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U.S. Appeals Court

EXPERT WITNESS

Boncher ex rel. Boncher v. Brown County 272 F.3d 484 (7th Cir. 2001). The estate of a prisoner who had committed suicide brought a [sections] 1983 action against jail officials alleging deliberate indifference to the risk of the prisoner's suicide. The district court granted summary judgment for the jail officials and the appeals court affirmed. The appeals court held that evidence was insufficient that jail officials were deliberately indifferent, even though intake officers had little training and relied on a checklist that was deficient in several areas. The appeals court also held that the evidence offered by an expert witness was "useless" and should have been excluded. The criminologist had testified that the rate of suicide in the jail (five suicides in the preceding five years) was unusually high. (Brown County Jail, Wisconsin)

U.S. District Court

PLRA-Prison Litigation Reform Act

ATTORNEY FEE JUVENILES

Christina A. ex rel. Jennifer A. v. Bloomberg, 167 F.Supp.2d 1094 (D.S.D. 2001). Inmates at youth facilities sued the secretary of the corrections department and the superintendent of a state training school, alleging deprivation of due process rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, and violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The parties settled the action and the district court approved the settlement, The inmates moved to have attorney fees awarded and the district court granted the motion in part and denied it in pert. The court held that a provision of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) that limited attorney fees was not applicable and that the class of inmates were entitled to attorney fees in the amount of $302,617 and expenses of $74,019. According to the court, a juvenile facility was not a "jail, prison, or other correctional facility" under PLRA. (State Training School, South Dakota)

U.S. District Court

FRIVOLOUS SUITS ATTORNEY FEES

Estate of Reynolds v. Greene County 163 F.Supp.2d 890 (S.D.Ohio 2001). The estate of a prisoner who died of pneumonia several days after being transferred from a county jail to a state prison brought state court claims against the county and jail officials alleging that he was denied adequate medical...