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California Taxpayer Action Forces Private Employer to Pay Prisoners Prevailing Wages

Article • October 15, 2003 • from PLN October, 2003

Filed under: Prison Industries, Prison Labor, Civil Procedure, Standing, Parties, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

California Taxpayer Action Forces Private Employer to Pay Prisoners Prevailing Wages by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg Under California Code of Civil Procedure §526a, a private citizen taxpayer may bring an action to compel an officer or agent of a municipality to restrain him from wasteful or injurious …

Informal Grievance Procedure Must Be Exhausted Before Filing Suit

Article • September 15, 2003 • from PLN September, 2003

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Guard Brutality/Beatings, Civil Procedure, Complaints, Parties, Conspiracy (Civil Procedure)

Informal Grievance Procedure Must Be Exhausted Before Filing Suit by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed a district court's denial of summary judgment for prison officials after ruling that prisoners were required to exhaust their administrative remedies before bringing a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action even …

Texas Guard Stabbing Prisoner Not State Action Under § 1983

Article • July 15, 2003 • from PLN July, 2003

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Civil Procedure, Parties

Texas Guard Stabbing Prisoner Not State Action Under § 1983 by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a guard's actions in cutting a prisoner with a knife was not under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Texas prisoner Fred Townsend was working as …

Joinder of Georgia Annual Parole Hearing Injunction is Rejected

Article • July 15, 2003 • from PLN July, 2003

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Injunctions, Parties, Ex Post Facto, Parole

Joinder of Georgia Annual Parole Hearing Injunction is Rejected by The Eleventh Circuit US Court of Appeals rejected the attempt of a Georgia life prisoner to use the mechanism of joinder (Fed.RulesCiv.Proc. Rule 20(a)) to gain the benefit of another life prisoner's injunction providing for annual parole consideration hearings. James …

Statutes Affecting Disabled Prisoners

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Attorney Fee Awards, Physical Injury Rule, Civil Procedure, Damages, Injunctions, Parties, Administrative Exhaustion, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Eleventh Amendment Immunity, Qualified Immunity, Municipal Liability

Statutes Affecting Disabled Prisoners by Daniel E. Manville In the past couple of years, there have been a number of changes to federal statutes that provide protections to those confined with disabilities. This article discusses those changes. Additional rights that the disabled may have under federal and state constitutional provisions, …

U.S. Supreme Court: Guantanamo Detainees and "Enemy Combatants" Have Access to Habeas Corpus

Article • March 15, 2003 • from PLN October, 2004

Filed under: Political Prisoners, Criminal Prosecution, Civil Procedure, Parties, Habeas Corpus, Military Prisons

U.S. Supreme Court: Guantanamo Detainees and "Enemy Combatants" Have Access to Habeas Corpus by John E Dannenberg U.S. Supreme Court: Guantanamo Detainees and "Enemy Combatants" Have Access To Habeas Corpus by John E. Dannenberg In three interrelated decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "enemy combatant" detainees held at Guantanamo …

Suits Against Individual State Employees Available Under ADA

Article • March 15, 2003 • from PLN March, 2003

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Parties, Americans with Disabilities Act, Eleventh Amendment Immunity, Employee Litigation

Suits Against Individual State Employees Available Under ADA by Suits Against Individual State Employees Available under ADA The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed two separate district courts and ruled that under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), state employees can be sued in …

Amendment of Complaint to Identify Unknown Defendant Denied

Article • January 15, 2003 • from PLN January, 2003

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Complaints, Parties, Discovery, Suicides

Amendment of Complaint to Identify Unknown Defendant Denied by The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a Pennsylvania District Court's grant of summary judgment to Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC) officials and denial of Plaintiff's motion to amend the suit to substitute a new, named defendant for a previously-unnamed …

No Immunity for Failing to Protect Murdered Informant; Correctional Industries Employees Are State Actors

Article • January 15, 2003 • from PLN January, 2003

Filed under: Prison Industries, Civil Procedure, Parties, Qualified Immunity, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Informants (Failure to Protect)

No Immunity for Failing to Protect Murdered Informant; Correctional Industries Employees Are State Actors by No Immunity for Failing to Protect Murdered Informant; Correctional Industries Employees Are State Actors The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that prison officials were not entitled to qualified immunity for failing to protect a …

Multiple Prisoners Proceeding IFP Must Pay Separate Filing Fees

Article • September 15, 2002 • from PLN September, 2002

Filed under: Filing Fees (PLRA), Civil Procedure, Parties

Multiple Prisoners Proceeding IFP Must Pay Separate Filing Fees by The Eleventh Circuit US Court of Appeals held that multiple prisoners, when asserting in forma pauperis (IFP) status in a federal civil rights action, cannot join their claims to pro-rate a single filing fee among all the plaintiffs. Earnest Hubbard …

Dental Care Denial Defeats Summary Judgment

Article • September 15, 2002 • from PLN September, 2002

Filed under: Dental Care, Civil Procedure, Complaints, Parties, Limitations

Dental Care Denial Defeats Summary Judgment by A federal district court in Illinois has denied summary judgment in a prisoner's denial of dental treatment claim under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, and expounded on the relations back upon amendment provision of Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(c). While a detainee at the Cook County …

