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Eighth Circuit Reverses PLRA Three-Strikes Ruling

Article • January 15, 2009

Filed under: PLRA, Filing Fees (PLRA), Frivolous Litigation (PLRA)

Eighth Circuit Reverses PLRA Three-Strikes Ruling by On June 6, 2007, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of a prisoner’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights action because the district court had incorrectly calculated that the prisoner had accumulated three strikes under the PLRA. Frank R. Owens, …

Iowa Court Holds Prison Chaplains At Taxpayer Expense Constitutional

Article • January 15, 2009

Filed under: Injunctions, Religious Freedom, Required Religious Programming, Clergy

Iowa Court Holds Prison Chaplains At Taxpayer Expense Constitutional by Defendant Iowa State officials and plaintiff taxpayers appealed the provisions of an order enjoining the state from employing chaplains for prison based religious activity. The order was reversed. Taxpayers Delores Rudd and Charlotte Walker filed suit alleging that state paid …

Many Iowans Mistakenly Identified as Felons, Purged From Voter Lists

Article • December 15, 2008

Filed under: Organizing, Voting, Elections

Many Iowans Mistakenly Identified as Felons, Purged From Voter Lists by A large number of voters in Iowa were mistakenly purged from the voter rolls due to a faulty state-promulgated list that showed they were felons. Rick Brown, 47, of Madrid, a postal worker, was a typical case. Brown never …

Iowa Imprisons Blacks at Alarming Rate

Article • November 15, 2008 • from PLN November, 2008

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Sentencing

Iowa Imprisons Blacks at Alarming Rate by Gary Hunter Extreme racial disparities in Iowa’s sentencing patterns have put the state under scrutiny once again. Iowa has a population of about 3 million people. Only 2.3 percent, about 20,000, are black. Yet the incarceration for black Iowans is six times greater …

Eighth Circuit: Iowa Prisoner’s Denial-Of-Court-Access Ruling Reversed

Article • August 15, 2008 • from PLN August, 2008

Filed under: Court Access, Law Library Access/Adequacy

Eighth Circuit: Iowa Prisoner’s Denial-Of-Court-Access Ruling Reversed by The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a district court § 1983 judgment that had found Iowa’s contract attorney arrangement (in lieu of a law library) had denied an Iowa prisoner’s constitutional right of access to the courts. The court also …

Iowa Faith-Based Program Finally Closed

Article • June 15, 2008 • from PLN June, 2008

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Required Religious Programming, Proselytizing, State Legislation

Iowa Faith-Based Program Finally Closed by After a five-year court battle and public controversy, the Iowa Department of Corrections (IDOC) has decided to close a Bible-oriented re-entry program at the Newton Correctional Facility. The program, operated by Virginia-based Prison Fellowship Ministries, was part of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative. PLN has …

Audit of Iowa Prison System’s Substance Abuse Treatment Programs Released

Article • April 15, 2008 • from PLN April, 2008

Filed under: Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Mental Health, Drug Treatment/Rehab

Audit of Iowa Prison System’s Substance Abuse Treatment Programs Released by Matthew Clarke Audit of Iowa Prison System's Substance Abuse Treatment Programs Released by Matt Clarke On May 25, 2007, the Iowa Department of Management released a performance audit of substance abuse treatment in the Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC). …

Iowa Prisons Fined $92,000 For Prisoner Workplace Accidents

Article • April 15, 2008 • from PLN April, 2008

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Prison Labor, Workplace Injury, Work Conditions/Safety, Medical, Blood

Iowa Prisons Fined $92,000 For Prisoner Workplace Accidents by Fines totaling $92,000 were levied in January 2007 by Iowa?s Occupational Safety and Health Bureau against the Iowa Department of Corrections (IDOC). In March 2006, a Fort Madison prisoner severed a finger in a table saw in the Prison Industries workshop. …

Eighth Circuit Holds State Funding of Iowa Faith-Based Prison Unconstitutional

Article • January 15, 2008 • from PLN January, 2008

Filed under: Injunctions, Telephones, Telephone Rates, Required Religious Programming, Proselytizing

Eighth Circuit Holds State Funding of Iowa Faith-Based Prison Unconstitutional by Michael Rigby On December 3, 2007, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals held that partial state funding of a religious-based prison program in Iowa was unconstitutional. The Court further held that InnerChange, a division …

Iowa Faith-Based Program Held Unconstitutional by 8th Circuit; Continues with Private Funding

Article • January 15, 2008 • from PLN January, 2008

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Required Religious Programming, Proselytizing

