The HCBullet: The blog of the Attorneys at HCB

Part 5 of Managing the Risks of COVID-19 in the County Jail Setting

June 8, 2020

Recent COVID-19 Prison Litigation – UPDATED Mays, et al. v. Dart, et al. [DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this blog post should be construed as legal or medical advice. Be sure to follow all CDC, IDPH, and IDOC guidance regarding the current COVID-19 pandemic. HC&B is also available for consultation regarding risk management and litigation in this…

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U.S. Supreme Court Fields Multiple Requests to Revise or Eliminate Qualified Immunity

May 19, 2020

Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected three petitions in which one party asked the Court to reconsider the doctrine of qualified immunity. The Court put another ten petitions relating to the doctrine on hold until the next conference this Thursday. Qualified immunity is a doctrine that holds that government employees are immune from civil…

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Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Inmate’s First Amendment Claims

May 19, 2020

Earlier this month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a decision of the Central District which granted summary judgment to Kankakee County and County officials for allegedly failing to provide adequate religious services to Muslim inmates.  In Thompson v. Bukowski, Walter Thompson alleged that he had requested Muslim group worship services at Kankakee County’s…

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Part 4 of Managing the Risks of COVID-19 in the County Jail Setting

April 28, 2020

Update on Recent COVID-19 Prison Litigation  Mays, et al. v. Dart, et al.  [DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this blog post should be construed as legal or medical advice. Be sure to follow all CDC, IDPH, and IDOC guidance regarding the current COVID-19 pandemic. HC&B is also available for consultation regarding risk management and litigation in this…

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Reporter’s First Amendment Retaliatory Arrest Suit Rejected by Federal Appeals Court

April 27, 2020

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Nieves v. Bartlett, 139 S. Ct. 1715 (2019), in which it held that the existence of probable cause to arrest defeats a claim of retaliatory arrest. The only exception is where the plaintiff can prove that the police almost never arrest for the particular offense…

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