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Articles by John Dannenberg

Disciplinary Self-Help Litigation Manual, 2d Ed., by Dan Manville

Disciplinary Self-Help Litigation Manual, 2d Ed., by Dan Manville

(PLN Publishing, Dec. 2014). 368 pages, $49.95 paperback

Book review by John E. Dannenberg

Renowned attorney Dan Manville, co-author of the Prisoners’ Self-Help Litigation Manual, has produced another must-have book for everyone who’s incarcerated.

Doing time necessarily involves fighting the ...

Systemic Changes Follow Murder of Colorado Prison Director

Systemic Changes Follow Murder of Colorado Prison Director

by John Dannenberg

Just over a year after Colorado Department of Corrections Director Tom Clements was killed by former prisoner Evan Ebel, who had been released directly from long-term solitary confinement, there have been significant and far-reaching changes in Colorado’s prison system. ...

The Redbook – A Manual on Legal Style

by Bryan Garner (Thomson West, 2nd Ed., 2006). 510 pages (spiral bound), $15.00.

Book review by John E. Dannenberg

The Redbook is a comprehensive reference manual that provides guidance with every facet of preparing legal documents. Reviewed by judges and attorneys, the Redbook authoritatively instructs litigants in the mechanics of ...

Arrest-Proof Yourself, by Dale Carson and Wes Denham

(Chicago Review Press, 2007). 282 pages (paperback), $14.95.

Book review by John E. Dannenberg

In short, Arrest-Proof Yourself is a colorfully-written manual on how to avoid being arrested. The book’s principal thesis is a hypothetical “electronic plantation” where all persons who are arrested – even if later exonerated – must ...

Arrested: What to do When Your Loved One’s in Jail, by Wes Denham

(Chicago Review Press, 2010). 263 pages (paperback), $16.95.

Book review by John E. Dannenberg

Arrested: What to do When Your Loved One’s in Jail is a detailed “how-to” manual for educating the uninformed about the harsh realities of what jail entails, with the ultimate goal being to guide family members ...

California Parole Board Agrees to Implement Policy to Fix Terms at Lifers’ Initial Hearings

by John E. Dannenberg

On December 16, 2013, the California Board of Parole Hearings (Board) and life-sentenced state prisoner Roy Butler entered into a settlement agreement wherein the Board agreed to fix base and adjusted base terms (guidelines for the minimum amount of time that should be served) for all ...

FCC Order Heralds Hope for Reform of Prison Phone Industry

by John E. Dannenberg and Alex Friedmann

"After a long time – too long – the Commission takes action to finally address the high cost that prison inmates and their families must pay for phone service. This is not just an issue of markets and rates; it is a broader ...

Federal Court Orders California to Release 9,600 More Prisoners

by John E. Dannenberg

On June 20, 2013, a plainly frustrated three-judge federal court not only told California officials that they shall comply with the court's prior order to reduce the state's prison population to 137.5% of design capacity by December 31, 2013, but also suggested how the state should ...

Valley Fever Declared a Public Health Emergency at Two California Prisons; Court Orders Prisoner Transfers

by John E. Dannenberg

On April 25, 2013, Dr. John Galgiani, an expert hired by attorneys representing prisoners in the long-running Plata v. Brown class-action lawsuit over medical care in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), filed an 80-page affidavit with the federal court overseeing the case in ...

Plata and Coleman Showdown in California

by John E. Dannenberg

A three-judge federal court tightened the noose around the neck of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) in April 2013 when it issued a lengthy order denying a motion by state officials to delay or modify the court's prison population reduction order that was ...