Search | Wrongly Convicted

Pardon Satisfies Heck

Article • June 15, 1999 • from PLN June, 1999

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Pardons/Clemency

Pardon Satisfies Heck by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that a governor's pardon invalidates a criminal conviction in order to permit a 42 U.S.C. 1983 claim for damages to proceed. Johnny Wilson, a mentally retarded Missourian, pleaded guilty to a murder he did not commit in …

Illegal Detention Violates Substantive Due Process

Article • April 15, 1999 • from PLN April, 1999

Filed under: Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Wrongful Imprisonment, Qualified Immunity, Supervisory Liability, Municipal Liability

Illegal Detention Violates Substantive Due Process by The court of appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that the detention of an individual for 57 days in a county jail on a civil contempt warrant "shocks the conscience" and violates substantive due process. The court further held that this right was …

Spencer Applied to Parolee's § 1983 Claim

Article • February 15, 1999 • from PLN February, 1999

Filed under: Disciplinary Litigation, Searches, Parole/Probation Searches, Parole, Wrongful Imprisonment

Spencer Applied to Parolee's § 1983 Claim by Spencer Applied to Parolee's § 1983 Claim Afederal district court in California held that a state parolee could file suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 challenging his parole revocation and an illegal parole search without first having a favorable ruling on these …

Cases of Interest From the U.S. Supreme Court's 1997-98 Term

Article • September 15, 1998 • from PLN September, 1998

Filed under: Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Damages, Settlements, Parole, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, Forfeiture, Immunity/Liability, Prosecutorial Immunity

Cases of Interest From the U.S. Supreme Court's 1997-98 Term by Forfeitures: In a federal criminal case the supreme court held that the Excessive Fines clause of the Eighth amendment prohibits "grossly disproportionate" forfeitures of funds. The court held that forfeitures are "fines'' if they are punishment for a crime. …

Zain Fallout Continues

Article • March 15, 1998 • from PLN March, 1998

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Settlements, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

Zain Fallout Continues by Fred Zain was a crime lab serologist, who tested evidence for the West Virginia state police from 1979 to 1989, and was chief of serology his last five years. During that time Zain falsified evidence and testified about the results of tests he never performed. In …

No Immunity for Florida Private Jail

Article • February 15, 1998 • from PLN February, 1998

Filed under: Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Wrongful Imprisonment, Qualified Immunity, Municipal Liability, Contractor Liability

No Immunity for Florida Private Jail by The district court for the middle district of Florida held that the sheriff, the county and a private corporation operating the county jail were liable for detaining an arrestee for 30 days without a probable cause hearing. The court also held that monetary …

Prisoners Held Beyond Release Date Sue

Article • September 15, 1997 • from PLN September, 1997

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Suit Waivers, Good Time, Wrongful Imprisonment

Prisoners Held Beyond Release Date Sue by Four civil rights attorneys filed suit against Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block and other officials for falsely imprisoning thousands of people each year by holding them beyond their scheduled release dates. "We intend to seek an injunction under the taxpayer action and …

Res Judicata No Bar to Damages in Illegal Sentence

Article • August 15, 1997 • from PLN August, 1997

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Damages, Res Judicata, Good Time, Wrongful Imprisonment

Res Judicata No Bar to Damages in Illegal Sentence by In the May and July, 1995, issues of PLN we reported Rooding v. Peters, 876 F. Supp. 946 (ND IL 1994) in which a district court held that res judicata prevented a prisoner from filing suit in federal court for …

County Liable for Trustee's Work; No Remedy for Illegal Detention

Article • February 15, 1997 • from PLN January, 1997

Filed under: Prison Industries, Prison Labor, Civil Procedure, Damages, State Law Claims, Wrongful Imprisonment, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Qualified Immunity, Municipal Liability, Judicial Immunity, Prosecutorial Immunity

County Liable for Trustee's Work; No Remedy for Illegal Detention by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that a county was properly liable where it did not reimburse a jail detainee for work he performed on public property. The court also held that a pretrial detainee's work …

Private Prison Liable for Wrongful Imprisonment

Article • February 15, 1997 • from PLN February, 1997

Filed under: Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Wrongful Imprisonment, Municipal Liability, Contractor Liability

Private Prison Liable for Wrongful Imprisonment by A federal district court in Florida held that a private corporation which ran a county jail under contract was liable for a detainee's ...

