Seventh Circuit Upholds Wisconsin Sex Offender Registration Fee, Names John Doe Plaintiffs
by Derek Gilna
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a district court’s ruling that found Wisconsin’s statute for sex offender registration, notification and monitoring violated constitutional ex post facto provisions. The plaintiffs, two sex offenders who ...
Prison Legal News Wins FOIA Appeal Against BOP
by Derek Gilna
The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) hates publicity and hates revealing information about its operations to the general public. Recently, however, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals struck a blow for transparency by finding the BOP had failed to ...
Seventh Circuit Reverses Verdict when Prisoner Not Allowed to Poll Jury
by Derek Gilna
Illinois state prisoner Glenn Verser had been on a hunger strike when he claimed he was beaten by guards at the Western Correctional Center in September 2007 while involved in a cell transfer. He promptly filed ...
Ninth Circuit Finds that ICE Detention After Indictment Counts Against Sentence
by Derek Gilna
Petitions under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 are used to challenge federal sentencing calculations, and Daniel Alejandro Zavala did just that, arguing that he was entitled to credit for the time he spent in Immigration and Customs ...
Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban on Short Beard for Muslim Prisoner
by Derek Gilna
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court found a restriction imposed on a Muslim prisoner who wanted to grow a short beard for religious reasons violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). ...
Supreme Court Rules Qualified Immunity Shields Prison Officials from Suicide Claim
by Derek Gilna
In what can only be considered a step backward for holding corrections officials accountable for the preventable suicide of prisoners in their custody, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the doctrine of qualified immunity shields ...
Supreme Court Voids ACCA’s Residual Clause in Landmark Decision
by Derek Gilna
In a landmark decision authored by Justice Antonin Scalia, on June 26, 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the residual clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1), while leaving the rest of ...
UK Prison Cook Awarded $160,000 for Back Injury
by Derek Gilna
HM Swansea Prison catering manager Susan Cox, 46, was awarded over £100,000 (about $160,000) following an incident in which a sack of rice accidentally fell on her back. A court in Swansea, Wales had initially rejected her claim, but ...
New Mexico Jail Pays $500,000 for Prisoner’s Death
by Derek Gilna
When Eusemia Rodriguez, 33, was admitted to the jail in Santa Fe County, New Mexico on July 3, 2012 on a domestic battery charge, she advised employees that she was a drug and alcohol addict who was at risk ...
Supreme Court Clarifies Legal Standard for Pre-Trial Detainee Excessive Force Claims
by Derek Gilna
Mchael B. Kingsley, a pre-trial detainee in a Wisconsin county jail, filed a § 1983 federal civil rights action alleging that deputies had used excessive force and inflicted serious injuries when they removed him from his ...
