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Psych Prisoners Have Right of Court Access

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

Filed under: Damages, Mental Health

Psych Prisoners Have Right of Court Access by Lonnie Hatch is a patient confined in the Arkansas state hospital following his acquittal, by reason of insanity, of criminal charges. Hatch filed suit under § 1983 claiming hospital officials had violated his right of access to the courts by denying him …

Transfers May Violate Eighth Amendment

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

Filed under: Transfers, Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Qualified Immunity, Mental Health

Transfers May Violate Eighth Amendment by Timothy Taylor is a small, mentally retarded Michigan state prisoner. While at the Jackson state prison Taylor was transferred to a camp where he was raped. After being raped prison officials labeled him a homosexual and he was denied a job and resident home …

Prison Bosses Liable for Rights Violation

Article • March 15, 1993 • from PLN March, 1993

Filed under: Staff Assistance, Supervisory Liability, Mental Health

Prison Bosses Liable for Rights Violation by Willie Horne is a retarded New York state prisoner who was infracted, not provided with a counsel substitute at a disciplinary hearing, and was punished. Horne filed suit claiming that prison officials violated his due process rights by subjecting him to a disciplinary …

Roe v. Meachum, CT, Class Act Complaint, Mental Health Services, 1993

Brief • February 24, 1993

Filed under: Mental Health

Roe v. Meachum, CT, Class Act Complaint, Mental Health Services, 1993 Roe v. Meachum 111111I111111111111111111111111 PC-CT-007-001 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT v:.;": ,", (,', f.~ DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT.:,,' - ,', Edward Roe, Evan Moe, David Cae, and John Doe, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. ~ …

Criminal Justice Statistics

Article • February 15, 1993 • from PLN February, 1993

Filed under: Statistics/Trends, Mental Health, Drug Treatment/Rehab

Criminal Justice Statistics by Ed Mead By Ed Mead You must have done something terribly wrong in a previous life (or maybe it was this one?), as I am now going to stick you with the task of reading a bunch of the government's criminal justice statistics. What I have …

Wisconsin Parolees Have Liberty Interest in Avoiding Forced Medication

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

Filed under: Parole, Immunity/Liability, Qualified Immunity, Involuntary Treatment/Drugging

Wisconsin Parolees Have Liberty Interest in Avoiding Forced Medication by Jeffrey Felce is a Wisconsin parolee released on mandatory parole. While in prison Felce threatened prison and parole officials. They tried to commit him but were unable to do so because he was found to have mental problems but not …

Jail Inmates Entitled to Safe Cells

Article • December 15, 1992 • from PLN December, 1992

Filed under: Municipal Liability, Premises Liability, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides

Jail Inmates Entitled to Safe Cells by Jail Inmates Entitled To Safe Cells Two prisoners at the Birmingham, Alabama, jail committed suicide and their estates filed suit claiming violations of the detainees' eighth and fourteenth amendment rights. Both men hanged themselves with bed sheets hung from an iron bar across …

Indiana Control Unit Prisoners File Suit and Strike

Article • August 15, 1992 • from PLN August, 1992

Filed under: Hunger Strikes, Eighth Amendment, Exposure to Cold, Clothing, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Telephone Access, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Visiting, Attorney Visits

Indiana Control Unit Prisoners File Suit and Strike by Paul Wright On May 4, 1992, the Indiana Civil Liberties Union filed a class action suit in the Marion County, Indiana, Superior Court. The action is Taifa Vs. Bayh, and challenges numerous conditions of confinement at the Westville, IN, Maximum Control …

DOC Must Provide Involuntarily Committed With Treatment

Article • August 15, 1992 • from PLN August, 1992

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Strip Searches, Overcrowding, Restraints, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Civil Commitment

DOC Must Provide Involuntarily Committed With Treatment by Robert Cameron was convicted of rape in Massachusetts and because of prior sex offenses was found to be a "sexually dangerous" person and involuntarily committed to a treatment center operated by the Massachusetts DOC and Dept. of Mental Health. Cameron filed suit …

Confinement of Insanity Acquitees Who Have Regained Sanity Struck Down

Article • July 15, 1992 • from PLN July, 1992

Filed under: Mental Health, Civil Commitment

Confinement of Insanity Acquitees Who Have Regained Sanity Struck Down by On May 18,1992, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down on due process grounds a Louisiana statute that permits insanity acquittees to be confined to a mental institution on dangerousness grounds until they prove that they are not dangerous. Once …

