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Articles by Paul Wright

No Liberty Interest in Erroneous Parole Release

The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, sitting en banc, held that a North Carolina prisoner had no liberty interest in remaining free when he was erroneously paroled, lived a law abiding life, and was then reimprisoned two years later when the mistake was discovered.

In the September, 1999, ...

From the Editor

PLN's fundraiser to pay for the second staff position has raised $5,645 as of January 10, 2000. We need to raise a total of $24,000 above and beyond what we normally bring in so we will be able to pay for a much needed second office person. If you haven't ...

Prisoners' Guerrilla Handbook to Correspondence Programs in the U.S. and Canada: High School, Vocational, Paralegal and College Courses

by Jon Marc Taylor, Audenreed Press, 243 Pages

Reviewed by Paul Wright.

The steady demise of educational programs in prison means that prisoners seeking an education can no longer rely on prisoncrats to provide it. While there are books on the market discussing correspondence courses, they are all aimed at ...

Federal Criminal Defendant's Handbook: Negotiating the Long, Lonely Road from Arrest, to Prison, to Freedom

by Douglas Hill, J.D., Kensington Publishers, 208 pages

Reviewed by Paul Wright.

A common refrain among jailhouse lawyers that have successfully learned how to navigate the legal system while imprisoned is "I wish I knew at the time of my arrest what I know now." Knowledge of how the criminal ...

Enemies of the State: A Frank Discussion of Past Political Movements, Victories and Errors and the Current Political Climate for Revolutionary Struggle Within the USA

By RNB with Marilyn Buck
David Gilbert and Laura
Whitehorn, 84 pages

Review by Paul Wright


The United States government steadfastly denied holding any political prisoners. In reality, it holds over 100 leftist political prisoners imprisoned because of their anti-imperialist activities and beliefs. This booklet contains interviews with three of ...

Washington Prison Slavery Runs Competitors Out of Business

PLN has extensively reported that, contrary to the claims of its supporters, prison slave labor has historically cost free world workers their jobs and eliminated businesses who are unable to compete with prison slave wages. Prison slave labor also drives down wages and ill serves prisoners in terms of providing ...

From the Editor

Welcome to another year of PLN. This issue contains our case and subject index for 1999. In 1995 we decided that indexing PLN would greatly enhance its value as a research tool. All of our back issues are indexed and each January we have published the index to the previous ...

From the Editor

by Paul Wright

The August issue of PLN had the last column Laura Whitehorn wrote for us before getting out of prison on August 5, 1999. Laura believed it was important that her column be written by current prisoners, as opposed to a former prisoner.

With this issue of PLN ...

Lockdown America: Police and Prisons in the Age of Crisis, by Christian Parenti (Review)

Verso, 290 pages

Review by Paul Wright

The government is by no means a neutral agent dedicated to the welfare of all its citizens. Instead, it stands first and foremost to protect the interests of whatever class happens to hold state power at the time. In the United States at ...

Maximum Security University, edited by Tom Quinn (Book and Video Review)

Video Review by Bob Fischer and Janet Stanton

Maximum Security University is a 48 minute video production by California Prison Focus depicting the deaths of four prisoners shot by guards during the notorious gladiator fights at Corcoran prison in California. The shootings occurred as part of the CDC's deliberate policies. ...