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No Witness Protection Program for Famous Author Informant
The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that prisoners are not
entitled to placement in the federal Witness Protection Program (WPP) and
the courts will not enjoin transfers among federal prisons when prison
officials claim they will take special measures to protect their
informants. Jack Henry Abbott, the author of the best selling book, In the
Belly of the Beast, composed of letters he sent writer Norman Mailer, was
also a longtime, notorious informant and despite the tough guy persona he
attempted to project in his book, he spent most of his time in prison in
protective custody. In this case, he filed suit while being held in the
federal medical center in Missouri to avoid being transferred to the
Protective Custody (PC) unit of the US Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois.
Abbott claimed that he was so notorious as an informant that he could not
be adequately protected in any federal prison. The BOP responded by saying
they would house him in a special section of the Marion PC unit where he
would be totally segregated from all other prisoners. The district court
dismissed the suit and the court of appeals affirmed. The court held that
the attorney general has total discretion on who will be placed in the WPP
and that WPP placement is not on demand. The court held that the BOP's plan
to imprison Abbott at Marion seemed adequate and if it wasn't, the BOP
could reevaluate his situation. Abbott notes there was national publicity
about his activities as an informant including a deposition he made
describing his informant activities which a government lawyer later made
public. Abbott died in 2002 in a New York state prison, having committed
suicide. See: Abbott v. Petrovsky, 717 F.2d 1191 (8th Cir. 1983).
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entitled to placement in the federal Witness Protection Program (WPP) and
the courts will not enjoin transfers among federal prisons when prison
officials claim they will take special measures to protect their
informants. Jack Henry Abbott, the author of the best selling book, In the
Belly of the Beast, composed of letters he sent writer Norman Mailer, was
also a longtime, notorious informant and despite the tough guy persona he
attempted to project in his book, he spent most of his time in prison in
protective custody. In this case, he filed suit while being held in the
federal medical center in Missouri to avoid being transferred to the
Protective Custody (PC) unit of the US Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois.
Abbott claimed that he was so notorious as an informant that he could not
be adequately protected in any federal prison. The BOP responded by saying
they would house him in a special section of the Marion PC unit where he
would be totally segregated from all other prisoners. The district court
dismissed the suit and the court of appeals affirmed. The court held that
the attorney general has total discretion on who will be placed in the WPP
and that WPP placement is not on demand. The court held that the BOP's plan
to imprison Abbott at Marion seemed adequate and if it wasn't, the BOP
could reevaluate his situation. Abbott notes there was national publicity
about his activities as an informant including a deposition he made
describing his informant activities which a government lawyer later made
public. Abbott died in 2002 in a New York state prison, having committed
suicide. See: Abbott v. Petrovsky, 717 F.2d 1191 (8th Cir. 1983).
.
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