$500 Award in Prisoner Medical Neglect Claim by Allen Moore, a prisoner at the Sin Sing Correctional Facility (SSCF), filed a pro se law suit against SSCF, alleging that they failed to provide him with proper medical care for a back and hip injury. In 1992, Moore, injured his back …
NY SHU Conditions Case Dismissed Under Physical Injury Rule by Pushing the plaintiff into his SHU cell after he unzipped his pants and turned around to face the officers, and at one point raised his fist, did not violate the Eighth Amendment even though his head struck the wall giving …
Courts Can Enforce Settlements by When a court retains jurisdiction to enforce a settlement agreement, it may extend the life of that agreement in order to obtain compliance with it, even if the agreement contained a defined end date. The Eleventh Amendment did not forbid further relief, since the defendants …
No New Trial in NY Beating Suit that Plaintiff Lost by The plaintiff alleged excessive force; a jury found for the defendants; the plaintiff moved for judgment as a matter of law. The ten-day limit on such motions is jurisdictional, but it runs from the date the actual judgment is …
Brutality Claim Set for Trial by The plaintiff complained of failure to protect from inmate assault, excessive force, and retaliation for his successful appeal of a protective custody placement. The failure to protect claim is dismissed for non-exhaustion even though the plaintiff alleged that he did not file grievances because …
No Reconsideration of Summary Dismissal by The court granted summary judgment against the plaintiff with respect to his medical care for Tailor's bunions, tinnitus, allergies, etc. 155 F.Supp.2d 77. Now it denies his Rule 59(e) motion for reconsideration on the ground that it just restates his earlier arguments or relies …
Suit Over NY Protective Custody Conditions Dismissed by The plaintiffs complained of conditions in protective custody. They could not represent a class because they were proceeding pro se. The case is dismissed for non-exhaustion. Even if one plaintiff's letters of complaint were adequate to exhaust (which they probably are not), …
Some Damages Allowed in Visiting Suit by Plaintiffs are visitors and prisoners who were involved with staff in an altercation in the jail. They withdrew their claim of "psychiatric injuries," and defendants then claimed they could recover only nominal damages absent physical injury. The court concludes that the plaintiffs have …
Attorney Fee Rates Determined by Judicial District by Fees are awarded at $300 an hour for a civil rights lawyer with 22 years' experience and $200 an hour for a seventh-year associate. New York City rates are appropriate in this suburban lawsuit even though the lawyers have their office in …
No Liberty Interest in NY Parole Laws by There is no liberty interest in the possibility of parole release in New York, since the statutes and regulations do not require parole unless specified conditions are found to exist. Nor do parole procedures violate the Ex Post Facto Clause, since that …
School Officials May Be Liable for Teacher Choking Student by At 251: The Supreme Court has encouraged lower courts in appropriate circumstances "to determine first whether the plaintiff has alleged a deprivation of a constitutional right at all," before reaching the question of whether the right was clearly established at …
Partial Disrobing Qualifies as Strip Search by Strip searches incident to arrest must be justified by facts pertaining to the particular arrest, such as the nature of the charge or other circumstances, but cannot be justified by factors relating to the correctional facility. Therefore the commingling of misdemeanor arrestees with …
Pro Se Litigants Must be Informed of S.J. Consequences by At 414: . . . [W]e reemphasize that our practice is to vacate summary judgment dismissals against a pro se litigant when the pro se is unaware of the consequences of failing to adequately respond to the motion for summary …
Consent Decree Modification Discussed by Consent decrees, being injunctions, can be modified, and their modification is reviewed for abuse of discretion only. However, they are also contracts, and that plus the concern that easy modification would deter settlements has led to "significant cabining" of district courts' discretion. But the old …
Retaliation Claim Doesn't Require Exhaustion by A complaint of individualized retaliatory action is not a prison conditions claim requiring exhaustion of administrative remedies. At 185: "The plain language of 'prison conditions' suggest those aspects of prison life affecting the entire prison population, such as the food, medical care, recreational facilities, …
Courts Can Enforce Stipulated Settlements by The plaintiff, a part-time building code enforcement officer, alleged that he had been discharged in violation of the First Amendment. He obtained a "so ordered" settlement agreement granting reinstatement, back pay, and attorneys' fees. Subsequently the village changed its policy concerning part-time work so …
$282,500 Awarded in NY False Arrest and Beating Suit by In a police false arrest/excessive force case, the court awarded $275,000 in compensatory damages and $7500 in punitive damages, and found that the City maintained a municipal policy and practice that had caused the violation. Fees are awarded up to …
Court Dismisses Dental, Diet and TB Suit by A prior decision collaterally estopped the plaintiff's claim about placement in isolated confinement when she received a positive tuberculosis test. The fact that the prior decision involved a different prison and different defendants did not matter, since the plaintiff was a party …
County and Private Health Company Liable for Retaliatory Firings by The plaintiffs, registered nurses allegedly fired from their jobs at the county jail for criticizing the county's department of mental health, stated a First Amendment claim against various defendants. There is a question of fact whether the private medical provider …
No Habeas Relief for Prisoner Restrained During Criminal Trial by Handcuffing a prisoner during trial did not deny due process because the trial judge did not improperly delegate the decision to restrain to corrections officials, just relied on a corrections sergeant to describe the form of restraint that would be …
