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Less Than Equal: State officials, including prejudiced human-rights commissioners, block Prisoner complaints
This story has a bias. It’s in favor of human rights for all people.
So if you think it’s proper for prison guards to call African-American prisoners “niggers” and gay prisoners “fags,” then this story may not be for you. If, however, you think that prisoners deserve to be treated …
So if you think it’s proper for prison guards to call African-American prisoners “niggers” and gay prisoners “fags,” then this story may not be for you. If, however, you think that prisoners deserve to be treated …
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More from this issue:
- The Prison Industries Enhancement Certification Program: Why Everyone Should be Concerned, by Bob Sloan
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- First Circuit Upholds $101,750,000 in Damage Awards in FBI Misconduct Case, by Matthew Clarke
- Less Than Equal: State officials, including prejudiced human-rights commissioners, block Prisoner complaints, by Lance Tapley
- Prison Labor Bails Out State and County Budgets, by Gary Hunter
- All Eyes On the Court: An Interview with Attorney and Federal Court Monitor Fred Cohen, by Todd Matthews
- Cook County Strip, Body Cavity Searches Held Unconstitutional; Other Suits Pending, by Brandon Sample
- California Cuts Funding for Prop 36 Drug Treatment Programs, by Michael Brodheim
- Michigan Study Shows Incarceration Can Cause Illness in Loved Ones, by Gary Hunter
- Conviction of CIA Contractor Who Fatally Beat Afghan Detainee Upheld on Appeal
- Sexual Victimization Widespread in U.S. Correctional Facilities, by Brandon Sample
- Certificate of Merit in Medical Malpractice Suits Unconstitutional in Washington State, by Jimmy Franks
- Illinois Prisoners Bilked Out of Millions Through DOC Commissary Surcharges, by Joseph R. Dole
- A Tight Leash: Judges Micromanage Federal Offenders After Release, by Brandon Sample
- Texas Counties Give Up on Probationer Restitution Centers, by Matthew Clarke
- Prisoner Transport Guards Accused of Forcing Prisoner to Perform Sex Acts, by Michael Brodheim
- Call Your Attorney from Jail, Go to Prison, by John Dannenberg
- Washington Sex Offender Relieved of Obligation to Register
- Texas Youth Commission Causes Consternation, Conflict in State Legislature, by Gary Hunter
- Ninth Circuit Strikes Down BOP Rule Limiting Early Release for RDAP Participants, by Brandon Sample
- California Prisoner Settles Medical Suit for $35,000
- California Enacts Non-Revocable Parole And Increased Credits To Reduce Prison Population, by John Dannenberg
- New Orleans Jail Conditions Found Unconstitutional, by Jimmy Franks
- Jury Awards $80,001 to New Hampshire Prisoner for Guard Beating
- California Prison Erupts, Hundreds Hurt in Riot, Multiple Causes Cited
- In Support of Ending Prosecutorial Misconduct, by Jimmy Franks
- GEO Group Prison Squalor Drives Idaho Prisoner to Suicide: $100,000 Settlement
- South Carolina Prisoner Does Easy Time, by Gary Hunter
- $100,000 Settlement in New York Prisoner’s Slip and Fall Claim
- $750,000 Settlement in Alabama Prisoner’s Heat Death
- Partial Summary Judgment Granted To PLN in FOIA Case against EOUSA, by Brandon Sample
- Shrinking Budgets Force States to Cut Corrections Spending, by Bob Williams
- $60,000 Settlement for Washington Prisoner Injured by Chemical Spill
- GEO Group Buys Just Care For $40 Million
- Texas Religious Group Policies May Violate First Amendment and RLUIPA; TDCJ Changes Policy
- $2.1 Million Awarded in New York Unjust Conviction Claim
- Four-Year Statute of Limitations Applies to § 1983 Claims Filed in Florida
- Washington DOC Ordered to Pay $174,000 for False Imprisonment
- Canadian Appellate Court Affirms $12,000 Judgment for Prisoner
- Eleventh Circuit Finds Administrative Remedies Unavailable When Prison Official Threatens Retaliation
- $3.1 Million Settlement to Wrongly Convicted Massachusetts Prisoner
