Case: Prison Legal News v. Shawnee County

2:11-cv-02497 | U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas

Filed Date: Aug. 31, 2011

Closed Date: 2012

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Case Summary

On August 31, 2011, Prison Legal News (PLN) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Kansas under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Shawnee County and the Shawnee County Department of Corrections. The plaintiffs, represented by public interest counsel, asked the court for declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as damages, claiming that the Defendants censored PLN's monthly publication and correspondence mailed to prisoners who were held in custody by the Shawnee County Jail in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The plaintiffs specifically alleged that the defendants adopted and implemented policies that unconstitutionally restrict correspondence to prisoners, which policies on their face prohibited prisoners from receiving any sort of book, magazine, or other publication, such as those published by the plaintiff.

On February 23, 2012, the parties filed a joint stipulation for entry of stipulated judgment and settlement agreement. The agreement required the defendants to modify the Jail's mail policy, including allowing the PLN's mailings to be delivered. The defendants agreed to pay $75,000 in damages, attorney fees, and costs. On March 5, 2012, Judge Kathryn H. Vratil approved the stipulated judgment and settlement agreement.

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Summary Authors

Jessica Kincaid (4/5/2014)

People

Judge(s)

Gale, Kenneth G (Kansas)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Bonney, Stephen Douglas (Missouri)

Jenkins, James D (Missouri)

Attorney for Defendant

Brzon, Jonathan C (Kansas)

Eckert, Richard V (Kansas)

Judge(s)

Gale, Kenneth G (Kansas)

Vratil, Kathryn Hoefer (Kansas)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Bonney, Stephen Douglas (Missouri)

Jenkins, James D (Missouri)

Slough, Fred (Missouri)

Weber, Lance (Vermont)

Attorney for Defendant

Brzon, Jonathan C (Kansas)

Eckert, Richard V (Kansas)

Martinek, Ron D (Kansas)

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Documents in the Clearinghouse

	Document
2:11-cv-02497	Docket [PACER] PLN v. Shawnee County	March 5, 2012	March 5, 2012 Docket
1 2:11-cv-02497	Complaint PLN v. Shawnee County	Aug. 31, 2011	Aug. 31, 2011 Complaint
15 2:11-cv-02497	Order [Administratively Closing Case] PLN v. Shawnee County	Feb. 17, 2012	Feb. 17, 2012 Order/Opinion
16 2:11-cv-02497	Joint Stipulation for Entry of Stipulated Judgment and Settlement Agreement PLN v. Shawnee County	Feb. 23, 2012	Feb. 23, 2012 Settlement Agreement
17 2:11-cv-02497	Order Regarding Entry of Stipulated Judgment and Settlement Agreement PLN v. Shawnee County	March 5, 2012	March 5, 2012 Order/Opinion

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Resources

Title	Description		External URL Date / External URL
Prison Legal News Homepage Prison Legal News	Prison Legal News (PLN), a project of the non-profit Human Rights Defense Center, is a 72-page monthly magazine that reports on criminal justice issues and prison and jail-related civil litigation, w…		https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/...

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Docket

Last updated March 28, 2025, 8:16 a.m.

