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Fifteen Minute Cell Checks Insufficient to Shield Texas Jail from Liability for Inmate Suicide

Article • July 3, 2015

Filed under: Supervisory Liability, Municipal Liability, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Suicides

Fifteen Minute Cell Checks Insufficient to Shield Texas Jail from Liability for Inmate Suicide by Fifteen Minute Cell Checks Insufficient to Shield Texas Jail from Liability for Inmate Suicide A Texas federal court refused to grant summary judgment to a sheriff who claimed that his policy of having jailers check ...

Dismissal of State-Created Danger Claim Reversed

Article • June 3, 2015 • from PLN June, 2015

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Supervisory Liability, Municipal Liability, Sovereign Immunity, Failure to Train/Supervise, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Informants (Failure to Protect)

Dismissal of State-Created Danger Claim Reversed by David Reutter Dismissal of State-Created Danger Claim Reversed by David M. Reutter The Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s order dismissing a civil rights action that alleged the disclosure of a confidential informant’s status established a state-created danger in violation ...

Section 1983 Litigation, Karen Blum Journal Article, 2015

Publication • 2015

Filed under: Discrimination, Searches, Eighth Amendment, Excessive Force, Court Access, Eleventh Amendment Immunity, Qualified Immunity, Supervisory Liability, Municipal Liability, Sovereign Immunity, False Arrest, Excessive Force (Police)

Section 1983 Litigation, Karen Blum Journal Article, 2015 SECTION 1983 LITIGATION: THE MAZE, THE MUD, AND THE MADNESS Karen M. Blum* INTRODUCTION Some of us were there at the “founding,” and I don’t mean in 1871 when 42 U.S.C. § 19831 was originally enacted as the Ku Klux Klan Act,2 ...

Third Circuit: Lack of Training for Jail Guards Bars Summary Judgment; $150,000 Settlement

Article • April 9, 2015 • from PLN April, 2015

Filed under: Supervisory Liability, Municipal Liability, Failure to Train/Supervise, Staff Training

Third Circuit: Lack of Training for Jail Guards Bars Summary Judgment; $150,000 Settlement by Mark Wilson Third Circuit: Lack of Training for Jail Guards Bars Summary Judgment; $150,000 Settlement by Mark Wilson On April 11, 2014, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that a jail’s failure to train guards ...

1st Circuit Court Affirms Police Officer’s Convictions in Prisoner’s Beating Death

Article • February 24, 2015

Filed under: Supervisory Liability, Police--Excessive Force, Excessive Force (Police)

1st Circuit Court Affirms Police Officer’s Convictions in Prisoner’s Beating Death by 1st Circuit Court Affirms Police Officer’s Convictions in Prisoner’s Beating Death The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed on November 22, 2013, the District Court convictions of four former San Juan Municipal Police Officers ...

9th Circuit: Class-action by Civilly Committed Sexually Violent Predators May Proceed on Claims for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

Article • January 15, 2013 • from PLN January, 2013

Filed under: Discrimination, Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Qualified Immunity, Supervisory Liability, Civil Commitment

9th Circuit: Class-action by Civilly Committed Sexually Violent Predators May Proceed on Claims for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief by Following remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit reversed in part its previous published ruling, Hydrick v. Hunter, 500 F.3d 978 (9th Cir. 2007) [PLN, April 2007, p.34], which ...

Seventh Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Police Excessive Force and Supervisory Liability Suit Brought by Veteran Illinois Prison Guard

Article • May 15, 2012

Filed under: Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Immunity/Liability, Supervisory Liability, Excessive Force (Police)

Seventh Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Police Excessive Force and Supervisory Liability Suit Brought by Veteran Illinois Prison Guard by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of excessive force claims against an Illinois police chief. Illinois Department of Corrections guard David Backes is a veteran of the Persian ...

Florida Court Permits Female Prisoner's Lawsuit for Forced Sex with Guard to Go Forward

Article • May 15, 2012

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Supervisory Liability, Failure to Train/Supervise

Florida Court Permits Female Prisoner's Lawsuit for Forced Sex with Guard to Go Forward by Derek Gilna By Derek Gilna A Florida District Court has permitted parts of a lawsuit by a female prisoner for being forced into sex by a male prison guard to go forward, finding that questions ...

Ninth Circuit Rules Sheriff May be Held Liable for Violence in Los Angeles County Jails

Article • May 15, 2012 • from PLN May, 2012

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Supervisory Liability

Ninth Circuit Rules Sheriff May be Held Liable for Violence in Los Angeles County Jails by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held in a revised ruling that Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy Baca could be held liable for his subordinates causing dangerous conditions in the Los Angeles County Jail ...

Tenth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of § 1983 Complaint Which Fails to Specifically Connect Defendants to Alleged Violations

Article • March 15, 2012

Filed under: Immunity/Liability, Supervisory Liability, Municipal Liability

Tenth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of § 1983 Complaint Which Fails to Specifically Connect Defendants to Alleged Violations by Tenth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of § 1983 Complaint Which Fails to Specifically Connect Defendants to Alleged Violations In an unpublished decision, the Tenth Circuit has affirmed the dismissal without prejudice of a ...

