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Frivolous Litigation

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

Filed under: Frivolous Litigation, Money/Property, Prisoner Property

Frivolous Litigation by People hear the term "frivolous" litigation and what comes to mind are the guys who sue over a train whistle keeping them awake at night in prison. All too often prisoners seeking justice don't find any, not because their claims are frivolous but because they are too …

Evidence Must Support Disciplinary Charge

Article • November 15, 1994 • from PLN November, 1994

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Evidentiary Ruling (Disciplinary Hearings), Standard of Proof, Habeas Corpus

Evidence Must Support Disciplinary Charge by Indiana is unique in that it does not provide any state court remedy for prisoners who lose good time in prison disciplinary hearings. As a result, Indiana state prisoners seeking the restoration of lost good time or expungement of infractions must file directly in …

S.Ct. Distinguishes Habeas and Section 1983

Article • September 15, 1994 • from PLN September, 1994

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Disciplinary Litigation, Habeas Corpus

S.Ct. Distinguishes Habeas and Section 1983 by The two most common suits filed by state prisoners in federal courts are 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas corpus petitions which challenge the length or legality of confinement and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suits which seek money damages for civil rights violations. There …

No Right to Self-Defense in Prison

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

Filed under: Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Disciplinary Hearings, Liberty Interests, Legality of Rules, Sanctions (Disciplinary Hearings), Failure to Protect (General)

No Right to Self-Defense in Prison by John Rowe is an Indiana state prisoner. A prisoner named Michael Evans was moved into a cell next to Rowe and Rowe complained to staff, who did nothing. Evans sent Rowe a note demanding sexual favors. The next morning Evans entered Rowe's cell …

The ACLU Takes Indiana Prison Officials to Court

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

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, Staffing, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

The ACLU Takes Indiana Prison Officials to Court by Mentally ill prisoners shackled to their beds, sick prisoners denied treatment, indigent prisoners forced to pay for medication or do without -- these and other deplorable conditions at the Westville Correctional Center have forced attorneys for the prisoners to return to …

ISR Seg Conditions Suit Not Frivolous

Article • June 15, 1994 • from PLN June, 1994

Filed under: Court Access, Frivolous Litigation, Complaints, Ad-Seg Hearings, Denial of Religious Services

ISR Seg Conditions Suit Not Frivolous by Twelve prisoners in the segregation unit of the Indiana State Reformatory (ISR) filed suit challenging their conditions of confinement. They claimed that their right to freely practice their religious faith was violated when they were denied access to religious programs; their right of …

No Court Review of Work Credit Denial

Article • June 15, 1994 • from PLN June, 1994

Filed under: Work, Prison Labor, Good Time, Habeas Corpus

No Court Review of Work Credit Denial by Daniel Waletzki is a federal prisoner. While imprisoned at the US Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, he worked in the kitchen. Prison officials refused to award him good time credits for meritorious job performance which would have reduced his sentence. The statute …

Consent Decree Creates Right to Uninspected Legal Mail

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

Filed under: Contempt (Civil Procedure), Consent Decrees, Mail, Mail Regulations, Legal Mail

Consent Decree Creates Right to Uninspected Legal Mail by In 1976 prisoners at the Indiana State Reformatory in Pendleton, IN filed suit challenging the conditions at the prison. In 1977 the parties entered into a consent decree settling the suit. With respect to legal mail the decree provided that it …

Jail Detainees Have Right to Library Access

Article • April 15, 1994 • from PLN April, 1994

Filed under: Law Library Access/Adequacy, Civil Procedure, Complaints, Sanctions, Qualified Immunity

Jail Detainees Have Right to Library Access by This case involves a consolidated appeal of one suit by three Wisconsin county jail detainees and one by an Indiana jail detainee. All of the plaintiffs claimed their right of access to the courts was violated because the jails they were held …

Jail Sued Under ADA

Article • April 15, 1994 • from PLN April, 1994

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Systemic Medical Neglect, Urinary, Conditions of Confinement, Ventilation, Showers, Toilets, Water, Sanitation, Bedding, Complaints, Administrative Exhaustion, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Qualified Immunity

Jail Sued Under ADA by In 1990 Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12131-12134, which prohibits discrimination against the disabled by public services. Readers will note that this law applies to prisons and jails who can be sued for failing to provide disabled prisoners with …

