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FTCA Does Not Apply to Prisoner's Property Mailed Outside Prison

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Federal Tort Claims Act, Immunity/Liability, Sovereign Immunity

FTCA Does Not Apply to Prisoner's Property Mailed Outside Prison by Affirming the District Court of Kansas, the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) does not apply to a federal prisoner's personal property mailed outside of prison. Samuel Haywood Myles, a prisoner …

Prisoners In 13 States Allowed Work-Access To Social Security Numbers

Article • April 15, 2007 • from PLN April, 2007

Filed under: Prison Industries, Prison Labor, News, Federal Legislation

Prisoners In 13 States Allowed Work-Access To Social Security Numbers by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The U.S. Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported that prisoners in thirteen states had access to Social Security numbers (SSNs) during the course of their prison employment. Following a nationwide survey, the …

From the Editor

Article • March 15, 2007 • from PLN March, 2007

Filed under: Editorials, Mail, Publications/Books, PLN Litigation

From the Editor by Paul Wright This editorial is being written in Wichita, Kansas on February 14, 2007. For the past two days PLN?s executive director, Don Miniken, and I have been attending the bench trial before USDC Judge Monte Belot in Prison Legal News v. Werholtz. PLN filed the …

Hate-Filled Religious Fanatics Find a Home in Kansas Corrections

Article • December 15, 2006 • from PLN December, 2006

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Jail Misconduct

Hate-Filled Religious Fanatics Find a Home in Kansas Corrections by Alex Friedmann Hate is a strong word. Many prison employees and DOC officials are contemptuous of or indifferent to the prisoners in their custody. Detention facility staff are sometimes negligent, retaliatory and even abusive,(1) but they seldom display a fanatical …

Sovereign Immunity No Bar to BOP Prisoners' Eighth Amendment Mandamus Suit

Article • November 15, 2006 • from PLN November, 2006

Filed under: Dental Care, Failure to Treat, PLRA, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Injunctions, Mandamus, Declaratory Judgment, Sovereign Immunity

Sovereign Immunity No Bar to BOP Prisoners' Eighth Amendment Mandamus Suit by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a federal prisoner's mandamus action alleging an Eighth Amendment violation is not barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. This action was brought by Bureau of Prisons (BOP) prisoner …

PLNs Publication-Ban Suit Against Kansas DOC Set For Trial On Declaratory And Injunctive Relief

Article • October 15, 2006 • from PLN October, 2006

Filed under: Mootness, Qualified Immunity, Publications/Books, Due Process, Media, PLN Litigation

PLNs Publication-Ban Suit Against Kansas DOC Set For Trial On Declaratory And Injunctive Relief by John Dannenberg PLNs Publication-Ban Suit Against Kansas DOC Set For Trial On Declaratory And Injunctive Relief by John E. Dannenberg Seeking to overturn restrictive bans on prisoner receipt of publications in the Kansas Department of …

Harris v. Terrell, KS, Order, Bivens complaint, 2006

Brief • August 17, 2006

Filed under: Due Process

Harris v. Terrell, KS, Order, Bivens complaint, 2006 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS SETH H. HARRIS, SR., Plaintiff, v. CASE NO. 06-3202-SAC DUKE TERRELL, et al., Defendants. O R D E R Plaintiff, a prisoner confined in the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, …

Crimes of the Heart: Incarceration Collusion

Article • July 15, 2006 • from PLN July, 2006

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Prison/Jail Murders, Escapes

Crimes of the Heart: Incarceration Collusion by Bob Williams by Bob Williams & G.A.Bowers What would a woman do for her man? Run a frontend loader through a jail wall? Drive her lover out of prison in a food service truck? Murder witnesses? Smuggle in guns and drugs? Melt her …

PLRAs 150% Attorney Fee Cap Applied in Nominal Damages, Non Prison Case Against Police

Article • June 15, 2006 • from PLN June, 2006

Filed under: PLRA, Attorney Fees (PLRA)

PLRAs 150% Attorney Fee Cap Applied in Nominal Damages, Non Prison Case Against Police by PLRAs 150% Attorney Fee Cap Applied in Nominal Damages, Non Prison Case Against Police The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, has reversed a panel ruling holding that the Prison Litigation Reform Act …

Withholding Legal Mail States Legal Access Claim

Article • March 15, 2006 • from PLN March, 2006

Filed under: Qualified Immunity, Mail, Mail Regulations, Legal Mail

Withholding Legal Mail States Legal Access Claim by by Bob Williams The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has held that withholding legal mail while a prisoner is out to court states a colorable claim for denial of legal access because it impedes efforts to pursue litigation. …

Feres Doctrine Bars FTCA Actions

Article • January 15, 2006 • from PLN January, 2006

Filed under: Federal Tort Claims Act, Premises Liability, Military, Military Prisons

