By Matt Clarke
An Illinois court of appeals has held that the Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC) must pay the court costs and attorney fees for an indigent person committed under the Illinois Sexually Dangerous Persons Act (SDPA), 725 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 205/0.01 et seq., who applied for discharge. ...
By Matt Clarke
An Arizona court of appeals has reversed the denial of attorney fees and award of costs to defendants in a suit brought to compel Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph M. Arpaio to produce public records.
In 2004, the Phoenix New Times (PNT), made nine requests of the Maricopa ...
Texas Court of Appeals: No Law Library Access Right for Prisoner
Who Waives Appointed Counsel
By Matt Clarke
On April 30, 2008, a Texas court of appeals ruled that a prisoner who waived his right to counsel in a criminal case has no right of access to a law library. ...
By Matt Clarke
The Fifth Circuit court of appeals held that the government may place a lien on property to collect restitution for up to twenty years after the judgment, even if the victim has waived collection of the restitution.
In 1992, David B. Ridgeway was convicted of 22 federal ...
By Matt Clarke
The Fifth Circuit court of appeals upheld the denial of sentence reduction to a federal prisoner who had completed the Residential Drug Abuse treatment Program (RDATP).
Michael Richardson, a federal prisoner incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Seagoville, Texas, was told by FCI staff that ...
Louisiana Court Of Appeals Overturns Strip Tier Cell Injunction
By Matt Clarke
On June 20, 2007, a Louisiana state court of appeals overturned a district court’s granting of an injunction against prison officials placing the prisoner into a strip tier cell (STC) without his having committed a new disciplinary infraction. ...
by Matt Clarke
The Fifth Circuit court of appeals reversed a Louisiana district court’s denial of qualified immunity for a prison doctor.
Anthony Gobert, a former Louisiana state prisoner, was incarcerated at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center (EHCC) and on work release when his leg was accidentally crushed below the ...
by Matt Clarke
A Maryland court of appeals has ruled that Maryland state prisoners injured on paid jobs may only seek compensation through the Sundry Claims Board (SCB).
Melvin James Dixon, a former Maryland state prisoner, was on a work detail paying $0.90 a day at the Pre-Release Unit of ...
By Matt Clarke
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has reversed the dismissal of a challenge to the Maine Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), 34-A M.R.S. §§ 11201-11256.
John Doe is the pseudonym of a person convicted after 1982 and before 1986 of a sex offense against a family ...
By Matt Clarke
On July 23, 2007, a federal district court in California issued an opinion declining to dissolve the injunction issued in Orantes-Hernandez v. Meese, 685 F.Supp. 1488 (C.D.CA 1988), 919 F.2d 549 (9th Cir. 1990), which established immigration processing standards for Salvadoran nationals.
The class-action civil rights lawsuit ...
