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U.S. v. Rivera-Ruperto, No. 12-2364 (1st Cir.) (852 F.3d 1) (January 13, 2017) (Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson)

Article • May 29, 2017 • from P&J May, 2017

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Cruel and Unusual Punishment

U.S. v. Rivera-Ruperto, No. 12-2364 (1st Cir.) (852 F.3d 1) (January 13, 2017) (Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson) by This decision is noted for Judge Juan Torruella’s delicious and heart-warming dissent in which he railed against the rank idiocy of a combined sentence of 161 plus years given to a man …

Does v. Snyder, No. 15-1536 (6th Cir.) (834 F.3d 696) (August 25, 2017) (Judge Alice M. Batchelder)

Article • September 5, 2016 • from P&J September, 2016

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Punishment

Does v. Snyder, No. 15-1536 (6th Cir.) (834 F.3d 696) (August 25, 2017) (Judge Alice M. Batchelder) by The opening paragraph of Judge Batchelder’s decision in this case fully explains the issue before the Court: “Like many states, Michigan has amended its Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) on a number …

U.S. v. D.W., No. 13-CR-173 (E.D.N.Y.) (198 F.Supp.3d 18) (June 25, 2015) (Judge Jack B. Weinstein)

Article • July 13, 2015 • from P&J July, 2015

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Cruel and Unusual Punishment

U.S. v. D.W., No. 13-CR-173 (E.D.N.Y.) (198 F.Supp.3d 18) (June 25, 2015) (Judge Jack B. Weinstein) by Once again, our favorite judicial maverick, District Judge Jack Weinstein, has raised some weighty and searing questions about the automatically harsh sentences that are required to be imposed in child porn and sexual …

Anderson v. Colorado, No. 10-cv-01005-RBJ-KMT (D.Colo.) (887 F.Supp.2d 1133) (August 24, 2012) (Judge R. Brooke Jackson)

Article • April 15, 2013 • from P&J April, 2013

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Anderson v. Colorado, No. 10-cv-01005-RBJ-KMT (D.Colo.) (887 F.Supp.2d 1133) (August 24, 2012) (Judge R. Brooke Jackson) by Not long ago, Psychology Professor Craig Haney from the University of California, Santa Cruz, testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights about the evils of solitary …

Thomas v. State of Illinois, No. 12-209 (7th Cir.) ( F.3d ) (September 27, 2012) (Judge Richard A. Posner)

Article • October 1, 2012 • from P&J October, 2012

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Infestations of vermin

Thomas v. State of Illinois, No. 12-209 (7th Cir.) ( F.3d ) (September 27, 2012) (Judge Richard A. Posner) by Calvin Thomas, an inmate of an Illinois state prison, acting pro se, brought a civil rights lawsuit, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against the state and the Illinois Department of …

Blackmon v. Garza, No. 11-40316 (5th Cir.) (484 Fed.Appx. 866) (July 30, 2012) (Per Curiam)

Article • August 6, 2012 • from P&J August, 2012

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Blackmon v. Garza, No. 11-40316 (5th Cir.) (484 Fed.Appx. 866) (July 30, 2012) (Per Curiam) by In an extremely wary decision that the panel specifically directed should not be published or treated as precedential, a panel from the Fifth Circuit held that “allowing a prisoner to be exposed to extreme …

Thomas v. Bryant, No. 09-11658 (11th Cir.) (614 F.3d 1288) (August 20, 2010) (Judge R. Lanier III Anderson)

Article • September 6, 2010 • from P&J September, 2010

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Chemical Spraying of Mentally Ill Inmates

Thomas v. Bryant, No. 09-11658 (11th Cir.) (614 F.3d 1288) (August 20, 2010) (Judge R. Lanier III Anderson) by The Court’s opening sentences in this case vividly describe another instance of senseless, outrageous and condoned prison brutality in modern-day America: “This appeal presents important questions concerning the intersection of the …

Caiozzo v. Koreman, No. 05-4002-cv (2nd Cir.) (581 F.3d 63) (September 22, 2009) (Judge Robert D. Sack)

Article • October 1, 2009 • from P&J November, 2009

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Liability Standard

Caiozzo v. Koreman, No. 05-4002-cv (2nd Cir.) (581 F.3d 63) (September 22, 2009) (Judge Robert D. Sack) by In a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action for deliberate indifference to a prisoner's medical needs, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where the standard for analyzing a claim of deliberate indifference to …

Nelson v. Correctional Medical Services, No. 07-2481 (8th Cir.) (583 F.3d 522) (October 2, 2009) (Judge Diana E. Murphy)

Article • September 1, 2009 • from P&J September, 2009

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Restraints While Giving Birth

Nelson v. Correctional Medical Services, No. 07-2481 (8th Cir.) (583 F.3d 522) (October 2, 2009) (Judge Diana E. Murphy) by Here the Court, sitting en banc, held by a slim 6-5 vote that a prison guard can be sued for damages by a non-violent prisoner who was forced to give …

Kennedy v. Louisiana, No. 07-343 (U.S. Supreme Court) (554 U.S. 407; 128 S.Ct. 2641) (June 25, 2008) (Justice Kennedy)

Article • May 1, 2008 • from P&J June, 2008

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Rape of Minor

Kennedy v. Louisiana, No. 07-343 (U.S. Supreme Court) (554 U.S. 407; 128 S.Ct. 2641) (June 25, 2008) (Justice Kennedy) by The specific issue before the Court in this sharply-divided death-penalty case was whether the Constitution bars the states from imposing the death penalty for the rape of a child where …

Kennedy v. Louisiana, No. 07-343 (U.S. Supreme Court) (554 U.S. 407; 129 S.Ct. 1) (October 1, 2008) (Per Curiam)

