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Washington DOC/King County Settles Negligent Supervision Case for $3.1 Million

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Victims, Municipal Liability, Parole Liability, Wrongful Death, Murder by Parolees

Washington DOC/King County Settles Negligent Supervision Case for $3.1 Million by Washington DOC/King County Settles Negligent Supervision Case for $3.1 Million On March 9, 2003, the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) and King County agreed to pay $3.1 million to the family of a woman who was brutally raped and …

Supplemental Parole Violation Warrant Filed After Sentence Expiration Illegal

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole, Habeas Corpus

Supplemental Parole Violation Warrant Filed After Sentence Expiration Illegal by Supplemental Parole Violation Warrant Filed After Sentence Expiration Illegal A federal district court for the District of Columbia has held that a parolee cannot be violated for activity alleged in a supplemental warrant filed after expiration of the original sentence. …

Fighting for Fair Phone Rates

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Telephone Rates

Fighting for Fair Phone Rates by Deborah M Golden Fighting For Fair Phone Rates by Deborah M. Golden In 2000, a group of prisoners, loved ones of prisoners, and attorneys filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the high cost of collect calls …

California Initial Cell Assignments By Race Upheld, U.S. Supreme Court Grants Review

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Conditions of Confinement, Failure to Protect (General), Qualified Immunity

California Initial Cell Assignments By Race Upheld, U.S. Supreme Court Grants Review by John E Dannenberg California Initial Cell Assignments By Race Upheld, U.S. Supreme Court Grants Review by John E. Dannenberg The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the policy of the California Department of Corrections (CDC) …

County May Be Liable for Private Prison's Customs and Policies

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Cornell Corrections, Threats by Staff, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Guard Brutality/Beatings, Shootings, Civil Procedure, Parties, Municipal Liability

County May Be Liable for Private Prison's Customs and Policies by Bob Williams County May Be Liable For Private Prison's Customs And Policies by Bob Williams The New Mexico federal district court has held that a county could potentially be liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for the customs and …

Wisconsin Pro Se Co-Plaintiffs Must Maintain Separate § 1983 Actions

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Prisoner Legal Assistance, Civil Procedure, Complaints, Parties

Wisconsin Pro Se Co-Plaintiffs Must Maintain Separate § 1983 Actions by Wisconsin Pro Se Co-Plaintiffs Must Maintain Separate § 1983 Actions Federal district court Chief Judge Bar-bara B. Crabb, of the Northern District of Wisconsin, has decided that all pro se prisoner plaintiffs filing in this district must file and …

News in Brief

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: News, News in Brief

News in Brief by Bolivia: Protesting bad conditions and long sentences, two prisoners at the Palmasola prison in the capital of La Paz were crucified on February 11, 2004. Prisoners Fredy Acosta and Walter Ortiz were nailed to crosses in the prison. The protest was filmed by local television crews …

Prior To Reversal And Reconviction, California Prison Credits, Not Jail Credits, Apply

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Sentencing, Good Time

Prior To Reversal And Reconviction, California Prison Credits, Not Jail Credits, Apply by Prior To Reversal And Reconviction, California Prison Credits, Not Jail Credits, Apply The California Supreme Court held that when a prisoner's conviction is overturned on appeal, and a new conviction is obtained upon retrial, the time that …

Prison Mailbox Rule Applies to Civil Rights Complaint

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Complaints, Limitations, Mail Regulations

Prison Mailbox Rule Applies to Civil Rights Complaint by Jon Michael Withrow Prison Mailbox Rule Applies To Civil Rights Complaint by Jon Michael Withrow The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th circuit reversed and remanded a district court's dismissal of a prisoner's § 1983 complaint as untimely filed, holding …

Asset Forfeiture Defense Manual

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Commentary/Reviews, Reviews, Forfeiture

Asset Forfeiture Defense Manual by John E Dannenberg by Brenda Grantland, Judy Osburn and Susan Raffanti; Liberty Press, San Francisco, CA, Nov. 2001; 500 pp. (soft-back) Vol. 1: Substantive Law and Administrative Procedure; Review by John E. Dannenberg You may have thought your troubles were over when you were prosecuted …

California Parole Violators' Due Process Rights Upheld in Settlement

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Overcrowding, PLRA, Injunctions (PLRA), Settlements, Parole

