Excessive Force by Des Moines Police Officers Leads to Proposed Settlement of $500,000 by In September 2011, the Des Moines City County voted on a $500,000 proposed settlement to end a federal lawsuit filed by a couple allegedly assaulted by two Des Moines police officers following a traffic stop. In …
Hood v. Upah, IA, Plaintiff's Brief Restisting MSJ, Excessive Force, 2012 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA CEDAR RAPIDS DIVISION JAMES HOOD, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) vs. ) ) DAVID UPAH AND BENTON COUNTY, ) IOWA, ) ) Defendants. ) ) CASE NO.: 11cv96-LRR PLAINTIFF’S BRIEF IN …
Iowa Supreme Court Rules That Sex Offender Treatment Program Requires Due Process Protections by The Iowa Supreme Court held in two companion cases that the Iowa Department of Corrections’ (IDOC) Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP) deprived prisoners of due process of law. Before 2001, Iowa prisoners “were eligible for a …
90% Remittitur of $750,000 Strip Search Verdict Vacated; Plaintiffs Accept $440,385.08 on Remand by Mark Wilson On June 30, 2010, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a district court had abused its discretion in reducing a $750,000 jury award to $75,000 in a case raising illegal strip search …
Eighth Circuit Rules Previous Dismissals Not “Strikes” For Iowa Prisoner by On December 29, 2006, the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the dismissal of a prisoner’s previous federal lawsuits could not be counted as “strikes” under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) because the prisoner had not yet exhausted …
Voting Rights Must Be “Earned” Back, Says Iowa Governor by Brandon Sample Regaining voting rights for former felons in Iowa just got harder. Making good on a campaign promise, the newly-elected governor of Iowa, Terry Branstad, a Republican, has rescinded a July 4, 2005 executive order that allowed felons to …
Iowa Supreme Court Holds Inmate Assault Statute Only Requires Bodily Fluids from Another for Conviction by The Supreme Court of Iowa held that for a prisoner to be convicted of “inmate assault” in violation of Iowa Code § 708.3B (2005), there need only be proof that the prisoner caused a …
$42,000 Verdict in Iowa Jail Excessive Force Case by A federal jury has awarded $42,000 to a woman who was placed in a restraint chair for seven hours. On January 25, 2006, while incarcerated at the Scott County Jail in Scott County, Iowa, Lillian Slater had a painful flare-up of …
Iowa Prisoners Perform Private Sector Work for Parole Board Member by In order to avoid interfering with private sector commerce, Iowa Prison Industries (IPI) is supposed to only perform work for governmental and non-profit organizations. That does not always happen, though. In April 2010, a crew of prisoners installed several …
Clergy Who Advocate for Prisoners Barred from Prisons and Jails by As described in this month’s cover story, prison and jail chaplains accused of sexual misconduct often resign, retire, are fired or are sometimes prosecuted. In other cases, though, well-meaning clergy members who seek to help prisoners have been locked …
Prosecutorial Misconduct Case Pending Before Supreme Court Settles for $12 Million by Brandon Sample On January 4, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court side-stepped resolving an important case that would have likely exposed prosecutors to greater liability when they engage in prosecutorial misconduct. The case, Pottawamie County v. McGhee and Harrington, …
Iowa Good Time Statute Violates Ex Post Facto Clause by Brandon Sample A 2005 amendment to Iowa’s good time statute making participation in a sex offender treatment program (SOTP) a prerequisite to earning good time may not be applied to sex offenders convicted before the amendment’s effective date, the Supreme …
Iowa Supreme Court: Retroactive Good Conduct Time Denial is Unconstitutional, Depending on Date of Conviction by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On January 23, 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court held that state law amendments enacted in 2001 and 2005, which required that certain prisoners must participate in rehabilitative programs to …
$145,000 Settlement in Iowa Prisoner’s Self-Mutilation Mental Health Claim by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Iowa Department of Corrections (IDOC) paid $144,523.20 to settle a civil rights action that claimed prison officials sat idly watching a mentally ill prisoner physically maim herself. In 1976 at the age of …
Prisoners Not Evacuated, Parolees Rounded Up as Hurricanes Hit by Gary Hunter On September 8, 2008, Texas Governor Rick Perry issued a disaster declaration for 88 counties as Hurricane Ike bore down on the Texas coastline. The 900-mile wide storm, with winds in excess of 100 mph “...is now in …
Strip-Searched Iowa Bush Protesters Awarded Damages at Trial, Re-Trial by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On June 4, 2008, a federal jury in Iowa awarded $750,000 to two political protesters who were arrested at the direction of the Secret Service, taken to jail and unlawfully strip-searched. After the court ordered …
Iowa Sex Offenders May Be Civilly Committed Based on Lifetime Risk of Future Dangerousness by Sex offenders in Iowa may be civilly committed based on their lifetime risk of future dangerousness, the Supreme Court of Iowa held May 9, 2008. Bryan Pierce was convicted in 1987 and 2000 for sexual …
Sexual Abuse by Prison and Jail Staff Proves Persistent, Pandemic by Gary Hunter Sexual assault, rape, indecency, deviance. These terms represent reprehensible behavior in our society. They also represent recurring themes in our nation’s prisons – not only by prisoners, but also by guards and other staff members. PLN’s August …
Iowa Parental Rights Not Terminated Upon Imprisonment by The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s order refusing to terminate the parental rights of a couple imprisoned for selling drugs in the presence of their minor children. On January 22, 2007, Juan and Maria were arrested for selling …
$50,000 Settlement for Illegal Strip Search After Arrest at Bush Rally by Iowa’s State Appeal Board has settled a lawsuit claiming retired school teachers Alice McCabe and Christine Nelson were illegally strip searched after being arrested at a 2004 campaign stop by President Bush. The settlement of $50,000 comes in …