ECF Number	Description	Date	Link Date / Link
1	COMPLAINT (No Summons Issued) with trial location of Kansas City, filed by Prison Legal News.(ta) (Entered: 08/31/2011)	Aug. 31, 2011	Aug. 31, 2011
2	CIVIL COVER SHEET re 1 Complaint by Plaintiff Prison Legal News. (ta) (Entered: 08/31/2011)	Aug. 31, 2011	Aug. 31, 2011
	FILING FEE PAID: in the amount of $350.00, receipt number K4631029446. (ta) (Entered: 08/31/2011)	Aug. 31, 2011	Aug. 31, 2011
3	CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT by Prison Legal News identifying None as corporate parent. (Slough, Fred) (Entered: 08/31/2011)	Aug. 31, 2011	Aug. 31, 2011
	SUMMONS ISSUED as to Richard C. Kline, Shawnee County, Kansas, Board of Commissioners. Summons emailed to Attorney for service. (This is a TEXT ENTRY ONLY. There is no.pdf document associated with this entry.) (ta) (Entered: 08/31/2011)	Aug. 31, 2011	Aug. 31, 2011
4	SUMMONS RETURNED EXECUTED −− Personal by Prison Legal News upon Shawnee County, Kansas, Board of Commissioners served on 9/2/2011, answer due 9/23/2011. (Bonney, Stephen) (Entered: 09/06/2011)	Sept. 6, 2011	Sept. 6, 2011
5	SUMMONS RETURNED EXECUTED −− Personal by Prison Legal News upon Richard C. Kline served on 9/2/2011, answer due 9/23/2011. (Bonney, Stephen) (Entered: 09/06/2011)	Sept. 6, 2011	Sept. 6, 2011
6	CLERKS ORDER EXTENDING TIME until 10/07/2011 for Defendants Shawnee County, Kansas, Board of Commissioners, Richard C. Kline to answer or otherwise plead. Signed by deputy clerk on 9/19/2011. (ta) (Entered: 09/19/2011)	Sept. 19, 2011	Sept. 19, 2011
8	ORDER SETTING SCHEDULING CONFERENCE: Scheduling Conference set for 11/22/2011 at 10:00 AM by telephone before Magistrate Judge Kenneth G. Gale. Report of Parties Planning Meeting deadline 11/17/2011. See attached Order for additional details including conference call instructions. Signed by Magistrate Judge Kenneth G. Gale on 10/12/2011. (aw) (Entered: 10/12/2011)	Oct. 12, 2011	Oct. 12, 2011
	MINUTE ENTRY for proceedings held before Magistrate Judge Kenneth G. Gale: SCHEDULING CONFERENCE held on 11/22/2011. (This is a TEXT ENTRY ONLY. There is no.pdf document associated with this entry.) (aw) (Entered: 11/22/2011)	Nov. 22, 2011	Nov. 22, 2011
9	SCHEDULING ORDER: Discovery deadline 3/30/2012. Dispositive motion deadline 4/30/2012. Mediation deadline 2/22/2012. Proposed Pretrial Order due by 4/12/2012. Final Pretrial Conference set for 4/19/2012 at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 406 (KGG) before Magistrate Judge Kenneth G. Gale. See attached Order for additional deadlines. Signed by Magistrate Judge Kenneth G. Gale on 11/22/2011. (aw) (Entered: 11/22/2011)	Nov. 22, 2011	Nov. 22, 2011
10	CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE of Initial Disclosures by Prison Legal News. (Bonney, Stephen) (Entered: 12/09/2011)	Dec. 9, 2011	Dec. 9, 2011
11	NOTICE OF SERVICE by Richard C. Kline, Shawnee County, Kansas, Board of Commissioners of Initial Disclosures (Martinek, Ron) (Entered: 12/09/2011)	Dec. 9, 2011	Dec. 9, 2011
12	CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE of First Interrogatories, First Request for Admissions and First Request for Production of Documents by Prison Legal News. (Slough, Fred) (Entered: 12/22/2011)	Dec. 22, 2011	Dec. 22, 2011
13	MINUTE ORDER REASSIGNING CASE. Case reassigned to Chief Judge Kathryn H. Vratil for all further proceedings. District Judge Wesley E. Brown no longer assigned to case. Signed by deputy clerk on 2/1/2012. (This is a TEXT ENTRY ONLY. There is no.pdf document associated with this entry.)(lak) (Entered: 02/01/2012)	Feb. 1, 2012	Feb. 1, 2012
14	ADR REPORT by Richard C. Kline, Shawnee County, Kansas, Board of Commissioners. ADR session held on: January 31, 2012 and conducted by Jerry Palmer. Results of ADR: Case settled at ADR. Status of litigation at time of ADR: Pre−Discovery(Martinek, Ron) (Entered: 02/02/2012)	Feb. 2, 2012	Feb. 2, 2012
15	ORDER ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSING CASE: Parties shall file stipulation of dismissal by March 16, 2012. Signed by Chief Judge Kathryn H. Vratil on 2/17/2012. (mem) (Entered: 02/17/2012)	Feb. 17, 2012	Feb. 17, 2012
16	STIPULATION for Entry of Stipulated Judgment and Settlement Agreement by Richard C. Kline, Shawnee County, Kansas, Board of Commissioners. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Stipulated Judgment and Settlement Agreement)(Martinek, Ron) (Entered: 02/23/2012)	Feb. 23, 2012	Feb. 23, 2012
17	ORDER REGARDING ENTRY OF STIPULATED JUDGMENT AND SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT re 16 Stipulation. Signed by Chief Judge Kathryn H. Vratil on 3/5/2012. (kao) (Entered: 03/05/2012)	March 5, 2012	March 5, 2012