AP: (Supreme) Court Eases Restrictions on Inmate Suits

[Eugene]

Court Eases Restrictions on Inmate Suits
By Associated Press

January 22, 2007, 11:10 AM EST

WASHINGTON -- A unanimous Supreme Court on Monday sided with three Michigan
inmates by making it easier for them to pursue lawsuits complaining about their
treatment behind bars.

The court reversed lower court rulings that had thrown out the prisoners' suits on
grounds that all three had failed to exhaust the administrative grievance procedure.

Chief Justice John Roberts said the procedural rules that the 6th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals used in the cases are not required under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
The law requires prisoners to go through a lengthy administrative grievance process
before they may sue in court.

Roberts said the Michigan inmates are not required to demonstrate that they have
exhausted the administrative complaint procedure. The chief justice said nothing
in Michigan prison policy requires that an individual be named in an administrative
grievance.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-scotus-michigan-prisoners,0,3267049.story

[napi21]

1. Smack, smack against Shrub and Gonzo!

Geesh, even his SCOTUS biddies are against him these days! Don't ya just love it!

[Deep13]

3. Not against shrub or gonzo. Against us here on the local level.

Almost all prisoner lawsuits are filed for nuisance purposes and a good number end up on my desk. I respond to direct appeals with real issues, but also all of the post-sentence crap they file that they think will prove their innocence but is really just something to try because they have nothing else to do. Fortunately for me the state AG responds to most of the habeus corpus stuff.

I'm not saying the Court is wrong, just that it will mean increased time and expense for local officials. This has nothing to do with Bush.

[napi21]

4. I don't mean to cause YOU more work, and you well may be right

about MOST prison lawsuits are nusance ones, but I'm SURE there are some that are valid. Look at the guy just this past week who managed to get someone to run DNA in HIS case, and it showed he has spent 28 years imprisoned wrongfully! I'm still having trouble understanding why they have to wait until a decision is made on what to do in this case. What in the hell is to decide?

Most of these prisoners are NOT experienced lawyers, and rely on books to file their suits. I think they should get a few breaks for that. If the suit is a nuicence pne, then perhaps there should be a penalty for doing so and wasting the taxpayer's money instead of punishing them all.

[Deep13]

5. DNA cases have a special statute to expedite them.

No, they are not all frivolous. I just had the state court of appeals rule in favor of a pro se prisoner because the trial court dismissed his complaint without a hearing. (It is possible that two different counties convicted him of the same offense.) Uusually, it is the same few prisoners who file the bulk of the fivolous complaints. We can have them delared vexacious litigators if they do it a lot. That means they need to seek court leave to file anything. Still, there is no penalty for filing frivolous stuff since they are already in prison and indigent.

[villager]

2. oh, the "Federalist Society" types won't like this...

Which, of course, is great!

[happyslug]

6. Here is the Decision, this is a unanimous decision

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/06pdf/05-7058.pdf