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Mail Went Digital in Alabama Prisons. Families Are Saying Their Mail Isn’t Being Delivered by by Nayanika Guha by Nayanika Guha, Prism This article was originally published in Prism.   Kenneth “Swift Justice” Traywick has been incarcerated in Alabama and separated from his family for over 16 years. But things …
County Jail in Oklahoma Accused of Coercing Detainees to Convert to Christianity by The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), a nonprofit advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin, claims that it received a complaint from a community member in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, that the local sheriff’s office was promoting religion in …
D.C. Federal Court Holds Blocking Prison Reform Advocate’s Access to Federal Prisoners May Violate First Amendment and Due Process by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On April 12, 2025, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia denied the government’s motion to dismiss with respect to due process …
HRDC Sues Washington Jail for Rejecting PLN and Other Publications by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman On November 25, 2025, the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), nonprofit publisher of PLN and Criminal Legal News (CLN), filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, accusing Walla …
Article • January 1, 2026 • from PLN January, 2026
$4,652 for Jewish Nevada Prisoner Denied Passover Meal by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman On July 29, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada granted dismissal to a suit filed by state prisoner Thomas Burdsal, 62, after he agreed to accept a $4,652 payment from the state …
Louisiana Prisoner Granted Preliminary Injunction in Challenge to Jail Book Ban by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman Finding that the “library” at Tensas Parish Detention Center (TPDC) “is nothing more than a nominal designation,” the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana granted a prisoner’s request for a …
Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025
Gag Order on Tennessee Attorney for Criticizing CoreCivic Lifted by Judge by Nashville-area attorney Daniel Horwitz will no longer be barred from publicly criticizing a private prison after the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee amended its rules in May 2025.  The development comes three years after …
Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025
$95,000 in Settlements for Illinois Prisoners Retaliated Against for Class Participation in Prison Education Programs by David Reutter On October 4, 2024, the Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC) settled the second of two lawsuits brought by prisoners involved in educational programs who claimed that they were subjected to retaliation after …
Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025
Fourth Circuit Upholds South Carolina DOC Policy Restricting Prisoner Access to News Media by Those in custody of the South Carolina Department of Corrections (DOC) “lose the privilege of speaking to the news media,” a policy that makes it “unique among prison systems nationwide,” according to the American Civil Liberties …
Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025
Federal Court Blocks Idaho Executions Until Media Access Improves by On April 29, 2025, the federal court for the District of Idaho issued a preliminary injunction blocking the state Department of Corrections (DOC) from carrying out any executions until it improves access for members of the media. The ruling came …
Article • May 1, 2025 • from PLN May, 2025
Eleventh Circuit Revives Volunteer Pastor’s First Amendment Claim at Georgia Jail by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney A volunteer minister took a dustup with Georgia jailers over baptism to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which agreed on September 16, 2024, that he had been subjected …
Eleventh Circuit Revives Claim Against Florida Jail That Forced Detainee to Scan Legal Mail Into Computer with Memory Chip by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On August 8, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed dismissal of a claim alleging two guards at Florida’s Polk …
Eleventh Circuit Addresses First Amendment, Due Process Interests in Georgia Prisoner Emails by New communications technology introduced in prisons and jails has raised questions as to how prisoners’ First Amendment rights are implicated. Such concerns were addressed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on June 23, …
CoreCivic Fails to Defeat California’s Anti-SLAPP Law at Ninth Circuit, Must Pay $45,630 in Attorney Fees by In November 2022 the federal court for the Northern District of California shot down a suit by private prison giant CoreCivic which sought to weaponize anti-defamation law against one of the company’s more …
Publication • 2023
Carceral Deference-Courts and Their Pro-Prison Propensities, March 2023 DRAFT – NOT FOR CIRCULATION, DISTRIBUTION, OR CITATION. 3/7/23 5:21 AM CARCERAL DEFERENCE: COURTS AND THEIR PRO-PRISON PROPENSITIES Danielle C. Jefferis* 92 FORDHAM L. REV. ___ (2023) (forthcoming) ABSTRACT Judicial deference to non-judicial state actors, as a general matter, is ubiquitous. But …
Article • September 16, 2022
Wait,What? Florida DOC Bans Tee Shirts Promoting Prisoner Visits by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott On August 5, 2022, the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) warned employees that certain t-shirts worn by visitors to state prisons “are considered inflammatory and a potential threat to security.” So what messages …
Brief • August 30, 2021
Williams v. City of West Palm Beach, FL, Complaint, Panhandling, 2021 Case 9:21-cv-81537-XXXX Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/30/2021 Page 1 of 23 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA WEST PALM BEACH DIVISION Case No.: 9:21-cv-81537 ROSA WILLIAMS, GARY FRASHAW, and THOMAS HYLAND, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF …
Brief • August 30, 2021
Williams v. City of West Palm Beach, FL, Motion for Preliminary Injunction, Panhandling, 2021 Case 9:21-cv-81537-DMM Document 4 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/30/2021 Page 1 of 21 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA WEST PALM BEACH DIVISION Case No. 9:21-cv-81537-DMM ROSA WILLIAMS, GARY FRASHAW, and THOMAS HYLAND, Plaintiffs, …
Brief • August 4, 2021
Knight First Amendment Institute v. BOP, NY, Complaint, Prisoners' Right to Mail, 2021 Case 1:21-cv-06579 Document 1 Filed 08/04/21 Page 1 of 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK KNIGHT FIRST AMENDMENT INSTITUTE AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, Plaintiff, Civil Action No. 1:21-cv-6579 v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS and …
Brief • June 23, 2021
Messina v. City of Ft Lauderdale, FL, Order Granting Preliminary Injunction, Right to Panhandle, 2021 Case 0:21-cv-60168-RKA Document 56 Entered on FLSD Docket 06/23/2021 Page 1 of 43 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA CASE NO. 21-cv-60168-ALTMAN/Hunt MARK MESSINA, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, …
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