Eighth Amendment

Solitary confinement conditions violated death-row inmates’ Eighth Amendment rights, 4th Circuit rules

Updated: A federal appeals court has ruled that the conditions of death-row solitary confinement that once existed in Virginia prisons violated the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In a 2-1 decision filed Friday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Richmond, Virginia, barred Virginia from returning…

May 6, 2019 11:00 AM CDT

Federal judge sides with female inmates who filed class action suit over widespread sleep deprivation

No more 2:30 a.m. pill calls, 4 a.m. breakfasts or noisy overnight maintenance in jails in one San Francisco Bay Area county, a federal judge ruled Monday. In a preliminary injunction order, District Judge James Donato of the Northern District of California ruled in favor of a group of female…

Apr 24, 2019 12:32 PM CDT

Full 9th Circuit won’t review decision barring prosecution of homeless for sleeping on public property

A federal appeals court has left undisturbed a decision holding that homeless people can’t be prosecuted for sleeping on public property unless alternative shelter is available.

Apr 5, 2019 9:18 AM CDT

Alabama men’s prisons are so unsafe they likely violate the Eighth Amendment, DOJ says

Understaffed and overcrowded men’s prisons in Alabama fail to protect prisoners from prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse and violence and fail to provide safe and sanitary conditions, according to a Department of Justice report. There is reasonable cause to think the conditions in men’s prisons in the state violate the Eighth Amendment…

Apr 4, 2019 9:27 AM CDT

Decision striking down part of sex offender law is ‘the talk of the prison,’ lawyer says

A federal judge in Chicago has found that it is unconstitutional for Illinois to hold sex offenders in prison after their release date when they are so impoverished that they can’t find a place to live that complies with state requirements. U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall ruled Sunday, WBEZ reports.…

Apr 3, 2019 12:41 PM CDT

SCOTUS majority focuses on execution delays in ruling against inmate with rare condition

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion Monday when a divided Supreme Court rejected a Missouri inmate’s claim that his rare medical condition would make execution by lethal injection a constitutional violation.

Apr 1, 2019 2:05 PM CDT

Denying sex reassignment surgery to inmate isn’t cruel and unusual, 5th Circuit rules

A blanket ban on sex reassignment surgery for prison inmates isn’t cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Apr 1, 2019 9:14 AM CDT

Solitary confinement conditions violated death-row inmates’ Eighth Amendment rights, 4th Circuit rules

Federal judge sides with female inmates who filed class action suit over widespread sleep deprivation

Full 9th Circuit won’t review decision barring prosecution of homeless for sleeping on public property

Alabama men’s prisons are so unsafe they likely violate the Eighth Amendment, DOJ says

Decision striking down part of sex offender law is ‘the talk of the prison,’ lawyer says

SCOTUS majority focuses on execution delays in ruling against inmate with rare condition

Denying sex reassignment surgery to inmate isn’t cruel and unusual, 5th Circuit rules

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