Waiver Issue Requires Determination by District Court by The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has remanded to a Pennsylvania District Court to determine if a prisoner waived a future injury claim on summary judgment. The Third Circuit had previously affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for defendants premised …
Third Circuit: PHS Subject to Successor Liability, Relation-Back Statute Inapplicable by Third Circuit: PHS Subject to Successor Liability, Relation-Back Statute Inapplicable In this case involving a Title VII discrimination suit against Correctional Physician Services (CPS), the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that the company's buyer, Prison Health Services …
Administrative Exhaustion Not Required Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by The United States Supreme Court held that it was not necessary for a prisoner to resort to state administrative remedies before seeking relief, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, for the violation of his constitutional rights. In this case, Pennsylvania state …
Personal Capacity Suits Not Barred by 11th Amendment by The United States Supreme Court has held that state officials sued in their individual capacities are "persons" within the meaning of Section 1983; the Eleventh Amendment does not bar such suits, nor are state officers absolutely immune from personal liability under …
$440,000 Paid in Pennsylvania Detainee's Suicide by A Pennsylvania federal district court held that guards at the Philadelphia Detention Center can be liable for their acts and omissions in a pretrial detainee's hanging death. While at the Detention Center, Patrick Gaudreau exhibited behavior that resulted in him being involuntarily committed …
PA Pre-Trial Detainee's Transfer to State Prison Held Unconstitutional by After several guards were stabbed, a number of pre-trial detainees were transferred from a Pennsylvania county jail to a state prison. They didn't receive notice or a hearing before their transfers, and conditions at the prison were much harsher than …
Parole Condition Banning Pornography Too Vague by The defendant, convicted of possessing child pornography, was forbidden as a condition of post-incarceration supervised release to possess any pornography, child or otherwise. The court rejects the government's position that the condition isn't ripe for judicial review until it is enforced, since it …
BOP Can Perform Autopsy Over Executed Prisoner's Religious Objection by A federal statute prescribes that federal death sentences be implemented consistently with the law of the state where the sentence was imposed, even if the execution is to take place elsewhere. State procedures take precedence over inconsistent regulations promulgated by …
Free Speech Protects Right to Hire, Consult with Counsel by At 324: "The right to hire and consult an attorney is protected by the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech, association and petition. . . ." "[T]he First Amendment prohibits the state from interfering with collective action by individuals …
Trial Court Abuses Discretion in Dismissed Suit over Filing Fee Payment by The plaintiff neither signed an authorization form authorizing deduction of filing fees from his account nor withdrew the action within the 20 days allowed; the court dismissed without prejudice. The order is appealable even though dismissals with prejudice …
EEOC Delay Not Responsibility of Plaintiff by At 521-22: The Third Circuit recognizes "the prevailing jurisprudence that a charge [of discrimination filed with the EEOC] need not comply with a plethora of particular requirements." . . . The Code of Federal Regulations provides that "a charge is sufficient when the …
No Liability For Pennsylvania Prisoner Held Six Months Past Release Date by The plaintiff complained that he was detained for six months beyond his maximum release date. His Eighth Amendment claim fails because he does not show deliberate indifference; the defendant in the prison got to work on the problem …
Pennsylvania Sex Offender Parole Denial Suit States Some Claims by The plaintiff, seeking to represent a class, complained that denying her parole and imposing other adverse consequences in prison because of her refusal to disclose her sexual history, possibly including uncharged criminal activity, in a sex offender program violated her …
Dividing Muslim Services into Groups Upheld by The plaintiff complained that Muslim services were divided into two groups. The policy satisfies the Turner standard, since it is based on the number of prisoners who wish to attend the services and security requirements for separating certain prisoners. Assuming the plaintiff is …
Pennsylvania Parole Whistleblower Suit Dismissed by Speech concerning racial discrimination in parole determinations is a matter of public concern, since it implicates the process of effective self-governance and equal protection under the law." (397) However, the plaintiff staff member's interest in distributing inmate psychological records in an effort to reveal …
Court Lacks Jurisdiction to Enforce Settlement by An order which said that the case had been settled and was dismissed without prejudice to reinstate it if the settlement was not consummated did not confer jurisdiction on the district court in Pennsylvania to enforce the settlement. The court notes that it …
Third Circuit Embraces Administrative Exhaustion Procedural Default by The defendants argued that the plaintiff had failed to exhaust because he did not ask for money damages in the administrative process and because he did not name a particular defendant in his grievance. In this windy opinion, the court embraces a …
Pennsylvania PLRA Unconstitutional; Obscenity Ban Upheld by The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that two provisions of the Pennsylvania Prison Litigation Reform Act (PaPLRA) violate the Pennsylvania Constitution and are, therefore, invalid. In 1998 the Pennsylvania Legislature amended 18 Pa. C.S. § 5903(a)(7)-(9), the state's obscenity law, to make it a …
Prison Officials May Require Visitors to Submit to Vehicle Searches by The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has held that prison officials may require visitors to submit to a vehicle search prior to entering prison grounds. This action was brought pro se by Teresa and Larry Neumeyer, residents of Michigan …
Georgia DNA Testing Statute Upheld by The court upholds a statute requiring DNA sampling of all convicted felons. It does not violate the Fourth Amendment. The bodily intrusion is minimal, and the state's compelling interest in obtaining reliable and accurate identifying characteristics of persons convicted of felonies outweighs it. The …
