, Settlements

$53,000 Settlement in AL Conditions Suit by On April 8, 2000, the Alabama Department of Corrections settled a conditions lawsuit by agreeing to pay eight prisoners $53,000 in damages and establish basic standards of care at the Loxley Community Work Center in Mobile, Alabama. In August, 1997, eight prisoners were …

Imminent Danger Overrides Three Strikes

Article • June 15, 1999 • from PLN June, 1999

Filed under: Ventilation, PLRA, Filing Fees (PLRA), Frivolous Litigation (PLRA)

Imminent Danger Overrides Three Strikes by The court of appeals for the Third Circuit held that conditions allegedly resulting from a vent emitting particles of dust and lint into a cell constitute a serious physical injury for purposes of circumventing the "three strikes" provision of the Prison Litigation Reform Act …

PLRA Exhaustion Requirement Not Retroactive

Article • April 15, 1999 • from PLN April, 1999

Filed under: Ventilation, PLRA, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Administrative Exhaustion

PLRA Exhaustion Requirement Not Retroactive by The court of appeals for the Ninth circuit held that the administrative remedies exhaustion provision of 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), as amended by the PLRA, does not apply retroactively to prisoner actions filed prior to its enactment date of April 26, 1996. The court …

San Francisco City and County Jail Conditions Held Unconstitutional

Article • June 15, 1998 • from PLN June, 1998

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Fire Hazards, Overcrowding, Ventilation, Exposure to Cold, Plumbing, Sewage, Water, Sanitation, Asbestos, Jail Specific, Lighting, Shelter, Noise, Attorney Client, Special Masters, Premises Liability, Attorney Visits

San Francisco City and County Jail Conditions Held Unconstitutional by A federal district court in California ruled that numerous conditions of confinement at San Francisco county jail # 3 violated contemporary standards of decency and the eighth and fourteenth amendments. Of particular importance to West coast readers, the court found …

Fact Dispute Bars Qualified Immunity Appeal

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Boot Camps, Overcrowding, Ventilation, Toilets, Appeals, Qualified Immunity

Fact Dispute Bars Qualified Immunity Appeal by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction to hear an interlocutory appeal on the denial of qualified immunity to prison officials where the lower court denied qualified immunity due to disputed facts. Two Louisiana state prisoners sued …

Cold Cell Violates 8th Amendment

Article • February 15, 1998 • from PLN February, 1998

Filed under: Ventilation, Exposure to Cold, Protective Custody

Cold Cell Violates 8th Amendment by The court of appeals for the seventh circuit held that extremely cold prison cells violate the eighth amendment but poor cell ventilation in summer does not. Anthony Dixon is an Illinois state prisoner in protective custody at Stateville. He filed suit claiming that in …

AL Jail Enjoined From Holding Prisoners Overnight

Article • January 15, 1998 • from PLN January, 1998

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Food, Overcrowding, Staffing, Ventilation, Exposure to Cold, Clothing, Toilets, Plumbing, Sewage, Sanitation, Bedding, Jail Specific, Lighting, Vermin, Injunctions, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's

AL Jail Enjoined From Holding Prisoners Overnight by Afederal district court in Alabama held that conditions in the Pickens county jail in Carrolton, Alabama, were so abysmal it was not fit for human or animal habitation. Prisoners in the jail filed a class action suit challenging the conditions of their …

New York Jail Overcrowding Unconstitutional

Article • September 15, 1997 • from PLN September, 1997

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Overcrowding, Ventilation, Toilets, Sanitation, Jail Specific, Laundry, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's

New York Jail Overcrowding Unconstitutional by A federal district court in New York held that overcrowding in the Erie County jail violated the eighth amendment rights of convicted prisoners and the fourteenth amendment rights of pretrial detainees housed in the jail. Bernard Zolnowski, a pretrial detainee, filed suit challenging jail …

New York Smoking Suit Set for Trial

Article • July 15, 1997 • from PLN July, 1997

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Smoking, Ventilation, Qualified Immunity

