"Victims' Rights" As A Stalkinghorse for State Repression
By Paul Wight
How the ruling class defines and punishes "crime" goes a long way towards demonstrating whose class interests are being served by the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system in the United States is used as a tool of ...
by David Cole, The New Press 218 pages, $25.00 hardcover.
Review by A. Friedmann
Those people who have long believed that this nation's criminal justice system is steeped in systemic racism and class-based bias will find vindication in No Equal Justice by Georgetown University law professor David Cole. Those people ...
Starting with last month's issue of PLN we have expanded the number of books we offer for direct sale. This month we have added some more titles. As funds become available we hope to expand our list of titles further. For years PLN has received inquiries from readers asking us ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 5
0n May 13, 1999, Prison Legal News (PLN) filed suit in the U. S. District Court for the middle district of Alabama against the Alabama Department of Corrections (DOC). The Alabama DOC has Administrative Regulation 303 which states: "Inmates may receive a limited number of publications, books, magazines, newspapers etc. ...
Over the past 14+ years of my incarceration, I've been asked repeatedly to describe how I'm treated differently from other prisoners because I'm a political prisoner. It's always been easy to answer, as examples abound. Now, as I approach my mandatory release date of August 6, yet another example has ...
Awareness of the devastatingly negative impact of the politically driven criminal justice system on American society continues to grow. On the week-end of April 10th, there were two conferences in the U. S. dedicated to exposing its normally hidden aspects to the light of publicity and public scrutiny.
One of ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 7
On December 23, 1998, the Jefferson county jail in Louisville, Kentucky, settled a class action suit by agreeing to pay $11.5 million to thousands of people who were strip searched after being arrested for minor offenses. The lawsuit and settlement covers everyone arrested and strip searched at tire jail between ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 8
0n May 17, 1999, King County (Seattle) superior court judge Glenna Hall held that RCW 72.09.480 was unconstitutional. In 1995 the Washington legislature enacted RCW 72.09.480 which mandates the seizure by the Department of Corrections (DOC) of 35% of all funds sent in to prisoners from sources outside prison. PLN ...
RCW 72.09:480 was enacted in 1995 as part of House Bill (FIB) 2410, a massive prisoner bashing bill that unanimously passed the legislature that year. RCW 72.09.480 was slipped into HB 2010 with no public hearings, debate or notice. The law mandates the seizure of 35% of all funds sent ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 9
On December 24, 1998, Thurston county superior court judge Daniel Bershauer held that Washington prison officials had unlawfully converted an indigent prisoner's funds.
Roger Smith, a prisoner at the Airway Heights Correctional Center (AHCC), was indigent when he was sent $10. AHCC officials then seized $2 of that money to ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 10
Suit Filed in Illinois
On May 5, 1999, a class action suit was filed by Illinois consumers who receive collect calls from Illinois state and county jail prisoners alleging that they are forced to pay exorbitant phone rates as a result of an illegal conspiracy between phone companies, the Illinois ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 10
The Federal Communications Commission, (FCC) has issued regulations mandating the disclosure rates consumers will actually pay for phone calls received from prisoners. Effective October 1, 1999, 47 C.F.R. § 67.710 "Operator Services for Prison Inmate Phones", states in its entirety:
"(a) Each provider of inmate operator services services shall:
(i) ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 11
On January 10, 1999, the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) issued an order, requiring: prison and Jail phone service providers to reduce the rates they charge for prison and Jail collect calls to the tariff charged for non prison and jail collect calls.
The PSC initiated hearings into prison payphone ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 12
Warden Used "Force" in Sexual Assault
Walter Lucas was Acting Warden of the River County Jail in River City, Mississippi, when he asked a male prisoner to act as lookout so that he could take care of some "business" with a female prisoner in a secluded room adjacent to his ...
