×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
Why is California Thumbing its Nose at a Federal Court?
Loaded on May 5, 2016
by Caleb Mason
published in Prison Legal News
May, 2016, page 30
Filed under:
Gang Policies,
Good Time,
Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
Location:
California.
The Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution provides that the government can’t retroactively increase the penalty for criminal conduct. It applies not just to initial sentence length but also to potential “good-time credit” prisoners can earn to reduce their sentences.
In California, prior to 2010, prisoners in …
Full article and associated cases available to subscribers.
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
More from this issue:
- Alabama Forced to Confront Criminal Justice Reform, by David Reutter
- Low Pay, Long Hours Fuel Increasing State Prison Staffing Problems, by Derek Gilna
- PLN Exclusive: Illinois Prisoner Exonerated, Released after Ten Years, by Derek Gilna
- How Prison Phone Calls Became a Tax on the Poor
- ACLU Report: Women Uniquely Harmed by Solitary Confinement, by Matthew Clarke
- UK Supreme Court Rules Against Unlawful Use of Solitary Confinement, by Christopher Zoukis
- Disputed PLRA Administrative Exhaustion Issues Properly Resolved in Bench Trial
- $8,000 Settlement for Medical Maltreatment by BOP; Court Finds Experts Not Required, by Derek Gilna
- Corrections Agencies Use Obamacare to Pay for Prisoners’ Medical Care, by Christopher Zoukis
- L.A. County Audit Recommends More Contract Oversight for Probation Department, by Derek Gilna
- Delaware Supreme Court Suspends Prosecutor for Misconduct, by Christopher Zoukis
- $15 Million Award for Prisoner Rendered Paraplegic Due to Medical Malpractice Affirmed, by David Reutter
- Florida’s Private Prison Movement Alive and Well, by David Reutter
- Audits Expose Irregularities in Iowa Prison System Spending, by Derek Gilna
- Seventh Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Ex-prisoner’s § 1983 Action Regarding Computer Disk, by Derek Gilna
- Lawsuit Claims Florida Teen Raped, Beaten in Prison Initiation Ritual
- Fourth Circuit Upholds Denial of Summary Judgment to Guards in Excessive Force Suit
- BOP Pays $70,000 to Settle Lawsuit by Sexually Abused Transgender Prisoner, by Derek Gilna
- $30,000 Settlement for New York Prisoner Assaulted by Guard
- California Supreme Court Rules in Prisoner’s Favor in Compassionate Release Denial, by Gary Hunter
- Nonviolent Michigan Offenders Can Seek Expungement Under New Law, by David Reutter
- Prisoner Rights Advocates Disappointed with Pace of Obama Clemency Initiative, by Derek Gilna
- Former U.S. Attorney General’s Legacy: Too Little, Too Late, by Derek Gilna
- Medically Unacceptable Biopsy States Eighth Amendment Claim
- Prisoners in Chicago Learn Skills, Improve Neighborhoods by Demolishing Vacant Homes, by Gary Hunter
- Report Documents U.S. Recidivism Rates for Federal Prisoners, by Christopher Zoukis
- California Jail’s Psychotropic Medication Policy Leads to Lawsuit, Settlement, by David Reutter
- Idaho Prison Population Drops, Out-of-State Prisoners Re-turned, by Christopher Zoukis
- Delaware Prisoners Sue DOC Alleging Sexual Assaults by Prison Doctor, by Christopher Zoukis
- Seventh Circuit: Former Parolee May Sue Over Delayed Release from Parole
- Hawaii Prisons Experience Security Failures, Other Troubling Incidents, by David Reutter
- Second Circuit: Truth of Arrest Remains Despite Connecticut “Erasure” Law, by Mark Wilson
- Second Circuit: Administrative Remedies Unavailable for Beating at Holding Facility
- BOP Recognizes Humanist Religion after Prisoner Files Suit, by Derek Gilna
- A “Quantum Leap” Isn’t Far Enough for the Prison Phone Industry, by Carrie Wilkinson
- Suit Filed Over New Hampshire DOC’s Restrictive Mail Policy
- Warden’s Decision to Quarantine Handicapped Person in Unaccommodated Cell Actionable; $200,000 Settlement
- Tennessee Sheriff’s Denial of Public Records Merits Attorney Fee Award
- Why is California Thumbing its Nose at a Federal Court?, by Caleb Mason
- New York: $35,000 Awarded for Three-week Illegal Confinement, by Mark Wilson
- Fourth Circuit Finds 20 Years in Solitary an Atypical and Significant Hardship, by David Reutter
- California’s Inspector General Cites Abuses at High Desert State Prison, by Derek Gilna
- $1,000 Jury Award in Texas Prisoner’s Excessive Use of Force Suit, by Matthew Clarke
- Ninth Circuit: Witnesses Cannot Refuse to Testify at Civil Trial
- Supreme Court Reverses SORNA Notification Requirement when Sex Offenders Move Overseas, by Derek Gilna
- Lawsuit Filed Over Death of Pepper-sprayed, Mentally Ill California Prisoner, by Gary Hunter
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- News in Brief
More from Caleb Mason:
More from these topics:
- Oregon Agrees to $2.3 Million Settlement After Guards Toss Mentally Ill Prisoner in Solitary, Taunt Him Until He Kills Himself, Aug. 1, 2026. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Deliberate Indifference.
- Seventh Circuit Holds Federal Law Prohibits County Jail from Forcing Immigration Detainees to Perform Custodial Labor by Threatening Solitary Confinement, Aug. 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Immigration Detention, Monell Liability.
- Prisoners’ Risk of Death In Custody More than Doubles in Solitary Confinement, July 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Confinement in Segregated Housing, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- Colorado Ordered to Stop Tossing Prisoners in Solitary for Refusing to Work, July 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Injunctions, Good Time, Constitution, state, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- Ombuds Report Doesn’t Rule Out Racism or Retaliation at Red Onion State Prison, June 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Racial Discrimination, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Failure to Treat, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement.
- $250,000 Paid by Maine to Former Prisoner Held in Solitary Confinement—Which the State DOC Says Doesn’t Exist, June 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Americans with Disabilities Act, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- New York Juvenile Detention Officials Sued for Abusing Adolescents with Solitary Confinement, May 1, 2026. Sanitation, Lockdowns, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Juvenile Prisons, Confinement in Segregated Housing.
- Class Certification Granted to Suit Challenging Suspension of HALT Act in New York Prisons, April 1, 2026. Injunctions, Class Certification, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Guard Unions, Administrative Detention/Segregation.
- D.C. Judge Blocks Transfer of Biden-Commuted Federal Death Row Prisoners to “Supermax,” Citing Lack of Meaningful Due Process, April 1, 2026. Transfers, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Fifth Amendment, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Prison Classification.
- New York City Mayor Appoints Ex-Rikers Prisoner as Corrections Commissioner, March 1, 2026. Prison Reform, Staffing, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Guard Unions, Administrative Detention/Segregation.