$500,000 Jury Award for Rape of New York Pretrial Detainee Reinstated on Appeal

Article • March 15, 2012 • from PLN March, 2012

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Supervisory Liability, Municipal Liability

$500,000 Jury Award for Rape of New York Pretrial Detainee Reinstated on Appeal by On August 18, 2011, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a New York federal district court’s entry of judgment for the defendants. The district court had thrown out a $500,000 jury verdict in favor of ...

$115,000 Settlement in BOP Excessive Use of Restraints Suit

Article • February 15, 2012

Filed under: Excessive Force, Restraints, Supervisory Liability

$115,000 Settlement in BOP Excessive Use of Restraints Suit by Brandon Sample The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has agreed to pay $115,000 to resolve an excessive force lawsuit against five BOP employees. While incarcerated at the U.S. Penitentiary (USP) in Lee, Virginia, Michael Montgomery was placed in four-point restraints ...

Texas Prisoner’s Denial of Dentures Claim Affirmed in Part, Reversed in Part by Fifth Circuit

Article • January 15, 2012 • from PLN January, 2012

Filed under: Medical, Dental Care, Parties, Qualified Immunity, Supervisory Liability

Texas Prisoner’s Denial of Dentures Claim Affirmed in Part, Reversed in Part by Fifth Circuit by Nicolas Marquez, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prisoner held at the Polunsky Unit, has no teeth. He requested dentures but the request was denied because his Body Mass Index (BMI) was too ...

Wackenhut Corrections Corporation Paid $29,900 to Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Article • April 15, 2011

Filed under: Wackenhut/Geo Group, Sexual Harassment, Staff-Staff Harassment, Supervisory Liability, Employee Litigation

Wackenhut Corrections Corporation Paid $29,900 to Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit by Wackenhut Corrections Corporation paid $29,900 to settle a lawsuit claiming sexual harassment. In her complaint, Marsha Senatti claims fellow Wackenhut employee Lee Jackson did unlawfully touch, in a sexual manner, her private parts and genitalia, including “rubbing his penis ...

Motion to Dismiss in Eighth Amendment Suit Denied in Part

Article • March 15, 2011

Filed under: Excessive Force, Restraints, Supervisory Liability

Motion to Dismiss in Eighth Amendment Suit Denied in Part by U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner has granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss filed by four Bureau of Prisons (BOP) defendants accused of Eighth Amendment violations. David Lee Womack sued D. Scott Dodrill, Harley Lappin, ...

New Jersey Prison Supervisory Officials Found Liable for Prisoner Abuse Claims

Article • December 15, 2010 • from PLN December, 2010

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Lockdowns, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Dogs, Supervisory Liability

New Jersey Prison Supervisory Officials Found Liable for Prisoner Abuse Claims by Derek Gilna Three prison officials were found liable in abuse claims stemming from a month-long lockdown at Bayside State Prison following the killing of prison guard Frederick Baker in 1997, according to former federal judge John W. Bissell, ...

Arkansas Federal Jury Awards $261,000 to Male Prisoner Raped by Male Guard

Article • July 15, 2010 • from PLN July, 2010

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Supervisory Liability

Arkansas Federal Jury Awards $261,000 to Male Prisoner Raped by Male Guard by On July 16, 2009, a federal jury awarded $261,000 to a former Arkansas prisoner who was sodomized and forced to perform oral sex on a guard. While incarcerated at the Varner Supermax Unit, Jason D. Palton was ...

Arizona Sheriff to Pay $275,000 for Negligence of Jail Staff

Article • May 15, 2010

Filed under: Medical, Systemic Medical Neglect, Diabetes, Supervisory Liability

Arizona Sheriff to Pay $275,000 for Negligence of Jail Staff by In a complaint lodged in September 2009 by Phoenix attorney Joel B. Robbins, Esq., Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joseph Arpaio was held liable for the negligence of his staff. The Plaintiff, Jerome Talbow, was a prisoner in the Maricopa ...

Colorado Sheriff Liable for Guard’s Sexual Assault on Detainee

Article • May 15, 2010

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Immunity/Liability, Supervisory Liability, Failure to Train/Supervise

Colorado Sheriff Liable for Guard’s Sexual Assault on Detainee by The Tenth Circuit reversed the dismissal of a female detainee’s complaint holding that the sheriff had knowledge of jail conditions that were substantially likely to result in the sexual assault of the detainee. Huerfano County, Colorado detainee Michelle Tafoya filed ...

California Prison Officials Settle Deliberate Indifference Suit for $12,000

Article • April 15, 2010 • from PLN April, 2010

Filed under: Toilets, Plumbing, Sewage, Sanitation, PLRA, Physical Injury Rule, Injunctions (PLRA), Qualified Immunity, Supervisory Liability, Failure to Train/Supervise

California Prison Officials Settle Deliberate Indifference Suit for $12,000 by Michael Brodheim Following mediation in July 2008, Peter Cockcroft, proceeding pro se, agreed to a $12,000 settlement of his § 1983 suit for damages alleging Eighth Amendment violations that transpired between March 2004 and January 2006, when he was a ...