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Habeas Hints: Actual Innocence

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Habeas Corpus, Federal Statutory Law, AEDPA

Habeas Hints: Actual Innocence by Kent A. Russell by Kent Russell This column provides “habeas hints” to prisoners who are considering or handling habeas corpus petitions as their own attorneys (“in pro per”). The focus of the column is on the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), the federal …

Second Circuit Establishes Property Seizure Standards for Civilly Committed Persons

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Prisoner Property, Civil Commitment, Media, Tapes/Music

Second Circuit Establishes Property Seizure Standards for Civilly Committed Persons by As a matter of first impression, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has undertaken a Fourth Amendment balancing analysis with regard to the right of a civilly committed person to be free from unreasonable seizures under the Fourth Amendment. …

500 Escape from Abu Ghraib and Taji Prisons in Iraq

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Escapes, Prisoners-International

500 Escape from Abu Ghraib and Taji Prisons in Iraq by Christopher Zoukis On July 21, 2013, military-style assaults at Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison and another prison in Taji resulted in the escape of more than 500 prisoners, including an unknown number of al-Qaida members. Many of the prisoners …

After Ten Years, FCC Votes for Prison Phone Reforms!

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

After Ten Years, FCC Votes for Prison Phone Reforms! by David Ganim On August 9, 2013, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn presided over a historic vote by the Commission to reform the prison phone industry, and while doing so publicly acknowledged family members and prisoners’ rights organizations that …

Illinois DOC’s Failure to Accommodate Disabled Prisoners States Rehabilitation Act Claim

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Federal Statutory Law, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act

Illinois DOC’s Failure to Accommodate Disabled Prisoners States Rehabilitation Act Claim by In separate decisions, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of two lawsuits filed by disabled state prisoners, finding that the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) may have violated their rights under the Rehabilitation Act (RA), …

Wrongful Immigration Detention Suit Reinstated by Second Circuit, Dismissed on Remand

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Immigration

Wrongful Immigration Detention Suit Reinstated by Second Circuit, Dismissed on Remand by Derek Gilna Viterbo Liranzo, born in the Dominican Republic, was a U.S. citizen through section 321 of the Immigration and Naturalization Act, which conferred derivative citizenship on children of U.S. citizens. He was required to apply for a …

PLN Resolves Censorship Suit Against Oregon County Jail for $51,000 Plus Fees and Costs

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Media, PLN Litigation, Censorship

PLN Resolves Censorship Suit Against Oregon County Jail for $51,000 Plus Fees and Costs by Alex Friedmann In August 2012, Prison Legal News accepted an offer of judgment made by officials in Umatilla County, Oregon to resolve a First Amendment censorship suit filed against the county, the sheriff’s office and …

Seventh Circuit: Indiana Tolling Provision May Excuse Time-Barred Suit; Rule 12(b)(6) Dismissal Improper

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Medical, Failure to Treat, Limitations

Seventh Circuit: Indiana Tolling Provision May Excuse Time-Barred Suit; Rule 12(b)(6) Dismissal Improper by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a district court’s dismissal of an Indiana prisoner’s lawsuit as being time-barred. In January 2008, Pendleton Correctional Facility prisoner Danny R. Richards began complaining of abdominal pain and …

First Circuit: Rejection of Settlement Offer Does Not Justify Defendants’ Attorney Fee Award

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Attorneys, Attorney Fee Awards

First Circuit: Rejection of Settlement Offer Does Not Justify Defendants’ Attorney Fee Award by On September 7, 2012, the First Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a $59,787.50 attorney fee award to the defendants in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint, finding that the plaintiffs’ rejection of a settlement offer did …

Pennsylvania: Parole Board May Expound on Court-ordered Probation Conditions

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Sentencing, Probation

Pennsylvania: Parole Board May Expound on Court-ordered Probation Conditions by On September 7, 2012, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that a lower court had incorrectly reversed a probation revocation that was premised on the violation of a probation condition imposed by the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole (Board), rather …

Seventh Circuit Retires “De Minimis” Standard for Use of Physical Force

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Pat Searches

Seventh Circuit Retires “De Minimis” Standard for Use of Physical Force by The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a district court’s application of a “de minimis harm” standard in dismissing a Wisconsin detainee’s claim that he was sexually groped. In April 2008, James Washington, Jr. was a pretrial …

