(Thomson West, 2000). 751 pages, $29.00
by John E. Dannenberg
PLN readers will recognize this compact 751-page pocketbook as a “junior” version of the venerable 1,920-page Black’s Law Dictionary, which is also the work of seasoned legal lexicographer Bryan Garner. The Dictionary of Criminal Law Terms gains its compactness not ...
by John E. Dannenberg
Senior U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence K. Karlton has upheld a 2004 injunction that conflicts with the parole revocation provisions of California’s so-called Victims’ Bill of Rights, also known as Marsy’s Law. Marsy’s Law, enacted in 2008 as Proposition 9, a ballot initiative, granted entitlements to ...
by John E. Dannenberg
The New Testament recounts Jesus’ plight as a prisoner: “Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.” (Matthew 25:36).
Spurred on by Bible-banging Warden Burl Cain of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, ...
by John E. Dannenberg
Between 2000 and 2010, 775 California lifers died in prison while 674 were granted parole. Those statistics, released by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) pursuant to a public records request, reflect the grim reality that parole-eligible lifers are more likely to die in ...
by John E. Dannenberg
The California Court of Appeals held that San Diego County was not financially responsible for medical care for precommitment arrestees who received medical care at community hospitals prior to being booked into county jail.
Sharp Healthcare (Sharp) and other healthcare providers sued San Diego County to ...
Ohio: Jailhouse Lawyer OK’d Absent State-Supplied Meaningful Alternatives
by John E. Dannenberg
A majority of the Ohio Supreme Court held that the right of prisoners to meaningful access to the courts entitles them to be aided by jailhouse lawyers because Ohio does not provide a reasonable alternative.
The Disciplinary Counsel ...
by John E. Dannenberg
The death penalty has come under renewed scrutiny nationwide with nine states suspending executions by lethal injection. Serious questions have been raised both as to Eighth Amendment concerns of excessive pain during this allegedly anesthetized procedure, as well as how to administer anesthetics lawfully without employing ...
by John E. Dannenberg
The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WDOC) policy that bans prisoners from receiving in the mail commercially published photographs of “celebrity figures, movie stars, models or other[s] that are produced for sale or distribution.”
Green Bay Correctional Institute prisoner ...
By John E. Dannenberg
California law (Penal Code § 6126(a)(2)) requires the new warden of a state prison to be evaluated by the State Inspector General (IG) within twelve months prior to their state Senate confirmation hearing. The same law also requires the IG to audit and report on each ...
by John E. Dannenberg
The Minnesota Court of Appeals held that a 1999 statutory amendment mandating all sex offenders to undergo mental health treatment was an ex post facto law as applied to a prisoner sentenced in 1985. The earlier version of the statute had only provided for voluntary participation ...
