By Brandon Sample
Crime victims may not appeal a defendant's sentence or the denial of rights under the Crime Victims' Rights Act of 2004 (CVRA), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit decided December 2, 2008. Rather, the exclusive remedy for violations of the CVRA, the court held, ...
Paying your bills on time is a basic element of efficient fiscal management. Apparently, however, it is a basic element that the New York Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) failed to master, since the Department’s tardy payments resulted in $58,553 in unnecessary interest on 2,384 late vendor bills.
The problems ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed a grant of summary judgment in favor of a nurse at Illinois’ Peoria County Jail (PCJ) who was accused of providing deliberately indifferent medical care to a prisoner.
India Taylor was arrested and taken to the PCJ on October 15, ...
It is okay to look for contraband in a prisoner’s rectum so long as the search is done by medical staff in a non-abusive manner, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Prison officials, however, cannot force prisoners to undergo surgery in order to search for ...
Echoing the violence of the Texas prison system during the 1970s where prisoners guarded other prisoners under an abusive practice known as the “building tenders” system, the City of New York has agreed to pay $373,000 to settle a lawsuit involving similar practices at the city’s Robert N. Davoren Complex ...
On February 23, 2009, a federal jury returned a $240,001 verdict in favor of a man who was violently beaten by a guard at the Suffolk County House of Correction (SCHC).
Rodney Chaney ended up at the SCHC in August of 1998 after he was sentenced to 30 days in ...
The Eighth Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause bars juveniles from receiving life without parole for nonhomicide crimes, the U.S. Supreme Court decided May 17, 2010.
Terrance Graham received probation for an attempted robbery committed at age 16. Six months after starting his probation, Graham got into trouble again, committing ...
Congress did not exceed its powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause in authorizing the federal civil commitment of “sexually dangerous” federal prisoners upon the completion of their sentences, the U.S. Supreme Court decided May 17, 2010.
Shortly before Graydon Comstock’s sentence was to expire, the government filed a certification ...
More than de minimis injury is not required to state an excessive force claim, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided on February 22, 2010.
In Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1 (1992) [PLN, May 1992, p.3], the Supreme Court recognized that “the use of excessive physical force against a prisoner ...
Seventh Circuit Upholds Ban on Dungeons & Dragons
by Brandon Sample
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) may prohibit the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) role-playing game and D&D-related publications without violating the First Amendment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decided on January 25, 2010.
Kevin Singer, ...
