Polygraph Results Admissible In Disciplinary Hearings But Additional Evidence Required by Polygraph Results Admissible In Disciplinary Hearings But Additional Evidence Required The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that while polygraph evidence could be used in prison disciplinary hearings, polygraph evidence alone was insufficient to find a …
Prisoner Stated Civil Rights Claim but not RICO Claim by The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated part of a California federal district court's dismissal of a prisoner's civil right action, holding that the prisoner failed to state a claim under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act, …
Illinois Prisoner Awarded $34,500 For Delayed Release by On July 20, 1994, a federal district court awarded a former Illinois state prisoner $34,500 in compensatory and punitive damages for the extra time he spent in prison after being granted parole. Plaintiff Timothy Wilson claimed that on January 21, 1990, he …
Imminent Danger Exception to PLRA Three Strikes by The U.S. Northern District Court of Illinois determined that a prisoner who failed to state a claim three times in three separate federal civil actions could still proceed without prepayment of fees under the imminent danger exception to the Prison Litigation Reform …
Absent Actual Injury Only Nominal Damages for Due Process Violations by The U.S. Supreme Court held that a procedural due process violation warranted only nominal damages in the absence of actual injury. Plaintiffs, Illinois high school students who had been suspended without due process, brought a §1983 action against the …
Abuse of Discretion in Failing to Grant Prisoner Continuance in §1983 Action by Illinois state prisoner Robert Harris filed a 42 U.S.C. §1983 action against prison officials claiming guards interfered with his mail and visiting rights, preventing him from preparing an adequate defense to state criminal charges. The state filed …
Prison's Restrictive Policies Violate Rights of Prisoners in Protective Custody by Prison's Restrictive Policies Violate Rights of Prisoners in Protective Custody The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that prison officials had violated various constitutional rights of prisoners in protective custody. Illinois prisoners in protective custody brought …
Restrictive Policies Violate Rights of Protective Custody Prisoners by The U.S. District Court, N.D. Illinois, held that prison officials had violated various constitutional rights of prisoners in protective custody. Illinois prisoners in protective custody brought a § 1983 action against prison officials alleging violations of their rights to free exercise …
Use of Magistrate Over Defendant's Objection Constitutional by The U.S. Supreme Court held that a criminal defendant's right to due process was not violated by a district court judge's referral of his motion to suppress to a Magistrate, as authorized by the Federal Magistrates Act, over defendant's objection. Respondent, Herman …
Supreme Court Overturns Dismissal of §1983 Action by Supreme Court Overturns Dismissal of §1983 Action The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court's judgment dismissing an Illinois prisoner's action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and ordering him to pay the respondent's attorney fees, which …
Release-Dismissal Agreement Bars Future Suit by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Northern District of Indiana district court's order granting summary judgment, which held that a release agreement dismissing criminal charges in exchange for release from liability in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action was valid and barred …
Pro Se Litigant Not Entitled to Attorney Fee Award by Pro Se Litigant Not Entitled to Attorney Fee Award. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a litigant acting pro se cannot be awarded attorney fees as a prevailing party under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 …
Qualified Immunity Denied In Pretrial Detainee's 3-Year Segregation Without Due Process by Qualified Immunity Denied In Pretrial Detainee's 3-Year Segregation Without Due Process A Federal District Court in Illinois has found a pretrial detainee's rights were violated when he was placed in segregation for nearly three years without a hearing …
Illinois: No Parental Immunity for Residential Child Care Institution by In this wrongful death suit, the Supreme Court of Illinois held that parental immunity did not extend to a residential child care institution. Twelve-year-old Waketta Roy Wallace (Roy), a ward of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, was …
Prisoner's Second Complaint Frivolous, Appeal Not, on Claim Preclusion by Affirming an Illinois federal district court on other grounds, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a prisoner's second complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against prison officials for violating his Eighth Amendment rights was barred by claim …
Anti-Picketing Ordinance Unconstitutional; Anti-Noise Ordinance Not Vague or Overbroad by The United States Supreme Court held an Illinois Anti-Picketing law was unconstitutional, but an Anti-Noise law was not. A group of protesters were picketing outside the West Senior High School in Rockford; they were carrying signs that summarized their grievances: …
Case Remanded for Expungement of Seg Record and Damages Hearing by The Seventh Circuit court of appeals ruled that an Illinois federal prisoner was entitled to relief in the form of expungement of the record of his confinement to segregation where federal prison officials had been ordered to give the …
Court Grants New Trial to Uneducated Pro Se Litigant by A federal district court has granted a new trial to a pro se litigant, who quit school in the tenth grade and displayed during trial a lack of legal knowledge and limited skills, after the jury entered judgment for the …
Tape Recorded Depositions' Intent: Cost Efficiency by A federal district court in Illinois has held that the intent of Fed.R.Civ.P. 30(b)(4) is to make a significant contribution to the efficient and economic administration of justice. The Court outlined several principles for promulgating guidelines to safeguard the non-stenographic record. First, allocation …
IL DOC is Not a Joint Public Employer by The Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC) farms out its prisoner-medical-services to subcontractors such as Wexford Health Sources, Inc. (Wexford). During an unfair labor practices case before the State Labor Relations Board (Board), the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees …
