I have a story to tell--about how a doctor can be used to kill patients. I will talk to anybody you want me to. I spent twelve years of my life, and these people push me around and turn me into something horrible. I am ashamed of what I have ...
Corcoran Show Trial Ends With Acquittals
The saga of Corcoran's infamous SHU shootings ended June 8, 2000 when a jury acquitted eight California prison guards of federal charges that they entertained themselves by staging gladiator-style fights among prisoners from rival gangs.
Between 1989 and 1994 seven unarmed prisoners were fatally ...
By W. Wisely
On Wednesday, February 23, 2000, one of the bloodiest riots in California prison history broke out among some 200 Black and Latino prisoners. The violence erupted at the state's infamous Pelican Bay prison. Guards sprayed rioting prisoners on the B Facility yard with more than 24 rounds ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 6
A federal district court in New Jersey has approved a $16 million settlement in a class-action suit against state prison officials for constitutionally deficient prison mental health care.
Patricia P. Pearlmutter, assistant professor of clinical law at the Center for Social Justice at Seton Hall University School of Law in ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 7
A "violent sexual predator" who broke out of Florida's civil commitment detention center in a brazen midday helicopter escape was captured, along with his helicopter-flying accomplice, 4 ½ miles away after a 25-hour manhunt.
Shortly after 1:00 P.Mon June 5, 2000, Steven Whitsett jumped into a hovering chopper piloted by ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 8
A U.S. District Court enjoined the director of an Ohio prison from denying a pregnant jail prisoner access to abortion services.
Jane Doe, a pseudonymous female prisoner at River City Correctional Center in Cincinnati, was approximately 6 weeks pregnant when she was incarcerated on July 20, 1999. On July 28, ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 8
A Federal district court in New York held that prisoners have a protected liberty interest in remaining free from administrative segregation.
On February 11, 1987 New York state prisoner, Santiago Ramirez, was served a Tier Three Disciplinary case for possession of a contraband weapon, namely a pointed steel rod which ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
by A A
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 10
Condensed by David Rhys
Adapted from an article by Sharon Levrant, Francis T. Cullen, Betsy Fulton and John F. Wozniak which appeared in the journal Crime & Delinquency, Vol. 45 No. 1, January 1999.
Three decades have passed since the rehabilitative agenda was pushed aside for crime control policies rooted ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 11
A federal district court in North Carolina held that Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) claims could be brought against the United States, but not against the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), a correctional institution, or the institution's medical staff. The court also held that under the FTCA venue was proper ...
Prepared by Walter M. Reaves, Jr.
Habeas Corpus
Addressing an issue which has not been consistently decided by the circuits, the Fifth Circuit in United States v. Thomas, 203 F.3d 350 (5th Cir. 2000), held that for purposes of limitations in a §2255 petition, the decision is final when the ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 15
The Colorado Supreme Court has held that prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment are entitled to presentence confinement (PSC) credits for the time they spent in the county jail before sentencing.
Until 1977, life sentences in Colorado were a minimum of ten years to parole eligibility. From 1977 to 1985, this ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 15
New York City school-age prisoners were granted declaratory judgment establishing defendants' liability for failure to provide adequate general and special educational services to class members at the Rikers Island facility.
Plaintiffs in this class action § 1983 suit are 16- to 21-year-old prisoners in the custody of the New York ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 16
The Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York denies dispositive motion to dismiss excessive force and religious discrimination retaliation claims brought against Putnam County Jail Sheriff and two guards by pretrial detainee Kareem Ali.
Ali alleged that while he was using a microwave to warm his coffee ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 16
On December 6, 1999, the New Jersey Department of Corrections agreed to pay $425,000 to Mid State Correctional Facility employee Thomas Ferri, 55, to settle his sexual harassment suit against the prison. Ferri, an internal affairs investigator at the prison, claimed he was sexually harassed by his supervisor, Deborah A. ...
By Ronald Young
Texas has a history rooted in the Southern antebellum traditions of religion and slavery. One of the cornerstones of Texas governor and presidential hopeful George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism" is what he calls faith-based social programs. Bush is of the belief that religious organizations are best suited ...
By Ronal Young
The summer continued to heat up in the Texas prison system even before the season officially began.
On May 5, 2000, guards at the Stiles prison near Beaumont overpowered an armed male prisoner after he briefly held two female medical workers hostage in a failed effort to ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 19
A federal district court in Kansas held that jail officials were not entitled to qualified immunity with respect to their treatment of a double amputee prisoner, and denied defendant's motion for summary judgment on all claims.
