Deputy Not Sheriff, Liable for Assault, Attorney Fees by The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas awarded a jail prisoner $500 in compensatory damages, no punitive damages, and $2,500 in attorney fees plus costs in a case involving a deputy sheriff's assault on the prisoner. Donald Williams, …
No Constitutional Right Created By State Jail Standards by The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Texas jail standards did not create a constitutional right and therefore were not enforceable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards was created by the Texas Legislature to …
United States Supreme Court: Laws Prohibiting Homosexuality Are Unconstitutional by United States Supreme Court: Laws Prohibiting Homosexuality Are Unconstitutional In an historic 6-3 decision overturning legal precedents and numerous cultural presumptions, the United States Supreme Court held that laws prohibiting private, consensual sex acts between consenting adults of the same …
Fifth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Suit Against Prison Contractor by The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held in an unpublished opinion that a prisoner's lawsuit against a private prison operator should not have been dismissed on Eleventh Amendment immunity grounds. While confined in a prison operated by Cornell Corrections …
Statute Requiring Remittance Of Forfeited Bond Violates Texas Constitution by Statute Requiring Remittance Of Forfeited Bond Violates Texas Constitution The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas held that Article 2372p-3, Sec. 13 (b), V.A.C.S., which mandates the remittance of 95% of a forfeited bail bond if a defendant is jailed …
Woman Raped In Texas Jail Reaches Confidential Settlement by On March 21, 2000, a woman who was raped in the City of Donna Jail reached a confidential settlement with the City. The woman, who had been jailed overnight for public intoxication, was raped by a police officer. In her lawsuit, …
Dismissal for Want of Jurisdiction is Judgment With Prejudice in Texas by Matthew Clarke by Matthew T. Clarke On May 28, 2004, the Supreme Court of Texas held that a dismissal of a suit against a governmental entity for want of jurisdiction under the Texas Tort Claims Act is a …
No Forfeiture of Good Time for Frivolous Habeas in Texas by Matthew Clarke by Matthew T. Clarke The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) has held that the statute providing for forfeiture of good time belonging to a prisoner who filed a frivolous lawsuit does not apply to state habeas …
Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Tort Claim Act Notice Requirement by Matthew Clarke by Matthew. T. Clarke The Supreme Court of Texas has held that an accident investigation by a governmental under certain circumstances, suffice for the notice required by the Texas Tort Claims Act, § 101.101, Texas Civil Practice and …
Texas Prisoners Still Have Limited Right to Appear in Civil Cases by A Texas state court of appeals has ruled that Texas prisoners continue to retain a limited right of appearance in civil cases after the Texas Supreme Court's decision in In re Z.L.T., and a district court cannot dismiss …
Prisoner Crippled In Texas Jail Settles For $2.25 Million by On May 12, 2000, the City of Harlingen, Texas, paid $2,250,000 to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by a man who was rendered quadriplegic following an assault in the city jail. In his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 lawsuit, …
Prisoner Civil Rights Claim For Harassment, Retaliation, Feces in Food And Excessive Force Denied by Prisoner Civil Rights Claim For Harassment, Retaliation, Feces in Food And Excessive Force Denied Texas state prisoner David Trevino filed a Federal civil rights petition against numerous Texas prison officials for allegedly engaging in harassment, …
$50,000 Paid in Texas Improper Housing Classification/Assault by Imprisoned at Texas' Bastrop County Jail for traffic tickets and DWI probation violation, the plaintiff in this case found himself placed in a cell block with convicted felons and other violent offenders. On September 25, 1995, the prisoner plaintiff was attacked by …
Regret Expression Issued for Improper Arrest by On December 15, 1995, Texas' Grand Prarie police SWAT team burst into 18-year-old Bryan McMillen's parents' house and put guns to McMillen's head while awaking him from bed. Their purpose was to arrest him for the murder of Adrianne Jones, whose boyfriend said …
$95,000 Award in Excessive Force on Quadriplegic by During a struggle while being arrested on December 12, 1996, Boyd Knight, a quadriplegic, was pulled from his wheelchair by Texas police officer Glen Osborn, who hit, kicked, and dragged Knight around his house, while officer David Houser watched. When taken to …
Escape Triggers Texas Statute of Limitations for Civil Case Filing by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a prisoner's escape lifts his disability to allow the statute of limitations to run for the filing of a tort suit. This action was filed by Texas a prisoner, alleging …
TX Transsexual Prisoner's Lawsuit Seeking Hormone Therapy Dismissed by Joshua Praylor, a Texas state prisoner, sued the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and several of its officials in federal district court after they denied his request for estrogen therapy and brassieres. He claimed, as a pre-op transsexual, that the …
Texas Prisoner's Rights Not Violated by Not Allowing Him to Represent Himself at Trial for Tattooing by Texas Prisoner's Rights Not Violated by Not Allowing Him to Represent Himself at Trial for Tattooing Fellow Prisoner On March 3, 2002, Timothy Worstell, a Texas State prisoner, forcibly tattooed the words child …
$34,000 Paid in Texas Prisoners' Retaliation Claim by This case involved six Texas prisoners at the Wallace Park unit. After they filed a lawsuit to practice their Jewish religion, guards began retaliating against them. The retaliation came in the form of job changes, cell reassignments, transfers, and disciplinary action for …
$1,000 Awarded in Texas Prisoner's Retaliation Claim by While serving a life sentence at the Coffield Unit in Texas' prison system, Sonny Wilson filed a grievance in August 1996 against guard Patria Perez Lara. He claimed she would wake him up in the middle of the night, would refuse to …
