On September 27, 1985, inmates at the Brushy Mountain Penitentiary in Tennessee filed a pro se lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Tennessee Department of Corrections in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants had violated their constitutional rights by denying them access to the courts due to security measures in place in the D-Block at BMP, which prevented or limited inmates' physical access to the law library. Plaintiffs sought injunctive relief.

On February 28, 1986, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee (Judge Thomas G. Hull) found that the plaintiffs' constitutional rights had been violated, and they ordered the defendants to file a report within 30 days, advising the court on how they intended to remedy the current unconstitutional procedures. Pickle v. Harris, 1986 WL 4302 (E.D.Tenn. Feb 28, 1986). We have no information on the court order that resulted from the subsequent report.

In 1988, several prisoners asked the district court to hold the defendants in contempt of the court's order. On November 29, 1988, the district court (Judge Hull) denied the motions for contempt and dismissed the action. The plaintiffs appealed.

On February 12, 1990, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Judge Anna Taylor, Judge Damon Keith, and Judge Robert Krupansky) affirmed the district court's decision not to intervene and dismissed the appeal. Pickle v. Harris, 1990 WL 11385 (6th Cir.(Tenn.) Feb. 12, 1990. We have no further information on the proceedings in this case.

Kristen Sagar - 07/12/2007


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