U.S. appeals court PLRA-prison litigation reform act damages. (Liability).

Searles v. Van Bebber, 251 F.3d 869 (10th Cir. 2001). A state inmate sued corrections officials and a prison chaplain asserting violation of his First Amendment right to free exercise of religion by denying him approval for a kosher diet. The district court entered judgment on a jury verdict awarding the inmate $3,650 in compensatory damages and $42,500 in punitive damages against the chaplain, finding no liability on the part of the corrections officials. The appeals court affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded. The appeals court held that the punitive damages award had to be vacated in light of the district court's instruction to consider actual damages, that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) does not bar punitive damages, and whether punitive damages were warranted was a question for the jury on remand. (Hutchinson Correctional Facility, Kansas)