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 …
Modification to Ruiz Stipulation Not Abuse of Discretion by Relief was entered in a class-action suit against the Texas prison system (TDC). Following the Fifth Circuit's stay of the provision of the Ruiz stipulated decree prohibiting even properly supervised prisoners from possessing keys, the district court entered a Stipulated Modification …
Texas Prison System Declared Unconstitutional; Reforms Ordered by In a class-action suit by Texas prisoners with the U. S. as a plaintiff-intervenor, a Texas federal district court held that Texas prisons: (1) were grossly overcrowded; (2) had wholly inadequate sanitation and recreation facilities; (3) used inadequate disciplinary procedures; (4) allowed …
Fifth Circuit Upholds Protection for Plaintiffs in Ruiz Suit by After filing suit against the Texas prison system, prisoner plaintiffs were retaliated against both physically and with disciplinary action. The district court entered two protective orders which were violated by defendants. As part of a third protective order, the district …
Ruiz Attorney Fees Approved; State Fees Cap Invalid by Following a successful civil rights suit in which conditions in Texas prisons were declared unconstitutional and extensive remedial relief ordered via consent decree, the plaintiffs moved for attorneys' fees and costs under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. The court stayed the award …
Fifth Circuit Refuses to Hear Appeal of Attorneys' Fees Order by The Fifth Circuit court of appeals held that the defendants in a class-action suit by Texas prisoners could not maintain an interlocutory appeal of the district court's award of attorneys' fees for obtaining and enforcing orders issued by the …
Fifth Circuit Refuses to Order Court to Rule on Ruiz Termination by The defendants in the class action suit which lead to sweeping reforms in the Texas prison system filed a motion to terminate prospective relief a month before the PLRA was enacted. The district court responded by allowing the …
Fifth Circuit Holds PLRA Automatic Stay Provision Constitutional by Texas prison officials filed a motion to terminate prospective relief under the PLRA. The district court ruled the automatic stay provision of the PLRA was unconstitutional and denied a subsequent motion for reconsideration by the U.S. as an intervenor. Prison officials …
Highest Texas Court Rules Actual Innocence Trumps Guilty Plea by The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) has held that newly discovered, unquestionable evidence of a prisoner's actual innocence may be raised on state habeas corpus even though the prisoner pleaded guilty. Wesley Ronald Tuley, a Texas state prisoner, filed …
Prisoner Entitled To Discovery In Opposing SJ by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a prisoner was entitled to discovery to oppose defendants' motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff, a Texas prisoner, brought a §1983 action against prison officials and prison mailroom personnel alleging they violated …