Involuntary Medication Violates Due Process

Article • July 15, 1992 • from PLN July, 1992

Filed under: Mental Health, Involuntary Treatment/Drugging

Involuntary Medication Violates Due Process by Christopher Breads is a prisoner in the Erie County Jail in New York state who was forcefully injected with psychotropic drugs by jail officials. He filed suit under § 1983 claiming his right to due process had been violated. The defendants moved for summary …

Pelican Bay Conditions Suit Filed

Article • June 15, 1992 • from PLN June, 1992

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, Eighth Amendment, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

Pelican Bay Conditions Suit Filed by The Pelican Bay Information Project (PBIP) is an independent citizens' group that has formed in response to the complaints of prisoners. The group is composed of prison visitors, writers, ex-prisoners, lawyers and human rights advocates. Since Pelican Bay's 1250 cell Security Housing Unit (SHU) …

Civil Commitment

Article • December 15, 1991 • from PLN December, 1991

Filed under: Searches, Photographing, Civil Commitment

Civil Commitment by Carrie Roth by Carrie Roth, Prison/Community Alliance The Special Commitment Center (SCC) is a block of prison cells in the Special Offenders Center (SOC) in Monroe, WA. Eleven men are now housed in the prison under the Civil Commitment law passed in 1990. Although the center is …

Prison/Community Alliance Update

Article • September 15, 1991 • from PLN September, 1991

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole, Civil Commitment

Prison/Community Alliance Update by Carrie Roth By Carrie Roth I received a copy of the June 24, 1991 indeterminate Sentence Review Board (ISRB) minutes today and in it is another example of the ISRBs' inability to adequately perform their duties. In the minutes is a short paragraph which states, "Ms. …

Prison/Community Alliance Update

Article • July 15, 1991 • from PLN July, 1991

Filed under: Parole, Civil Commitment, News, State Legislation

Prison/Community Alliance Update by Carrie Roth By Carrie Roth June 10, 1991 the Legislature went back into session and by the time this is read the session should be over. This is a time when there is a lot of speculation and rumors going around. One rumor is that Senator …

Reality of Sexual Victimization Obscured by "Predator" Label

Article • July 15, 1991 • from PLN July, 1991

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Crime/Demographics, Victims, Civil Commitment

Reality of Sexual Victimization Obscured by "Predator" Label by Patricia Novotny (Reprint of letter to the Seattle Times) Thomas Shapley in his column on sexual predators (Focus, April 7) does a disservice to the sexually abused and sexually assaulted. He reminds me of the man in the Mae West movie. …

Civil Commitment Roasted on ABC's Nightline

Article • June 15, 1991 • from PLN June, 1991

Filed under: Mental Health, Sex Offender Treatment, Civil Commitment

Civil Commitment Roasted on ABC's Nightline by Dan Pens By Dan Pens I had gotten word through the grape vine that Nightline was going to do a show on the Washington civil commitment law. So I stayed up several nights in a row to check it out. The plight of …

"Rehabilitation" Hoax Unveiled at ISRB Meeting

Article • May 15, 1991 • from PLN May, 1991

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole, Civil Commitment

"Rehabilitation" Hoax Unveiled at ISRB Meeting by Dan Pens "Rehabilitation" Hoax Unveiled At ISRB Meeting By Dan Pens Any good confidence-artist can tell you that flawless teamwork is needed to pull off a complicated sting. If the players don't keep their stories straight the "marks" might catch 'em in a …

Panel Blasts BJA for Ending Drug Treatment Projects

Article • April 15, 1991 • from PLN April, 1991

Filed under: Mental Health, Drug Treatment/Rehab

Panel Blasts BJA for Ending Drug Treatment Projects by Panel Blasts BJA For Ending Drug Treatment Projects A House committee has issued a report alleging that the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), which manages the $492-million drug enforcement grants program, discontinued funding of drug treatment in prisons and jails, and …

Oppression and Resistance at Canada's Prison for Women

Article • April 15, 1991 • from PLN April, 1991

Filed under: Gender Discrimination -- Women, Racial Discrimination, Mental Health, Suicides

Oppression and Resistance at Canada's Prison for Women by Oppression And Resistance At Canada's Prison For Women KINGSTON, ONTARIO - On February 12, 1991, Lorna Jones, a native prisoner, was found hanging in her cell. Her's was the fifth suicide by a native prisoner at the Prison for Women (P4W) …