by David M. Reutter

What a politician believes about the impact of restoring the vote to a convicted felon often depends on which side of the aisle they stand on. A common belief amongst politicians is that felons are liberals who would vote Democratic. A survey of 8,266 prisoners by Slate and The Marshall Project found that convicts’ political views cannot be so easily pigeonholed.

They reported that:

• A plurality of white respondents back President Trump, undercutting claims that people in prison would overwhelmingly vote for Democrats.

• Long stretches in prison appear to be more politicizing: The more time respondents spend in prison, the more motivated they are to vote and to discuss politics.

• Perspectives change inside prison. Republicans behind bars back policies like legalizing marijuana that are less popular with GOP voters on the outside; Democrats inside prison are less enthusiastic about assault weapons bans than Democrats at large.

• Political views diverged by race. Black respondents are the only group pointing to reducing racial bias in criminal justice as a top concern; almost every other group picked reducing the prison population as a key priority.

The survey was inserted into The Marshall Project’s print publication, ...

by David M. Reutter

On January 16, 2020, a New York federal magistrate judge awarded $273,246.88 to a Sing Sing Correctional Facility prisoner who alleged a guard brutally beat him and lied about the incident.

The civil rights action was brought on May 3, 2017, by prisoner Morgan Greenburger. His complaint alleged that he was placed on “special watch” on May 11, 2016, after he told guards that he had eaten a toothbrush. Special watch requires guards to have constant supervision of prisoners to prevent them from injuring themselves.

Greenburger alleged that while under such supervision, he requested a urine bottle from guard Phillip R. Roundtree. Wait “a few minutes,” Roundtree told him. “Greenburg waited, again asked for the urine bottle, waited another fifteen minutes, and asked a third time, informing Roundtree that it was becoming an emergency,” according to court records.

Roundtree responded by screaming at Greenburger and threatening to beat him if he asked again. Greenburger said he was trying to avoid conflict but that he needed to use the bottle. After asking, “you sure you want it?” Roundtree opened the cell door and placed the urine bottle inside near the door.

“As Greenburger reached for the bottle, ...

by David M. Reutter

A Nevada federal district court found on February 7, 2020 that prison officials were liable for failing to provide evidence to a prisoner during disciplinary proceedings. The Court’s grant of summary judgment to Nevada prisoner John Melnik ordered a trial to determine damages.

The order accepted the factual findings in a magistrate’s report and recommendation, but it rejected the conclusion that both parties’ motions for summary judgment should be denied. The facts showed that in November 2014, staff at the High Desert State Prison received an anonymous tip that Melnik was introducing methamphetamine into the prison. As a result, they began monitoring his mail. Letters were intercepted on December 10 and 12, and a small pouch of meth was found taped onto the letters in each envelope.

Melnik was issued two disciplinary charges for unauthorized use of mail and possession/sale of intoxicants. At a disciplinary hearing conducted February 10, 2015, Melnik testified the meth was not his and that he was set up by members of the Aryan Warriors prison gang because he refused to participate in illegal activity. He also requested, and was denied, copies of the envelopes and letters at issue.

The district court ...

by David M. Reutter

A California federal district court granted a temporary restraining order that requires the defendants to take steps to end the retaliation against two class members housed at the R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility (RJD) near San Diego.

The court’s July 2, 2020, order found that the plaintiffs had shown a likelihood of success on the merits on their claim that the defendants and their employees had violated the court’s March 17, 2020, order and the Americans with Disabilities Act by retaliating against the two class members (witnesses). The March order specifically ordered the defendants not to take retaliatory action against any of the prisoner witnesses in the suit.

In its July order, the court found that the plaintiffs had demonstrated they were “likely to show at Defendants and their employees have retaliated against the Witnesses for participating in this lawsuit and for supporting the Motion to Stop Defendants from Assaulting, Abusing, and Retaliating Against Incarcerated People with Disabilities” at RJD and statewide.

The plaintiffs were likely to prove that the defendants had “been unable or unwilling to address the safety concerns of the Witnesses in their current housing placements at RJD,” wrote the court. “In light of ...

by David M. Reutter

After what officials are calling coordinated fights, six Oklahoma prisons were placed on lockdown status for over a week. One prisoner died and 36 prisoners and several staff were injured in the melees.

The lockdowns began on September 15, 2019, after fights between gangs at prisons in Hominy, Sayre, Fort Supply, Lawton, and Stringtown occurred within 24 hours of altercations at Northeast Oklahoma Correctional Center in Vinita.

“It has to be a coordinated effort,” said Bobby Cleveland, director of the Oklahoma Corrections Professionals. “They even had fights at the minimum-security prison.” He noted that prisoners use contraband cellphones to coordinate illegal efforts.

Following the lockdowns, guards conducted shakedowns of the prisons and confiscated homemade weapons. “A lot of shanks . . . broken broom handles, broken faucets, faucet heads that have a cord attached to them,” said Matt Elliott, spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (OCDC). “The types of weapons inmates typically use and fight with.”

Prisoner Chad Burns, 27, was killed in a fight at the Dick Conner Correctional Center in Hominy. He was serving a 15-year sentence for 2016 convictions on charges of weapons, assault and battery, robbery, and burglary. Of the 36 ...

by David M. Reutter

A guilty plea to conspiracy and wire fraud charges was entered in a Michigan federal district court on December 4, 2019, by Tony Tuan Pham, also known as Anh Nguyen, in his role of coaching prospective and current federal prisoners on how to qualify for the Residential Drug Abuse Program, a 500-hour residential substance abuse program, and receive a shortened sentence.