Iowa Faith-Based Program Held Unconstitutional by 8th Circuit; Continues with Private Funding by Previously, PLN reported an Iowa federal district court ruling which held that the InnerChange Freedom Initiatives, a faith-based prison program that received state funding, violated the First Amendment?s establishment clause. [See: PLN, July 2006, pg.18]. As noted …

Eighth Circuit Holds Sweat Patches Generally Reliable

Article • December 15, 2007 • from PLN December, 2007

Filed under: Searches, Drug Testing, Probation

Eighth Circuit Holds Sweat Patches Generally Reliable by The Eighth Circuit court of appeals held that sweat patches were a sufficiently reliable method of determining drug usage to support federal probation revocation. Mark Lou Meyer, a federal prisoner, appealed an Iowa federal district court?s revocation of his probation. Two conditions …

8th Circuit Upholds Federal DNA Collection Statute

Article • December 15, 2007

Filed under: Searches, DNA Testing/Samples

8th Circuit Upholds Federal DNA Collection Statute by Ray Kraklio, a federal parolee, was directed to provide a blood sample for DNA testing. He refused, and his parole officer moved the federal district court to amend his conditions of release to require him to provide the blood sample. Over Karklio's …

Iowa Ombudsman's Report on Scott County Jail's Use of Force, 2007

Publication • June 27, 2007

Filed under: Corrections Audits, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Iowa Ombudsman's Report on Scott County Jail's Use of Force, 2007 Investigative Report STATE OF IOWA CITIZENS’ AIDE/OMBUDSMAN INVESTIGATION OF SCOTT COUNTY JAIL’S USE OF FORCE TO: Dennis Conrad Scott County Sheriff FROM: William P. Angrick II Citizens’ Aide/Ombudsman RE: Case File 0600421 Issued: June 27, 2007 Table of Contents …

Eighth Circuit Approves Sexually Explicit Reading Rooms

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Mail, Sexually Explicit Materials

Eighth Circuit Approves Sexually Explicit Reading Rooms by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an Iowa prison rule prohibiting prisoners from possessing certain sexually explicit materials in their cells but allowing those publications to be reviewed in a reading room. The court held that the ban is constitutionally valid …

Eighth Circuit: Certain Prisoners Not Entitled to Religious Meals

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Religious Diet

Eighth Circuit: Certain Prisoners Not Entitled to Religious Meals by On March 30, 2004 the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court's order requiring Iowa prison officials to deliver special food trays to segregated members of the Church of the New Song (CONS). The Eighth Circuit affirmed …

Iowa Ban on Racist Literature Enjoined

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Injunctions, Mail, Publications/Books, Censorship, Religious Property

Iowa Ban on Racist Literature Enjoined by The U.S. Southern District of Iowa held that a state prison could not deny racist material to prisoners. Tracy Nichols, an Iowa state prisoner, sought to receive materials from several different churches, including the Church of Jesus Christ Christian (CJCC). The CJCC promotes …

Attorney Fees Not Reducible for Failure to Win on All Issues

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Civil Procedure, Mootness, Juvenile Prisons

Attorney Fees Not Reducible for Failure to Win on All Issues by The court of appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that an attorney fee award for the plaintiff as a prevailing party should not be reduced because relief was not granted on every issue alleged or raised in the …

Eighth Circuit: No Constitutionally Protected Interest in Iowa Prison Wages

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Costs, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Eighth Circuit: No Constitutionally Protected Interest in Iowa Prison Wages by The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that deductions made from an Iowa prisoner's wages to pay court costs were constitutional. Iowa prisoner John Hrbek was convicted of murder in a state court. As part of his sentence, …

PI Orders Inspection of Iowa Juvenile Mental Facility and Records

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Medical Records, Civil Procedure, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, PAMII Act, Juvenile Prisons

PI Orders Inspection of Iowa Juvenile Mental Facility and Records by An Iowa federal district court issued a preliminary injunction requiring the Gerard Treatment Program, a children's psychiatric medical institution in Mason City, to allow Iowa Protection and Advocacy Services, Inc. (IPAS) to have access to the facility and its …

Nominal Damages Merit Attorney Fee Award; Erroneous Jury Instruction Standard Discussed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sexual Harassment, Harassment by Police, Failure to Protect (General), Attorney Fee Awards, Damages, Jury Instructions

Nominal Damages Merit Attorney Fee Award; Erroneous Jury Instruction Standard Discussed by Nominal Damages Merit Attorney Fee Award; Erroneous Jury Instruction Standard Discussed The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held an Iowa District Court did not abuse its discretion when it awarded attorney fees after a jury awarded only nominal …