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Legal Services Corporation Restrictions Affirmed

Article • December 15, 1998 • from PLN December, 1998

Filed under: Attorney Client, Public Defenders, Court Access

Legal Services Corporation Restrictions Affirmed by Paul Wright By Paul Wright In the October, 1997, issue of PLN we reported Legal Aid Society of Hawaii v. Legal Services Corporation, 981 F. Supp. 1288 (D HI 1997), which held that some congressional restrictions on groups that accept Legal Services Corporation (LSC) …

Hawaii Prisoners Challenge 'Sex Offender' Label

Article • November 15, 1998 • from PLN November, 1998

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Disciplinary Litigation, Injunctions, Sentencing, Ex Post Facto, Habeas Corpus, Qualified Immunity, Sex Offender Treatment

Hawaii Prisoners Challenge 'Sex Offender' Label by Hawaii prisoners labeled as "sex offenders" and ordered to participate in a sex offender treatment program as a pre-condition of parole eligibility have a protected liberty interest in receiving minimal due process before being thus labeled. In 1992, Hawaii enacted a law authorizing …

LSC Ban on Funding Prison Litigation Enjoined

Article • October 15, 1997 • from PLN October, 1997

Filed under: Appointment of Counsel, Attorney Client, Court Access, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's

LSC Ban on Funding Prison Litigation Enjoined by In the July, 1996, issue of PLN we reported passage of the 1996 federal budget. In addition to severe budget cuts for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), a private non profit corporation that distributes government funds to independent legal programs around the …

Haircut Rule May Violate Equal Protection

Article • July 15, 1996 • from PLN July, 1996

Filed under: Grooming Rules, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Qualified Immunity, Religious Freedom, Religious Grooming

Haircut Rule May Violate Equal Protection by A federal district court in Hawaii held that a prison rule requiring that prisoners have short hair and remain clean shaven may violate the constitution's guarantee to equal protection of law and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Edmund Abordo, a Hawaii state …

Sandin Applied Retroactively

Article • February 15, 1996 • from PLN February, 1996

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Disciplinary Litigation, Liberty Interests

Sandin Applied Retroactively by In the August, 1995, issue we discussed the supreme court's decision in Sandin v. Connor , 115 S.Ct. 2293 (1995) which held that states do not create a due process liberty interest in their regulations unless there is a "substantial" deprivation at issue. The first circuit …

RFRA TRO Granted

Article • December 15, 1995 • from PLN December, 1995

Filed under: Food, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Religious Freedom, Religious Grooming, Religious Diet, Religious Property

RFRA TRO Granted by A federal district court in Arizona granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to an Arizona state prisoner who filed suit seeking relief for violation of his religious rights to a Kosher diet, to long hair, a colored head covering and to maintain a vow of poverty. …

Law on Retaliation Well Established in 9th Cir.

Article • September 15, 1995 • from PLN September, 1995

Filed under: Retaliation, Retaliation for Litigating, Retaliatory Transfers, Retaliation for Organizing, Qualified Immunity, State Legislation

Law on Retaliation Well Established in 9th Cir. by In the October, 1993, issue of PLN we reported Schroeder v. McDonald, 823 F. Supp. 750 (D HI 1993) in which a Hawaii prisoner filed suit over a retaliatory transfer from a minimum to a medium security prison. The district court …

Supreme Court Guts Due Process for Prisoners

Article • August 15, 1995 • from PLN August, 1995

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Disciplinary Litigation, Liberty Interests, Sanctions (Disciplinary Hearings), Ad-Seg Hearings

Supreme Court Guts Due Process for Prisoners by On June 20, 1995, the supreme court issued its five to four ruling in Sandin v. Conner. The ruling appears to be the most devastating legal setback prisoners have suffered in the Supreme Court since Turner v. Safley was decided in 1987. …

Prisoners Can't be Forced to Choose Between Law Library and Recreation

Article • May 15, 1995 • from PLN May, 1995

Filed under: Exercise, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Qualified Immunity, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

Prisoners Can't be Forced to Choose Between Law Library and Recreation by John Allen is a Hawaii state prisoner held in a Special Housing Unit (SHU) after allegedly assaulting a guard. His SHU confinement was indefinite. While in SHU he could use the law library and outdoor recreation area only …

S.Ct. Grants Review in Prison Disciplinary Case

Article • December 15, 1994 • from PLN December, 1994

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Liberty Interests, Standard of Proof

