A federal prisoner claimed that the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) unlawfully ended his work program with UNICOR, which provides work and training opportunities under 28 C.F.R. Sec. 345.11(a), and sought reinstatement and an award of back pay. A federal court has rejected the argument that the BOP's provision of a grievance system constituted an implied waiver of sovereign immunity and that the prisoner could use the Administrative Procedure Act, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3625 to challenge his termination. The U.S. and its agencies cannot be sued in the absence of an explicit waiver of sovereign immunity, and the APA does not apply to any determination made under the statutes governing imprisonment. Anderson v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, No. 06-01402, 2007 U.S. Dist. Lexis 68137 (D.D.C.).
     The waiver of sovereign immunity by Pennsylvania under state law for dangerous conditions on governmental property did not apply to a Pennsylvania prisoner's lawsuit against the state in federal court asserting a state law negligence claim for injuries he allegedly suffered when his Achilles tendon was torn by a pipe protruding from his cell floor. The statute containing the waiver itself said that it did not waive the state's Eleventh Amendment immunity, preventing it from being sued for damages in federal court. Prisoner also failed to show that prison officials acted with deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs following his injuries, as required for a federal civil rights claim. Brooks v. Beard, No. 05-3196, 167 Fed. Appx. 923 (3rd Cir. 2006). [N/R]
     Nebraska Supreme Court holds that state correctional agencies were entitled to sovereign immunity in lawsuit by female inmate claiming that a correctional employee sexually assaulted her, whether her claims were based either on the mere fact that he was an employee or on the defendants' alleged own negligence in hiring and supervising him. Johnson v. State of Nebraska, No. S-03-1362, 700 N.W.2d 620 (Neb. 2005). [2006 JB Feb]
     Federal government was entitled to sovereign immunity in prisoner's lawsuit claiming that his books and manuscript, mailed to his home by prison officials, were lost. While he claimed that this was due to negligence by the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and post office, an exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1346(b), 2680(b) for "loss, miscarriage, or negligent transmission of letters or postal matters" barred liability. Georgacarakos v. U.S., No. 04-1363, 420 F.3d 1185 (10th Cir. 2005). [N/R]
    North Carolina county only waived sovereign immunity to the extent of liability insurance purchased. Inmate who was awarded $49,500 by jury on his claim that a deputy sheriff assaulted him, therefore, could recover nothing, as the county's liability insurance only provided coverage for claims in excess of $250,000. Cunningham v. Riley, 611 S.E.2d 423 (N.C. App. 2005). [2005 JB Dec]
     Under California statutory law, both the State and the Department of Corrections were immune from liability on a prisoner's claims arising out of alleged medical malpractice and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Prisoner was also required, under both federal and state law, to exhaust available administrative remedies before pursuing his claims in court, and failed to do so. Wright v. State of Cal., No. C044302, 19 Cal. Rptr. 3d 92 (Cal. App. 3d Dist. 2004). [N/R]
     State of Texas was entitled to sovereign immunity against prisoner's claim for personal injury resulting from contact with a razor-wire fence surrounding a prison recreation yard. The presence of the razor wire there did not constitute either an "ordinary premises defect," or a "special defect" enumerated as an exception to sovereign immunity in the state's Tort Claims Act, V.T.C.A., Civil Practice & Remedies Code, Sec. 101.022. Retzlaff v. Texas Department of Criminal Justice, No. 01-02-00437-CV, 135 S.W.3d 731 (Tex. App. 1st Dist. 2003), rehearing denied March 4, 2004. [N/R]
     Prisoner who claimed that he slipped and fell on a wet floor in a Pennsylvania state prison, injuring himself, could not collect damages. State correctional department was entitled to summary judgment because a wet or waxed floor was not a "dangerous condition" sufficient to come within an exception to sovereign immunity under state law for defects in real property. Raker v. Pa. Dept. of Corrections, 844 A.2d 659 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2004). [N/R]
      Florida prisoner failed to provide adequate notice of his negligence claim against the Department of Corrections to satisfy notice provision of statute waiving sovereign immunity for claims against the state. Prisoner's first letter misidentified the correctional facility in which he had been incarcerated, and second letter was not copied to the state Department of Insurance, which was therefore never given knowledge of the need to investigate or respond to the claim. Maynard v. State, #1D02-1048, 864 So. 2d 1232 (Fla. App. 1st Dist. 2004). [N/R]
     Detainee's action of hanging himself to death with shoelace in his holding cell less than two hours after being placed there on DUI charges did not subject facility to liability under Pennsylvania state law for negligence. Neither "personal property" nor "real estate" exceptions to sovereign immunity under state law applied. Pennsylvania State Police v. Klimek, 839 A.2d 1173 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2003). [2004 JB Apr]
     Illinois court rules that sovereign immunity barred a paraplegic inmate's claim seeking damages against prison warden for alleged disability discrimination under Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. Sec. 12132. State did not consent to be sued by prisoners based on ADA violations, and Congress had not abrogated the state's immunity under the statute. Evans v. Page, No. 5-02-0126, 792 N.E.2d 805 (Ill. App. 5th Dist. 2003). [N/R]
     262:148 Oklahoma state Department of Corrections was an "arm" of the state and, as such, could not be the defendant in a federal civil rights lawsuit; prisoner's lawsuit alleging that correctional officer employed by the state had sexually assaulted her dismissed when Department was only defendant named. Glenn v. State Dept. of Corrections, 943 P.2d 154 (Okl. App. 1997).
     243:38 Utah was immune from suit for damages based on alleged negligent failure to recapture prisoners who escaped from halfway house or to prevent them from murdering mountain cabin owners and kidnapping owners' two minor daughters. Tiede v. State of Utah, 915 P.2d 500 (Utah 1996).
     243:38 New York high court rules that sovereign immunity no longer protects state government against lawsuits for violations of state constitutional rights, such as protection against unreasonable search and seizure and equal protection of law; N.Y. state government can now be sued for monetary damages in state court for violation of state constitution. Brown v. State, No. 186, N.Y. Ct. of Appeals, 89 N.Y.2d 172, 674 N.E.2d 1129, 652 N.Y.S.2d 223, 1996 N.Y. Lexis 3175 (Nov. 19, 1996).