Gilmore v. County of Douglas, State of Neb.

• Position: FREE SPEECH, EXPRESSION, AND ASSOCIATION - Brief Article

U.S. Appeals Court

TELEPHONE

FAMILY

Gilmore v. County of Douglas, State of Neb., 406 F.3d 935 (8th Cir. 2005). The relative of a former jail inmate brought a [section] 1983 action alleging that a 45% commission, paid to the county by the jail's telecommunications providers on surcharged collect telephone calls from inmates, constituted a tax on inmates' relatives that violated the Equal Protection Clause. The district court granted the county's motion to dismiss and the relative appealed. The appeals court affirmed, finding that the relative was similarly situated to recipients of collect calls from non-inmates. The court held that the...