Report on Indiana Control Unit Issued

Article • April 15, 1994 • from PLN April, 1994

Filed under: Resources, Eighth Amendment, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

Report on Indiana Control Unit Issued by The Coalition Against Indiana Control Units (CAICU) has issued it's report Human Rights Violations and Torture on the Rise at the Maximum Control Complex at Westville, IN: Profile of a Supermax . The report details and documents the conditions of confinement suffered by …

S.Ct. Hears Argument in Prisoner Attack Case

Article • March 15, 1994 • from PLN March, 1994

Filed under: Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Transgender, Failure to Protect (Transgender)

S.Ct. Hears Argument in Prisoner Attack Case by On January 12, 1994, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Farmer v. Brennan , Case no. 92-7247. Farmer is a transsexual federal prisoner who was raped after being placed in general population at the U.S. Penitentiary at Terre Haute, IN. …

More Censorship and Repression in Indiana

Article • February 15, 1994 • from PLN February, 1994

Filed under: Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Censorship

More Censorship and Repression in Indiana by On November 7, 1993, guards at the Maximum Control Complex (MCC) in Westville, Indiana, searched the cell of Shaka Shakur seeking to confiscate all copies of Human Rights Held Hostage , a civil/human rights publication. Not finding any copies they searched the other …

Murder Incorporated

Article • February 15, 1994 • from PLN February, 1994

Filed under: Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Row

Murder Incorporated by Bill Dunne By Bill Dunne The U.S. Bureau of Prisons recently designated the U.S. penitentiary at Terre Haute, Indiana, as the facility at which prisoners sentenced to death by the federal courts will be housed until they are executed by lethal injection. The federal government has never …

Making Con Drink from Toilet States Claim

Article • January 15, 1994 • from PLN January, 1994

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Plumbing, Water

Making Con Drink from Toilet States Claim by Making Con Drink From Toilet States Claim Apro se prisoner at the Indiana State Prison, Craig Thomas, filed a civil rights claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The complaint raised a number of issues, only one of which survived the state's motion …

Christopher "Naeem" Trotter Needs Support Against Injustice!

Article • December 15, 1993 • from PLN December, 1993

Filed under: Political Prisoners, Organizing, Prison Rebellion

Christopher "Naeem" Trotter Needs Support Against Injustice! by Christopher "Naeem" Trotter is incarcerated at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. Christopher is a young man, 30 years old from a working class Black family. Chris is serving a 142 year sentence as a result of his participation in the …

Chained Detainee Wins Restraint Case

Article • November 15, 1993 • from PLN November, 1993

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Clothing, Showers, Toilets, Plumbing, Hygiene Supplies, Restraints, Municipal Liability, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides

Chained Detainee Wins Restraint Case by At the Madison County Jail in Indiana a pre-trial detainee named Jones became despondent and tried to hang himself, after learning that his four months pregnant girlfriend had taken a job as an exotic "topless" dancer. Jail officials busted Jones and moved him to …

Anderson v. Bayh, IN, Order, Request Capacity, 1993

Brief • July 12, 1993

Anderson v. Bayh, IN, Order, Request Capacity, 1993 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA SOUTH BEND DIVISION INMATES OF WESTVILLE CORRECTIONAL CENTER, ROGER W. ANDERSON, et. al-/ Plaintiffs, vs. EVAN BAYH, et. al., Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) CAUSE NO. S 83-481 …

Moorish Appeal for Your Support

Article • June 15, 1993 • from PLN June, 1993

Filed under: Discrimination, Religious Discrimination

Moorish Appeal for Your Support by Taajwar Rasheed-Bey Members of The Moorish Science Temple of America, who are incarcerated in the penal institutions in the state of Indiana, have received much opposition and are being continuously denied the right to practice our religious beliefs, to hold religious services by the …

Infraction Suits Must Exhaust Administrative Remedies

Article • April 15, 1993 • from PLN April, 1993

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Disciplinary Appeals, Administrative Exhaustion, Habeas Corpus

Infraction Suits Must Exhaust Administrative Remedies by L. Markham is an Indiana state prisoner. He lost 243 days of earned good time in a series of disciplinary proceedings. Under Indiana DOC regulations prisoners can appeal the loss of good time credits to prison officials within 10 days of the hearing, …