Washington Community Custody, Sex Offender Registration and Release Conditions Modified

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Sex Offender Registration, Sentencing, Parole Conditions

Washington Community Custody, Sex Offender Registration and Release Conditions Modified by On September 13, 2012, the Washington Court of Appeals, Division Three, instructed a lower court to clarify a sex offender’s length of community custody, correct his registration requirement, revise prohibitions regarding dating relationships and strike conditions related to Internet …

New Mexico Prison Doctor Fingered in Lawsuits

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Private Prisons, GEO Group/Wackenhut, Prison Health Services, Medical Misconduct

New Mexico Prison Doctor Fingered in Lawsuits by Two lawsuits filed in March 2013 seek compensatory and punitive damages against former prison physician Mark E. Walden, GEO Group, Corizon, wardens Erasmo Bravo and Timothy Hatch, and health administrator Sherry Phillips. The suits allege that numerous prisoners were fondled or received …

Qualified Immunity for NY Prison Officials who Failed to Award Parole Jail Time

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Sentencing, Good Time, Qualified Immunity

Qualified Immunity for NY Prison Officials who Failed to Award Parole Jail Time by The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held on August 7, 2012 that prison officials who failed to properly award parole jail time (PJT) credits to two prisoners serving concurrent prison and jail sentences were entitled to …

Minnesota: Remedies for Civil Commitments are Limited

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Mental Health, Civil Commitment

Minnesota: Remedies for Civil Commitments are Limited by The Minnesota Supreme Court has held that a person who is indeterminately civilly committed as a Sexually Dangerous Person (SDP) or Sexual Psychopathic Personality (SPP) may not bring a motion seeking transfer or discharge from their commitment under Minn.R.Civ.P. 60.02, but may …

California: Victim’s Post-Death Economic Losses Not Subject to Mandatory Restitution

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Money/Property, Restitution

California: Victim’s Post-Death Economic Losses Not Subject to Mandatory Restitution by The California Supreme Court has reversed a restitution order assessed against a defendant who, while driving intoxicated, killed another driver in a freeway collision. The Court held that 1) the estate of the accident victim (who died without heirs) …

Second Circuit: No Social Security Payments for Prisoners

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Money/Property, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Social Security

Second Circuit: No Social Security Payments for Prisoners by Last year, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that the “No Social Security Benefits for Prisoners Act (the Act), Pub. L. No. 111-115, 123 Stat. 3029 (2009), bars the Social Security Administration (SSA) from making any payments to incarcerated individuals …

Ninth Circuit Requires Notice to Pro Se Prisoner Litigants for Motions to Dismiss for Failure to Exhaust

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Civil Procedure, Administrative Exhaustion

Ninth Circuit Requires Notice to Pro Se Prisoner Litigants for Motions to Dismiss for Failure to Exhaust by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held on September 19, 2012 that district courts must give pro se prisoners notice of their rights and duties when responding to a motion to dismiss …

PLN/HRDC mentioned in article on FCC prison phone order

In-the-News Article • September 14, 2013

PLN/HRDC mentioned in article on FCC prison phone order Sept. 14, 2013 Articles that mention PLN Intelligencer Journal PLN/HRDC mentioned in article on FCC prison phone order - Intelligencer Journal 2013 http://www.thereporteronline.com/opinion/20130915/pa-inmates-gouged-for-years-on-jailhouse-calls Pa. inmates gouged for years on jailhouse calls Posted: 09/14/13, 5:31 PM EDT | WOULD YOU pay $9.35 …

Avalos-Palma v. United States, NJ, Complaint, Wrongful Deportation, 2013

Brief • September 13, 2013

Filed under: Wrongful Imprisonment, Immigration

Avalos-Palma v. United States, NJ, Complaint, Wrongful Deportation, 2013 Case 3:13-cv-05481-FLW-TJB Document 1 Filed 09/13/13 Page 1 of 12 PageID: 1 Jonathan H. Feinberg Attorney I.D. No. 01376-2001 (NJ) KAIRYS, RUDOVSKY, MESSING & FEINBERG LLP The Cast Iron Building 718 Arch Street, Suite 501 South Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 925-4400 …