South Carolina Lawyers Weekly

In four death-row inmates’ challenge to the constitutionality of two of the three execution methods set out in S.C. Code Ann. § 24-3-530 (electrocution and firing squad), the circuit court abused its discretion by denying the inmates’ discovery requests for ...

Tagged with: Prisons & Jails

The appellant-inmate challenges the respondent Department of Corrections’ collection of a $250 processing fee from his inmate trust account for the collection of his DNA for the South Carolina DNA Identification Record Database when he had already submitted a DNA ...

Where the respondent-prisoner challenged the appellant-Department of Corrections’ policy of paying sub-prevailing wages to prisoners, respondent was not required to comply with the department’s 15-day deadline for filing a grievance arising from an incident. We affirm the Administrative Law Court’s ...

In 2001, respondent was wrongly requiring the votes of five members of the parole board before it would grant parole; the relevant statute required only a two-thirds vote of the board members present (not two-thirds of the entire seven-member board). ...

In 2001, respondent was wrongly requiring the votes of five members of the parole board before it would grant parole; the relevant statute required only a two-thirds vote of the board members present (not two-thirds of the entire seven-member board). ...

Where there was evidence that (1) the defendant-prisoner unlawfully possessed a twisted metal piece of a pen that appeared to have been sharpened to a pointed tip, (2) the confiscated item could be used as either a weapon or a ...

The plaintiff-prisoner contends that, by arbitrarily and capriciously denying his fiancée visiting privileges and by failing to investigate whether his fiancée was a security threat, defendants violated his right to free association; however, an inmate has no absolute right to ...

Although the plaintiff-prisoner contends that he was denied access to telephone and mail to use to contact attorneys and family members to report a crime committed against him by prison officials, and although he contends that he has no alternative ...

Tagged with: Constitutional

Thompson v. Virginia (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-224-17, 38 pp.) (Roger Gregory, C.J.) 15-7680; Dec. 18, 2017; USDC at Norfolk, Va. (Rebecca Beach Smith, C.J.) 4th Cir. Holding: If, as the plaintiff-prisoner forecasts, prison guards gave him a “rough ride” in ...

Tagged with: Constitutional

Anderson v. Kingsley (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-221-17, 14 pp.) (Paul Niemeyer, J.) 16-6957; Dec. 14, 2017; USDC at Newport News, Va. (Douglas Miller, USMJ) 4th Cir. Holding: In this case involving a prisoner who was attacked and injured by another inmate, the district ...

Tagged with: Constitutional