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The Fundamental Right of Self-Defense in Prison
Loaded on Nov. 15, 1996
by Robert F Nelson
published in Prison Legal News
November, 1996, page 1
by Robert F. Nelson
Filed under:
Disciplinary Hearings,
Legality of Rules,
Failure to Protect (General),
Habeas Corpus.
Location:
United States of America.
[Editor's Note: In 1994 the court of appeals for the seventh circuit decided Rowe v. DeBruyn, 17 F.3d 1047 (7th Cir. 1994) which held that an Indiana state prisoner had no constitutional right to self-defense in prison. The case arose after the plaintiff was infracted and …
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More from this issue:
- The Fundamental Right of Self-Defense in Prison, by Robert F Nelson
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- The Pelican Bay Factor, by Abdul Olugbala Shakur
- Notes from the Unrepenitentiary, by Laura Whitehorn
- Prison Tragedy Results in Settlement
- Overview, by National Prison Project
- Filing Fee Requirement Not Retroactive
- Louisiana Prison System Back Under Court Supervision
- PLRA Applied Retroactively to Filing Fees
- 2nd Circuit Applies PLRA to IFP Litigants
- Prior Frivolous Suits Count for PLRA
- PLRA Application to Mandamus Discussed
- PLRA Filing Fees Don't Apply to Habeas Petitions
- Three Strikes Applied
- A Matter of Fact
- Criminal Injustice: Confronting the Prison Crisis, by Daniel Burton-Rose
- State Moves to Lift Federal Court Order at Washington State Penitentiary, by David C Fathi
- Eight Corcoran Guards Fired, Five Reinstated
- Ohio "Eases" Prison Overcrowding
- Prison Labor and Private Profit, by Adrian Lomax
- WSR Smoking Suit Settled
- In Harms' Way: Texas Prisoner Shot
- Texas Taxes Spent on DCJ Luxuries
- Criminal Prosecutors Get Their Day In Court
- Publisher Entitled to Notice of Magazine Censorship
- Gas Chamber Found Unconstitutional
- Disciplinary Records Inadmissible Evidence
- No Right to Unmonitored Prison Calls
- Macing and Restraints State Eighth Amendment Claim
- Satanist Claim Goes to Trial
- Nevada Prisoners Have Liberty Interest in Disciplinary Hearings
- News in Brief
- Guard Caught Holding the Knife
More from Robert F Nelson:
- The Fundamental Right of Self-Defense in Prison, Nov. 15, 1996
More from these topics:
- 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.
- $1.25 Million Paid for Special Needs Teen’s Fatal Beating in Houston Jail, May 1, 2026. Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- Seventh Circuit Upholds Liability but Reverses Damages in Lawsuit Over Illinois Warden and Investigator Using Prisoner as Bait to Catch Staff Member Raping Her, May 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Damages, Evidentiary Ruling, Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- “Large Fight” Broke Out at Alaska Prison After Downsizing Effort, April 1, 2026. Transfers, Cost of Prison Systems, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding.
- Five Prisoners in Georgia Injured in Fight, Two Months After Three Prisoners Were Killed, April 1, 2026. Prison/Jail Murders, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing.
- Sixth Circuit Announces State-Law Exceptions to Appeal Deadlines Preserve “Pending” Status Under AEDPA, Holding Belated-Appeal Procedures Toll Federal Habeas Limitations Period, April 1, 2026. Limitations, Habeas Corpus, AEDPA, Appealable Issues/Orders, Failure to Address/Advise Defendant.
- SCOTUS Sides with Federal Prisoner in Habeas Review Case, March 1, 2026. Habeas Corpus, AEDPA, Mandatory Minimum Sentence, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Predicate Acts/Offenses.
- Alaska Prisoner’s Discipline for Violating Invalidated Rule Tossed, March 1, 2026. Disciplinary Hearings, Access to Media, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Authority and Jurisdiction, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- Eighth Circuit Revives Case Against Guards Who Failed to Intervene As Chaplain Sexually Assaulted Arkansas Prisoner, March 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Prison Rape Elimination Act, Qualified Immunity, Failure to Train/Supervise.
- Georgia Grand Jury Scolds Augusta Jail for Overcrowding Days Before Violent Detainee Assault, March 1, 2026. Private Contractors, Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding, Staffing, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).

