Pennsylvania Prisoner Appointed Counsel on Retaliation / MRSA Infection Claims by Pennsylvania Prisoner Appointed Counsel on Retaliation / MRSA Infection Claims A Pennsylvania federal district court appointed counsel to a prisoner in a lawsuit claiming he contracted a serious infection and faced retaliation after filing grievances about his medical condition. …
Muslim Prisoners Cannot be Forced to Handle Pork; Qualified Immunity Denied by The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Muslim prisoner’s complaint that prison officials disciplined him for refusing to handle pork stated a claim under the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act …
Unemployment Compensation Denied to Guard Who Failed to Stop Prisoner Assault by Unemployment Compensation Denied to Guard Who Failed to Stop Prisoner Assault The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has held that a guard who was fired for willful misconduct for failing to report the planned assault of a prisoner was …
USA v. Conahan & Ciavarella Jr, PA, Indictment, judge misconduct fraud juvenile center, 2009 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. MICHAEL T. CONAHAN and MARK A. CIAVARELLA, JR. , Defendants. } ) } ) ) ) } } NO. FILED SCRANTON …
Pennsylvania Prisoners Remain On Death Row After Death Sentences Vacated by Bob Williams By: Bob Williams Pennsylvania State death row prisoners appealed the dismissal of their 2005 § 1983 and mandamus complaint regarding restrictive confinement and the medical conditions it caused. Their death sentences were either vacated or overturned but …
Third Circuit Bars § 1983 Action For Untimely Release Under Heck by Pennsylvania state ex prisoner Hozay Royal appealed the 2004 dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action after being released six months past his mandatory release date. The dismissal was affirmed because the action was barred under Heck …
Ruling Against Expression is No Music to Prisoners’ Ears by David Hudson ??by David L. Hudson, Jr.? “Prison walls do not form a barrier separating the inmate from the protections of the Constitution.” So wrote Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in the 1987 decision Turner v. Safley. But the statement has …
Pennsylvania Jail Rebuffs Calls for Independent Review of Abuse Claims by Pennsylvania Jail Rebuffs Calls for Independent Review of Abuse Claims by David M. Reutter Jails and prisons are often located in areas hidden from public view, and as a result often become extremely insular. Those who work within such …
Failure to Name Defendant in Administrative Appeal Does Not Foreclose Including Him in § 1983 Complaint by The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that when a defendant in a prisoner’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights complaint had participated in the administrative grievance process, but had not been …
Dismissal of Doe Defendants Required if Named Defendants Dismissed by The plaintiff sued, invoking 1983, the Moroccan Treaty of 1787, the Free Moorish-American Zodiac Constitution, etc. At 424: "In cases that allow for Doe defendants, other identified defendants have been able to represent the unknown individual defendants' interests." Allowing claims …
Outside Clergy Requirement for Ramadan Services Upheld by Officials at a county prison provided for communal worship during Ramadan only if an outside leader could be found. This restriction did not violate the Turner standard because the Ramadan participants came from different housing units, raising order and security concerns; the …
Court Access Rights Discussed by At 785: "The right of access to the courts arises in a variety of contexts." The right to sue and defend in court is a privilege of citizenship guaranteed by the Constitution. There is a right of court access encompassed within the right to petition …
Claim Exhausted When Prison Rules in Favor of Prisoner by The plaintiff complained of improper discipline and retaliatory reclassification and transfer At 506: "The violation of a constitutionally protected right is a sufficient injury for purposes of standing." The defendants had argued that the plaintiff lacked standing because he didn't …
Parolee Subject to Prison Rules Prior to Release by Complaints about fire code violations in a facility operated under contract with the state raised at most an issue of negligence on the part of the city where the facility was located, since the claim turned on their alleged failure to …
Refusal of TB Test on Religious Grounds Discussed by The plaintiff refused a PPD on religious (MOVE) grounds and was placed in administrative custody and kept there even after he submitted to a chest x-ray, which was negative. There is no evidence that MOVE is actually a religion (and the …
Denial of Visiting Between Prisoner, Ex Prisoner Upheld by Plaintiff, a member of MOVE, was refused a visit from a female member of MOVE who he said was his wife because she was a former prisoner. The court previously refused defendants summary judgment because other prisoners married to former prisoners …
Federal Prisoner's Bivens Action Claiming Civil Rights Violations During Arrest and Prosecution Reinstated by Donald Jackman, a federal prisoner, sued fifty-one defendants in federal district court under Bivens and 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming they had violated his civil rights in various ways during his arrest and criminal prosecution. The …
Habeas Release Granted to Immigration Detainee After 3 Year Wait for Removal Proceedings by Morocco citizen Mourad Madrane petitioned pro se for a writ of habeas corpus to end his prolonged detention while awaiting deportation proceedings following his aggravated felony convictions for various access device fraud charges. The writ was …
Pennsylvania Prison Medical Firm’s Performance Called into Question by Dr. Edward Zaloga, co-owner of Correctional Care, Inc. (CCI) of Moosic, Pennsylvania, a firm that provides medical services at the Lackawanna County Prison, had his past called into question when a female prisoner was forced to give birth alone in her …
Some Sexual Harassment of Prisoners Constitutional by The plaintiff alleged several incidents of sexual harassment by a staff member (dry-humping sums it up). All but one of his claims are barred by his failure to file grievances about them. Since the plaintiff requested damages and did not allege an official …