As criminals receive longer sentences and serve a greater portion of them under threestrikes, truth-in-sentencing and mandatory minimum laws, the number of elderly prisoners with health problems has increased accordingly. Some consider this trend to be the result of a misplaced emphasis on incarceration as a solution to crime. Others ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 13
On December 15 1998, a federal jury in San Antonio, Texas, awarded Texas state prisoner Robert Sikes $250,000 in damages for a beating administered by prison guards. In 1995 Sikes was imprisoned in a Karnes county state prison. During a dispute with a female guard over a broken cell light, ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 13
The court of appeals for the Third Circuit held that a prisoner does not have a cause of action, under 42 U. S. C. section 1983, for damages for emotional distress caused by exposure to asbestos, without proof of physical injury.
This case began in 1986, a decade before the ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 14
by Alex Friedmann
On March 1, 1999 the Corrections Corp. of America agreed to pay $1.65 million plus $803,000 in attorney fees and expenses to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by Washington, D.C. prisoners at the company's Northeast Ohio Corr. Center in Youngstown.
The suit, brought by Eugene Busey, James ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 14
The court of appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that a failure to expressly raise the issue of attorney fees during settlement negotiations waives any subsequent claim thereto.
This case involves several prisoners, who sued the director of the Nebraska DOC, under 42 U. S.C. section 1983, alleging unconstitutional conditions ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 15
PLN Sues Utah Jail over "Bulk Mail" Ban
0n March 30, 1999, PLN sued the San Juan county jail in Utah over its ban on third class mail (AKA "bulk mail"). The jail has a policy under which it refuses to deliver mail paid for at third class postage rates ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 15
The court of appeals for the Third 1 Circuit held that under the First Amendment, prison officials must provide Jewish prisoners with a diet sufficient to sustain them in good health without violating kosher laws. However, the food need not be hot, nor even appetizing. The special diet must, nevertheless, ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 16
The court of appeals for the Sixth Circuit that it lacked jurisdiction over an interlocutory appeal from an order denying qualified immunity because the prison medical personnel defendants would not concede to view the facts in a light most favorable to the prisoner. Because such appeals are inherently frivolous, the ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 16
Afederal district court in Colorado held that individual defendants in their individual capacities are not liable under the Rehabilitation Act (RA) or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Additionally, these defendants were held to be entitled to qualified immunity from § 1983 claims under the Acts.
In 1992, Jessie Montez, ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 17
The court of appeals for the D. C. Circuit held that Spanish-speaking prisoners have no right to qualified interpreters at parole hearings, disciplinary hearings, or for medical and mental health treatment.
Spanish-speaking prisoners in the District of Columbia (District) prison system filed suit under 42 U.S. C. § 1983, alleging ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 18
by Matthew Clarke
Afederal district court in Texas has ruled that prisoners who were kicked, bitten by dogs, shocked, and subjected to a public strip and body cavity search by untrained, improperly supervised private guards during a shakedown presented sufficient evidence to defeat the guards' motion for summary judgment.
Brazoria ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 19
The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit held that Illinois prisoners have no liberty interest in parole. In doing so, the court overruled a prior ruling that had held otherwise.
Two Illinois state prisoners filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court contending they were denied due process when ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 20
Afederal disctrict court in Oregon granted habeas corpus relief to two federal prisoners who challenged the Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) denial of early release eligibility.
In 1994 Congress enacted the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act which amended 18 U. S. C. § 3621 to allow the BOP to ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 20
The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit held that a guard's denial of prescribed pain medication to a prisoner undergoing cancer treatment violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. James Ralston, a Wisconsin state prisoner, was given radiation treatment for Hodgkin's disease. The treatment caused painful ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 21
The U. S. court of appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that the existence of a factual dispute as to whether jail guards and medical staff intended to punish a detainee for requesting medical treatment, precluded summary judgment.
While Ronald Davis was confined to the St. Louis (MO) City Jail, ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 21
In a detailed and well-reasoned opinion, a Texas state appellate court held that the establishment of a Christian Education Unit (CEU) in a county jail may violate the Establishment Clauses in the Texas and federal constitutions.
