By Bob Williams
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has affirmed most of the sweeping reforms to be implemented at the Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP), Unit 32-C, Death Row.
After several death row prisoners staged a hunger strike over conditions on death row, the National Prison ...
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has upheld Virginia's county jail $1.00 per day pay-to-stay fee under the Due Process and Taking Clauses, even though the issue on appeal was the dismissal of the underlying action pursuant to preliminary screening under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A.
Calvin ...
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has reversed the dismissal of a prisoner's free exercise of religion claim, finding that missing a sign-up deadline for Ramadan was an insufficient reason to deny a First Amendment right.
In 1995, Illinois state prisoner Blake Conyers was frisked as ...
By Bob Williams
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has reversed a summary judgment against a Wisconsin state prisoner whose request to form a prisoner atheist group was denied by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections(WDOC).
James Kaufman filed a Request for New Religious Practice with the ...
The United States District Court for the District of Colorado has again found that Colorado state prisoners convicted of sex offenses have a liberty interest in receiving treatment and must be afforded due process prior to termination from treatment.
Colorado state prisoner Jeffrey Beebe was sentenced in 2001 to an ...
By Bob Williams
On December 1, 2004, the Louisiana Supreme Court held the Caddo Parish
Sheriff's (Steve Prator) state court lawsuit against Caddo Parish was
decided in error by the State appellate court. Prator alleged in his
petition for declaratory judgment that the Parish was not entitled to
revenues generated ...
By Bob Williams
Finding confinement and treatment inextricably linked, the United States
District Court for the District of Colorado has ruled that a Colorado
prisoner may have a liberty interest in participating in a Sex Offender
Treatment Program (SOTP) when the program is mandated by state law for
parole eligibility, ...
On de novo review, the Maine Supreme Court held that Jon Scott, a prisoner
in Androscoggin County Jail, failed to establish actionable state court
claims under the Maine Human Rights Act and Title II of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA). Scott claimed that the jail caused him physical
withdrawal ...
Some Evidence Required In "Some Evidence" Standard
by Bob Williams
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has reversed a
prison disciplinary conviction for failure to meet the some evidence"
standard.
New Mexico state prisoner Peter Aquiar was convicted of attempted escape in
a prison disciplinary proceeding. ...
Doing "Katrina Time"
by Bob Williams
Last month, PLN's cover story addressed the terrors and tribulations faced by prisoners when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans on August 29, 2005 -- not just the horrors of the storm, but also the brutality and abuse inflicted by ill-prepared and sadistic prison guards. ...
