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Litigation Landmines: Obtaining Attorneys Fees In Conditions Of Confinement. Litigation After Bloomberg v. Christina A
No full textAbuse of children in state institutions is a longstanding and notorious problem.1 Advocates for children have successfully brought federal civil rights litigation over the past thirty years to protect the lives, safety, and rights of children in jails,2 juvenile detention facilities, 3 and state corrections institutions. 4 In recent years, however, such litigation has become more difficult as a result of enactment of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) 5 and an array of United States Supreme Court decisions. In a number of decisions over the past two decades, the Supreme Court has significantly restricted the rights of prisoners and imposed other obstacles to litigation by inmates. 6 In passing the PLRA, Congress specifically sought to discourage federal civil rights litigation by prisoners, and the definition of prisoners includes incarcerated children
Suicide In Jails And Prisons: What The Numbers Tell Us
No full textSuicide is often the most common cause of death in correctional settings across the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently published a report stating that suicide is a public health problem that demands our attention. \u27 Across the world, one suicide attempt is made every three seconds, with one completed suicide every minute. More people die across the world from suicide than by armed conflict. The risk factors for suicide include being a young or elderly male, being indigenous, being an individual with a mental illness or substance abuse history, and being incarcerated or in custody. Further, individuals who have made a past suicide attempt are more likely to complete a suicide.2 This article describes the occurrence of suicide in jails and prisons in the United States and England. It proposes that guidelines from the American Correctional Association (ACA) and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC), both published in the early 1940s, may be useful in preventing suicides in jails and prisons
Blurring the Lines of the Danger Zone: The Impact of Kendra\u27s Law on the Rights of the Nonviolent Mentally Ill
No full textWhen the lives of Kendra Webdale and Andrew Goldstein crossed paths in a New York City subway on January 3, 1999, no one could have predicted the tragic results of their brief encounter, nor the political and legal aftermath the events of that day would spur. According to eyewitnesses, Goldstein, a twenty-nine year old man with a long history of psychiatric illness,\u27 approached Webdale, a thirty-two year old woman, to ask her the time as she waited for an uptown train. Goldstein then suddenly and- inexplicably pushed Webdale in front of the approaching train; she died instantly. 2 Public outrage followed Webdale\u27s death when the press discovered that Goldstein, a diagnosed schizophrenic, had not been taking his anti-psychotic medications at the time he committed this horrific crime.3 After several other highly publicized incidents in New York City involving violent outbursts by homeless, mentally ill individuals,4 public support grew for a bill introduced in the New York Legislature known as Kendra\u27s Bill. 5 Kendra\u27s Bill proposed an outpatient commitment program that would require individuals with a history of mental illness to take anti-psychotic medication or face involuntary civil commitment.6 Kendra\u27s Bill was passed by the New York Senate on August 9, 1999 and signed into law by New York Governor George Pataki on August 27, 1999. 7 The bill then became known as Kendra\u27s Law
Citizenship of Limited Liability Companies for Diversity Jurisdiction
No full textThe limited liability company is an increasingly popular form of business organization. Due to its hybrid nature, however, the citizenship of a LLC for purposes of diversity jurisdiction is difficult to determine. Should the citizenship of a LLC be determined as if it were a corporation, in which case it has entity citizenship, or as if it were a partnership, in which case its citizenship is determined by the citizenship of persons composing the LLC?
This Article examines the history of the evolution of hybrid organizations like the LLC, and the rules for determining the citizenship of business organizations in light of the dichotomy between corporations and all other business organizations. This Article argues that the current framework – determining the citizenship of a business organization by focusing solely on whether the organization was incorporated – is technical, precedent-bound, and does not reflect the reality of modern business organization law. In its place, I advocate for a new framework that would focus on the citizenship of persons or entities that have a direct interest in the pending litigation. Such a framework would better serve the policies of federal diversity jurisdiction
