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Legal Issues

NCJ Number
127320
Journal
Corrections Compendium Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1985) Pages: 1-4
Date Published
1985
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article summarizes seven 1985 court decisions bearing on prison and jail management.
Abstract
In Porm v. White (Eighth Circuit Court, 1985), the court ruled that officials at the Missouri Training Center for Men were liable for the stabbing of Porm by another inmate due to the pervasive risk of harm evident in the center. In Nordgren v. Milliken (10th Circuit Court, 1985), the court ruled that provision of contract lawyers is adequate for ensuring jail inmates meaningful access to the courts. In People v. West (California), a California appellate court upheld a body-cavity search that produced a balloon containing four marijuana cigarettes. In Patterson v. Coughlin (Second Circuit Court, 1985), the court ruled that a New York inmate was illegally placed in administrative segregation for more than 60 days without a constitutionally sound disciplinary hearing. In Estate of Gilmore v. Buckley (Massachusetts, 1985), the court held that a decision not to petition for civil commitment of a Massachusetts inmate was too far removed from a murder he committed to hold State officials liable. In McDonnell v. Hunter (Iowa, 1985), the court ruled that a policy that subjected Iowa prison employees to searches, including urinalysis and blood tests, was too broad and intruded on the employee's normal reasonable expectation of privacy; and in Smith v. Rowe (Seventh Circuit, 1985), the court held that an $80,700 damage award against the director of the Illinois Department of Corrections was not "monstrously excessive," inasmuch as the director was aware of actions by his subordinates that resulted in constitutional violations.

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