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Iowa: Bad Faith or Misconduct can Overcome Mental-Process Privilege in Disciplinary Case

Article • February 15, 2014 • from PLN February, 2014

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Judicial Misconduct, Disciplinary Litigation, Depositions

Iowa: Bad Faith or Misconduct can Overcome Mental-Process Privilege in Disciplinary Case by The Iowa Supreme Court has held that administrative law judges (ALJs) in the Department of Corrections (DOC) are entitled to assert the mental-process privilege in an Office of Ombudsman investigation, but that privilege may be overcome upon …

New Trial Granted in Jail Strip Search Case Following Jury Verdict; $385,000 Settlement

Article • February 15, 2014 • from PLN February, 2014

Filed under: Searches, Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches, Body Cavity Searches

New Trial Granted in Jail Strip Search Case Following Jury Verdict; $385,000 Settlement by Matthew Clarke On March 7, 2011, an Iowa federal district court granted a motion for a new trial after a jury awarded $259,155 to a woman who was improperly strip searched when she was arrested and …

Iowa Voting Rights Restoration Process Becomes Slightly Less Onerous

Article • December 15, 2013 • from PLN December, 2013

Filed under: Organizing, Voting

Iowa Voting Rights Restoration Process Becomes Slightly Less Onerous by Iowa is one of the toughest states in the nation for disenfranchised felons who want to obtain reinstatement of their voting rights, a review by the Associated Press found. When Republican Governor Terry Branstad took office in 2011, he reversed …

Renda v. Ackles, IA, Settlement, Sexual Harassment and Retaliation, 2013

Brief • November 27, 2013

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Retaliation for Filing Grievances

Renda v. Ackles, IA, Settlement, Sexual Harassment and Retaliation, 2013 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE This Settlement Agreement and Release is made and entered into by Plaintiff Melissa Lee Renda (Plaintiff), and Roxanne Conlin, and the State of Iowa, Jim Ackles, and Mike Thomas (collectively, the State). 1. Release and Discharge. …

Renda v. State of Iowa et al, IA, Settlement Agreement, sexual harassment discrimination, 2013

Brief • November 27, 2013

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Gender Discrimination -- Women, Prison Labor

Renda v. State of Iowa et al, IA, Settlement Agreement, sexual harassment discrimination, 2013 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE This Settlement Agreement and Release is made and entered into by Plaintiff Melissa Lee Renda (Plaintiff), and Roxanne Conlin, and the State of Iowa, Jim Ackles, and Mike Thomas (collectively, the State). …

Arms-Adair v. Black Hawk County, IA, Release and Settlement, Wrongful Death, Suicide, 2013

Brief • June 19, 2013

Filed under: Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Suicides

Arms-Adair v. Black Hawk County, IA, Release and Settlement, Wrongful Death, Suicide, 2013 RELEASE AND SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT '' The undersigned, Merry J. Arms-Adair (alk/a Merri J. Arms-Adair), Individually, as Administrator of the Estate of Michael Adair, and as Parent and Next Friend of Caleb Arms-Adair and Isaiah Arms-Adair, minor children, …

Arnzen v. Palmer, IA, Settlement, Cameras in Bathrooms,

Brief • May 21, 2013

Filed under: Photographing

Arnzen v. Palmer, IA, Settlement, Cameras in Bathrooms, IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA WESTERN OfVISION JOHN W. ARNZEN, Ill, HAROLD WILLIAMS, GALEN K. SHAFFER, and EDWARD LEE BRIGGS,) NO. 12-cv-4001 DEO Plaintiffs, SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT vs. DIRECTOR CHARLES PALMER, JASON SMITH; and BRAP WITTROCK, …

Iowa Sex Offender Special Sentence Provisions Interpreted: Time-Served Credit, but Not Earned-Time, Reduces Revocation Term

Article • May 15, 2013 • from PLN May, 2013

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Sentencing, Good Time

Iowa Sex Offender Special Sentence Provisions Interpreted: Time-Served Credit, but Not Earned-Time, Reduces Revocation Term by The Iowa Supreme Court held on May 4, 2012 that earned-time credit for good behavior accelerates the completion of a ten-year special sentence but does not reduce a release revocation term. The Court further …

Iowa Pays Almost $500,000 to Fired Parole, Prison Supervisors

Article • April 15, 2013 • from PLN April, 2013

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Staffing, Employee Litigation, Guard Unions

Iowa Pays Almost $500,000 to Fired Parole, Prison Supervisors by Joe Watson Non-union membership in the Hawkeye State apparently has its privileges, at least for parole and prison officials in management positions. Between August 2011 and early 2012, when Iowa’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) ruled in their favor, 18 …

Ninth Circuit Vacates Federal Prison Sentence Imposed by Non-trial Judge

Article • April 15, 2013 • from PLN April, 2013

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution

Ninth Circuit Vacates Federal Prison Sentence Imposed by Non-trial Judge by by Derek Gilna Federal prisoner William Harris’ 188-month sentence for assaulting a prison guard was reversed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on May 25, 2012, based on a violation of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 25(b) “with …

