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Outgoing Mail May Contain Slander
Loaded on Jan. 15, 1994
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1994, page 2
Aprisoner at the Iowa Men's Reformatory received a major disciplinary infraction for "verbal abuse" as a result of comments included in a letter he had written to his brother. The prisoner, Rick Bressman, wrote: "yeah, their (sic) real assholes, my counselor is a dick head, the officers working here are …
Filed under:
Disciplinary Hearings,
Legality of Rules,
Guilty Pleas,
Qualified Immunity,
Mail Regulations.
Location:
Iowa.
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More from this issue:
- Ninth Circuit Approves Oregon Control Unit Conditions, by Paul Wright
- Outgoing Mail May Contain Slander
- Bankruptcy Appeal Filed When Mailed
- Discipline For Rude Letter Struck Down
- WI Prisoners Not Entitled to Minimum Wage
- Law of Medical Treatment Explained, by Ed Mead
- Conditions Habeas Requires Administrative Exhaustion
- WA State DOC "Work Ethic" Program: Capitalist Training Camp, or Liberal Rehabilitation Scheme?, by PLG
- Court Declines to Define "Frivolous" Suits
- Exposure to Cold Weather States Claim
- Death Row Prisoners Entitled to Limited Contact Attorney Visits
- Prisoner's Assault Claim Must Go to Trial
- MI Hearing Officers Have Absolute Immunity
- Only One Appeal on Qualified Immunity
- Classification Chief Liable for Attack
- Making Con Drink from Toilet States Claim
- Parole Commission Guidelines Not Ex Post Facto
- Visitor Cannot Withdraw Consent to Search Once Search Has Begun
- Common Law Right to Inspect Court Records
- Nominal Damages in Eighth Amendment Claim Upheld
- No Cause of Action in Reversed Disciplinary Sanction
- "Tough On Crime" Law Increases Michigan Crime Rates
- Reviews
- WA DNA Identification Statute Upheld by District Court
- Editorial, by Ed Mead
- BOP Must Disclose Program Statement
- Weed and Seed: The Fortress Culture, by Christian Parenti
- Disastrous Conditions in Vermont Prisons
- Materials on Prison Rape Survival Available
- Dime Down, by Bill Dunne
More from these topics:
- Ninth Circuit Revives HRDC Challenge to Washington DOC Mail Restrictions, Aug. 1, 2026. Qualified Immunity, Publications/Books, Due Process, Censorship, First Amendment, rights.
- Detroit Pays $5.8 Million to Former State Prisoner Exonerated of Murder After 15 Years, Aug. 1, 2026. Wrongful Conviction, Qualified Immunity, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Eyewitness Identification, Evidence - Failure to Disclose.
- Seventh Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Detectives Who Revealed Prisoner Was Informant, Denies Him Anonymity, Aug. 1, 2026. Failure to Protect (General), Physical Injury Rule, Qualified Immunity, Informants (Failure to Protect), 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights.
- Sixth Circuit Affirms Denial of State-Law Qualified Immunity in Scabies Case, Aug. 1, 2026. Corizon, Systemic Medical Neglect, Contagious Disease -- Misc., Qualified Immunity, Deliberate Indifference.
- Fourth Circuit Revives Disabled Prisoner’s Claim for Denial of Out-of-Cell Exercise Time, Aug. 1, 2026. Totality of Conditions, Eighth Amendment, Exercise, Summary Judgment, Qualified Immunity.
- Oregon Reaches $49 Million Settlement with State Prisoners in COVID-19 Class-Action, Aug. 1, 2026. COVID-19, Eighth Amendment, Settlements, Class Certification, Qualified Immunity.
- California Appeals Court Holds Defendant Cannot Be Penalized for Failing to Appear at Sentencing When He Was Being Held in Another County’s Jail on Preexisting Charges, July 1, 2026. Disciplinary Hearings, Due Process, Procedural Default/Error, Evidence - Admissibility, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
- $1 Million Settlement Reached in Jail Suicide of Maryland Detainee Whose Emergency Hospitalization Order Was Ignored, June 1, 2026. Qualified Immunity, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Suicides, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Deliberate Indifference.
- Sixth Circuit Rules Prisoner Held After Parole Board Ordered Release on Parole Could Not State a Rights Violation Claim, June 1, 2026. Parole, Overdetention, Qualified Immunity, Fourteenth Amendment, rights, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights.
- Fourth Circuit Revives North Carolina Prisoner’s Suit Blaming Lazy Guards for Assault by Detainee, May 1, 2026. Failure to Protect (General), Qualified Immunity, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Deliberate Indifference.

