Prisoners Entitled to Rely on Marshalls for Service by The court of appeals for the sev enth circuit has extended prior rulings and held that state prisoners are entitled to rely on the Marshalls service to serve their lawsuits on prison officials. The Marshall's failure to properly serve prison officials …
Charging for Medication May Violate Eighth Amendment by A federal district court in Indiana has held that requiring prisoners to pay for medication when they are able to does not violate the eighth amendment. However, prison officials' refusal to provide over the counter medication to indigent prisoners with serious medical …
IN Passes Excrement Law by Senate Enrolled Act #56, which went into effect on July 1, 1995, added a new section to the Indiana Criminal Code which makes it a crime to "knowingly or intentionally in a rude, insolent, or angry manner place blood or another body fluid or waste …
Attorney Fees Awarded in MCC Suit by Past issues of PLN have reported on repression and conditions at the Maximum Control Center (MCC) in Westville, IN and the legal challenges to those conditions as well as political struggle around it. The lawsuit was settled which resulted in numerous changes being …
Prison Worker Compensation Law No Bar to Bivens by Loren Bagola is a federal prisoner. He filed a Bivens suit against Bureau of Prisons (BOP) officials claiming that he lost his right hand when he was forced to operate prison machinery that officials knew to be unsafe. He claimed that …
IN Prisoner and Guard Executed by On December 8,1994, Gregory Resnover was executed by the state of Indiana. Governor Evan Bayh denied Resnover's request for clemency. Resnover was convicted and sentenced in 1984 for the 1980 killing of an Indianapolis police sergeant and in connection with the robbery and slaying …
S.Ct. Revokes Review by In the November, 1994, issue of PLN we reported that the Supreme Court had granted review in Rowe v. DeBruyn 1,71. 94-249. The case involved an Indiana state prisoner who was infracted and punished for defending himself against an attempted rape attack. The question the supreme …
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 …