Tracy Schmidt, without both legs below the knees, was confined in Cowley County Jail ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
by A A
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 19
Without running Water
By David M. Reutter
PLN previously reported that Florida's Martin Correctional Institution (MCI) had been evacuated as a result of bad water. [See PLN, May, 2000: Bad Water Causes Florida Prison Evacuation.] That report was based solely upon media reports that relied exclusively upon misinformation by MCI ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 20
News In Brief
Australia: On August 28, 2000, 100 Afghan and Iraqi asylum seekers rioted at the Woomera detention center and set fire to four buildings. The detainees are seeking political asylum after arriving illegally in the country. News services did not report the causes of the uprising.
Brazil: On ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 22
A federal district court in Kansas awarded a prisoner $30,622 in attorneys' fees and $1,200 in costs and expenses. The court held, however, that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), required the court to apply 25 percent of plaintiff's damages award to the fees.
Jimmy Searles, a Jewish prisoner sued ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 22
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that punishment imposed upon a prisoner law clerk for sending a letter containing legal advice to another prisoner was an exaggerated response, which violated the law clerk's First Amendment rights.
While confined in the Montana State Prison, Kevin Murphy has worked as a ...
By Paul Wright
PLN recently gained the ability to process credit card orders for books, subscriptions, and donations. PLN's office phone number is on page two of every issue for those who wish to subscribe, renew their subscriptions, purchase books or just make a donation using their credit card. PLN ...
By Hans Sherrer
On March 14, 2000, a classaction lawsuit by Washington State prisoners who participated in radiation experiments from 1963 to 1971 was settled for $2.4 million.
Sixty-four prisoners at the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla were involved in radiation experiments conducted on their testicles. The men were ...
By James Quigley
The U.S. court of appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that factual issues, as to when a former prisoner was, or should have been, aware of his injuries from radiation experiments, precluded summary judgment on statute of limitation grounds. The Court further held that some of the ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 26
A federal district court in Kansas held that jail officials were not entitled to qualified immunity with respect to their treatment of a double amputee prisoner, and denied defendant's motion for summary judgment on all claims.
Tracy Schmidt, without both legs below the knees, was confined in Cowley County Jail ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 26
On October 14, 1999, U.S. district court judge Susan Illston ruled that three Pelican Bay state prison guards had violated the Eighth amendment rights of prisoner Ricky Gray. Gray had filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming that while being unhandcuffed one of the guards pulled on the loose ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 26
The Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that a district court erred when it dismissed a lawsuit, filed by the estate of a Wyoming prisoner, that claimed prison officials showed a deliberate indifference to his medical needs relating to diabetes and hypertension.
In 1996, Wyoming prisoner Jody Mapp ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 27
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that fact issues existed as to whether a major misconduct decision maker employed by the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) was retaliated against and fired, for failing to maintain a 90% misconduct conviction rate and for filing a grievance based on race factors. ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 28
Private Citizen Liable for Jail Slavery Under §1983
A federal district court in Georgia held that a private citizen who exercises authority over a county prisoner can be held liable under 42 U.S.C. §1983 as a state actor.
Lamar County, Georgia prisoner, James Marshall Mauldin, Jr., filed suit against James ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 29
On July 15, 1999, the New York court of claims awarded pro se New York state prisoner Hamilton Thompson $12,000 for past pain and suffering. In 1996, while imprisoned at the Oneida Correctional Facility, Thompson slipped and fell in a puddle of water in his cell.
Prior to falling in ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 29
On January 25, 2000, Jefferson County, Kentucky, announced it would pay $586,000 to 31 people strip searched after being booked into the Jefferson county jail on minor traffic offenses in 1993. Previously, PLN reported that Jefferson County had paid $11.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit by 6-8,000 people ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 30
A federal district court in California held that prison officials did not violate the Takings Clause by failing to pay interest on funds deposited by prisoners into non-interest bearing "Inmate Trust Accounts" (ITAs). The court also held that: applying interest earned on excess ITA funds to the Inmate Welfare Fund ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 30
The Washington state Supreme Court, sitting En Banc held that Washington's Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board (ISRB) improperly considered a history of filing litigation and grievances against prison officials, in finding that a prisoner was unfit for parole.
During a 1997 parole consideration hearing for Lincoln Addleman, the ISRB had before ...
By Ronald Young
The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that state administrative proceedings a prisoner was required to exhaust tolled Louisiana's one-year prescriptive period for filing a civil rights claim. The court also held that the prisoner stated a claim of cruel and unusual punishment in his ...
Loaded on
Nov. 15, 2000
published in Prison Legal News
November, 2000, page 32
9th Circuit Upholds Ban on Sex-based publications; Requires Due Process
Against a First Amendment challenge, the Ninth Circuit has upheld a prison regulation banning sex-based publications depicting penetration. The Court also held that prisoners have a Fourteenth Amendment due process liberty interest in receiving a notice that incoming mail is ...
