South Carolina Lawyers Weekly
Where the police had a reasonable belief that the plaintiff posed a danger to herself and others, they were entitled to qualified immunity against claims arising from her detention for a mental health evaluation. Background Kerrin Barrett brought this action ...
Read More »Civil Rights – State lawyers acted reasonably in calculating inmate’s release date
Where an inmate whose prison release was delayed brought a suit claiming Eighth Amendment violations, two attorneys with the South Carolina Department of Corrections, or SCDC, acted reasonably in interpreting a state statute regarding calculation of the inmate’s work and ...
Read More »Civil Rights – Indicia of innocence support malicious prosecution claim
A jury will decide if a police officer’s arrest of a 62-year-old man for congregating on the sidewalk and maintaining the charge for three years before dropping it before trial, together with other circumstantial evidence, support a claim for malicious ...
Read More »Civil Rights – Virginia violated due process rights of mentally ill defendant
An individual who suffers from mental illness, and who has been under the care of Virginia for over 20 years, adequately alleged his due process right when he received inadequate notice of the basis for revoking his suspended sentence, Virginia ...
Read More »Civil Rights – Inmate raises successful ADA and equal protection claim
Where an inmate with a medical condition had performed various prison jobs, he successfully alleged facts showing that after he was hospitalized for a short time, prison officials regarded him as disabled and as a consequence, he could not participate ...
Read More »Civil Rights – Claim by inmate segregated for four years improperly dismissed
Where the record showed the confinement conditions were severe in comparison to those that exist in general population; that the inmate’s segregation status may have had collateral consequences relating to the length of his sentence and the segregation was for ...
Read More »Civil Rights – Opening mail outside prisoner’s presence supports First Amendment claim
A pro se prisoner’s claim that his rights were violated was supported by the failure of prison officials to explain the need to check his mail for contraband outside of his presence. Because the infringement of his First Amendment rights ...
Read More »Civil Rights – No immunity for officers who shot decedent 22 times
A reasonable jury could find a black homeless man who had been stopped for walking alongside, instead of on, the sidewalk, and who was shot 22 times by West Virginia police officers had been secured, or at a minimum was ...
Read More »Civil Rights – Details needed about use of cell site simulator
A ruling could not be made at this stage on whether the Baltimore police use of a cell site simulator constituted a warrantless search in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The case was remanded for information about the device and ...
Read More »Civil Rights – No constitutional violation for modest property damage
Although two stores suffered property damage while law enforcement was executing search warrants, the damage did not rise to the level of a Fourth Amendment violation because it was not “major” and was plausibly connected to the execution of the ...
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