New York Smoking Suit Set for Trial by A federal district court in New York held that prison officials were not entitled to qualified immunity for exposing prisoners to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS), also known as second hand smoke, and scheduled a trial to determine prison officials' liability. Several New …

Beating and Strip Cell Require Trial

Article • April 15, 1997 • from PLN April, 1997

Filed under: Judicial Misconduct, Racial Discrimination, Eyeglasses, Conditions of Confinement, Ventilation, Exercise, Exposure to Cold, Clothing, Water, Strip Cells, Bedding, Hygiene Supplies, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints, Writing Implements, Complaints

Beating and Strip Cell Require Trial by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit held that beating a naked, handcuffed, non-resisting prisoner violates the eighth amendment; that placing a prisoner in a strip cell without blankets or heating violates the eighth amendment as well. The court also discussed when …

De Novo Review Required of Magistrate's Report

Article • October 15, 1996 • from PLN October, 1996

Filed under: Smoking, Ventilation, Civil Procedure, Magistrates, Qualified Immunity

De Novo Review Required of Magistrate's Report by The court of appeals for the eighth circuit held that a district court's erroneous statement that no objections had been filed to a magistrate's report and recommendation constituted prima facie evidence that the district court did not perform the requisite de novo …

IMU Placement Implicates Due Process

Article • September 15, 1996 • from PLN September, 1996

Filed under: Liberty Interests, Conditions of Confinement, Food, Ventilation, Exercise, Hygiene Supplies, Reading Materials, Lighting, Noise, Injunctions, Qualified Immunity, Publications/Books, Mail Regulations, Legal Mail, Ad-Seg Hearings

IMU Placement Implicates Due Process by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit held that an Oregon prisoner's transfer to an Intensive Management Unit (IMU) control unit may violate due process if done without procedural due process. The court also held that several control unit conditions stated a claim …

Detainees Entitled to Hygiene Items

Article • November 15, 1995 • from PLN November, 1995

Filed under: Medical, Tuberculosis, Food, Ventilation, Clothing, Bedding, Hygiene Supplies

Detainees Entitled to Hygiene Items by A district court in Illinois has held that pretrial detainees are entitled to clean linen and clothes on a regular basis as well as adequate ventilation, medical treatment and food. The court begins its ruling with a quote by Dr. Karl Menninger who described …

Detainees Entitled to Non-Punitive Conditions

Article • August 15, 1995 • from PLN August, 1995

Filed under: Witnesses (Disciplinary Hearings), Notice of Hearing, Conditions of Confinement, Ventilation, Exposure to Cold, Sanitation, Bedding, Vermin, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Municipal Liability, Postage, Legal Mail

Detainees Entitled to Non-Punitive Conditions by Pretrial detainees, who have not been convicted of any crimes, may not be punished in any manner. This includes housing them in jail conditions that could be construed as punitive. Dale Miller filed suit over conditions at the Cook County (Chicago) Jail. He claimed …

PA Class Action Settlement Published

Article • July 15, 1995 • from PLN July, 1995

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Fire Hazards, Food, Overcrowding, Eighth Amendment, Staffing, Ventilation, Sanitation, Attorney Fee Awards, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Education, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Settlements, Consent Decrees, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

PA Class Action Settlement Published by The October, 1994, issue of PLN reported that on August 12, 1994, attorneys representing all Pennsylvania state prisoners had reached a settlement with prison officials of that state regarding almost every aspect of prison conditions in that state. The district court has published the …

Cooling Towers Spread Legionnaire's

Article • November 15, 1994 • from PLN November, 1994

Filed under: Medical, Respiratory, Ventilation

Cooling Towers Spread Legionnaire's by The Federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued a report stating that cooling towers holding contaminated community water can lead to serious outbreaks of Legionnaire's disease, a pneumonia like illness that can be fatal. The bacteria causing the disease are spread by water or …