Edwards No Bar to Seg Suit by Afederal district court In Michigan held that a retaliatory infraction lawsuit could be pursued via 42 U.S.C. § 1983 even though the disciplinary bearing result bad not been invalidated. The court also held that the plaintiff's claim that a guard had threatened to …
Michigan Department of Corrections Fined $300,000 in Contempt Case by On July 23, 1998, a federal court in Michigan imposed contempt sanctions against the Michigan Department of Corrections for its failure to comply with previous court orders. This is the latest installment in the decades long suit filed by women …
PLN Sues Michigan DOC over Censorship of The Celling of America by On February 8, 1999, PLN sued the Michigan Department of Corrections in U.S. District Court in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In April, 1998, prison officials at the Huron Valley Men's Facility censored a copy of PLN 's critically acclaimed …
Cheaper Than Lab Rats: Can Prisoners Glow in the Dark? by Hans Sherrer We get outraged and indignant when we read or hear of atrocities committed by Nazi doctors in the name of medical science. [1] Yet, if what the Nazis did is what triggers our sense of outrage, then …
Work-Release Prisoners Eligible to Vote on Union Representation by Apanel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), upon reconsideration of its original determination, has held that four work-release employees share a sufficient "community of interest" with the regular "free-world" unit employees, so they are eligible to vote in union representation …
Prisoners Entitled to Money Damages and Injunctive Relief under ADA and RA by Prisoners Entitled To Money Damages And Injunctive Relief Under ADA And RA A federal court in Michigan held that prison officials were not entitled to qualified immunity for money damages in a deaf prisoner's American Disability Act …
Human Rights Report Details Women in Prison by A recent report from the group Human Rights Watch, titled Nowhere to Hide: Retaliation Against Women in Michigan State Prisons , charges both that Michigan holds female prisoners in horrid conditions and that women who challenge these conditions are subject to retaliation …
Attorney Fee Cap Inapplicable to Pre-PLRA Suits; PLRA Automatic Stay Provisions Constitutional by S.Ct. Grants Review of Fee Issue by Matthew T. Clarke The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has held that the attorney fee cap contained within the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 42 U.S.C. §1997e(d), (PLRA) does …
PLRA Attorney Fee Provision Not Retroactive to Pre-PLRA Services by The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled in favor of attorneys for Michigan women prisoners, holding; (1) that attorney fee provision of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) does not apply retroactively, (2) that prisoners were prevailing party …
Private Health Care Providers Denied Qualified Immunity by Afederal district court in Alabama held that private party doctors and health care providers are not entitled to qualified immunity when sued by prisoners for Eight Amendment violations. The court further held that the existence of an on-going class action involving similar …
Alabama Counties Not Liable for Jail Conditions by The court of appeals for the eleventh circuit, sitting en banc, held that Alabama counties cannot be held liable for the operation of county jails. In doing so the court overturned prior circuit precedent on this issue. Phillip Turquitt was killed by …
MI Prison "Fee" Law Preempted by ERISA by Afederal district court in Michigan held that the State Correctional Facility Reimbursement Act (SCFRA), Mich.Comp.Laws.Ann. § 800.401 and Mich.Stat.Ann. § 28.1701, is preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1000, which prevents the state from seizing pension …
Legislative Immunity For Local Jail Budget Votes by The Eleventh Circuit has held that county commissioners are entitled to absolute legislative immunity for failing to adequately fund a jail, thereby causing inadequate jail conditions Current and former Alabama jail prisoner plaintiffs sued alleging overcrowding, inadequate medical care and medical facilities, …
Sixth Circuit Requires Administrative Exhaustion by The court of appeals for the sixth circuit ruled that all prisoners filing § 1983 actions involving prison or jail conditions must allege, and prove, they have exhausted administrative remedies and a failure to do so will result in the dismissal, without prejudice, of …
Publications Lawsuit Settled in Alabama by Cayce Moore On February 28, 1998, U.S. district judge U.W. Clemon approved the final settlement in a lawsuit challenging a year of blanket censorship at Donaldson Correctional Facility (DCF), Alabama's highest security prison. In March, 1997, DCF warden Steve Dees implemented a policy that …
Consent Decree Termination Upheld by Consent Decree Termination Upheld: In the April, 1997, issue of PLN we reported Hadix v. Johnson , 947 F. Supp. 1100 (ED MI 1997) where a district court struck down 18 U.S.C. § 3626 as unconstitutional. Section 3626 allows for the immediate termination of consent …
No Interlocutory Appeals in Decree Terminations by The court of appeals for the Sixth circuit held that it lacks jurisdiction to hear interlocutory appeals in motions to terminate consent decrees. In 1984 the United States sued the state of Michigan over unconstitutional prison conditions. The lawsuit was settled with a …
Right to Psychiatric Care Clearly Established by The court of appeals for the sixth circuit held that prisoners' right to psychiatric care was clearly established and prison psychiatrists who failed to properly treat a suicidal prisoner were not entitled to qualified immunity from money damages. Anthony Wade was a mentally …
Michigan's Parole Amendments Constitutional by The court of appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the 1992 amendments to Michigan's parole laws, that postpone initial mandatory review hearings for certain state prisoners and reduce the frequency of subsequent mandatory parole hearings, do not violate the Ex Post Facto Clause of …
Alabama HIV+ Prisoners Case Remanded Once Again for Proper RA Consideration by The court of appeals for the eleventh circuit held that prisoners asserting a claim to Rehabilitation Act (RA) protection had the burden of showing that they were "otherwise qualified" under the Act, or could be made so by …
