The HCBullet: The blog of the Attorneys at HCB

Congressional Bills Eliminating Qualified Immunity Proposed

June 10, 2020

The U.S. Supreme Court is still weighing whether to take one of several cases in which one party is asking the Court to reconsider the doctrine of qualified immunity. As noted in a recent HCBullet update, qualified immunity is a doctrine that holds that government employees are immune from civil liability for constitutional violations unless…

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Jail inmate’s habeas corpus petition denied for failing to exhaust state court remedies.

June 9, 2020

The Honorable Billy Joe McDade in the Central District of Illinois denied a habeas corpus petition in favor of Vermilion County Sheriff Patrick Hartshorn in Myron Phillips v. Vermilion County Sheriff, Case No. 20-cv-2093 (C.D. Ill., May 21, 2020). Petitioner, Myron Phillips, was a pre-trial detainee held at the Vermilion County Jail, and his suit challenged…

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Court Rules that Nurse at County Jail Provided Adequate Medical Care to Inmate

June 8, 2020

In Weigand v. Harding, et al., Case No. 19-cv-2186, Judge Eric Long granted summary judgment in favor of a county jail nurse on a medical care claim. Plaintiff, a pretrial detainee, alleged that he did not receive adequate medical care at the county jail. Following an altercation with another inmate, Plaintiff sought medical care for facial…

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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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