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Factual Findings Required in 8th Amendment Suit

Article • November 15, 1997 • from PLN November, 1997

Filed under: Exposure to Cold, Sanitation, Civil Procedure, Appeals, Default Judgments

Factual Findings Required in 8th Amendment Suit by The court of appeals for the seventh circuit held that district courts must make clear, specific factual findings when ruling on contested issues relevant to prisoners' constitutional claims. Aaron Isby, an Indiana state prisoner, filed suit claiming his eighth amendment rights were …

Illinois Jail Conditions Suit States Claim

Article • June 15, 1997 • from PLN June, 1997

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Food, Exercise, Exposure to Cold, Jail Specific, Reading Materials, Lighting, Noise, Vermin, Service, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

Illinois Jail Conditions Suit States Claim by The court of appeals for the seventh circuit held a district court erred in dismissing a pretrial detainee's conditions of confinement suit for failure to state a claim under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). The court also held it was error to dismiss defendants not properly …

Beating and Strip Cell Require Trial

Article • April 15, 1997 • from PLN April, 1997

Filed under: Judicial Misconduct, Racial Discrimination, Eyeglasses, Conditions of Confinement, Ventilation, Exercise, Exposure to Cold, Clothing, Water, Strip Cells, Bedding, Hygiene Supplies, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints, Writing Implements, Complaints

Beating and Strip Cell Require Trial by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit held that beating a naked, handcuffed, non-resisting prisoner violates the eighth amendment; that placing a prisoner in a strip cell without blankets or heating violates the eighth amendment as well. The court also discussed when …

PI Granted on Winter Clothing Claim

Article • December 15, 1996 • from PLN December, 1996

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Exercise, Exposure to Cold, Clothing, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's

PI Granted on Winter Clothing Claim by Afederal district court in New York granted a preliminary injunction ordering prison officials to provide segregation unit prisoners with winter clothes in order for them to have access to outdoor exercise. Ronald Davidson, a New York state prisoner, filed suit challenging the inadequacy …

Denial of Bed Linen States Claim

Article • May 15, 1996 • from PLN May, 1996

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Exposure to Cold, Bedding

Denial of Bed Linen States Claim by A federal district court in New York held that denying a prisoner blankets and bed linen while in segregation stated a claim for an eighth amendment violation. Keith Macguire, a New York state prisoner, filed suit claiming he was subjected to verbal abuse …

Detainees Entitled to Non-Punitive Conditions

Article • August 15, 1995 • from PLN August, 1995

Filed under: Witnesses (Disciplinary Hearings), Notice of Hearing, Conditions of Confinement, Ventilation, Exposure to Cold, Sanitation, Bedding, Vermin, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Municipal Liability, Postage, Legal Mail

Detainees Entitled to Non-Punitive Conditions by Pretrial detainees, who have not been convicted of any crimes, may not be punished in any manner. This includes housing them in jail conditions that could be construed as punitive. Dale Miller filed suit over conditions at the Cook County (Chicago) Jail. He claimed …

No Immunity for Cold Filthy Cell

Article • June 15, 1995 • from PLN June, 1995

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Prison Labor, Conditions of Confinement, Exposure to Cold, Toilets, Sanitation, Bedding, Lighting, Vermin, Qualified Immunity

No Immunity for Cold Filthy Cell by Melvin Wilson is an Illinois state prisoner. He filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming he was discharged from his prison job due to his race and when placed in segregation he was placed in a filthy, roach infested, leaking cell whose …

Exposure to Cold Weather States Claim

Article • January 15, 1994 • from PLN January, 1994

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Food, Overcrowding, Exposure to Cold

Exposure to Cold Weather States Claim by Ronald Chandler is a Missouri state prisoner. He filed suit claiming that prison officials violated his constitutional rights by providing a dining room too small to accommodate all the prisoners in his housing unit at once; poorly supervising the noisy and chaotic dining …

Denial of Winter Clothing Cruel and Unusual

Article • April 15, 1993 • from PLN April, 1993

Filed under: Exposure to Cold, Clothing, Civil Procedure, Damages

Denial of Winter Clothing Cruel and Unusual by In February, 1990, several Iowa prisoners were placed outdoors without hats or gloves for an hour while guards searched their living unit. The temperature was about 30 degrees F. The prisoners did not suffer any long term injury from the experience. The …

Freezing Temperature Violates Eighth Amendment

Article • March 15, 1993 • from PLN March, 1993

Filed under: Searches, Prison/Common Area Searches, Exposure to Cold, Clothing, Damages

Freezing Temperature Violates Eighth Amendment by Four prisoners at the Iowa State Reformatory segregation unit were sent outdoors to a recreation area while prison guards searched their living unit for weapons. The temperature was sub-freezing with a significant wind chill factor. The prisoners requested not to go outside. They were …

Outside Strip Search Constitutes Excessive Force

Article • October 15, 1992 • from PLN October, 1992

Filed under: Discrimination, Gender Discrimination -- Men, Prison Rebellion, Strip Searches, Eighth Amendment, Exposure to Cold, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Damages, Jury Instructions

Outside Strip Search Constitutes Excessive Force by Michael Cornwell is an Ohio state prisoner. In February, 1987, while in prison in Mansfield, he participated in a sit down strike with 76 other prisoners protesting a cutback in recreation time. Dahlberg, the prison warden, ordered guards to use force to terminate …

Inhumane Conditions Suit Requires Trial

Article • September 15, 1992 • from PLN September, 1992

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Eighth Amendment, Exposure to Cold, Toilets, Water, Sanitation, Bedding, Lighting, Shelter, Vermin, Summary Judgment

Inhumane Conditions Suit Requires Trial by Marshal Jackson, an Indiana state prisoner filed suit on the subhuman prison conditions he was subjected to in the Indiana penal system. He claimed he was forced to live with filth, inadequate plumbing, roaches, rodents, poor lighting, inadequate heating, rusted out toilets, drinking water …

Indiana Control Unit Prisoners File Suit and Strike

Article • August 15, 1992 • from PLN August, 1992

Filed under: Hunger Strikes, Eighth Amendment, Exposure to Cold, Clothing, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Telephone Access, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Visiting, Attorney Visits

Indiana Control Unit Prisoners File Suit and Strike by Paul Wright On May 4, 1992, the Indiana Civil Liberties Union filed a class action suit in the Marion County, Indiana, Superior Court. The action is Taifa Vs. Bayh, and challenges numerous conditions of confinement at the Westville, IN, Maximum Control …

Prisoners May Not Be Subjected to Freezing Temperatures

Article • December 15, 1991 • from PLN December, 1991

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Exposure to Cold, Qualified Immunity

Prisoners May Not Be Subjected to Freezing Temperatures by In 1982 outside temperatures at the Stateville prison in Illinois plunged to 22 degrees below zero with a wind-chill factor of 80 degrees below zero. The heating system in a cell block with 300 men malfunctioned and frigid air circulated through …

Supreme Court Slams Conditions Case

Article • September 15, 1991 • from PLN September, 1991

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Overcrowding, Eighth Amendment, Ventilation, Exposure to Cold

Supreme Court Slams Conditions Case by Just before finishing its last session, the United States Supreme Court handed down a ruling making it more difficult for prisoners to challenge the constitutionality of prison conditions. The five to four decision held that prisoners must prove that prison officials not merely maintained …