Texas District Court Awards $174,020 in Attorney Fees in Prisoner Beating Case by The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, awarded $174,020.83 in attorney fees and costs to counsel for a jail prisoner beaten by other prisoners due to incitement by a jail guard. On …
Magistrate Judge Can Investigate Frivolity of Complaint by The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a district court could properly refer a prisoner's pro se case to a magistrate judge to investigate whether the complaint should be dismissed as frivolous. The ultimate dismissal of the …
Fifth Circuit Upholds Sexually Explicit Publication Ban by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Texas prison rule which authorized the denial of sexually explicit publications. The court characterized the prisoner's challenge as a facial challenge which was foreclosed by Guajardo v. Estelle, 568 F.Supp. 135 (SD TX 1983) …
Prisoner Stated Claim Due Process, Conditions Of Confinement Suit by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a Montgomery County, Texas, jail prisoner's pro se §1983 action alleging Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment violations stemming from his confinement in solitary and the conditions thereof stated a claim. …
Prisoners Entitled To Court Access, Can't Be Forced To Work if Disabled by The 5th Circuit has held that prisoners have an actual right to litigate as do other supplicants and that petitioner who submitted a § 1983 lawsuit was entitled to pursue his cause of action even after the …
Qualified Immunity Discussed in Texas Over Detention Suit by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that jail officials failed to present sufficient evidence to allow the question of qualified immunity to be submitted to the jury. This action was filed by a former prisoner of the Dallas County Jail …
Fifth Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment of Texas Prisoners' Religious Challenge by Fifth Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment of Texas Prisoners' Religious Challenge On May 7, 2004 the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that religious accommodations provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) were constitutional and that the …
Body Cavity Searches Reasonable and Unreasonable by The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has held that prisoners retain some degree of Fourth Amendment rights and that the government must justify the reasonableness, and in some cases give notice, before conducting body cavity searches on prisoners. Body cavity searches were performed …
Fifth Circuit: Federal DNA Act Constitutional by On January 6, 2004 the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the collection of DNA samples from two Texas prisoners under the federal "DNA Act" did not violate the Fourth Amendment or infringe upon their constitutional rights. Jeffrey Groceman and Bradley …
Private Prison Corporation Not Entitled to 11th Amendment or Sovereign Immunity by Private Prison Corporation Not Entitled to 11th Amendment or Sovereign Immunity The U.S. Northern District Court of Texas determined that a private operator of a state prison was not entitled to 11th Amendment and sovereign immunity. Cynthia Proctor, …
No Heightened Pleading Standard in Municipal Liability Cases by The U.S. Supreme Court held that there is no heightened pleading standard" in §1983 actions alleging municipal liability. Petitioners, Texas homeowners, brought a §1983 action against a County, two municipal corporations and local officials acting in their official capacity alleging Fourth …
Federal Court Clarifies Texas Prisoners' Disciplinary Appeal Rights by by Matthew T. Clarke A federal district court in Austin, Texas, held that: (1) pending administrative remedies toll the 28 U.S.C. §2254(d)(2) one-year limitations period; (2) a prisoner's transfer to another prison is not a valid reason to deny him as …
No Due Process Violation for False Arrest on Valid Warrant by The U.S. Supreme Court held that a §1983 action in which Respondent alleged his right to due process was violated by a faulty arrest did not state a claim since the arrest was pursuant to a valid warrant. After …
Texas Woman Fired For Reporting Abuse Awarded $202,000 by On July 14, 2004, a district court in Harris County, Texas, awarded $202,000 to a woman who was fired for reporting a guard's abuse of a juvenile. While imprisoned at the Harris County juvenile probation department's Burnett Bayland Reception Center on …
Class Claims Must Be "Fairly Encompassed" By Named Plaintiff's Claims by Class Claims Must Be "Fairly Encompassed" By Named Plaintiff's Claims The U.S. Supreme court held that a Mexican-American who filed suit under the Civil Rights Act claiming he was passed over for promotion because of his national origin could …
Texas Suicide Suit Alleging Medical Malpractice Settles For $288,130 by On June 23, 1993, a lawsuit arising from the suicide death of a prisoner in the Jefferson County (Texas) Detention Center settled for $288,130. The suit had alleged that STAT Care, the jail's contract medical provider, failed to properly screen …
COA Denied; Stun Belt Claim Barred by Teague v. Lane by The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a certificate of appealability (COA) from a Texas state prisoner's denial of habeas corpus relief, 28 U.S.C. § 2254, on grounds that the prisoner was not denied a fair trial and …
5th Circuit Upholds Sexually Explicit Publication Ban by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a prison rule which authorized the denial of sexually explicit publications. The court characterized the prisoner's challenge as a facial challenge which was foreclosed by Guarjardo v. Estelle, 568 F.Supp. 135 (S.D.Tex. 1983) and Thornburgh …
Attorney Fees Awarded in Long-Running Jail Class Action Suit by A federal district court in Texas awarded over $2,463,000.00 in attorney fees pending an effective date of the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees in a 15-year old civil rights action brought by prisoners in the Harris County (Texas) jail. Upward adjustment …
Court Orders Minimum Jail Staffing at Harris County (TX) Jail by A federal district court in Texas ordered that Harris County (Texas) Jail official defendants not be held in contempt even thought they were unable to maintain a court-ordered minimum staff-to-prisoner ratio. The court stated that it had no choice …
