by Mark Wilson
Oregon prison officials have paid $450,000 to settle state and federal claims that systemic gang violence resulted in a prisoner being murdered in his cell. Officials had previously admitted that staff negligence was a “substantial factor” in the murder.
In July 2010, Oregon prisoner Michael Clarence Hagen ...
by Mark Wilson
The California Court of Appeals held that a lower court erred in holding that failing to register as a sex offender does not authorize parole supervision as a high-risk sex offender.
In 1989, Charles Andre Toussain was convicted of assault with intent to rape and sentenced to ...
by Mark Wilson
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed a lower court's judgment that a Kansas jail's postcard-only policy violated the First Amendment.
Nicholas Cox was detained in the Johnson County Adult Detention Center awaiting trial on Kansas domestic violence criminal charges.
The jail instituted ...
by Mark Wilson
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal of a jail guard’s hostile work environment claim against a sheriff, holding that unwelcome and pervasive hugging can create a hostile or abusive work environment.
Victoria Zetwick began working as a California jail guard ...
An Illinois federal court dismissed medical care claims against a prison warden, but refused to dismiss claims against non-medical staff who denied a prisoner’s grievance. Illinois prisoner Tony Foster was diagnosed with a cataract in his left eye. Dr. Norman Patterson prescribed eyeglasses because Foster said he was losing vision ...
by Mark Wilson
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the dismissal of a jail suicide suit. The lower court failed to analyze whether factual disputes existed as to whether unconstitutional jail conditions contributed to the detainee’s death.
Texas nurse, mother and wife, Diana LaRoy Simpson, ...
by Mark Wilson
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed a lower court’s denial of qualified immunity to a guard who ordered a prisoner confined to a restraint board for more than three hours.
Minnesota prisoner Ronnie Jackson has a long history of mental health problems, ...
by Mark Wilson
The Oregon Court of Appeals held that prisoners incarcerated in other states under the Interstate Corrections Compact (ICC) may challenge the conditions of their confinement in Oregon habeas corpus actions against Oregon prison officials.
In 1979, the Oregon legislature enacted the ICC into Oregon law. Under Article ...