In 1992, the Tarrant County Sheriff set aside a men's CEU pod at the ...
By Paul Wight
The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that an Iowa prison's ban on cassette tapes with parental advisory notices due to "explicit lyrics" was permissible. Michael Herlein, a former Iowa state prisoner, filed suit challenging a prison policy that banned all music tapes bearing the ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 22
In a long running case, the court of appeals for the Second circuit held that requiring an atheist to attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings as a probation condition, violates the establishment clause of the First amendment to the U.S. constitution. Robert Warner, an atheist, was required to attend AA meetings ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 23
The court of appeals for the Second circuit held that district courts must grant leave to indigent pro se litigants to amend their complaints before the suit is dismissed. The suit in this case was filed by a non prisoner pro se litigant with in forma pauperis (IFP) status. The ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 23
The California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) is the union which represents California's 28,000 prison guards. The union is also one of the most powerful political players in state politics. The union supports mandatory sentencing, including "three strikes" laws; increased prison building and harsher prison conditions.
The key to the ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 24
The courts of appeal for the Second and Third circuits have upheld the consent decree termination provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) against a wide array of constitutional challenges. In the July, 1998, issue of PLN we reported Imprisoned Citizens Union v. Sharp, 11 F. Supp.2d 586 (ED ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 24
The court of appeals for the Sixth circuit held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) allows courts to impose costs on losing prisoner litigants regardless of their ability to pay. The court held that the PLRA overruled prior circuit precedent to the contrary.
Michigan prisoners Randolph TalleyBey and Robert ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 25
Afederal district court in Texas has ruled that the attorney fee cap in the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e, applies to work performed by attorneys appointed after the enactment of the PLRA to represent pro se prisoners.
Reginald Roberson, a Texas state prisoner, filed suit under ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 25
A federal district court in Louisiana held that prisoners released from prison need not have a court ruling in their favor before challenging prison disciplinary hearings via 42 U. S. C. § 1983. Jimmy White, a Louisiana state prisoner, was infracted for intoxication and attempted escape while serving a sentence ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 26
The court of appeals for the Second circuit held that former prisoners who sue over prison or jail conditions of confinement are not required to exhaust their administrative remedies before filing suit in federal court. James Greig, a New York state parolee, filed suit claiming his rights had been violated ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 26
Afederal district court in Wisconsin held that 42 U. S.C. 1997e(a) of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) does not require prisoners to file a notice of claim with the state attorney general's office in order to exhaust their administrative remedies.
Jamie Blas, a Wisconsin state prisoner, filed suit under ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 26
The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit held that a prisoner's lawsuit over a prison's lead contaminated water was wrongfully dismissed under the Prison Litigation Reform Act's (PLRA) physical injury requirement. Floyd Robinson, an Illinois state prisoner, filed a lawsuit claiming there was lead in the prison's drinking water, ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 27
The court of appeals for the Seventh circuit held that prison wardens are responsible for ensuring Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) filing fees are transmitted from the trust accounts of prisoners to the courts. Wardens who fail to forward PLRA filing fees can be held in contempt of court, as ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 27
In its third ruling on the topic in recent months, the court of appeals for the Seventh circuit attempted to delineate what constitutes a "good faith" appeal under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA).
Aaron Hyche, an Illinois state prisoner, filed a lawsuit which was dismissed by the district court. ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 28
Bolivia: On April 27, 1999, more than 1,500 prisoners in seven prisons went on hunger-strike to protest overcrowding, delays in case processing and the denial of good time credits. At least five prisoners sewed their lips shut, 19 tied themselves to prison bars in a mock crucifixion and four submerged ...
Loaded on
Aug. 15, 1999
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1999, page 29
The court of appeals for the Eleventh circuit held that a district court had erred in refusing to dissolve an injunction designed to relieve jail overcrowding. In 1982 an injunction was entered by a federal district court which prohibited the state of Alabama and Lauderdale county from housing convicted state ...