Pro Se Tips and Tactics: Unknown Defendant Identities

Article • July 15, 2002 • from PLN July, 2002

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Parties, Discovery

Pro Se Tips and Tactics: Unknown Defendant Identities by John Midgley A recent Supreme Court case highlights a problem some prisoners face in finding the exact identities of defendants in civil rights cases. This column discusses this problem and some possible solutions. In most cases, you must sue individuals and …

Construction Contractor Not Liable Under §1983 for Disabling Fire Safety Equipment

Article • January 15, 2001 • from PLN January, 2001

Filed under: Fire Hazards, Shelter, Civil Procedure, Complaints, Parties, Limitations, Discovery, Contractor Liability

Construction Contractor Not Liable Under §1983 for Disabling Fire Safety Equipment by Construction Contractor Not Liable Under §1983 for Disabling Fire Safety Equipment A federal district court in Illinois has dismissed a private construction contractor from a suit alleging a prisoner was injured in a fire after the contractor's employees …

Private Citizen Liable for Jail Slavery Under §1983

Article • November 15, 2000 • from PLN November, 2000

Filed under: Judicial Misconduct, Prison Industries, Prison Labor, Civil Procedure, Parties, Municipal Liability, Contractor Liability

Private Citizen Liable for Jail Slavery Under §1983 by Private Citizen Liable for Jail Slavery Under §1983 A federal district court in Georgia held that a private citizen who exercises authority over a county prisoner can be held liable under 42 U.S.C. §1983 as a state actor. Lamar County, Georgia …

Individual Analysis Required for Diabetic Class Action Damage Award

Article • July 15, 2000 • from PLN July, 2000

Filed under: Diabetes, Civil Procedure, Damages, Parties, Class Certification, Qualified Immunity

Individual Analysis Required for Diabetic Class Action Damage Award by Ronald Young By Ronald Young The court of appeals for the Third circuit held that the lower court erred in holding that all members of the plaintiff class past, present, and future of insulin-dependent diabetic prisoners alleged violation of their …

Youngstown Case Reveals New Legal Issues for Prisoner Advocates, State Correctional Agencies and Private Prison Companies

Article • March 15, 2000 • from PLN March, 2000

Filed under: Out of State Transfers, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, HIV/AIDS, Systemic Medical Neglect, Medical Records, Escapes, Failure to Protect (General), Eighth Amendment, Attorney Fee Awards, Injunctions (PLRA), Guard Brutality/Beatings, Civil Procedure, Damages, Settlements, Defenses, State Law Claims, Standing, Parties, Qualified Immunity, Contractor Liability, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death)

Youngstown Case Reveals New Legal Issues for Prisoner Advocates, State Correctional Agencies and Private Prison Companies by Al Gerhardstein As the number of prisoners in private lock-ups continue to increase, lawsuits filed by them, not unexpectedly, are also on the rise. While that is no surprise to corrections professionals and …

Sheriff Liable for Inadequate Staffing and Refusing Medical Treatment to Assaulted Prisoner

Article • November 15, 1999 • from PLN November, 1999

Filed under: Injury -- Misc., Crime/Demographics, Informants, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, Parties, Municipal Liability, Failure to Train/Supervise

Sheriff Liable for Inadequate Staffing and Refusing Medical Treatment to Assaulted Prisoner by The Tenth Circuit court of appeals held that a sheriff may be liable for insufficient jail staffing and refusing medical treatment to a prisoner who was beaten by other prisoners. Genaro Lopez was a prisoner in the …

Concealment of Info Tolls Statute of Limitations

Article • October 15, 1999 • from PLN October, 1999

Filed under: Prison/Common Area Searches, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Civil Procedure, Complaints, Parties, Limitations, Discovery, Municipal Liability

Concealment of Info Tolls Statute of Limitations by A federal district court in New York held that a prisoner could amend his complaint to add new defendants, and that the amendment relates back to the original complaint, overcoming an otherwise time-barred amendment. The court further held that official concealment of …

Private Prison Guard Is State Actor for § 1983 Purposes

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

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Parties, Supervisory Liability, Contractor Liability, Sovereign Immunity, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

Private Prison Guard Is State Actor for § 1983 Purposes by Private Prison Guard is State Actor for § 1983 Purposes Afederal district court in New Mexico held that a guard employed by Corrections Corporation of America was a "state actor" acting under "color of state law" when he allegedly …

Abuse of Discretion to Dismiss Medical Suit

Article • February 15, 1999 • from PLN February, 1999

Filed under: Work Release, Medication, Seizures, Appointment of Counsel, Civil Procedure, Summary Judgment, Complaints, Parties, Contractor Liability

Abuse of Discretion to Dismiss Medical Suit by The Seventh Circuit court of appeals has held that a district court abused its discretion when, on technical procedural grounds, it refused to grant a prisoner leave to amend his suit adding the full names of defendants and dismissed the suit. Ralphfield …