Diabetic Prisoner's Deliberate Indifference Claim to Proceed to Trial by A federal district court in Alabama held that a diabetic pretrial detainee's medical neglect claim required a trial to resolve, overruling the defendants' motion for summary judgment. Wendi Flowers, a severe diabetic, was arrested and booked in the St. Clair …
Sixth Circuit Upholds PLRA Attorneys' Fees Cap by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the cap on attorneys' fees imposed by the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d)(3), does not violate the equal protection provision of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This …
Michigan DOC Sex Abuse Suit Nets Nearly $4 Million by Roger Smith On February 7, 2000, Michigan DOC officials agreed to settle a lawsuit with 32 women prisoners for $3,787,000 in damages, costs, and attorney fees. The women sued in a Michigan federal district court after being sexually abused by …
Michigan Prison Visitor Forced to Wet Pants Wins $40,000 in Damages and Fees by Michigan Prison Visitor Forced To Wet Pants Wins $40,000 in Damages and Fees On February 12, 2001, James Glaspy was awarded $10,000 in damages at a bench trial in a Michigan federal district court. He sued …
INS Force-Feeds Long-Term Detainee by Mark Dow Nabil Soliman believes that "accepting a tray of food" from his jailers means accepting what he calls his "illegal detention" by the Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS). Soliman has argued that it is a violation of his First Amendment right to expression and …
Supreme Court Restricts ADA by Roger Smith The U.S. Supreme Court overruled an Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision allowing disabled persons to sue State employers for money damages in federal court under Title I of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). 42 U.S.C. § 12112. The 54 majority held …
Arbitrary Denial of Michigan Appeal Bond Enjoined by A federal District Court in Michigan has enjoined prison officials from incarcerating Joseph Puertas for drug convictions. Puertas obtained the preliminary injunction in a habeas corpus action under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 after state courts arbitrarily denied his request to remain free …
Due Process Violation, Plain Error Reverse Marijuana Conviction by The Michigan Supreme Court reversed a state prisoner's conviction for possession of marijuana after finding that the prosecution had improperly introduced inculpatory statements made by the defendant at an earlier prison disciplinary hearing. Raymond Wyngaard was a prisoner of Michigan's Kinross …
$330,000 Verdict in MI Beating by On October 8, 1999, a federal jury deliberated four hours before returning a $330,000 verdict in favor of Richard Johnson. Johnson, a Michigan state prisoner, had been imprisoned at the Ionia Correctional Facility. While being moved to a different cell, Johnson was shoved from …
No Qualified Immunity for Alabama Blanket Strip-Search Policy by A federal district court in Alabama held that a County Sheriff was not entitled to qualified immunity for a policy of strip-searching all jail admittees, regardless of personal circumstances. DeAngela Wilson, an 18-year-old high school student, was arrested at a drivers' …
Alabama Ad Seg Publication Ban Struck Down by On March 20, 2000, a Federal Magistrate recommended declaratory relief striking down a ban on subscription publications in the Alabama Department of Corrections' (DOC) Administrative Segregation (Ad Seg) unit. This recommendation follows a previous ruling where the Court held, after a bench …
Pubic Hair Search of Released Jail Detainee Unconstitutional by A federal district court in Alabama held that a sheriff's policy of searching prisoners' pubic hair as they were released from jail was unconstitutional. The court also held that jail officials were entitled to qualified immunity from money damages for strip …
En Banc Sixth Circuit Addresses Mental Health Care by By Matthew T. Clarke Anthony Wade was a Michigan state prisoner who committed suicide by taking an overdose of anti-depressant Sinequan (Doxepine) pills. During the year Wade was in presentencing incarceration at the Wayne County Jail (WCJ), he suffered from depression …
Alabama Officials Guilty in Phone Scam by A former Alabama state auditor, County commissioner and another man pleaded guilty in July 1999 to federal charges stemming from a prison pay phone scam operated in Alabama and Louisiana by Global Tel*Link, a Mobile-based company. Former state auditor Terry Ellis pleaded guilty …
MI Hearing Officer Fired for Following Law by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that fact issues existed as to whether a major misconduct decision maker employed by the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) was retaliated against and fired, for failing to maintain a 90% misconduct conviction rate and …
Family Wins $12.9 Million Award in Michigan Jail Death Suit by Ronald Young By Ronald Young Eddie B. Swans Sr., the personal representative of the estate of Edward Swans, brought a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights action against the City of Lansing, Michigan. The Chief of Police Jerome Boles, …
Sex Offender Label May Require Due Process by The Eleventh Circuit ruled that absent a conviction for a sex related crime, classification of a state prisoner as a sex offender (and requiring him to register as a sex offender) implicates a liberty interest under the Due Process Clause. Jeffery Kirby …
$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 …
Vincent v. Martin, MI, Judgment, Right to Counsel, 2000 2:99-cv-71416-AC Doc # 82 Filed 08/28/00 Pg 1 of 1 ~' AO 450 (Rev. 5/85) Judgment In 1 Clvll C.. Pg ID 296 • ~nii£h ~ta:i£s c!§l istrirt Qlourt ~~~~~~-E=A:..:.:.ST-=-=E~RN:..;_~~~~~DISTRJCTOF~~~M-I_C_H_I_G_A_N~~~~~~~~~ JOHN VINCENT, SR., and JOHN VINCENT, JR.,. Plaintiffs, JUDGMENT IN A …
Sixth Circuit Terminates Glover v. Johnson by In 1977, two groups of female prisoners of the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) brought two separate §1983 civil complaints against the MDOC and various staff alleging Equal Protection and First Amendment violations with regard to educational and vocational programming (female prisoners sought …