S.Ct. Grants Review in Prison Disciplinary Case by On October 7, 1994, the US Supreme Court announced that it had granted certiori in Sandin v. Conner, Case No. 93-1911. The case involves a Hawaii state prisoner who was infracted and found guilty of praying in Arabic. The district court dismissed …

English Only Rule for Prayer Illegal

Article • July 15, 1994 • from PLN July, 1994

Filed under: Liberty Interests, Notice of Rules, Legality of Rules, Witnesses (Disciplinary Hearings), Summary Judgment, Qualified Immunity, Religious Freedom, Religious Practices

English Only Rule for Prayer Illegal by DeMont Conner is a Hawaii state prisoner. He filed suit under section 1983 claiming prison officials had violated his due process rights by punishing him for praying in Arabic with another prisoner and that the disciplinary hearing itself did not comport with due …

Retaliation for Legal Action States Claim

Article • December 15, 1993 • from PLN December, 1993

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Disciplinary Hearings, Liberty Interests, Retaliatory Discipline, Qualified Immunity

Retaliation for Legal Action States Claim by Eric Schroeder is a Hawaii state prisoner. While at a minimum security prison he was assigned to a work crew under the supervision of a guard he had previously sued. Schroeder claims that the guard threatened him, used anti-semitic slurs and falsely infracted …

Litigation and Service Protected by First Amendment

Article • November 15, 1993 • from PLN November, 1993

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Prison Labor, Liberty Interests, Prisoner Legal Assistance, Civil Procedure, Service, Conspiracy (Civil Procedure), Qualified Immunity

Litigation and Service Protected by First Amendment by Eric Schroeder is a Hawaii State prisoner. While working in the prison law library he assisted other prisoners with their legal problems. Another prisoner asked Schroeder to serve Tranquillino Mabellos, a staff education specialist at the prison, with a summons and complaint …

ACLU Reaches Accord With Hawaii in Prison Case

Article • October 15, 1993 • from PLN October, 1993

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Overcrowding, Consent Decrees

ACLU Reaches Accord With Hawaii in Prison Case by ACLU Reaches Accord with Hawaii in Prison Case Aconsent agreement was reached in July in a nine-year old Hawaii prison law suit, it was announced by Alvin J. Bronstein, executive director of the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties …

English Only Rule Not Applicable to Group Prayers

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Legality of Rules, Interpreters, Denial of Religious Services

English Only Rule Not Applicable to Group Prayers by Aprison rule requiring prisoners to communicate in the "English language only" can not reasonably be construed to apply to prayers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in a civil rights case. Therefore, the court concluded, prison officials …

City of Refuge

Article • August 15, 1993 • from PLN August, 1993

Filed under: Crime, Sentencing

City of Refuge by David Finney Everyone has heard about alternative sentencing. What about alternative incarceration? The debate should be expanded to encompass this issue too. When people get put in prison the great majority become distrustful, angry and radicalized. It is a symptom of theseemingly arbitrary and unfair nature …

Choice Between Exercise and Access Struck Down

Article • August 15, 1993 • from PLN August, 1993

Filed under: Exercise, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Qualified Immunity, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

Choice Between Exercise and Access Struck Down by The message in this case is that both the right of access to the courts and the right to outdoor exercise are important ones. "To sanction the policy of forcing a prisoner to choose between two important, indeed fundamental, rights," the court …

Prison Rule Banning Media Mail/Visits Held Unconstitutional

Article • May 15, 1993 • from PLN May, 1993

Filed under: Immunity/Liability, Qualified Immunity, Mail Regulations, Access to Media

Prison Rule Banning Media Mail/Visits Held Unconstitutional by Sabil Mujahid is a Hawaii state prisoner. He filed suit under § 1983 claiming that Hawaii prison regulations which prohibit prisoners from visiting or corresponding with members of the media, unless they knew each other on a personal basis prior to incarceration, …

Generalized Written Statement of Hearing Committee Accepted, Where Evidence Clear

Article • January 15, 1993 • from PLN January, 1993

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Standard of Proof, Written Findings

Generalized Written Statement of Hearing Committee Accepted, Where Evidence Clear by A disciplinary hearing committee's written decision saying it based its finding of guilt on "written reports and testimonies presented at the hearing" was constitutionally acceptable where that information could be interpreted only as either showing the charges (of verbal …

HI Phone Kickbacks 2004-2008

Kickback publication

Filed under: Telephones

HI Phone Kickbacks 2004-2008 HAWAIIAN TELEPHONE COMPANY TELEPHONE COMMISSIONS FY '04 FY '05 FY '06 FY '07 FY '08 TOTAL 156961.00 117677.00 100295.00 144281.00 74284.00 593498.00