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 …
IL Prisoner Fails to Show Unreasonable Application of Federal Law on Habeas Review by IL Prisoner Fails to Show Unreasonable Application of Federal Law on Habeas Review Andrew Lockhart, an Illinois state prisoner, pled guilty to murder. He received a 35-year prison sentence and 3 years' mandatory supervision release (MSR). …
Failure to Treat Mild Paid Doesn't State Claim by The plaintiff cut his mouth on a piece of metal in his food. He got a tetanus shot and x-rays to make sure he hadn't swallowed any metal. He then went on a hunger strike and during that time complained about …
No Liability in Scalding Attack on Seg Prisoner by The plaintiff was scalded with hot water when, unescorted, he approached his assailant's cell (by invitation) to retrieve his legal papers. At the time, he was in disciplinary segregation (having formerly been in protective custody). Policy dictated that prisoners be escorted …
Seventh Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Race/Exposure Claims by In an unpublished order, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of an Illinois prisoner's racial discrimination and pepper spray exposure claims. Illinois prisoner Johnnie Flournoy brought suit in federal court asserting several unrelated constitutional violations. The district court dismissed …
$250,500 Verdict in Illinois Retaliation Claim by In February 1988, James Fergueson was a prisoner at Illinois' Menard Correctional Center when he had an argument with Mary Flannigan, the director of the Menard Psychiatric Center. Fergueson was upset that he had been transferred to Graham Corrections Center and back to …
Class Certified in Customs Strip Search Suit by African-American women sued the Customs Service over airport searches. The commonality requirement for class certification "is not a demanding requirement; one issue of fact or law common to all class members will suffice." Here the common issues are whether or not the …
Rule 68 Offers Not Allowed in Class Actions by The plaintiff filed suit. The defendant--before appearing or answering--served an offer of judgment under Rule 68 which supposedly offered everything that the plaintiff could have gotten in the litigation. The plaintiff moved for class certification and then to strike the offer …
Defense Verdict in Illinois Brutality, Cold Case Upheld by The plaintiff alleged that officers confined him in a cell with a broken window in subzero weather, used excessive force against him, and made false statements leading to wrongful disciplinary action. A jury found for the defendants. The verdict as to …
Seventh Circuit Holds Fugitive Disentitlement Doctrine Inappropriate Sanction For Honest Intentions by Seventh Circuit Holds Fugitive Disentitlement Doctrine Inappropriate Sanction For Honest Intentions Telesforo Gutierrez Almazan was found guilty of feloniously aggravated sexual abuse of a minor in 1994. In 2006, Immigration Officials ordered him removed. He filed a petition …
$1 Verdict in BOP Retaliation Case by While imprisoned at the federal lockdown prison in Marion, Illinois, prisoner Joseph Dougherty began criticizing the conditions of confinement. Prison officials then transferred him and confiscated a $100 postal money order. He filed suit alleging retaliation. A jury entered a verdict on Dougherty's …
Class Action With 30-40 Members Certified by The court certifies a class in a case alleging racial discrimination in housing based on census data and various calculations and assumptions suggesting that there are 30 to 40 potential class members---i.e., African Americans who have been racially steered by a particular company. …
14 Deputies Who Kill Person in Courtroom Not Entitled to Judicial Immunity by The non-prisoner decedent persisted in trying to ask the judge a question and he told the deputies to restrain him. So 14 of them jumped on him and killed him. The deputies' conduct is not shielded by …