Pham, 50, a “Managing Partner” at Michigan-based RDAP Law Consultants, and those he supervised contacted federal criminal defendants and prisoners through unsolicited emails and telephone calls to assist them, for a fee, to qualify for the RDAP.

Despite knowing many of the clients did not abuse drugs or alcohol and were ineligible for the program, Pham coached them on how to feign or exaggerate a drug or alcohol disorder to gain entry to the program, which allows prisoners to qualify for up to 12 months early release.

The scheme earned RDAP Law Consultants $2,628,137 in client fees from September 2102 through January 2019. When the scheme began, Pham was living in a residential reentry center.

Pham was originally supposed to be sentenced in March 2020, but that was suspended until at least August. 

Source: ...

by David M. Reutter

The Montana Department of Corrections (MDOC) agreed to pay $5,400 to resolve a former prisoner’s claim that alleged religious discrimination and failed equal opportunities for women.

The November 7, 2019 Conciliation Agreement resolved complaints brought by prisoner May Simmons, who was held at the Montana Women’s Prison (MWP). Simmons filed a complaint with the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Human Rights Bureau on August 20, 2018.

The complaint contained three claims: failure to afford equal opportunities in trade skills for women as provided men; failure to provide Simmons with a Jehovah’s Witness Bible or services; and failure to provide a reasonable accommodation for Simmons’ disabling condition.

The Conciliation Agreement provided for Simmons to receive $1,000 and her attorney, Eric Holm, received $4,400 in attorney fees. It also required MDOC to provide Simmons, who suffers from carpal tunnel syndrome, with a typewriter and two ribbons for use in her cell until her release (which occurred on December 15, 2019). Additionally, prisoners of the Jehovah’s Witness denomination were to be “permitted to use the chapel for the exercise of their religion to the same extent and pursuant to the same rules as all other religious denominations within ...

by David M. Reutter

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held on March 6, 2020 that prison officials did not retaliate against a prisoner by transferring him to another prison where the transfer was a response to the prisoner’s grievances concerning confinement conditions.

Indiana prisoner Robert Holleman was described by the Seventh Circuit as “the quintessential jailhouse lawyer.” From 2012 until November 2015, Holleman was confined at Pendleton Correctional Facility. While there, he worked as a law clerk, helped others file lawsuits and pursue legal remedies, and successfully prosecuted several of his own lawsuits.

His civil rights complaint recounted “a troubled history between himself and officials at Pendleton,” specifically its superintendent, Dushan Zatecky. That history of retaliation included termination as a law clerk, removal from preferential housing, placement in segregation, and subjection to a sham investigation.

Those instances were cited as context for the alleged retaliation that formed the basis for his lawsuit. In March 2015, Holleman sued over cold conditions at Pendleton. Then, in October 11, 2015, he contributed statements to a newspaper about allegedly poor medical care provided to prisoners at Pendleton. Three days later, he filed a grievance alleging the nutritional value of lunches was inadequate.

Zatecky’s ...

by David M. Reutter

An Ohio prisoner received a $110,518.94 settlement in a civil rights action that alleged guards used excessive force on him. The settlement, finalized on February 13, 2020, further provided for reversal of misconduct reports related to the incident.

While at Southern Correctional Facility on January 21, 2018, prisoner Richard Barrow was attacked by another prisoner in his cell when his cell was opened for lunch time. He was subsequently placed in handcuffs behind his back and escorted out the cell block. As that was being done, a guard yelled, “Put him in the hucklebuck,” a term meaning to assault someone.

Guards Toby Bolton, Tony Barrett, Evan Smith and Adam Smith began to assault Barrow, causing a gash in his lip. He was dragged to the medical unit with his head slamming on door jams, Barrow alleged.

Once at medical, he was kicked and stomped until a nurse arrived, resulting in a broken rib and cuts to his eye and lip.

After exhausting his administrative remedies, Barrow on June 20, 2018, filed a civil rights complaint in federal court. Represented by the law firm of Friedman and Gilbert, the matter resulted in a preliminary settlement on September ...

by David M. Reutter

On February 28, 2020, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the parties’ conflicting self-serving statements precluded the grant of summary judgement for defendants in a lawsuit alleging malicious prosecution.

Before the court was the appeal of Michigan prisoner Chris Davis, who is housed at Ionia Correctional Facility. His 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action was screened and several claims were dismissed, but Davis was allowed to proceed on his First Amendment claim of retaliation for filing a grievance and state and federal malicious prosecution claims against guard James Gallagher. The court subsequently granted Gallagher’s motion for summary judgment, and Davis appealed.

As Davis “was leaving breakfast one morning, Gallagher called him ‘Bubba’ and asked where he was going.” When Davis did not respond, Gallagher called Davis “boy” and demanded an answer to his question. Davis told Gallagher that “Bubba” and “boy” are racist terms and that he may file a grievance over his perceived racism. Gallagher responded that Davis better acknowledge him when called “or I will put your ass in the hole, boy.”

Gallagher did not dispute that interaction, but he disputed Davis’ version of events at lunch. As he was leaving the lunchroom, ...