- $80,000 Award in NY Prisoner’s Claim for Injuries Caused by Assault
- $200,000 Settlement in Florida Prisoner’s Suicide Death
- Texas Prison Guard Gets 24 Months in Federal Prison
- Fourth Circuit: Heck Bar Inapplicable to § 1983 False Imprisonment Suit
- Failure to Raise Issue in Rule 50 Motion Prohibits Argument on Appeal; $214,000 Verdict Upheld
- Massachusetts GPS Program Upheld by State Supreme Court, by Mark Wilson
- Indiana DOC Directive Limiting Educational Credit to Only One Associate’s Degree Violates Ex Post Facto Clause, by Brandon Sample
- Assessment of Prison Account Without Seizure of Funds Implicates Due Process in Third Circuit, by Mark Wilson
- Tenth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Failure to Protect Suit, by Brandon Sample
- Defendants Denied Qualified Immunity in Tennessee Jail Detainee’s Death, by Mark Wilson
- Ninth Circuit: California Jail Detainee’s Excessive Force Suit May Proceed, by John Dannenberg
- Texas to Eliminate Centralized Release of Prisoners
- News in Brief:
- Eighth Circuit Rejects Debt Offset of EAJA Fees; Supreme Court to Hear Case, by Mark Wilson
More from Lance Tapley:
- “Natural Causes Killed Victor: A Death in Solitary,” a folk opera by George Swanson (DVD, 55 minutes), Jan. 10, 2017
- Bonnie Kerness: Pioneer in the Struggle Against Solitary Confinement, July 9, 2014
- No Death Penalty for Maine Prisoner, April 15, 2014
- A Rare Look Inside the Maine State Prison's "Supermax", March 15, 2014
- Prison Reforms Under Maine’s New DOC Commissioner, March 15, 2013
- Solitary Confinement: Bad for Chimps, Okay for Humans?, Oct. 15, 2012
- Reform Comes to Maine Supermax: New commissioner cuts population by more than half; prisoner rights advocates help in the reform, Sept. 15, 2011
- Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire, by Robert Perkinson, Metropolitan Books/Holt, 484 pp (October 2010), $20.00 paperback, May 15, 2011
- Maine Governor Rakes in Private Prison Money, Shows Appreciation, April 15, 2011
- Mass Torture in America: Notes from the Supermax Prisons, Feb. 15, 2011
More from these topics:
- From the Editor, Feb. 1, 2026. Editorials.
- FCC Releases Final Version of Order Gutting 2024 Phone Cap Regulations, Feb. 1, 2026. Misconduct/Corruption, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates.
- D.C. Federal Court Holds Blocking Prison Reform Advocate’s Access to Federal Prisoners May Violate First Amendment and Due Process, Feb. 1, 2026. Threats by Staff, DOC/BOP misconduct, First Amendment, rights, Fifth Amendment, Access to Computers.
- Killings Inside Mississippi’s Prisons Continue Unabated But Report Prompts DOC to Reopen Investigations, Feb. 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Prison/Jail Murders, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, DOJ CRIPA Actions.
- Alaska Deaths in Custody Tie Record High, Feb. 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Deliberate Indifference, Compassionate Release.
- Federal Court Strikes Much of Virginia’s Felony Voting Restriction, Feb. 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Restrictions, discrimination, Voting Rights, Felon Disenfranchisement Statute.
- Two Mississippi Prisons Lose Power During Winter Storm, Feb. 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Exposure to Cold, Negligence/Reckless Endangerment.
- Punished for Bleeding: How Periods in Prison Become a Trap, Feb. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Gender Discrimination -- Women, Strip Searches, Hygiene Supplies, Discrimination (Transgender).
- Differing Judicial Outcomes for the New York Guards Who Killed Robert Brooks, Feb. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Pending Appeal/Sentencing.
- New York State Moves to Dismiss Hundreds of Prison Sexual Assault Lawsuits, Feb. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, DOC/BOP misconduct, Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Authority and Jurisdiction, Access To Courts.

