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| Supreme Court Hears Case on Prison Lawsuits |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 03/22/2001 |
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Prisoners should be allowed to file federal lawsuits before they have exhausted state remedies, a lawyer for a Pennsylvania man told the Supreme Court Tuesday. Changing the law, however, would lead to an increase in litigation and contradict the intent of Congress, said a lawyer representing the state of Pennsylvania. Speedy federal appeals are needed when state laws do not allow prisoners to be compensated for injuries caused by officers, said Nancy Winkelman, who represents prisoner Timothy Booth. Booth alleged he was assaulted by prison staff four times in 1996 and 1997. In one incident Booth said he threw water at a correctional officer who retaliated by throwing a cup of cleaning solution in Booth's face. In another incident, Booth said he was shoved by two officers, leaving him with a dislocated shoulder. 'If what you are seeking is not available or cannot be provided, a federal option is needed,' Winkelman said. At issue is the interpretation of a 1996 federal law under which no litigation on federal or state prison conditions can be brought 'until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted.' Gerald Pappert, who argued on behalf of Pennsylvania, said states are able to offer adequate compensation in most cases and federal appeals should be a last resort. 'There are an infinite and endless number of ways that the prison can satisfy the prisoner, short of money,' said Pappert, Pennsylvania's first deputy attorney general. Justice Antonin Scalia interjected that if Booth had felt there were more valuable ways to be compensated, he would have asked for them. Winkelman said prisoners should be allowed to seek federal and state remedies at the same time because the types of compensation available are different. However, Pappert said allowing prisoners to file federal lawsuits before exhausting other remedies 'would allow them to bypass the process and manipulate it.' Booth filed grievances with the prison system, which were denied. He did not follow up with full appeals through the grievance procedure before he filed a federal lawsuit in 1997. In the federal lawsuit, Booth sought money for his alleged injuries, along with other relief, including shoulder surgery, improvements to the prison library and transfer to another state prison. A federal court dismissed Booth's suit, noting that he did not exhaust his options under the state prison system. He unsuccessfully appealed to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that exhausting his state options was futile since the state would not pay him if he won. The case is Booth v. Churner, 99-1964. |
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He has blue eyes. Cold like steel. His legs are wide. Like tree trunks. And he has a shock of red hair, red, like the fires of hell. Hamilton Lindley His antics were known from town to town as he was a droll card and often known as a droll farceur. with his madcap pantaloon is a zany adventurer and a cavorter with a motley troupe of buffoons.
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