by John E. Dannenberg

On June 2, 2004, the United States District Court (D. Utah) ruled that the Salt Lake County Jails (SLCJ) policy prohibiting prisoners receipt of any magazine or newspaper was unconstitutional. Brian Barnard, the persistent attorney, who fought the case for eleven years, was granted $28,374.89 in ...

by John E. Dannenberg

A diabetic Alabama prisoner lying on the floor of his cell due to suffering from his diabetes condition had his leg stomped on by a guard. When the prisoner grieved the abuse, another guard filed a phony disciplinary report against him. Proceeding pro se, the prisoner ...

Any Reliance On AA or NA Participation During Parole
Consideration Violates Establishment Clause

by John E. Dannenberg

The United States District Court, E.D. Cal., ruled that requiring a California life prisoner to attend Narcotics Anonymous (NA) or Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) as a predicate for parole constituted a state establishment of ...

California Probationers and Parolees Not Similarly Situated As To Eligibility For Prop. 36 Drug Treatment

by John E. Dannenberg

The California State Supreme Court held that Equal Protection claims as to parolees and probationers do not save a probation violators claim for eligibility to receive alternative drug treatment in lieu ...

by John E. Dannenberg

For only the twelfth time since 1981, California paid a wrongfully imprisoned person for his troubles. After serving nine years of a 27-life 1995 sentence for rape, a 38 year-old man was recently awarded $328,000 $100 for each day in prison.

Peter Rose was convicted in ...

by John E. Dannenberg

Native American prisoners and Nebraska's then Director of Corrections, Harold Clarke, reached a settlement agreement on March 15, 2005 in U.S. District Court (D. Neb.) to reinstate the Native American prisoners' club (Native American Spiritual and Cultural Awareness) (NASCA) and to permit medicine men and other ...

By John E. Dannenberg

The Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) settled a class action federal civil rights lawsuit brought by Limestone Correctional Facility AIDS-afflicted prisoners who had complained of unconstitutional conditions of medical treatment and confinement that resulted in excessive suffering and a high mortality rate. The settlement implicated performance ...

by John E. Dannenberg


The Marin County, California Superior Court ruled that a lifer who was twelve years overdue for release when he was finally granted parole, but who was then referred back to the Board of Prison Terms (BPT) by the Governor to have a pre-release rescission hearing, was ...