Deliberate Indifference to Serious Medical Needs Actionable by J. W. Gamble, a Texas state prisoner, filed suit in the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas alleging that prison officials and prison medical personnel violated his Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment …
Prisoners' Motion and Petition Granted, Judgment Vacated by Prisoners in the Bexar County (Texas) Jail filed a suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging of inadequate access to law books. The district court summarily dismissed the suit and the Fifth Circuit refused to docket the appeal because the prisoners had …
Texas Diabetic Prisoner Blacks Out, Guards Not Deliberately Indifferent by Michael Coleman, a diabetic Texas state prisoner, passed out while working in the fields due to a blood glucose level of 23. He sued prison medical staff in federal district court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming that they were …
Dismissal of Complaint Seeking Vegetarian Diet and Religious Beads Reversed by Florida's First District Court of Appeal has reversed a trial Court's dismissal of a complaint seeking injunctive relief requiring prison officials to provide a prisoner to be served a religious diet and to possess religious beads. The prisoner was …
TX Private Prison Guard Can't Sue Under § 1983 For Bogus Employment Termination by TX Private Prison Guard Can't Sue Under § 1983 For Bogus Employment Termination Harold Cornish was employed as a guard at a Texas private prison owned and operated by Correctional Services Corp. (CSC). He blew the …
Texas Jury Verdict Finds Civil Rights Violations but Awards $0 for Assault by Texas prisoner Frank Guerro was assaulted on December 2, 1995, by prison guard Antonio Torres, who stuck Guerro, causing a large and painful bruise to his right ribs. He also alleged other guards assaulted him on December …
HCQIA No Bar to Discovery of Peer Review Reports by The Health Care Quality Improvement Act "does not create an inviolate bar to discovery of materials relating to peer review committees." (438) The court grants plaintiff's motion to compel, along with a protective order. The complaint alleges that the peer …
Deposition of Juvenile Prisoner Rape Victim Postponed Until Release by The mother of a juvenile detainee alleged that an officer had sexually assaulted her son. The deposition of a person confined in prison may be taken only "with leave of court on such terms as are just" under Rule 30(a)(2). …
No Policy Needed to Support Municipal Liability Under ADA/RA by A municipal policy need not be shown to support liability under the disability statutes; the statutory term "employer" encompasses any agent of an employer covered by the statute. At 575: "There is no 'deliberate indifference' standard applicable to public entities …
City Not Liable in Police Shooting by After an unconstitutional warrantless entry into a residence in which a man was fatally shot, his family sued alleging a municipal policy. Custom or policy liability must be supported by "[a]ctual or constructive knowledge of such custom . . . attributable to the …
Fifth Circuit Upholds Firing of Whistleblowing Guard by The plaintiff, a former corrections officer, reported an illicit use of force by staff members; she was told to revise her statement several times because it did not match the other officers' statements; an investigation ensued; shortly thereafter she was accused of …
Wackenhut is a State Actor for Section 1983 Liability by Wackenhut is a State Actor for Section 1983 Liability The Wackenhut Corporation and its employees are "state actors" under § 1983 with respect to their operation of a jail under contract with the state. The plaintiff's allegation that a nurse …
Texas Supreme Court Remands Prison Applicant's Disability Discrimination Claim by On October 15, 2004, the Texas Supreme Court held that a material fact issue as to whether an unsuccessful job applicant had a physical impairment that substantially limited at least one major life activity precluded summary judgment for the Texas …
Quadriplegic Texas Prisoner Injured In Police Van Settles For $750,000 by On May 31, 1999, a quadriplegic woman whose leg was broken during transport in a Houston Police Department van settled her lawsuit against the city for $750,000. Plaintiff Sharon Lee, 61 at the time of the settlement, was rendered …
Raped Texas Prisoner's Federal Claim Overturned, $367,916 Damage Award Reduced by In this case involving a jury award of $367,916.13 to a Texas prisoner who was raped in the Waco City Jail, a Texas appeals court upheld the verdict under the Texas Tort Claims Act (TTCA) but reversed on the …
Sexual Predation Rampant At FMC-Carswell; Another Employee Convicted by By Michael Rigby A pair of semen-stained sweatpants has led to the conviction of former prison guard Michael Lawrence Miller, making him the seventh employee of the Federal Medical Center for women in Carswell, Texas, to be convicted of sexually abusing …
Prisoner's Civil Suit Filed When Given to Prison Officials in Texas by Matthew Clarke By Matthew T. Clarke On December 8, 2004, the Texas Court of Appeals held that a prisoner's lawsuit was considered filed the day he turned it over to prison officials for mailing. Edwin H. Witherspoon, a …
Texas Failure to Protect, Retaliation Claims Dismissed by The plaintiff's injunctive and declaratory claims concerning failure to protect him are mooted by his transfer to another prison. At 522: "A plaintiff-prisoner may avoid dismissal of his equitable claims for mootness if he shows 'either a "demonstrated probability" or a "reasonable …
Post Incarceration Proposed Residence Doesn't Establish Diversity in Forfeiture Action by Post Incarceration Proposed Residence Doesn't Establish Diversity in Forfeiture Action The plaintiff established a trust pursuant to a plea agreement to shelter his 24-acre Texas farm from forfeiture, with his children as beneficiaries, and now there is a dispute …
State Law Claim Review Standard in Federal Action by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that federal law governs the ultimate issue of constitutional law in this Texas jail case, but state law provisions governing daily jail operations were a state law matter and federal courts do …
