Search | Prison Legal News

Recent US Supreme Court Rulings of Interest: Court Access

Article • October 15, 1997 • from PLN October, 1997

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Filing Fees, Transcripts, Family Law, Mothers in Prison

Recent US Supreme Court Rulings of Interest: Court Access by The court struck down a Mississippi law that conditioned appeals in parental rights cases to prepayment of record preparation fees, with no provisions for indigents. The case involved a mother who lost parental rights, forever, to her two minor children …

Former Mississippi Guards Lose Sentencing Appeal

Article • September 15, 1997 • from PLN September, 1997

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Escapes, Guard Brutality/Beatings, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines

Former Mississippi Guards Lose Sentencing Appeal by On November 17, 1991, Larry Floyd escaped from the Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP) at Parchman. He was captured the following day in an abandoned house near the prison. Upon his capture he was beaten by several MSP guards while others looked on. A …

No Right to TV or Radio

Article • September 15, 1997 • from PLN September, 1997

Filed under: Prisoner Privileges, Money/Property, Prisoner Property

No Right to TV or Radio by A federal district court in Mississippi upheld a state statute prohibiting prisoners from using televisions or radios. In the January, 1995, issue of PLN we reported the enactment of Miss. Code Ann. § 47-5-124 which states: "No convict incarcerated in a state correctional …

Mississippi Detainees Awarded Damages in Disciplinary Suit

Article • June 15, 1997 • from PLN June, 1997

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Liberty Interests, Notice of Hearing, Damages, Costs, Qualified Immunity

Mississippi Detainees Awarded Damages in Disciplinary Suit by A federal district court in Mississippi held that the due process rights of two pre trial detainees were violated when they were placed in disciplinary segregation without a hearing. The court awarded each detainee $600 in damages. The court also taxed litigation …

County Liable for Trustee's Work; No Remedy for Illegal Detention

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

Filed under: Prison Industries, Prison Labor, Civil Procedure, Damages, State Law Claims, Wrongful Imprisonment, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Qualified Immunity, Municipal Liability, Judicial Immunity, Prosecutorial Immunity

County Liable for Trustee's Work; No Remedy for Illegal Detention by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that a county was properly liable where it did not reimburse a jail detainee for work he performed on public property. The court also held that a pretrial detainee's work …

Attorney Fees Awarded for Opposing Motion to Vacate

Article • October 15, 1996 • from PLN October, 1996

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Attorney Fee Awards, Consent Decrees

Attorney Fees Awarded for Opposing Motion to Vacate by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit affirmed a district court's award of almost $38,000 in attorney fees to class counsel for opposing a jail defendant's motion to vacate a consent decree. In 1978 prisoners at the Madison County jail …

Fifth Circuit Applies New Standard to Detainee Claims

Article • October 15, 1996 • from PLN October, 1996

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Jail Specific, Qualified Immunity, Suicides

Fifth Circuit Applies New Standard to Detainee Claims by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit has significantly weakened the constitutional protections afforded pretrial detainees by adopting a new standard affording significantly less protection than prior supreme court decisions had mandated. Haley Hare committed suicide while in the Corinth, …

Mississippi Unable to Pay the Piper

Article • June 15, 1996 • from PLN June, 1996

Filed under: Overcrowding, Good Time, News, State Legislation

Mississippi Unable to Pay the Piper by Last year Mississippi implemented the country's toughest sentencing bill, requiring all convicts (not just 'serious" or violent" criminals) to serve 85 percent of their sentences. Corrections Commissioner Steve Puckett said that law is causing a serious financial dilemma and needs to be reviewed. …

MS Prison Rights Litigator Threatened

Article • May 15, 1995 • from PLN May, 1995

Filed under: Threats by Staff, Retaliation for Litigating, Organizing

MS Prison Rights Litigator Threatened by Julio Wicks is a pro se litigator who has been struggling for years to improve conditions at Mississippis Parchman Penitentiary, which he characterizes as a "Plantation." As he puts it, "There are 8,000 Black slaves [of a total prison population of 10,000] on this …

MS Jail Officials Held in Contempt

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

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Consent Decrees

MS Jail Officials Held in Contempt by In l978 prisoners at the Madison County jail in Mississippi filed a class action suit challenging conditions at the jail. Prior to going to trial the parties negotiated a consent decree incorporating a wide range of issues, everything from racial discrimination to the …