Feres Doctrine Bars FTCA Actions by by Military Prisoners The Unites States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the Feres doctrine, adopted by the United States Supreme Court in Feres v. United States, 340 U.S. 135 (1950), bars suits brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) …

Army Prison Ban On PLN Containing Postage-Stamp-Exchange Ad Is Enjoined, But Ban On Internet Mail Up

Article • August 15, 2005 • from PLN August, 2005

Filed under: Injunctions (PLRA), Habeas Corpus, Media, PLN Litigation, Censorship, Internet, Military Prisons

Army Prison Ban On PLN Containing Postage-Stamp-Exchange Ad Is Enjoined, But Ban On Internet Mail Up by Army Prison Ban On PLN Containing Postage-Stamp-Exchange Ad Is Enjoined, But Ban On Internet Mail Upheld by John E. Dannenberg The U.S. District Court (D. KS) enjoined Ft. Leavenworth prison officials from banning …

Tenth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of PLN Suit Challenging Kansas DOC Ban On Gift Subscriptions

Article • February 15, 2005 • from PLN February, 2005

Filed under: Mail, Mail Regulations

Tenth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of PLN Suit Challenging Kansas DOC Ban On Gift Subscriptions by John E Dannenberg Tenth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of PLN Suit Challenging Kansas DOC Ban On Gift Subscriptions by John E. Dannenberg The Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the district court's grant …

Kansas Supreme Court Upholds Gift Subscription Ban

Article • January 15, 2005 • from PLN January, 2005

Filed under: Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Mail, Publications/Books, Mail Regulations

Kansas Supreme Court Upholds Gift Subscription Ban by The Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the Kansas Department of Corrections' (KDOC) rule IMPP 11-101, which prohibits prisoners from receiving gift subscriptions to magazines and newspapers, does not violate the prisoners' constitutional rights under the First Amendment. Reversing the Kansas Court of …

$76,000 in Fees and Damages Awarded in Kansas Excessive Force Claim

Article • September 15, 2004 • from PLN September, 2004

Filed under: Injury -- Misc., Attorney Fees (PLRA), Guard Brutality/Beatings, Civil Procedure, Damages, Costs, Expert Witnesses, Qualified Immunity

$76,000 in Fees and Damages Awarded in Kansas Excessive Force Claim by Bob Williams The federal district court in Kansas has awarded a state prisoner $45,000 plus $30,913.90 for attorney fees and expenses in an excessive force claim brought against three prison guards. The court also denied qualified immunity, found …

Waterman v. McGuire, KS, Memorandum and Order, Mail Censorship, 2004

Brief • July 20, 2004

Filed under: Mail, Mail Regulations, PLN related, First Amendment, rights

Waterman v. McGuire, KS, Memorandum and Order, Mail Censorship, 2004 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS ) CRAIG E. WATERMAN, ) Plaintiff, v. COMMANDANT, United States Disciplinary Barracks, et al., Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) CIVIL ACTION No. 03-3415-CM ) ) ) ) …

$1.4 Million Awarded in Kansas Prisoner Death

Article • June 15, 2004 • from PLN June, 2004

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Damages, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death)

$1.4 Million Awarded in Kansas Prisoner Death by In August, 2003 a State Jury in Leavenworth County, Kansas, awarded the son of a Kansas State prisoner who was killed after being stabbed by another prisoner on August 8, 2000, $1.4 million. Donald R. Grisham was stabbed on his 27th birthday …

Kansas Trial Courts Have Latitude in Setting Restitution Payments

Article • June 15, 2004 • from PLN June, 2004

Filed under: Money/Property, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Restitution

Kansas Trial Courts Have Latitude in Setting Restitution Payments by The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that K.S.A.2002 Supp. 21-4603d allows state trial courts to order prisoners to pay restitution from their prison accounts, and to order that a portion of such accounts be exempt from collection. William Puckett was …

Kansas Good Time Regulations Enacted After Prisoner's Crime May Not Be Applied Retroactively

Article • June 15, 2004 • from PLN June, 2004

Filed under: Sentencing, Good Time

Kansas Good Time Regulations Enacted After Prisoner's Crime May Not Be Applied Retroactively by Kansas Good Time Regulations Enacted After Prisoner's Crime May Not Be Applied Retroactively The Kansas Supreme Court recently held that an amended version of the Department of Corrections (DOC) regulation governing the award of good time …

Beating Judgment for Jail Affirmed on Appeal; Costs Issue Remanded

Article • May 15, 2004 • from PLN May, 2004

Filed under: Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints, Damages, Costs, Municipal Liability

Beating Judgment for Jail Affirmed on Appeal; Costs Issue Remanded by The U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court grant of judgment as a matter of law to a Kansas county in an excessive use of force claim brought against county jailers after a jury ruled against …