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Seventh Circuit Clarifies Good Faith Appeal Standard, Again

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: PLRA, Filing Fees (PLRA), Appeals

Seventh Circuit Clarifies Good Faith Appeal Standard, Again by In its third ruling on the topic in recent months, the court of appeals for the Seventh circuit attempted to delineate what constitutes a "good faith" appeal under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). Aaron Hyche, an Illinois state prisoner, filed …

Alabama Jail Injuction Dissolved

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Overcrowding, PLRA, Injunctions (PLRA)

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 …

First Amendment Guarantees Kosher Meals

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Food, Injunctions (PLRA), Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Religious Diet

First Amendment Guarantees Kosher Meals by The court of appeals for the Third 1 Circuit held that under the First Amendment, prison officials must provide Jewish prisoners with a diet sufficient to sustain them in good health without violating kosher laws. However, the food need not be hot, nor even …

Physical Injury Rule Applied to Pre-PLRA Asbestos Exposure

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Eighth Amendment, Asbestos, PLRA, Physical Injury Rule, Damages

Physical Injury Rule Applied to Pre-PLRA Asbestos Exposure by The court of appeals for the Third Circuit held that a prisoner does not have a cause of action, under 42 U. S. C. section 1983, for damages for emotional distress caused by exposure to asbestos, without proof of physical injury. …

Pro Se IFP Litigant Entitled to Amend Suit in Second Circuit

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: PLRA, Filing Fees (PLRA), Complaints

Pro Se IFP Litigant Entitled to Amend Suit in Second Circuit by The court of appeals for the Second circuit held that district courts must grant leave to indigent pro se litigants to amend their complaints before the suit is dismissed. The suit in this case was filed by a …

PLRA Consent Decree Termination Provision Upheld by 2nd and 3rd Circuits

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Consent Decrees (PLRA)

PLRA Consent Decree Termination Provision Upheld by 2nd and 3rd Circuits by The courts of appeal for the Second and Third circuits have upheld the consent decree termination provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) against a wide array of constitutional challenges. In the July, 1998, issue of PLN …

PLRA Attorney Fee Cap Applies in $65,000 Beating Case

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: HIV/AIDS, Attorney Fees (PLRA), Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Damages, Costs, Discrimination (Transgender)

PLRA Attorney Fee Cap Applies in $65,000 Beating Case by Afederal district court in Texas has ruled that the attorney fee cap in the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e, applies to work performed by attorneys appointed after the enactment of the PLRA to represent pro se …

Federal Habeas Not Subject to PLRA

Article • July 15, 1999 • from PLN July, 1999

Filed under: PLRA, Filing Fees (PLRA), Mandamus, Parole, Habeas Corpus

Federal Habeas Not Subject to PLRA by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that 28 U.S.C. § 2241 habeas petitions are not subject to the filing fee provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). Samuel Davis, a federal prisoner, filed a writ of mandamus to compel …

Exhaustion Required

Article • July 15, 1999 • from PLN July, 1999

Filed under: Drug Testing, PLRA, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA)

Exhaustion Required by A federal district court in New York held that a New York state prisoner was required to exhaust the prison grievance system before filing suit. The court held that exhaustion under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) is required even if the grievance process is futile. The case involved …

PLRA Doesn't Affect Court Contempt Powers

Article • July 15, 1999 • from PLN July, 1999

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Consent Decrees (PLRA), Contempt (Civil Procedure)

PLRA Doesn't Affect Court Contempt Powers by A federal district court in New Jersey held that 18 U.S.C. § 3626, which allows for the immediate termination of prison and jail consent decrees, does not affect the contempt powers of courts. The underlying case involves a motion by jail detainee plaintiffs …

Illinois Exhaustion Described

Article • July 15, 1999 • from PLN July, 1999

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Illinois Exhaustion Described by A federal district court in Illinois held that a prisoner had fully exhausted all available administrative remedies under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e when he submitted a grievance through all levels of the Illinois Department of Corrections. Brian Jones filed suit claiming a prison guard beat him …

