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RFRA Still Applies to Federal Government

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

Filed under: Money/Property, Bankruptcy, Religious Freedom Restoration Act

RFRA Still Applies to Federal Government by The court of appeals for the eighth circuit held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb, still applies to the federal government. In the September, 1997, issue of PLN we reported City of Boerne v. Flores , 117 S.Ct. 2157 …

8th Circuit Orders BOP Sentence Reductions

Article • July 15, 1998 • from PLN July, 1998

Filed under: Good Time, Habeas Corpus, Mental Health, Drug Treatment/Rehab

8th Circuit Orders BOP Sentence Reductions by Joining the third and ninth circuits, the eighth circuit court of appeals held that a BOP program statement denying sentence reductions to non violent drug offenders was contrary to the purpose of 18 U.S.C. § 3621(e)(2)(B), an early release statute which allows a …

Women's Prison Book Project

Article • February 15, 1997 • from PLN February, 1997

Filed under: Gender Discrimination -- Women, Commentary/Reviews, Reviews, Resources

Women's Prison Book Project by The Women's Prison Book Project (WPBP) is a group of volunteers organizing to provide women in prison with free reading materials covering a wide range of topics from legal and education materials to politics, history, and women's health. There are other prison book projects, but …

$168,500 Awarded in Prisoner's Death

Article • August 15, 1996 • from PLN August, 1996

Filed under: Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints, Damages, Settlements, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

$168,500 Awarded in Prisoner's Death by Gregory Stampley, 46, was convicted in 1993 of kidnapping and making terroristic threats. He was sentenced to eight years and sent to the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater. Prison doctors who examined him diagnosed paranoid schizophrenia, aggressive-personality disorder and bipolar disorder. According to court …

Minnesota Prisoners Strike for Minimum Wage

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

Filed under: Prison Industries, Prison Labor, Organizing, Prison Rebellion, Work Strikes

Minnesota Prisoners Strike for Minimum Wage by [The March 21 issue of Workers World reported that "a struggle exposing super-exploitation of prison labor has broken out at the Oak Park Heights Correctional Facility in Minnesota." The following account is excerpted from that article. Readers may note that Minnesota prisoners have …

MN Passes Laws Against Prison Litigators

Article • October 15, 1995 • from PLN October, 1995

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Damages, Frivolous Litigation, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, State Legislation

MN Passes Laws Against Prison Litigators by The 1995 session of the Minnesota state legislature passed laws aimed directly at jailhouse layers. MN Statute § 243.241 titled "Civil Action Money Damages" was created. It states: "Money damages recovered in a civil action by an inmate confined in a state correctional …

Brutality Protested

Article • February 15, 1995 • from PLN February, 1995

Filed under: Organizing, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Brutality Protested by On October 10, 1994, more than 25 protesters marched on the Oak Park Heights state prison in Minnesota The demonstrators entered the prison lobby and demanded to meet with warden Erik Skon, who declined. The march was organized by the Love & Rage Anarchist Federation of Minneapolis …

No FLSA Protection for Prisoner Workers

Article • January 15, 1995 • from PLN January, 1995

Filed under: Work, Prison Labor, Fair Labor Standards Act, Ashurst Summers Act

No FLSA Protection for Prisoner Workers by Past issues of PLN have extensively reported on the struggles by prisoners to obtain the minimum wage for industrial and production work performed in prison. Much of this litigation has focused on the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) 29 U.S.C. § 201-219 …

Visitor Awarded Damages

Article • May 15, 1994 • from PLN May, 1994

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Attorney Fee Awards, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Damages

Visitor Awarded Damages by A man visiting his brother in jail was awarded damages both for battery and for violation of his civil rights, based on a guard's attack on him and making of racially derogatory remarks. On appeal, the Minnesota state appeals court ruled that because the racial slurs …

Prison Slavery Upheld, Again

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

Filed under: Prison Industries, Federal Statutory Law, Fair Labor Standards Act, Ashurst Summers Act, RICO

Prison Slavery Upheld, Again by Ed Mead By Ed Mead Prisoners in various Minnesota correctional facilities filed a class action suit in an effort to secure minimum wages for the work they performed in the many prison industries. The industries in question produce items such as furniture, truck and auto …

