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 …
Texas Attorney-Client Interference Damage and Fee Award Upheld by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit upheld a damage award of $10, 231 plus unspecified attorney fees, when a Texas prison deliberately interfered with the right of prisoners and counsel to meet concerning prison conditions and post conviction relief …
Unconstitutional to Punish Prisoner for Court Access by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that it violates due process for Texas prison officials to punish prisoners who seek access to the courts. In this case, a prisoner was denied commissary privileges by jail officials after he wrote …
Guard Attack Suit Wrongly Dismissed at Spears Hearing by Guard Attack suit Wrongly Dismissed at Spears Hearing The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that a district court in Texas wrongly dismissed a prisoner's lawsuit claiming he was attacked by a prison guard. At a Spears hearing the …
Sheriff's Delay Or Denial Of Detainee's Serious Medical Needs Ruled Sufficient To Defeat Summary Judgment Motion by The Fifth Circuit US Court of Appeals ruled that a sergeant's actions that resulted in delay or denial of medical care to a county jail detainee who subsequently died from alcohol withdrawal seizures …
Texas Jailhouse Lawyer Prohibition Unconstitutional by The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth District held that a single judge could determine whether or not the Texas DOC's rules and practices prohibiting prisoners from giving or receiving legal assistance from one another, "in habeas corpus and other general civil …
Challenges to Systematic Prison Disciplinary Procedures Cognizable Under § 1983 by The United States Court of Appeals from the Fifth Circuit held that habeas corpus is not the sole remedy for challenging prison disciplinary actions, and the amount of process due is not contingent on the actual punishment imposed, but …
Jail to Prison Transfer Orders Subject to PLRA Provisions by The Fifth Circuit court of appeals has held that injunctions which order the state to transfer prison-ready prisoners from a county jail to the state prison system and to refuse to accept parole violators at the jail to avoid overcrowding …
Texas Granted Only Partial Stay In Class-Action Suit by The court of appeals for the Fifth Circuit stayed portions of the injunction granted to prisoners when a federal district court declared the conditions in the Texas prison system unconstitutional. The stayed portions included: (1) requiring single celling of prisoners; (2) …
Texas Granted Second Partial Stay In Class-Action Suit by The court of appeals for the Fifth Circuit stayed portions of the injunction granted to prisoners when a federal district court declared the conditions in the Texas prison system (TDC) unconstitutional. This was the second stay request by Texas. The Fifth …
Fifth Circuit Holds Conditions in Texas Prisons Unconstitutional by Fifth Circuit Holds Conditions In Texas Prisons Unconstitutional In a class-action suit joined by the U.S., a Texas federal district court found conditions of confinement in the Texas prison system (TDC) to be unconstitutional and ordered sweeping reforms and the appointment …
Portion of Ruiz Appeal Vacated by The court of appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated a portion of its opinion in the Ruiz case on motion for rehearing filed by the prisoners. After the case was briefed and argued, but before the court of appeals issued an opinion, the parties …