PLRA Physical Injury and Administrative Exhaustion Requirements Not Retroactive

Article • July 15, 1999 • from PLN July, 1999

Filed under: Toilets, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Physical Injury Rule, Court Access, Court Appearances

PLRA Physical Injury and Administrative Exhaustion Requirements Not Retroactive by A federal district court in Illinois held that 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), which requires administrative exhaustion before prisoners file suit, and 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(e), which requires physical injury, before prisoners can file suit, do not apply retroactively to suits …

PLRA Physical Injury Requirement Not Retroactive

Article • July 15, 1999 • from PLN July, 1999

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Sanitation, Physical Injury Rule

PLRA Physical Injury Requirement Not Retroactive by The Tenth circuit court of appeals held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act's physical injury requirement, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(e), does not apply retroactively to lawsuits filed before the PLRA's enactment on April 26, 1996. Bobby Craig, a pretrial detainee at …

Court Screening Applies to Paid Suits Too

Article • June 15, 1999 • from PLN June, 1999

Filed under: Filing Fees (PLRA), Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Ad-Seg Hearings

Court Screening Applies to Paid Suits Too by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that 28 U.S.C. § 1915A allows district courts to dismiss as frivolous even lawsuits where the filing fee has been prepaid in full. The court also held that challenges to conditions of confinement …

Parole Officials Liable for False Information in Parole Violation Arrest Warrant

Article • June 15, 1999 • from PLN June, 1999

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Parole Board Misconduct, Disciplinary Litigation, Filing Fees (PLRA), Physical Injury Rule, Parole, Qualified Immunity

Parole Officials Liable for False Information in Parole Violation Arrest Warrant by A federal district court in New Jersey has held that parole officials are liable for causing the arrest of a parolee based upon false information. Robert Friedland, a New Jersey state prisoner, was paroled in August, 1995. Subsequently …

Fifth Circuit Upholds PLRA Exhaustion Requirement

Article • June 15, 1999 • from PLN June, 1999

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Fifth Circuit Upholds PLRA Exhaustion Requirement by Ronald Young The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit affirmed a lower court's dismissal of a prisoner's 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983 claims for failure to exhaust administrative remedies prior to filing suit as required by 42 U.S.C. § 1997e. However, the claims …

Federal Prisoners Must Exhaust Administrative Remedies Before Suing

Article • June 15, 1999 • from PLN June, 1999

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Mail, Sexually Explicit Materials

Federal Prisoners Must Exhaust Administrative Remedies Before Suing by The court of appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has held that federal prisoners must exhaust administrative remedies before filing a Bivens suit against prison officials. Michael Alexander, a federal prisoner, filed a Bivens suit challenging the constitutionality of prison regulations prohibiting …

Imminent Danger Overrides Three Strikes

Article • June 15, 1999 • from PLN June, 1999

Filed under: Ventilation, PLRA, Filing Fees (PLRA), Frivolous Litigation (PLRA)

Imminent Danger Overrides Three Strikes by The court of appeals for the Third Circuit held that conditions allegedly resulting from a vent emitting particles of dust and lint into a cell constitute a serious physical injury for purposes of circumventing the "three strikes" provision of the Prison Litigation Reform Act …

Exhaustion Not Required for Bivens Claim

Article • June 15, 1999 • from PLN June, 1999

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Civil Procedure, Complaints, Federal Tort Claims Act

Exhaustion Not Required for Bivens Claim by Exhaustion Not Required for Bivens Claims The court of appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that federal prisoners pressing Bivens claims against federal officials for only monetary relief need not exhaust meaningless administrative remedies. The court further held that a party is entitled …

Individual Legislators May Intervene to Terminate Prison Suits

Article • May 15, 1999 • from PLN May, 1999

Filed under: Consent Decrees (PLRA), Civil Procedure, Standing

Individual Legislators May Intervene to Terminate Prison Suits by Individual Legislators May Intervene To Terminate Prison Suits by Matthew Clarke The court of appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that, under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), individual state legislators could intervene in prison release litigation. In 1972, David Ruiz, …