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“Habeas Hints”

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Sentencing, Habeas Corpus

“Habeas Hints” by Kent A. Russell by Kent Russell This column is intended to provide “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 habeas corpus practice under AEDPA, the 1996 habeas corpus …

California DOC Settles Sadistic, Hate-Motivated, Three-Year Starvation Death Of Sikh Prisoner For $1 Million

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Geriatric Classification, Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Racial Discrimination, Food, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides

California DOC Settles Sadistic, Hate-Motivated, Three-Year Starvation Death Of Sikh Prisoner For $1 Million by Marvin Mentor California DOC Settles Sadistic, Hate-Motivated, Three-Year Starvation Death Of Sikh Prisoner For $1 Million by Marvin Mentor The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) settled a lawsuit brought by the survivors of …

New Zealand Prisoners Building Copiers for Canon

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Work, Prison Industries, Prison Labor, Prisoners-International

New Zealand Prisoners Building Copiers for Canon by New Zealand prisoners will soon begin working on photocopiers at two prisons. According to New Zealand Department of Corrections (NZDOC) Minister Phil Goff, Canon New Zealand (CNZ) will initially employ a total of 15 prisoners at Rimutaka Prison and Auckland region Women’s …

Exonerated Florida Prisoner Receives $2.2 Million; Second Lawsuit Still Pending

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Sentencing, Wrongful Conviction

Exonerated Florida Prisoner Receives $2.2 Million; Second Lawsuit Still Pending by Exonerated Florida Prisoner Receives $2.2 Million; Second Lawsuit Still Pending The City of Miami has agreed to pay $2.2 million to a mentally ill man who served 22 years in prison for a rape and multiple murders he did …

CMS Insurer Must Pay Wyoming Suicide Settlement

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: CMS, Civil Procedure, Damages, Parties, Suicides

CMS Insurer Must Pay Wyoming Suicide Settlement by CMS Insurer Must Pay Wyoming Suicide Settlement The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that an insurer is required to indemnify Correctional Medical Services (CMS) for an incident that occurred prior to CMS obtaining the insurance policy. The Court’s ruling came …

NCCHC Releases Position Statement on Abuse of Prisoners

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

NCCHC Releases Position Statement on Abuse of Prisoners by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On October 14, 2007, the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) issued a position paper in response to the abuse of prisoners. The NCCHC is an organization dedicated to improving professionalism and safety in the …

Jury Awards Indiana Prison Law Library Clerk $1,150 for Retaliation

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Court Access, Law Library Access/Adequacy, New Trial Motions

Jury Awards Indiana Prison Law Library Clerk $1,150 for Retaliation by Jury Awards Indiana Prison Law Library Clerk $1,150 for Retaliation On April 3, 2008, a federal jury awarded $1,150 to a prison law library clerk in a lawsuit claiming retaliation by a prison librarian. Charles Watkins, a law clerk …

California Guards Union Investigated for Hiring Parolee for Office Job

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Guards/Staff, Guard Unions

California Guards Union Investigated for Hiring Parolee for Office Job by California Guards Union Investigated for Hiring Parolee for Office Job In June 2008, California’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which oversees the state prison system, began investigating the prison guards union (CCPOA) for hiring a parolee as an …

Prison Population Continues Exponential Growth

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Crime, Statistics/Trends, Overcrowding

Prison Population Continues Exponential Growth by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Two reports by the Department of Justice‘s Bureau of Justice Statistics examined the growth rate of America’s jails and prisons, which are burgeoning at a yearly pace of 2%. That growth resulted in an all-time record of 2.3 …

Alabama Policy Denies Work Release to HIV/AIDS Infected Prisoners

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Classification, Work Release, HIV/AIDS

Alabama Policy Denies Work Release to HIV/AIDS Infected Prisoners by David Reutter Alabama Policy Denies Work Release to HIV/AIDS Infected Prisoners by David M. Reutter Citing a 2004 settlement that requires proper care for prisoners infected with HIV or AIDS, the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) is denying such prisoners …

Indiana Prisoner Receives $200,000 in Excessive Force Case

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Indiana Prisoner Receives $200,000 in Excessive Force Case by Indiana Prisoner Receives $200,000 in Excessive Force Case An Indiana federal jury has awarded a state prisoner $200,000 for a guard’s use of excessive force. The claim arose from an incident that occurred at the Wabash Correctional Facility on April 21, …

