$1,000 Judgment for New Mexico Prisoner Denied Recreation for 120 Days
$1,000 Judgment for New Mexico Prisoner Denied Recreation for 120 Days
The United States District Court for the District of New Mexico awarded a state prisoner a $1,000 judgment in a lawsuit that alleged Eighth Amendment violations for the denial of recreation for 120 days.
William McGhee had filed the lawsuit to challenge the prison's policy of restricting the number of books a prisoner may possess to one religious and three library books, the denial of visitation with his wife, and for the denial of exercise for four months. The name of the prison was not mentioned in the court's decision.
Both sides filed for summary judgment, and the magistrate judge recommended that all of McGhee's claims should be dismissed. But in her "Order Adopting Magistrate Judge's Proposed Findings,” Chief Judge Martha Vazquez found, without much comment or analysis, that the prison did indeed violate McGhee's Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment when they denied him recreation for 120 days, and awarded McGhee $1,000.
McGhee's other two claims were dismissed by Vazquez, when she agreed with the magistrate that there was insufficient evidence to show a due process violation in relation to his suspended visitation, and that the book limitation did not violate McGhee's First Amendment rights.
See: McGhee v. Williams, Case No. CIV-04-0239MV-LAM, U.S.D.C. (S.D. NM, 2009).
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Related legal case
McGhee v. Williams
| Year | 2009 |
|---|---|
| Cite | Case No. CIV-04-0239MV-LAM, U.S.D.C. (S.D. NM, 2009) |
| Level | District Court |
| Conclusion | Bench Verdict |