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Due Process – 8th Amendment

By: Derek Hawkins//May 16, 2017//

Due Process – 8th Amendment

By: Derek Hawkins//May 16, 2017//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Aaron Isby v. Richard Brown

Case No.: 15-3334

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, FLAUM, Circuit Judge, and CONLEY, District Judge. *

Focus: Due Process – 8th Amendment

Aaron E. Isby has been held in administrative segregation—or, as it is better known, solitary confinement—for over ten years and counting. He filed suit against various prison employees under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that his continued placement in administrative segregation violated his Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel or unusual punishment as well as his Fourteenth Amendment rights under the Due Process Clause. Isby sought leave to proceed in forma pauperis in the district court, despite having already accumulated three “strikes” for filing frivolous suits or appeals and thus being restricted under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”) from seeking pauper status. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). Unaware of Isby’s strikes, the district court granted Isby’s request. The court later granted summary judgment in favor of defendants on the due process claim, and, following a bench trial, entered judgment against Isby on his Eighth Amendment claim.   Still unaware of Isby’s three‐strikes status, the district court granted him leave to proceed in forma pauperis on appeal. After briefing on appeal was complete, Isby’s restricted status came to our and the parties’ attention; and two days prior to oral argument, defendants‐appellees moved to dis‐ miss this appeal “due to [Isby’s] deceptive acts in failing to inform the district court of his numerous ‘strikes’ under the [PLRA].” For the reasons that follow, we deny the motion to dismiss, affirm the district court with respect to Isby’s claim under the Eighth Amendment, and reverse and remand for further proceedings on Isby’s due process claim.

Reversed and remanded

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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