Florence Strip-Search Decision Sends Iowa Case Back to Square One

Article • March 15, 2013

Filed under: Searches, Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches

Florence Strip-Search Decision Sends Iowa Case Back to Square One by Derek Gilna The recent decision by the United States Supreme Court in Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington, 132 S.Ct. 1510 (2012), which held that every detainee, even one held on a non-indictable offense, …

$300,000 Settlement Reached in Iowa Illegal Strip Search Case

Article • March 15, 2013

Filed under: Searches, Strip Searches

$300,000 Settlement Reached in Iowa Illegal Strip Search Case by A $300,000 settlement was reached in the Iowa case of an illegal strip search conducted upon three high school students. The case began in the first week of the 2009 school year. The three girls, Holleigh Jo Jacobsen, Griffin Ferguson, …

Iowa Supreme Court Supports Prisoner Suppression Motion

Article • March 15, 2013

Filed under: Criminal Prosecution, Attorney Client, Visiting, Attorney Visits

Iowa Supreme Court Supports Prisoner Suppression Motion by Derek Gilna In a case of first impression, the Iowa Supreme Court has reversed an Iowa Court of Appeals decision denying a "limited statutory right to a custodial in-person consultation with an attorney," and suppressed an operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated …

Arms-Adair v. Black Hawk County, IA, Complaint, Wrongful Death, Suicide, 2013

Brief • January 24, 2013

Filed under: Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Suicides

Arms-Adair v. Black Hawk County, IA, Complaint, Wrongful Death, Suicide, 2013 Case 6:13-cv-02008-LRR Document 3 Filed 01/24/13 Page 1 of 9 IN THE IOWA DISTRICT COURT IN AND FOR BLACKHAWK COUNIJ: ZU1J :MERRI J. ARMS-ADAIR, as Administrator of the Estate of MICHAEL ADAIR, Plaintiff, vs. ... BLACK HAWK COUNTY, IOWA, …

Scott v. Baldwin, IA, Appellant Brief, Miscalculated Release Date Overdetention, 2012

Brief • December 19, 2012

Filed under: Good Time, Overdetention

Scott v. Baldwin, IA, Appellant Brief, Miscalculated Release Date Overdetention, 2012 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT No: 12-3350 Richard Scott, et al. Appellants v. John Baldwin, in his official capacity as Director of the Iowa Department of Corrections Appellee __________________________________________________________________ Appeal from U.S. District Court for …

Iowa Reconsidering Costs, Benefits of Sex Offender Supervision Law

Article • November 15, 2012 • from PLN November, 2012

Filed under: Sex Offender Registration, Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Parole/Probation Searches, Parole, News, State Legislation

Iowa Reconsidering Costs, Benefits of Sex Offender Supervision Law by Joe Watson Over the past decade more than 20 states have created “special sentences” that require community supervision for sex offenders after their release, even if they expire their prison terms. But Iowa is currently reevaluating whether the millions in …

Iowa SOTP Requirement Does Not Violate Fifth Amendment

Article • September 15, 2012 • from PLN September, 2012

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Disciplinary Hearings, Self Incrimination, Good Time, Sex Offender Treatment

Iowa SOTP Requirement Does Not Violate Fifth Amendment by The Iowa Supreme Court has held that prison officials do not violate the Fifth Amendment by depriving convicted sex offenders of earned-time sentence reductions when they refuse to participate in a sex offender treatment program (SOTP) that requires them to admit …

Hood v. Upah, LA, Order, Excessive Force During Arrest , 2012

Brief • July 16, 2012

Filed under: Pain, Excessive Force, First Amendment, rights

Hood v. Upah, LA, Order, Excessive Force During Arrest , 2012 Case 1:11-cv-00096-LRR Document 22 Filed 07/16/12 Page 1 of 31 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA CEDAR RAPIDS DIVISION JAMES HOOD, Plaintiff, No. 11-CV-96-LRR vs. ORDER DAVID UPAH and BENTON COUNTY, IOWA, Defendants. …

Iowa Supreme Court Holds Billing for Fraudulent Prisoner Phone Calls Not a State Law Violation

Article • June 15, 2012 • from PLN June, 2012

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

Iowa Supreme Court Holds Billing for Fraudulent Prisoner Phone Calls Not a State Law Violation by On October 14, 2011 the Iowa Supreme Court held that a prison telephone company did not commit a “cramming” violation by improperly billing a third party for fraudulent collect calls made by a prisoner. …

Iowa Supreme Court Refuses Miranda Protection for Confession to Case Worker

Article • May 15, 2012

Filed under: Self Incrimination, Arrestee Searches, Attorneys, Attorney Client

Iowa Supreme Court Refuses Miranda Protection for Confession to Case Worker by Derek Gilna By Derek Gilna The Iowa Supreme Court has affirmed a lower-court decision denying defendant Jess John Pearson's Motion to Suppress, based upon the Miranda case for a voluntary confession given to his social worker, who interviewed …