LINCOLN — A Nebraska inmate serving a life sentence has lost his lawsuit claiming that state prison officials unlawfully restricted his parenting time with his young son — a child conceived with a former corrections staff member.
Fifty-year-old James Price filed suit against Nebraska prison wardens Barb Lewien and Shawn Settles, along with Department of Corrections Director Rob Jeffreys, alleging they interfered with his right to communicate with his son. Last month, Lancaster County District Judge Andrew Jacobsen ruled in favor of the state, finding no evidence that the Department of Corrections had limited Price’s ability to contact his child.
Court records show the boy, who is on Price’s approved visitor list, had 38 in-person visits with his father between March 2024 and April 2025, with visits continuing after Price’s transfer from the Nebraska State Penitentiary to Tecumseh State Correctional Institution.
Price claimed he was unable to communicate with his son because he was prohibited from contacting the boy’s mother, Samantha Cedillo, a former corrections employee who was convicted of attempted sexual abuse of an inmate while working at the Omaha Correctional Center in 2022 — where Price was incarcerated at the time. Under Nebraska law, inmates cannot legally consent to sexual contact while in custody.
Assistant Attorney General Joseph McKechnie, representing the state, argued that Cedillo’s probation status for a felony justified restricting contact between her and Price. The court also heard that Price had attempted to circumvent those restrictions by using unauthorized three-way calls involving family members, which violates prison policy.
Judge Jacobsen rejected Price’s argument that his transfer to Tecumseh was retaliatory, ruling instead that the move was based on custody level, not punishment for filing a lawsuit. In his decision, the judge noted that Price’s parenting challenges stem from his incarceration rather than state interference.
“The court does not doubt that it is difficult for the plaintiff to co-parent a toddler from prison,” Jacobsen wrote. “But that is a consequence of the fact that the plaintiff is serving a life sentence for murder.”
Price is serving life plus five to ten years for the 1995 killing of Curtis Patterson in Omaha. He has since filed notice of appeal.
Comments