FL Ad-Seg Rules May Create Liberty Interest by The court of appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that regulations at the Florida State Prison in Starke may create a due process liberty interest. The regulations at issue provided for the placement of a prisoner on Close Management (CM) confinement. The …
FL Disciplinary Team member Cannot be Witness to Violation by The First District Court of Appeal in Florida reversed a circuit court's denial of a petition for writ of mandamus, which alleged a member of the disciplinary hearing team was not impartial because he was the sole witness to crucial …
FL Investigator Must Interview Requested, Unknown Witness in Disciplinary Hearing by FL Investigator Must Interview Requested, Unknown Witness in Disciplinary Hearing Florida's First District Court of Appeal held that a prisoner who requested, as witnesses to his disciplinary infraction, prisoners in the cells adjacent to his own administrative confinement cell, …
FL Prisoner Must Know Illicit Nature of Substance to Possess Drugs by Florida's Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal held that to be convicted of possession of contraband in a prison, predicated on possession of marijuana, the prisoner must not only possess the substance but must also be aware of the …
FL Prisoner's Mandamus Petition Must Detail Facts Supporting Witness Denial at Disciplinary Hearing by FL Prisoner's Mandamus Petition Must Detail Facts Supporting Witness Denial at Disciplinary Hearing Florida's First District Court of Appeal held that a prisoner bringing a petition for a writ of mandamus alleging the denial of witnesses …
FL Prisoners May Have Right to Notice and Hearing Before Transfer by The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed and remanded a Florida prisoner's complaint that alleged he was transferred from a medium security prison to a close custody confinement prison without notice or a hearing. The court …
Settlement's Retention of Jurisdiction for Enforcement is Functional Equivalent of Consent Decree by Settlement's Retention of Jurisdiction for Enforcement is Functional Equivalent of Consent Decree The Eleventh Circuit of Appeals has held a Florida settlement agreement's provision that retains "the district court's jurisdiction for enforcement of the agreement" is the …
Nude Photo Publication Rejection by Florida Jail Upheld by The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a Florida District Court's grant of summary judgment to officials at the Palm Beach County Detention Center in a prisoner's suit alleging the officials unconstitutionally deprived him of access to various publications. The …
Special Condition of Registering with State Sex Offender Agency Mandatory for Federal Sex Offender by Special Condition of Registering with State Sex Offender Agency Mandatory for Federal Sex Offender The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held a district court properly imposed a special condition of supervised release that required a …
State Death Row Prisoner Not Entitled to Appointment of Federal Counsel for Clemency by State Death Row Prisoner Not Entitled to Appointment of Federal Counsel for Clemency The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a state prisoner sentenced to death is not entitled to the appointment of federally funded …
Florida Public Records Exemption must be Stated with Specifity; Costs Awarded for Unlawful Refusal to Comply by Florida Public Records Exemption must be Stated with Specifity; Costs Awarded for Unlawful Refusal to Comply Florida's First District Court of Appeal has held that a petition for writ of mandamus is the …
Florida Public Records Law Provides No Exemption of Photographs that Fail to Identify Sexual Assault Victim by Florida Public Records Law Provides No Exemption of Photographs that Fail to Identify Sexual Assault Victim The First District Court of Appeal has held that photographs of a sexual assault victim that do …
FL Disciplinary Mandamus Petition Exempt from Prisoner Indigency Statute by The Florida Supreme Court has held a writ of mandamus filed by prisoner Daniel K. Schmidt, challenging the loss of gain time incurred as a disciplinary sanction, is a collateral criminal proceeding" that is exempt from Florida's Prisoner Indigency Statute …
Ionscan Test Reasonable Cause to Require Urinalysis Test by Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeals held that reasonable suspicion of use of drugs existed to require a Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) guard to submit to a urinalysis test. This action is an appeal of a final order of the …
Physical Injury Required for All Prisoner Suits Seeking Compensatory and Punitive Damages by David Reutter Physical Injury Required for All Prisoner Suits Seeking Compensatory and Punitive Damages By David M. Reutter In an unpublished opinion, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held the PLRA bars compensatory and punitive damages …
Florida Corrections Secretary Not Liable For Failing to Protect From Rape by The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court's order granting summary judgment to the Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections in a 42 U.S.C. §1983 action alleging the Secretary failed to protect him from sexual …
Prisoner Fails To Show Retaliation, Deliberate Indifference by The United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida entered summary judgment against a prisoner's § 1983 action alleging deliberate indifference and retaliation by a prison nurse practitioner (N.P.). Walter Pate, a Florida state prisoner, was diagnosed as having HIV, …
Policy Requiring Court Order For Law Library Access Unconstitutional by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that a Sarasota County (Florida) Jail policy requiring a prisoner to obtain a court order before being permitted to use the jail law library was unconstitutional. Plaintiff was arrested on …
Private Corporations Subject to Florida's Public Records Act by Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeals has reversed a Broward County Circuit Court's order dismissing a petition for writ of mandamus, seeking to compel Aramark Food Service to provide a copy of the food service contract between Aramark and the Florida …
Florida Sex Offenders Must Pay for Court Order Treatment by Florida Second District Court of Appeals has held that a trial court's order that requires the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) to pay the cost of a probationers sex offender treatment violates the doctrine of separation of powers. The trial …