Demonstration Against Double Bunking at Twin Rivers Prison by About a dozen members of the outside community held a demonstration in front of the Twin Rivers Correctional Center on October 21st. The protest was sponsored by the Ethnic Minority and Prison Task Force (PO Box 667, Edmonds, WA 98020), and …
Magistrate Recommends Continued Single Celling at Reformatory by Ed Mead There has been a long and bitterly fought struggle by prisoners at the Washington State Reformatory to enforce a consent decree mandating single celling. The consent decree is a product of a 1978 civil rights complaint filed by Evergreen Legal …
The Initiative Process by M R The PLN's coverage of the "initiative" idea was good, but I don't think it left anyone feeling any less powerless than they were before. This (legislative initiative) is going to take a lot of push. People on the outside are still in the dark …
Wetmore v. Gardner by At 735 F.Supp 974, is the ruling of Federal Judge Quakenbush on the states Motion to overturn the jury verdict in favor of Mr. Wetmore challenging the policy of rectal "probes" by officials at the Walla Walla Penitentiary. The jury found the policy unconstitutional and awarded …
Mission of SOC To Change by The Special Offender Center (SOC) is going to become another Intensive Management Unit (IMU). The proposed change is scheduled to take place on July 1, 1991. The SOC was designed and built to house prisoners with mental problems, and has served in that capacity …
Death Row Abolished by Mark LaRue By Mark LaRue For several months it was rumored that death row was being closed down and everyone with a death sentence was being moved to the other tiers in IMU or 5 Wing [protective custody, editor]. No one believed the rumors of course. …
What's Wrong With This Picture? by The Washington State Court of Appeals recently handed down a ruling that demonstrates how "equal justice" really works. In State v. Allert, 58 Wn.App. 200 (1990), the court upheld an exceptional sentence below the applicable guideline range for Terry Allert. Mr. Alert, the former …
Walls Gets "Special Needs Unit" by Mark LaRue By Mark LaRue With increasing numbers of mentally ill people being sent to prison here in Washington, prison officials finally decided that something must be done to treat their particular needs here at the Penitentiary. Dubbed a "Special Needs Unit" in a …
Clallam Bay Gets Computer Phones by Starting on August 8th, prisoners at C.B.C.C. were treated to a new phone service, one run by a computer. You pick up the phone ant the machine asks for your name and the number you want to call. It hen dials the number and …
Highway Robbery by Paul Wright By Paul Wright On April 18, 1990, Chase Riveland, Secretary of the DOC, signed DOC Policy 270.070 "Legal Financial Obligations (LFO) Program in Prisons. Effective immediately. The main purpose of this policy is so that the counties, via the DOC, can collect fines, restitution, court …
The Initiative Process, Can Prisoners Use It? by In its 1988 Report To The Legislature, the Washington State Parole Board admitted that it imposed exceptional sentences in 53% of the cases it reviewed. These exceptional terms were all above the applicable guideline range. When a sentence was within the range …
The Struggle For Prisoner Owned Computers Continues by Ed Mead By Ed Mead Prisoners are slaves of the state, a status legitimized by the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. These modern day slaves need every tool they can get in an effort to alter their status and to extend …
Repeal "Point 100" Statute by Dan Pens By Dan Pens All pre-SRA prisoners must jump through an invisible hoop before they can be paroled. Sound like something out of Alice in Wonderland? Well, it's the law. RCW 9.95.100 ("point 100") is a 1939 statute that has remained unchanged since 1955. …
Of Bannings and Unbannings: Why Do They Do It? by Ed Mead Of Bannings and Unbannings: Why do they do it? By Ed Mead As many of you know issue #2 of the PLN was banned from both the Penitentiary and the Reformatory. We immediately drafted a comprehensive civil rights …
Washington Detains More Kids by According to the Bureau of Census' Children in Custody series, Washington State leads the nation in its confinement of juveniles in detention and state institutions. Washington has 1,211 juveniles in custody for every 100,000 population. The second ranked jurisdiction was the District of Columbia, which …
Mental Cases Warehoused in IMU by Mark LaRue Mental Cases Warehoused In IMU By Mark LaRue You would not believe how they are running the Intensive Management Unit (IMU) here at Walla Walla. The tier I am on is filled with nuts who loud talk day and night. Mental health …
Fascism, Another Step Nearer by [SSB-6259 Is Not Just For Sex Offenders] Senate Substitute Bill 6259 is now law in this state. Most of its provisions came into effect on July 1, 1990. Most of us have heard of this law as the sex offender bill that allows civil commitment …
DOC Settles Immigration Suit by Paul Wright By Paul Wright The INS (Immigration and naturalization Service) in collusion with the DOC holds deportation hearings at the Wash. Corr. Center in Shelton for so-called "criminal deportee's", these are convicted felons who have had their immigration status revoked because of felony convictions. …
Book on Washington Prisons by "Impacts of Washington State's Correctional Institutions on Communities" is the title of a study available at no cost from the Washington State Institute for Public Policy. The study was commissioned b the state legislature in 1988. The main purpose seems to have been to find …
Clallam Bay Disturbance Update by Paul Wright Paul Wright As reported in the last issue of the PLN, there were 32 prisoners shipped from Clallam Bay to the Intensive Management Unit (IMU) at Shelton. The mainstream media reported that prison officials had told them there was a "brawl" between one …
