On June 16, 2011, the Illinois Supreme Court held that prison officials may not seize the wages a prisoner earns to satisfy the cost of incarceration. The Court’s unanimous ruling also vacated a judgment of more than $455,000 against an Illinois state prisoner for reimbursement of incarceration costs.
Kensley Hawkins ...
A settlement agreement between the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) and two civil rights organizations that publish the Jailhouse Lawyer’s Handbook (JLH) overturned the VDOC’s ban on JLH and requires that five copies of that publication be placed in each of the state’s prison libraries. The settlement also provides for ...
On April 15, 2011, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s grant of summary judgment to Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) in a civil rights action alleging Eighth Amendment violations after CCA staff left a mentally ill prisoner in his squalid segregation cell for nine months.
The ...
by David M. Reutter
As budgets for nonprofit groups, schools, churches and state and city agencies have been squeezed, requests for Hawaii prison work crews to help with repair and maintenance projects have increased exponentially.
Prison officials said they were limited in their ability to meet the explosion in requests ...
by David M. Reutter
In January 2011, a federal district court granted summary judgment to the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) in a lawsuit challenging FDOC rule 33-210.101(9), Florida Administrative Code, which prohibits prisoners from advertising for pen pals or receiving correspondence from organizations that provide such services.
The suit ...
U.S. Supreme Court: State P&A Can Sue Another State Agency for Records
by David Reutter
The U.S. Supreme Court held on April 19, 2011 that sovereign immunity does not apply when one agency of a state sues another for violation of federal law. The ruling applies only to obtaining injunctive ...
Florida’s prison industry program is “making a few people very wealthy while operating ... in a manner entirely inconsistent with its mission,” according to advisors to Governor Rick Scott, in a transition report released in December 2010.
The mission of Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises (PRIDE) is to operate ...
What should be done with sex offenders who are not prison guards, cops or priests is an emotionally-charged issue. Most states have adopted some form of civil commitment, but others have adopted the more drastic option of chemical and surgical castration. An incarcerated Louisiana child molester recently volunteered for an ...
Oklahoma County Jail Responsible for Initial Cost of Treating Prisoners’ Pre-Existing Conditions
by David Reutter
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has held that a county’s liability for prisoners’ medical care includes pre-arrest health conditions. The Court further held that a county must pay the initial cost of such treatment, but may ...
By David Reutter
Washington State’s Supreme Court has held the 2005 amendment to the state’s sexually violent predator act (SVPA) does not apply retroactively. The Court also held a trial court may not weigh evidence at a show of cause hearing when determining whether probable cause exists to hold a ...
