by John E. Dannenberg
A former prisoner who posed as an attorney in at least 16 cases in ten federal courts since 2004 has admitted to a federal judge that he is not a lawyer and didn’t graduate from law school as he had claimed. The effect of his faux ...
Rape of Child by Former Washington DOC Director’s Son Spawns Departmental Crisis
by John E. Dannenberg
The Washington State Court of Appeals has upheld the firing of the Department of Corrections’ (WDOC) chief personnel counselor for violating the department’s privacy policies while counseling staff during a crisis caused by salacious ...
by John E. Dannenberg
The venerated PEW Center on the States reported in February 2008 that one in every 99.1 adult Americans was presently behind bars. For males between ages 20 and 34, the number is 1 in 30. Racially, the numbers are even more disturbing: one in 36 Hispanic ...
PLN Attorneys Awarded $137,672 for Post-Settlement Work in CDCR Censorship Case
by John E. Dannenberg
On April 10, 2008, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California awarded $137,672 in supplemental legal fees and costs incurred in enforcing a settlement agreement between PLN and the California Department of ...
Landmark 1980 California Death Row Federal Consent Decree Partially Terminated Under PLRA
by John E. Dannenberg
A landmark 1980 federal consent decree that covers all manner of living conditions for San Quentin State Prison’s death row population was partially terminated in February 2008 following a motion by the state defendants, ...
by John E. Dannenberg
On June 19, 2008, a U.S. District Court held that the Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC) failed to meet its burden of proving that a blanket ban on group worship by Odinists was the least restrictive means of maintaining institutional safety and security. The court permanently ...
Colorado DOC Pays $60,000 Settlement for Suicide of Former Prisoner Who Was Sexually Abused by Guard
by John E. Dannenberg
The Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) settled a lawsuit brought by the family of a former prisoner who committed suicide a year after he paroled. The suit alleged that the ...
Tenth Circuit: Procedural Defense to Federal Prisoner’s ETS Suit Fails on Inadequate Grievance Record-Keeping
by John E. Dannenberg
The Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a summary judgment order in a federal prisoner’s pro se Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) suit against private prison contractor Cornell Corrections, Inc., because Cornell’s ...
by John E. Dannenberg
The Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals realigned its jurisprudence to comport with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Jones v. Bock, 127 S.Ct. 910 (2007) [see: PLN, May 2007, p.36], which held that failure to exhaust administrative remedies in a prisoner’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ...
by John E. Dannenberg
The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice (Commission) charged that the practice of California counties to use competitive bidding for private attorneys to represent indigent criminal defendants has resulted in unconstitutionally poor legal representation. The practice usually involves bidding the criminal defense work on ...