Extending Release Date Violates Eighth Amendment

Article • October 15, 1996 • from PLN October, 1996

Filed under: Sentencing, Good Time, Parole, Wrongful Imprisonment

Extending Release Date Violates Eighth Amendment by A federal district court in Illinois held that the eighth amendment is violated when a prisoner is held almost two years past his release date. Don Campbell, an Illinois state prisoner, was released from prison in 1986 to serve a two-year term of …

True Lies in Philly

Article • June 15, 1995 • from PLN June, 1995

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

True Lies in Philly by Five current or former police officers from the 39th District of North Philadelphia were indicted by a federal grand jury this past February, accused of framing dozens of Philadelphians. The indictment accuses the officers of warrant less searches both inside and outside their district, during …

IL DOC Confinement Policy Illegal

Article • May 15, 1995 • from PLN May, 1995

Filed under: Estoppell, Sentencing, Good Time, Wrongful Imprisonment, Qualified Immunity

IL DOC Confinement Policy Illegal by The director of the Illinois DOC (IDOC) has promulgated a regulation under which all prisoners that it receives must be held for at least 60 days before they are released. Ronald Rooding was convicted and sentenced to one year in jail. After deducting good …

The Forgotten Crime Victim

Article • October 15, 1994 • from PLN October, 1994

Filed under: Victims, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

The Forgotten Crime Victim by Willie Wisely In the seemingly unending clamor for revenge against people in prison and those accused of committing a crime, a particularly vulnerable, unchampioned, group remain overlooked. Casualties of America's "War On Crime," a growing number of people have lost their lives to the unchecked …

Prisoners Have Right to Prompt Sentence Computation

Article • October 15, 1994 • from PLN October, 1994

Filed under: Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Good Time, Parole, Wrongful Imprisonment, Qualified Immunity, Municipal Liability

Prisoners Have Right to Prompt Sentence Computation by David Plumb is an Oregon state prisoner. He filed suit under § 1983 claiming that his right to due process under the fourteenth amendment and his right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment under the eighth amendment were violated by …

BOP Liable for Recalculating Sentence

Article • April 15, 1994 • from PLN April, 1994

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Sentencing, Good Time, Parole, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, Supervisory Liability

BOP Liable for Recalculating Sentence by Kent Alexander is a former federal prisoner. In 1986 he was released after serving a three year federal sentence. Eighty days later he was arrested for "violation of parole" and placed in FCI Tucson. The prison administrative systems manager, Luis Rivera, told Alexander that …

Section 1983 Proper Remedy for Illegal Confinement

Article • May 15, 1993 • from PLN May, 1993

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Civil Procedure, Frivolous Litigation, Complaints, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment

Section 1983 Proper Remedy for Illegal Confinement by Spencer Parker is a Texas state prisoner. He filed suit under § 1983 claiming he was arrested and indicted for a burglary even though no evidence linked him to the crime. After nine months in jail the charges were dropped and he …

Prison Officials Liable for Holding Inmate Past Release Date

Article • May 15, 1993 • from PLN May, 1993

Filed under: Sentencing, Good Time, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, Probation, Qualified Immunity

Prison Officials Liable for Holding Inmate Past Release Date by Gentry Slone is a Missouri state prisoner. He was sentenced to prison and once in prison his sentencing judge suspended Slone's sentence, effective December 21, 1989, and placed him on probation. The state did not appeal the judges order which …

Federal Prisoner Must Exhaust BOP Remedies Before Seeking Habeas Corpus Relief

Article • August 15, 1992 • from PLN August, 1992

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion, Sentencing, Good Time, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment

Federal Prisoner Must Exhaust BOP Remedies Before Seeking Habeas Corpus Relief by Federal prisoner Ivan Gonzalez was convicted of possession with intent to distribute three kilograms of cocaine. He was sentenced to five years of imprisonment. The U.S. Parole Commission calculated a presumptive parole date of May 30, 1990. When …