California Parole Violators' Due Process Rights Upheld in Settlement by California Parole Violators' Due Process Rights Upheld in Settlement In a November 17, 2003 Stipulated Or-der for Permanent Injunctive Relief (PI), defendant California prison officials settled a nine-year old federal class action suit brought by parolees whose due process rights …

Former Warden and Two Jailers Sentenced for Philadelphia Jail Beating

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

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

Former Warden and Two Jailers Sentenced for Philadelphia Jail Beating by Former Warden and Two Jailers Sentenced for Philadelphia Jail Beating A former warden and two former guards were sentenced in federal court for their roles in connection with the severe beating of a federal prisoner who was being held …

Mississippi Death Row Conditions Unconstitutional; Sweeping Reforms Ordered

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Victims, Ventilation, Exercise, Exposure to Cold, Plumbing, Sewage, Sanitation, Lighting, Laundry, Vermin, Exposure to Heat, Death Row, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Guards/Staff, American Correctional Association

Mississippi Death Row Conditions Unconstitutional; Sweeping Reforms Ordered by Bob Williams Mississippi Death Row Conditions Unconstitutional; Sweeping Reforms Ordered by Bob Williams Hailed as the broadest ruling ever is-sued by a federal judge in a death row conditions of confinement case, and a precedent setting breakthrough in prisoners' rights, conditions …

Canadian Prisoner Dies After Drinking Drug-Laced Vomit, Others Charged

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Medication, Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Accidents, Drug Treatment/Rehab

Canadian Prisoner Dies After Drinking Drug-Laced Vomit, Others Charged by Michael Rigby Canadian Prisoner Dies After Drinking Drug-Laced Vomit, Others Charged by Michael Rigby Prisoners at the Pine Grove Correctional Centre in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan (Canada) have been drinking each other's drug-laced vomit in order to get high. One woman …

Constitutional Amendment Effort Launched to Bar Florida's Prison Privatization

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Private Prisons, Guard Unions, State Legislation

Constitutional Amendment Effort Launched to Bar Florida's Prison Privatization by David Reutter Constitutional Amendment Effort Launched to Bar Florida's Prison Privatization by David M. Reutter The Florida Police Benevolence As-sociation (PBA) has launched a petition drive to enact an amendment to Florida's constitution that would bar privatization of prisons, jails, …

Permanent Injunction Requires Full HCV Retreatment for Florida Prisoner

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Private Prisons, Wexford Health Services, Hepatitis, Attorney Fees (PLRA), Injunctions (PLRA), Guard Brutality/Beatings

Permanent Injunction Requires Full HCV Retreatment for Florida Prisoner by John E Dannenberg Permanent Injunction Requires Full HCV Retreatment for Florida Prisoner by John E. Dannenberg The U.S. District Court (S.D. Fla.) is-sued a permanent injunction on July 24, 2003 ordering James Crosby, the Secretary of the Florida Department of …

Disabled Missouri Prisoner Awarded Backpay after Passing GED Test

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Prison Labor, PLRA, Physical Injury Rule, Education, Damages, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Eleventh Amendment Immunity

Disabled Missouri Prisoner Awarded Backpay after Passing GED Test by The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri found that a disabled prisoner was entitled to backpay because he was not reassigned to a premium pay job after he successfully passed the GED test. James Arlt Jr, a …

Brief Statement of Operative Facts Satisfies Texas Pleading Requirement

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Food, Civil Procedure, Complaints, Administrative Exhaustion

Brief Statement of Operative Facts Satisfies Texas Pleading Requirement by by Matthew T. Clarke A Texas state court of appeals has held that a brief statement of operative facts of prior lawsuits satisfies the requirements of Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code (TCPRC) §§ 14.004 & 14.005. Theron Belton, a …

Texas Prisoners Have Right to Judicial Review of Administrative Finding

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Disciplinary Litigation, Administrative Exhaustion, Prisoner Property

Texas Prisoners Have Right to Judicial Review of Administrative Finding by Texas Prisoners Have Right to Judicial Review of Administrative Finding A Texas state court of appeals has held that Texas state prisoners have a right to a judicial review of an administrative finding of destruction of state property in …

Prison Nation Wins Human Rights Award

Article • April 15, 2004 • from PLN April, 2004

Filed under: Reviews, Media, Prisoner Media

Prison Nation Wins Human Rights Award by On December 16, 2003, Paul Wright and Tara Herivel were awarded the 2003 Myers Outstanding Book Award certificate for Prison Nation: The Warehousing of America's Poor (Routledge, 2003). The award is from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human …