Minn. Prison Signs Contract for Puerto Rican Inmates

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

Filed under: Out of State Transfers, Private Prisons

Minn. Prison Signs Contract for Puerto Rican Inmates by Minn. Prison signs Contract for Puerto Rican Inmates St. Paul, Minn. - about 500 prisoners from Puerto Rico will come to Minnesota as early as this month under a deal that finally will fill a privately operated prison in Appleton built …

Prison's TB Response Legally Inadequate

Article • January 15, 1992 • from PLN January, 1992

Filed under: Medical, Medication, Systemic Medical Neglect, Tuberculosis, Eighth Amendment, Attorney Fee Awards

Prison's TB Response Legally Inadequate by Prisoners at a Minnesota correctional facility filed a class action lawsuit challenging the tuberculosis screening and control procedures at the prison as so inadequate that they constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the eighth amendment. The trial court agreed with the inmates, …

Grievance System Does Not Create Liberty Interest

Article • August 15, 1991 • from PLN August, 1991

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Administrative Exhaustion

Grievance System Does Not Create Liberty Interest by A federal prisoner brought a Bivens action against the prison warden and case manager for denying him access to the prison grievance system. The district court granted summary judgment to prison officials and the court of appeals affirmed. The court of appeals …

Deliberate Indifference Demonstrated

Article • February 15, 1991 • from PLN February, 1991

Filed under: Medical, Tuberculosis, Medical Records, Staffing, Supervisory Liability, Failure to Train/Supervise

Deliberate Indifference Demonstrated by Proof of prison administrators' "consistent pattern of reckless or negligent conduct" in providing prisoners with medical care is enough to establish the deliberate indifference to prisoners' serious medical needs necessary to make out an Eighth Amendment violation and hence to subject the officials to civil liability. …

MN Phone Rates 2012

Kickback publication

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

MN Phone Rates 2012 MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS OFFENDER PHONE SYSTEM INFORMATION The Department of Corrections currently has a contract with Global Tel Link (GTL) to provide phone services for offenders. The contract was established using the State’s competitive bidding process coordinated by the Department of Administration Materials Management Division. …

Minnesota Amended 2013-2014 GTL Inmate Phone Contract

Kickback publication

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

Minnesota Amended 2013-2014 GTL Inmate Phone Contract Admin Minnesota Materials Management Division Room 112 Administration Bldg., 50 Sherburne Ave., St. Paul, MN 55155; Phone: 651.296.2600, Fax: 651.297.3996 Persons with a hearing or speech disability can contact us through the Minnesota Relay Service by dialing 711 or 1.800.627.3529. CONTRACT RELEASE: T-512 …

MN Phone Rates 2012 v2

Kickback publication

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

MN Phone Rates 2012 v2 Contract Release T-512 Such matters will be between the Contract Vendor and the called/billed party (for collect calls) or the offender/client (for debit calls) and will be governed by Contract Vendor's applicable Federal or State tariff(s) and their successor(s) in effect during the Contract term. …

MN Phone Kickbacks 2004-2008

Kickback publication

Filed under: Telephones

MN Phone Kickbacks 2004-2008 Total revenue amounts for all of our state (MN) prisons are: FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 1,818,415 1,566,082 1,495,146 1,249,321 1,448,377

MN GTL Contract Proposal Part 1

Kickback publication

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

MN GTL Contract Proposal Part 1 GLOBAL TEL*LlNK'S General Proposal To STATE OF MINNESOTA REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Offender/Client Telephone Calling System For the Department of Corrections and the Department of Human Resources October 23, 2009 Submitted by: Global Tel' Link 2609 Cameron Street Contact: William (Skip) Smith, Account Executive Telephone: …

MN GTL Contract Proposal 2009 Part 4

Kickback publication

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

MN GTL Contract Proposal 2009 Part 4 State of Minnesota Offender/Client Telephone Calling System Proposal October 23, 2009 :r :r :r :r Tf G. ' L ' Security clearances Site survey schedules Offender/client database information Review DOC/DHS policies and regulations Planning (Site Plan by Location) GTL will gather all detailed …