The HCBullet: The blog of the Attorneys at HCB

Seventh Circuit Ruling Warns Prison Medical Staff Not to “Look at the Calendar and Reflexively Dismiss” Inmates’ Medical Requests

July 24, 2018

The media typically seizes on the most sensational or politically controversial aspects of a court decision, but shrewd risk management requires looking beyond headlines. “Hot-button” cases often impact scenarios far removed from political controversy. The Seventh Circuit’s recent decision in Mitchell v. Kallas fits that description. The facts are simple. Plaintiff Mitchell was an inmate…

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Seventh Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment In Favor of Corrections Officers Who Responded Reasonably to Inmate-on-Inmate Violence

July 24, 2018

The Seventh Circuit issued an opinion on July 10, 2018, which affirmed a grant of summary judgment in favor of all defendants, correctional officers Tobek, Meehan, and Mayo, in Giles v. Tobek, Case No. 17-1707. Plaintiff Giles was a federal pretrial detainee at the Jerome Combs Detention Center in Kankakee, Illinois. He was housed on…

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Supreme Court Reverses Grant of Qualified Immunity for Police Officers Who Ordered Arrestee to Stop Praying

July 11, 2018

In recent years, academics and the plaintiff’s bar have complained about the Supreme Court frequently reversing lower court decisions which have denied requests by police officers for qualified immunity. Last month, however, in Sause v. Bauer, No. 17-742 (June 28, 2018) the Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision which had granted qualified immunity to…

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Illinois Appellate Court Rules That The Personnel Records Review Act Exempts a Police Officer’s Disciplinary Records From A FOIA Request

June 27, 2018

In Johnson v. Joliet Police Department and City of Joliet, 2018 IL App (3d) 170726, the plaintiff sought disciplinary records of a police officer through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The Police Department responded by explaining it had no records relating to citizen complaints against the officer and no disciplinary records less than…

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Supreme Court Rules That Probable Cause Does Not Automatically Bar Retaliatory Arrest Claims

June 27, 2018

On June 18, 2018, the Supreme Court decided Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, 585 U. S. ____ (2018). In Lozman, a vocal critic of city officials owned a floating home in a marina in Riviera Beach, Florida. Over the course of his residency in the city, the resident often spoke during public comment during…

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