Qualified Immunity Granted for Pre-1996 ADA Violation by The court of appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that it was not clearly established before 1996 that the Americans with Disabilities Act, (ADA), and Rehabilitation Act of 1973, (Rehabilitation Act), apply to state prisoners. As such, the court concluded that prison …
Class Action Prisoners Must Show Actual Injury to Maintain Access to Courts Relief by by Matthew T. Clarke The Sixth Circuit has held that prisoner plaintiffs in a class action access to courts lawsuit must show widespread actual injury to maintain an injunction previously ordered by the federal district court. …
$105,000 Awarded in Michigan Wrongful Imprisonment Suit by On April 14, 1999, a Wayne county jury in Michigan awarded Willie Thomas Jr., Larry Reid and Edward Grant $35,000 in damages each. The three men had been Michigan state prisoners who were released after serving their entire sentences. Several months later, …
Hearing Required Prior to Automatic Termination Under PLRA by The Eleventh Circuit has held that a federal district court must hold a hearing on the current conditions at the prison and the scope of the prospective relief to be terminated before terminating prospective relief in a prison conditions lawsuit under …
Michigan Legislature Kills Class Action Suit by Female Prisoners by Maia Justine Storm In March, 1996, seven women pris- oners filed suit in the Washtenaw County Circuit Court against the Michigan Department of Corrections, Director Kenneth McGinnis, and ten individual wardens and officers. (96-6986 CZ) The complaint alleged that the …
PLRA Attorney Fees Cap Violates Equal Protection Clause by by Matthew T. Clarke A federal district court in Michigan has held that the attorney fees cap in the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d), violates the equal protection component of the Due Process Clause of …
Michigan DOC Settles Lawsuit Over PLN Book Ban by In April, 1999, the Michigan DOC settled a class action lawsuit filed by Prison Legal News, Common Courage Press, and Michigan prisoners Larry Lynch and Calvin Holmes over the censorship of the PLN anthology, The Celling of America: An Inside Look …
Michigan DOC Settles DOJ Sexual Abuse Lawsuit by Maia Justine Storm This past May, the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) which alleged a pattern and practice of sexual misconduct and invasions of privacy at the women's prisons …
Eleventh Circuit Upholds Constitutionality of PLRA's Automatic Termination Provision by The Eleventh Circuit court of appeals has upheld the constitutionality of the immediate termination provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)(2). Alabama women state prisoners filed a class-action civil rights suit under 42 U.S.C. § …
Amended Complaint Filed Outside Limitations Period Relates Back by A federal district court in Michigan held that an amended complaint using proper names for "John Doe" defendants, filed outside the statute of limitations was not untimely because the claims related back to the original complaint. The court also held that …
Retaliatory Acts Need Not "Shock the Conscience" to be Actionable by by Matthew T. Clarke The Sixth Circuit court of appeals, sitting en banc, has held that prisoners who claim retaliation for constitutionally protected activities are no longer required to prove the retaliatory acts "shock the conscience." Instead, they must …
Alabama Prison Officials Held in Contempt Again by A federal district court held Alabama prison officials in contempt for violating a 12-year-old Consent Decree. The court also awarded attorney's fees against the state and dissolved the decree pursuant to the Prison Litigation Reform Act, (PLRA). In 1983, prisoners in an …
Michigan's Female Prisoners Have Educational Parity by A federal district court in Michigan held that the educational, vocational, and apprenticeship opportunities provided to male and female prisoners in the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) are now sufficiently comparable for equal protection purposes to require termination of the court's 20 year …
Supreme Court Holds PLRA Attorney Fee Cap Inapplicable to Work Performed Before Enactment by by Matthew T. Clarke The Supreme Court has held that the attorney fee cap contained within the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 42 U.S.C. §1997e(d), (PLRA) does not apply to attorney fees for work performed prior to …
No Court Access Right to Litigate Civil Forfeiture by The U.S. court of appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that prisoners do not have an access-to-court right to defend against civil forfeiture. The court also accorded qualified immunity, sua sponte, to all defendants on the prisoner's conditions of confinement claims. …
Total Administrative Exhaustion Not Required by A federal district court in Michigan held that 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) does not require administrative exhaustion of all claims raised in a complaint. Instead, a court can dismiss the unexhausted claims without prejudice rather than dismiss the entire complaint. The court held that …
Alabama Jail Injuction Dissolved by The court of appeals for the Eleventh circuit held that a district court had erred in refusing to dissolve an injunction designed to relieve jail overcrowding. In 1982 an injunction was entered by a federal district court which prohibited the state of Alabama and Lauderdale …
PLN Sues Alabama DOC Over Gift Subscription Ban by 0n May 13, 1999, Prison Legal News (PLN) filed suit in the U. S. District Court for the middle district of Alabama against the Alabama Department of Corrections (DOC). The Alabama DOC has Administrative Regulation 303 which states: "Inmates may receive …
Frivolous Qualified Immunity Appeals Warrant Sanctions by The court of appeals for the Sixth Circuit that it lacked jurisdiction over an interlocutory appeal from an order denying qualified immunity because the prison medical personnel defendants would not concede to view the facts in a light most favorable to the prisoner. …
Costs Imposed Regardless of Ability to Pay by The court of appeals for the Sixth circuit held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) allows courts to impose costs on losing prisoner litigants regardless of their ability to pay. The court held that the PLRA overruled prior circuit precedent to …