MS Bans Appliances

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

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Exercise, Clothing, Prisoner Privileges, Prisoner Property, State Legislation

MS Bans Appliances by In August, 1994, the Mississippi state legislature held a special session to deal with prison overcrowding. Rather than deal with that issue, the legislature soon became embroiled in a debate on how to worsen prison conditions even more. Proposals were made to "restore fear to prison," …

MS Prison Officials Indicted

Article • October 15, 1994 • from PLN October, 1994

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Escapes, Guard Brutality/Beatings

MS Prison Officials Indicted by On June 14, 1994, US Attorney Alfred Moreton III made public a grand jury indictment of six current and five former Mississippi state prison officials in the 1991 beating of Larry Floyd, a prisoner at the Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP) at Parchman. The five former …

Transport of Prison Made Goods Illegal

Article • July 15, 1994 • from PLN July, 1994

Filed under: Prison Industries, Federal Statutory Law, Ashurst Summers Act

Transport of Prison Made Goods Illegal by Preston Glove Company is a Mississippi textile manufacturer who entered into a contract with Magnolia State Enterprises, a quasi governmental business incorporated pursuant to the Mississippi Prison Industries Act of 1990, for the use of prison laborers and Magnolia facilities. Under the contract …

DOJ Orders MS Jails Closed

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

Filed under: Mental Health, Suicides

DOJ Orders MS Jails Closed by The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), citing conditions such as maggot-infested cells, racially segregated holding cells, fire hazards and a high number of jail suicides, has ordered the closing of jails in four Mississippi counties, Neshoba County, Sunflower County, Lauderdale and Jones County. The …

Court Enjoins Torture of Jail Prisoners

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

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Self Incrimination, Escapes, Attorney Fee Awards, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's

Court Enjoins Torture of Jail Prisoners by Two Mississippi jail prisoners tried to escape from the jail by smashing their way out. Their attempt failed and guards secured and restrained them in an interrogation cell. The sheriff questioned the two men as to the location of their escape tools, which …

Dismissal of HIV+ Conditions Suit Reversed

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

Filed under: Medical, HIV/AIDS, Systemic Medical Neglect, Dental Care, Appointment of Counsel

Dismissal of HIV+ Conditions Suit Reversed by Two HIV+ Mississippi state prisoners filed suit against Mississippi state officials challenging numerous aspects of the state DOC's policy regarding HIV+ prisoners. The policies they challenged include: placing HIV+ prisoners in administrative segregation and denying them all privileges; not providing adequate AIDS treatment …

Preliminary Injunction Issued Against Grooming Code

Article • September 15, 1992 • from PLN September, 1992

Filed under: Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Religious Freedom, Religious Grooming

Preliminary Injunction Issued Against Grooming Code by Three Oklahoma state prisoners filed suit challenging the Oklahoma DOC's policy of banning any facial hair or hair longer than 3 inches in length. The prisoners claimed their religious beliefs forbid the cutting of their hair. In two cases requests for preliminary injunctions …

Federal Court Upholds Slave Labor

Article • January 15, 1991 • from PLN January, 1991

Filed under: Work, Prison Industries, Prison Labor

Federal Court Upholds Slave Labor by Can a Mississippi prisoner collect damages for a violation of his constitutional and civil rights because he was forced to work on private property without pay? The U.S. Court of Appeals says no, even in the face of a state law prohibiting inmates from …

Prison Legal News v. Mississippi DOC, Public Records Settlement, 2009

Filing

Prison Legal News v. Mississippi DOC, Public Records Settlement, 2009 ~~1t51 A TRUE COPy t\ FILED JUN 1 0 2009 IN TH CHANCERY COURT OF HINS COUNTY, ~~~ ;.HA~YCLE FIRST JUDICIAL DIS~l..7.";~"" BY V ("~ D.C. , ":i"" PRISON LEGAL NEWS ~\ PLAINTIFF ~~ ~ ..I "" * "- :: …

Prison Legal News v. Mississippi Dept. of Corrections and Global Tel Link, Complaint, Public Records, 2009

Filing

Prison Legal News v. Mississippi Dept. of Corrections and Global Tel Link, Complaint, Public Records, 2009