cruel and unusual
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Colorado Supreme Court identifies potential red flag in state’s sex offender sentencing law
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday suggested the 25-year-old law governing criminal sentences for sex offenders might run afoul of the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment when applied to juveniles serving lengthy terms of incarceration. The ultimate question of whether the Sex Offender Lifetime Supervision Act, or SOLSA, is unconstitutional in the case of…
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Colorado Supreme Court identifies potential red flag in state’s sex offender sentencing law
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday suggested the 25-year-old law governing criminal sentences for sex offenders might run afoul of the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment when applied to juveniles serving lengthy terms of incarceration. The ultimate question of whether the Sex Offender Lifetime Supervision Act, or SOLSA, is unconstitutional in the case of…
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10th Circuit opens door wider for courts to dismiss prisoners’ civil rights lawsuits
The federal appeals court based in Denver made it easier on Tuesday for prison officials to defeat lawsuits from incarcerated plaintiffs by moving them to a different facility outside a circuit court’s jurisdiction before judges have a chance to rule. Michael Bacote Jr., a prisoner with an intellectual disability and history of mental illness, spent…
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Colorado Supreme Court to scrutinize parole requirements for juvenile sex offenders
The Colorado Supreme Court has agreed to answer whether the state law authorizing indefinite, potentially lifetime sentences for sex offenses makes room for the special considerations that must be given to juveniles who are tried as adults. In a rare move, the court accepted the question not through the usual appeals process, but following a…
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Federal judge orders prison contractor to get medical care for suicidal detainee
A federal judge last week ordered a contractor for the Colorado Department of Corrections to obtain medical care for a detainee’s diseased colon, after it spent months allegedly doing nothing in the face of the man’s extreme pain and suicide attempt. Arthur Burnham, who is incarcerated at Centennial Correctional Facility near Cañon City, filed suit in July…
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Federal judge to Congress: Roll back Supreme Court’s limitations on suing federal officials
In an extraordinary move, a federal judge in Colorado has called upon Congress to roll back the U.S. Supreme Court’s broad limitations on suing federal officials for constitutional violations. U.S. District Court Senior Judge William J. Martínez, in an Aug. 3 order, criticized the fact that prisoners, if they are in a federal facility, are largely…
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Federal judge says inmate attacked by other prisoners cannot sue corrections officers
An incarcerated man, allegedly attacked by other prisoners because of his status as a sex offender, cannot sue corrections officials for failing to protect him, a federal judge ruled last month. Even though Emanuel Pittman reportedly told multiple prison officials that other inmates were threatening his life, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kristen L. Mix explained it…
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Federal judge refuses to dismiss rape-related lawsuit against Colorado Springs corrections provider
A federal judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit last week against a private provider of community corrections services in Colorado Springs whose employee allegedly was able to rape two women as a result of known security lapses at the facility. Shenelle Lovato and Alexis Suarez sued Community Corrections, Inc., or ComCor, and several of its…
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Judge refuses to dismiss inmate’s lawsuit against prison officials who allegedly denied care
An inmate who allegedly vomited “thick black blood” and had to be hospitalized may sue prison officials for failing to address his severe medical needs, a federal judge ruled earlier this month. John Hibbs, who is incarcerated in Fremont Correctional Facility, reportedly collapsed in February 2019. He was then transported to the hospital for internal bleeding.…
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10th Circuit reinstates inmate’s lawsuit against prison staff for alleged assault
The federal appeals court based in Denver has revived an inmate’s cruel and unusual punishment claim against two state prison personnel, finding Jabari J. Johnson had plausibly alleged the defendants exacerbated his existing injuries when they reportedly stomped on and slammed him. Johnson and the Colorado Department of Corrections had argued over whether the Prison…