Freitas v. Ault’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

14 federal appellate · 8 district ·

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 53 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “as an objective matter, that the alleged abuse or harassment caused 'pain' and, as a subjective matter, that the officer in question acted with a sufficiently culpable state of mind.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. United States v. Sanchez · Berry v. Oswalt

2. “It is undisputed that Mr. Freitas’s transfer resulted in several changes in the conditions of his confinement. Upon his arrival at Anamosa, Mr. Freitas was placed in administrative segregation (“lock-up”) for ten days while [North Central Correctional Facility (“NCCF”) ] officials contemplated whether to take disciplinary action against him. While in “lock-up,” Mr. Freitas was allowed out of his cell for approximately one hour a day. After no disciplinary action followed, Mr. Freitas was released into the general prison population and placed in “on-call” status for thirty days. During that time, Mr. Freitas was allowed out of his cell a few hours each day and could have a limited number of visitors, but he could neither work nor enjoy phone privileges. Mr. Freitas did not regain Level V status [his security designation prior to his transfer to Anamosa] for approximately three months. Even then, however, Mr. Freitas enjoyed fewer privileges than he had at NCCF. He had fewer phone and visiting rights, his ability to keep personal items in his cell was restricted, he was required to be in his cell more often, his movements within the prison were limited more, and he was in a higher-security facility. The job that Mr. Freitas eventually gained at Anamosa paid significantly less than his job at NCCF, and Mr. Freitas also lost the ability to earn a “good time” work bonus during the interim between his arrival at Anamosa and his new job, although this loss evidently had no practical”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 459 F. Supp. 2d 946 - Keel v. Dovey

3. “In Freitas , the Eighth Circuit explained: [A] romantic relationship developed between the two [inmate Freitas and prison official Howard] that lasted several months. Mr. Freitas and Ms. Howard would meet in secluded areas of [the prison], where they would kiss, hug, and talk. At Ms. Howard’s request, Mr. Freitas would write her “hot sexy” letters approximately every other day, and Ms. Howard occasionally dressed in tight skirts and high heels for Mr. Frei-tas’s benefit. Although the two discussed living together upon Mr. Freitas’s release, Ms. Howard was apparently less serious about the relationship than Mr. Freitas, for she saw and slept with other men. After Mr. Freitas learned from Ms. Howard that a male companion would be staying with her over the weekend, he decided to inform Mr. Ault, the warden of NCCF, about the relationship. Mr. Freitas wrote Mr. Ault a letter informing him of the affair between the two in which he used the word “relationship” to characterize their interactions and stated that “I’ve been as much at fault” as Ms. Howard and that “this isn’t all my fault.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 442 F. Supp. 2d 236 - White v. Ottinger