The United State Court of Appeals for the Third District held that a Pennsylvania district court failed to conduct a proper analysis when it dismissed a class action challenging the Federal Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) ban on movies rated R, X or NC-17. The judgment against the prisoner class was ...
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama approved a settlement agreement between a class of prisoners, defined as "all acutely or severely mentally ill male inmates who are presently or will in the future be incarcerated in the Alabama Department of Corrections" (ADOC), and the defendant state ...
A federal district court in Arizona held that Ariz. Rev. Stat. (ARS) § 31201.01, which includes a socalled medical copayment provision, cannot be applied to state prisoners who are incarcerated for offenses committed prior tothe statute's effective date. In an unpublished ruling the state was permanently enjoined from applying the ...
A federal district court in Iowa
held that after nearly a decade of unconstitutional conditions, state prison officials have finally submitted an acceptable plan to remedy substantive due process violations relating to extraordinarily longterm lockup, and various Eighth Amendment violations in a segregation unit. In lieu of injunctive relief, the ...
By James Quigley
The U.S. court of appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that factual issues, as to when a former prisoner was, or should have been, aware of his injuries from radiation experiments, precluded summary judgment on statute of limitation grounds. The Court further held that some of the ...
The U.S. court of appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, sitting en banc, held that because prisoners infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV+) pose a "significant risk" of transmission to uninfected prisoners, they are not "otherwise qualified," as required under § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (RA) for benefits under that ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the "Limitation on Recovery" provision (physical injury rule) of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(e), does not violate a prisoner's rights to equal protection or access to courts. The court also determined that the provision ...
A Florida appellate court reversed a trial court order setting aside a jury verdict against the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) and granting the DOC a new trial. The court directed the lower tribunal to reinstate the jury award of $60,000 in favor of the prisoner.
Twice during the 1970's, ...
The court of appeals for the eleventh circuit affirmed summary judgment against Florida state prisoners who claimed entitlement to the federal minimum wage under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219. The court held that the private, non profit corporation established by statute, independent of the state, ...
By James Quigley
The court of appeals for the eleventh circuit held that the provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) apply to cases pending prior to its enactment; that the filing fee requirements of the Act do not violate equal protection; and to the extent that the filing ...