Article • May 1, 2008 • from P&J June, 2008

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Rape of Minor

Kennedy v. Louisiana, No. 07-343 (U.S. Supreme Court) (554 U.S. 407; 129 S.Ct. 1) (October 1, 2008) (Per Curiam) by [Editor's Note: For some commentaries on this ruling, see • "Supreme Court Denies Rehearing in Child Rape Case," by Tony Mauro, as published on Legal Times at http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202424956066 on October …

Baze v. Rees, No. 07-5439 (U.S. Supreme Court) (553 U.S. 35; 128 S.Ct. 1520) (April 16, 2008) (Justice (John G.) Roberts)

Article • March 1, 2008 • from P&J March, 2008

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Lethal Injection Method of Execution

Baze v. Rees, No. 07-5439 (U.S. Supreme Court) (553 U.S. 35; 128 S.Ct. 1520) (April 16, 2008) (Justice (John G.) Roberts) by In a widely splintered 91-page decision, the Supreme Court upheld the most common method of lethal injection executions in the United States, clearing the way for such executions …

U.S. v. Watkins, No. 05-4551 (6th Cir.) (509 F.3d 277) (December 14, 2007) (Judge Ronald Lee Gilman)

Article • November 1, 2007 • from P&J November, 2007

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Cruel and Unusual Punishment

U.S. v. Watkins, No. 05-4551 (6th Cir.) (509 F.3d 277) (December 14, 2007) (Judge Ronald Lee Gilman) by In this case, the Sixth Circuit rejected the defendant’s contention that his sentence of 1,772 months (147 years) was constitutionally invalid under the Eighth Amendment as cruel and unusual punishment. The defendant, …

Thomas v. Baca, No. CV 04-08448 DDP (C.D.Cal.) (514 F.Supp.2d 1201) (September 20, 2007) (Judge Dean D. Pregerson)

Article • August 1, 2007 • from P&J August, 2007

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Sleeping on Floor

Thomas v. Baca, No. CV 04-08448 DDP (C.D.Cal.) (514 F.Supp.2d 1201) (September 20, 2007) (Judge Dean D. Pregerson) by This is an important ruling dealing with prison overcrowding that has the potential of causing significant (and expensive) and far-reaching changes in prison practices in America. It will certainly send chills …

Joshua v. Adams, No. 05-55437 (9th Cir.) (2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 10757) (May 2, 2007) (Per Curiam)

Article • April 1, 2007 • from P&J April, 2007

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Joshua v. Adams, No. 05-55437 (9th Cir.) (2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 10757) (May 2, 2007) (Per Curiam) by Here the court upheld a mentally ill man's three-strikes sentence of 25 years to life Wednesday for shoplifting two bottles of liquor from a Southern California market, a sentence that a dissenting …

Morales v. Tilton, No. 5:06-cv-00219-JF (N.D.Cal.) (465 F.Supp.2d 972) (December 15, 2006) (Judge Jeremy Fogel)

Article • November 1, 2006 • from P&J November, 2006

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Lethal Injection Method of Execution

Morales v. Tilton, No. 5:06-cv-00219-JF (N.D.Cal.) (465 F.Supp.2d 972) (December 15, 2006) (Judge Jeremy Fogel) by This is another death penalty case. However, in crafting this “Memorandum of Intended Decision”, Judge Fogel made clear: “This case is not about whether the death penalty makes sense morally or as a matter …

Furman v. Georgia, No. 69-5003 (U.S. Supreme Court) (408 U.S. 238; 92 S.Ct. 2726) (June 29, 1972) (Per Curiam)

Article • August 11, 2006

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Furman v. Georgia, No. 69-5003 (U.S. Supreme Court) (408 U.S. 238; 92 S.Ct. 2726) (June 29, 1972) (Per Curiam) by Despite 10 separate concurring and dissenting opinions, the court held that the imposition of the death penalty in these three consolidated cases would constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the …

Libretti v. U.S., No. 94-7427 (U.S. Supreme Court) (516 U.S. 29; 116 S.Ct. 356) (November 7, 1995) (Justice O'Connor)

Article • December 19, 2005

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Punishment

Libretti v. U.S., No. 94-7427 (U.S. Supreme Court) (516 U.S. 29; 116 S.Ct. 356) (November 7, 1995) (Justice O'Connor) by The defendant in this case was charged with numerous counts including a criminal forfeiture count pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 853. He entered a plea agreement and plead guilty to …

Scarver v. Litscher, No. 05-2999 (7th Cir.) (434 F.3d 972) (January 18, 2006) (Judge Richard A. Posner)

Article • December 1, 2005 • from P&J December, 2005

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Supermax prisons

Scarver v. Litscher, No. 05-2999 (7th Cir.) (434 F.3d 972) (January 18, 2006) (Judge Richard A. Posner) by Triple murderer Christopher Scarver – best known as the inmate who murdered Jeffrey Dahmer – filed this lawsuit, claiming that conditions in Wisconsin’s most secure prison (known as the “Supermax”) amounted to …

U.S. v. Cisneros, No. CRIM.A, 04-283 (E.D.Va.) (385 F.Supp.2d 567) (August 24, 2005) (Judge Gerald Bruce Lee)

Article • October 1, 2005 • from P&J October, 2005

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Mental Retardation/Intellectual Disability

U.S. v. Cisneros, No. CRIM.A, 04-283 (E.D.Va.) (385 F.Supp.2d 567) (August 24, 2005) (Judge Gerald Bruce Lee) by Acting on the defendant’s motion to establish various procedures under the Federal Death Penalty Act (18 U.S.C. § 3596(c)) to determine whether he had sufficiently established a defense of mental retardation, Judge …