Indiana DOC Policy Banning Group Worship by Odinists Enjoined

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: PLRA, Injunctions (PLRA), Denial of Religious Services, Religious Practices, Clergy

Indiana DOC Policy Banning Group Worship by Odinists Enjoined by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg On June 19, 2008, a U.S. District Court held that the Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC) failed to meet its burden of proving that a blanket ban on group worship by Odinists was the …

Landmark 1980 California Death Row Federal Consent Decree Partially Terminated Under PLRA

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Totality of Conditions, Food, Sanitation, Asbestos, Noise, Laundry, Vermin, Consent Decrees (PLRA), Court Access, Law Library Access/Adequacy

Landmark 1980 California Death Row Federal Consent Decree Partially Terminated Under PLRA by John Dannenberg Landmark 1980 California Death Row Federal Consent Decree Partially Terminated Under PLRA by John E. Dannenberg A landmark 1980 federal consent decree that covers all manner of living conditions for San Quentin State Prison’s death …

BOP Agrees to Pay $90,000 in Attorney’s Fees and Costs in Suit Over Constitutionality of Byline Regulation

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Equal Access to Justice Act, Mail Regulations, Media, Prisoner Media

BOP Agrees to Pay $90,000 in Attorney’s Fees and Costs in Suit Over Constitutionality of Byline Regulation by BOP Agrees to Pay $90,000 in Attorney’s Fees and Costs in Suit Over Constitutionality of Byline Regulation On December 17, 2007, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) agreed to pay $90,000 in attorney’s …

Colorado DOC Pays $60,000 Settlement for Suicide of Former Prisoner Who Was Sexually Abused by Guard

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Suicides

Colorado DOC Pays $60,000 Settlement for Suicide of Former Prisoner Who Was Sexually Abused by Guard by John Dannenberg Colorado DOC Pays $60,000 Settlement for Suicide of Former Prisoner Who Was Sexually Abused by Guard by John E. Dannenberg The Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) settled a lawsuit brought by …

Self-Help Legal Guides, Publisher, Rosemary Steele; 104 pages, Softbound

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Reviews, Court Access

Self-Help Legal Guides, Publisher, Rosemary Steele; 104 pages, Softbound by David Reutter Self-Help Legal Guides, Publisher, Rosemary Steele; 104 pages, Softbound Reviewed by David M. Reutter Every prisoner has a legal problem. Solving that problem is very difficult, especially if the prisoner is in confinement. With the goal of creating …

Sexual Abuse and Violence in Texas Prisons Eclipses National Average

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Crime/Demographics, Crime, Statistics/Trends

Sexual Abuse and Violence in Texas Prisons Eclipses National Average by Gary Hunter Citing figures issued by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) a preliminary report by the Stop Prisoner Rape (SPR) initiative shows that Texas has five of the nation’s ten worst prisons for reported sexual violence. [SPR has …

$2.75 Million Settlement in New York Prisoner’s Loss of Sight Claim

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Medical, Brain Injury, Vision, Misdiagnosis

$2.75 Million Settlement in New York Prisoner’s Loss of Sight Claim by The New York State Department of Correctional Services has agreed to pay $2.75 million to a prisoner who lost her eyesight due to deficient medical care by prison doctors. The July 2007 settlement came in the civil rights …

$1.5 Million Settlement Provided to Immigrant Prisoner Who Lost Leg in Colorado Jail

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Amputations, Contagious Disease -- Misc., Conditions of Confinement, Sanitation, Immigration

$1.5 Million Settlement Provided to Immigrant Prisoner Who Lost Leg in Colorado Jail by David Reutter $1.5 Million Settlement Provided to Immigrant Prisoner Who Lost Leg in Colorado Jail by David M. Reutter The insurance company for Colorado’s Park County Jail has agreed to settle a former prisoner’s medical neglect …

New Jersey Fires 52 Prison Guards in 2007

Article • December 15, 2008 • from PLN December, 2008

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Crime, Staffing

New Jersey Fires 52 Prison Guards in 2007 by Gary Hunter Guards in New Jersey prisons have been found guilty of everything from smuggling drugs and cell phones to simply failing to show up for work. From 2005 to 2007, the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC) had to fire …