$5,000 Verdict for Snitch Jacketing Affirmed by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit affirmed a $5,000 judgment in favor of a jail prisoner who was assaulted after a guard told other prisoners he was a snitch. The court also affirmed an award of $93,649.61 in attorney fees and …
PLRA Fees Don't Apply to Habeas by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit joined every other circuit to consider the issue by holding that the PLRA's fee requirements do not apply to habeas corpus petitions. Thus, indigent prisoners can still seek a waiver of filing fees for habeas …
Private Prison Disciplinary Action Subject to Colorado Court Review by The Colorado court of appeals held that state prison disciplinary codes apply to private prisons and are subject to judicial review. Patrick Murphy, a Colorado state prisoner, was placed in the Bent County Correctional Facility (BCCF), a privately owned and …
Hygiene and Retaliation Claims Require Trial by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit held that a prisoner's retaliation claim and claim that he had been denied hygiene items required a trial. The court affirmed dismissal of claims regarding inadequate law library access and his placement in administrative segregation …
Puerto Rican POW 'Graduated' from ADX Florence to USP Marion by Daniel Burton-Rose On November 8, 1996, Puerto Rican prisoner of war Oscar Lopez Rivera was transferred from ADX Florence to USP Marion after completing the 36-month "step program" at ADX in just 23 months. He received no disciplinary infractions …
Trouble Coming Every Day; ADX-The First Year by Ray Luc Levasseur Society reflects itself in the microcosm of prison. From a class-based, economically driven, racially motivated construct devolves life as a series of Chinese boxes -- a set of boxes decreasing in size so that each box fits inside the …
Filing Fee Requirement Not Retroactive by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) did not have retroactive effect as applied to filing fees for indigent litigants. David White, a Colorado state prisoner, filed suit after he was denied access to a …
Prior Frivolous Suits Count for PLRA by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit held that writs of mandamus fall within the scope of filing fee requirements imposed by the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), Public Law 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321 (April 26, 1996). The court also held that …
Indigents Entitled to Full Credit for Pretrial Detention by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit held that a defendant who is incarcerated prior to trial due to indigency (unable to afford bail) must be given full credit towards the minimum and maximum sentences he is convicted of. James …
Cavity Search in Public States Claim by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit held that strip searches by members of the opposite gender may violate the fourth amendment. Willie Hayes, a Colorado state prisoner, filed suit claiming his fourth, eighth and fourteenth amendment rights were violated when he …
$1.44 Million for Medical Indifference by On April 5, 1996, a Denver, Colorado district court jury awarded former prisoner Arthur Nieto $1.44 million in damages against Colorado state prison officials for showing deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. According to the evidence proved at trial, Nieto was imprisoned at …
RFRA Applies to Retaliation Claims by A federal district court in Colorado has held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb(b)(1) applies to prisoners' retaliation claims. John Hall, a Colorado state prisoner, filed suit under the RFRA and § 1983 claiming prison officials retaliated against him …
Transexuals Entitled to Treatment by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit has held that transsexual prisoners state a cause of action under the eighth amendment when they are not provided with any medical treatment by prison officials. The court also held that parties must be given notice when …
Colorado Prisoners Riot in Texas Jail by On page 13 of this issue of PLN we feature an article about 500 Colorado prisoners who were abducted from Colorado prisons and shipped to the Bowie County Jail in Texarkana, TX. The 500 Colorado prisoners have been fighting the move ever since, …
Marquiz v. Romer, CO, Opinion and Order, Violation of ADA Rights, 1995 NITEO STATES EMSTRICT C C U H . DENVER, COI n IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO DE§ gl 19Q§ r Civil Action No. 92-K-1470 (92-M-1932) AMES R. f/.-.^SPEAKEi: __^'-~ STEVEN R. MARQUIZ; …
Random Urinalysis Okay by In the July, 1994 issue of PLN we reported Lucero v. Gunter, 17 F.3d 1347 (10th Cir. 1994) where the court of appeals reversed dismissal of a Colorado state prisoner's suit alleging a fourth amendment violation where he was subjected to a harassing urinalysis test. The …
Martinez Hearing Reversed by The tenth circuit has approved a process whereby district courts conduct hearings to develop the record and determine whether there is any legal or factual basis to claims brought by pro se prisoner litigants. See: Martinez v. Aaron, 570 F.2d 317 (10th Cir. 1978). In this …
PI Granted to Satanist by Robert Howard is a federal prisoner at FCI Englewood in Littleton, CO. He is also a Satanist. Howard made several requests to prison officials seeking to practice satanic rituals. Prison officials denied his requests and Howard filed suit claiming that the denial of his requests …
Attorney General Subject to Suit by Attorney General Wendy Ritz ordered the court reporter not to prepare the transcript, despite the court order to the contrary, because she thought the petition would be dismissed on procedural grounds. The state court called the AGs conduct "outrageous" and ordered the attorney generals …
CO Ad Seg Rules Don't Create Liberty Interest by Vernon Templeman is a Colorado state prisoner. After spending seven years in administrative segregation (ad seg) he was placed in a maximum security general population. A year later he was again placed in ad seg. Despite requesting a three member panel, …
