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Massachusetts Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Prisoner PAC

Article • September 15, 2002 • from PLN September, 2002

Filed under: Voting, Disciplinary Hearings, Legality of Rules

Massachusetts Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Prisoner PAC by The Massachusetts Supreme Court has upheld summary judgment against the Massachusetts Prisoners Association Political Action Committee (MPAPAC). The court also upheld disciplinary sanctions by the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (DOC) against MPAPAC cofounder Michael Shea. The ruling largely destroys MPAPAC. Shea, …

States Capitulate on Reading Legal Mail

Article • August 15, 2002 • from PLN August, 2002

Filed under: Attorney Client, Mail, Legal Mail

States Capitulate on Reading Legal Mail by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The disturbing trend of several states to inspect legal mail outside the presence of the prisoner [see PLN Mar. 2002 "State Prisons Abrogate Attorney Client Privilege"] has begun to crumble under court challenges. Begun under the …

PLRA Requires Sequential Fee Collection

Article • July 15, 2002 • from PLN July, 2002

Filed under: PLRA, Filing Fees (PLRA)

PLRA Requires Sequential Fee Collection by A Massachusetts federal district court has held that under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), indigent prisoners who have filed multiple lawsuits can only be assessed 20% of their total monthly receipts. In other words, the filing fees can only be collected sequentially rather …

Intangible Religious Freedom Claims Not Barred by PLRA

Article • April 15, 2002 • from PLN April, 2002

Filed under: Retaliatory Transfers, Physical Injury Rule, Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Mootness, Religious Diet, Religious Property

Intangible Religious Freedom Claims Not Barred by PLRA by John E Dannenberg Intangible Religious Freedom Claims Not Barred By PLRA by John E. Dannenberg The U.S. District Court (District of Massachusetts) held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act's (PLRA) proscription of claims for emotional damages, in the absence of physical …

Massachusetts DNA Law Invalidated

Article • April 15, 2002 • from PLN April, 2002

Filed under: Searches, DNA Testing/Samples, Injunctions, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Massachusetts DNA Law Invalidated by In an unpublished ruling, the Superior Court of Massachusetts invalidated a state statute authorizing the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (MDOC) to: define indigence for the purpose of assessing costs of collecting and processing DNA samples; and impound and seize funds from prisoner accounts without their …

State Prisons Abrogate Attorney-Client Mail Privilege

Article • March 15, 2002 • from PLN March, 2002

Filed under: Attorney Client, Mail, Legal Mail

State Prisons Abrogate Attorney-Client Mail Privilege by Just as the federal government has seized on the events of September 11, 2001, to push for a long list of previously desired powers and restrictions on civil liberties, state prison systems have done the same. Several states, including Massachusetts, Virginia, New Jersey, …

Allen v. Rouse, MA, Third Amended Complaint, Class Action Medical Neglect and Excessive Force, 2002 (Part 2)

Brief • March 14, 2002

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Treat, Excessive Force, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Allen v. Rouse, MA, Third Amended Complaint, Class Action Medical Neglect and Excessive Force, 2002 (Part 2) -, Case 1:00-cv-10981-RWZ Document 53 Filed 03/14/2002 Page 1 of 121 ~ , ' " "l I UNITED STATES DISTRICT COu;RT. IN THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS " . i ; :,.,; iii i:) …

Prisoners Riot in Dartmouth Jail

Article • November 15, 2001 • from PLN November, 2001

Filed under: Chain Gangs, Prison Rebellion, Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Jail Specific, Prisoner Privileges, Access to Media

Prisoners Riot in Dartmouth Jail by Gary Hunter On April 15, 2001, the scene at the Dartmouth House of Correction in Massachusetts could have been lifted straight from the pages of a medieval novel. Prisoners stormed the woodshop, armed themselves with boards, then set the shop afire. While one group …

Massachusetts Disenfranchises its Prisoners

Article • July 15, 2001 • from PLN July, 2001

Filed under: Organizing, Voting, State Legislation

Massachusetts Disenfranchises its Prisoners by Massachusetts Disenfranchises Its Prisoners by Peter Wagner On November 7, 2000, by a 2 to 1 margin, Massachusetts disenfranchised its prisoners with a constitutional amendment called Question 2. Question 2 marked the first time that the Massachusetts constitution had been amended to take away rights …

Diaz v. Suffolk County Sheriff, MA, Complaint, Excessive Force, Discrimination, 2001

Brief • January 2, 2001

Filed under: Discrimination, Excessive Force

Diaz v. Suffolk County Sheriff, MA, Complaint, Excessive Force, Discrimination, 2001 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, SS. SUPERIOR COURT C.A. NO. 99-3956G ******************************* MANUEL DIAZ, et al * * plaintiff * * v. * * SUFFOLK COUNTY SHERIFF * RICHARD ROUSE, * SGT. E. MATICCI, and * several JOHN DOES * …

Ashman v. Marshall, MA, Complaint, Unsanitary Prison Conditions, 2000

Brief • December 19, 2000

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement

Ashman v. Marshall, MA, Complaint, Unsanitary Prison Conditions, 2000 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL ACTION NO. _ DENTON ASHMAN, KENNETH BERNSTEIN, FREDERICK CHRISTIAN, STEPHEN DOHERTY, RICHARD EILERTSEN, SCOTT FREZZA, DAMON GENTILE, ROBERT GRADY, CRAIG HOLLIDAY, ANDREW KILBURN, TED OTSUKI, CLINTON RICHARDSON, GEORGE SCHINDLER, MICHAEL THOMPSON, HUNG TROUNG …

Ashman v. Marshall, MA, Complaint, Inhumane Confinement Conditions, 2000

Brief • December 19, 2000

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement

Ashman v. Marshall, MA, Complaint, Inhumane Confinement Conditions, 2000 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL ACTION NO. _ DENTON ASHMAN, KENNETH BERNSTEIN, FREDERICK CHRISTIAN, STEPHEN DOHERTY, RICHARD EILERTSEN, SCOTT FREZZA, DAMON GENTILE, ROBERT GRADY, CRAIG HOLLIDAY, ANDREW KILBURN, TED OTSUKI, CLINTON RICHARDSON, GEORGE SCHINDLER, MICHAEL THOMPSON, HUNG TROUNG …

Massachusetts Prisoners' Political Action Committee Floundering

Article • October 15, 2000 • from PLN October, 2000

Filed under: Organizing, Voting, State Legislation

Massachusetts Prisoners' Political Action Committee Floundering by Massachusetts prisoners were set back in their electoral efforts when the formation of a political action committee (PAC) inside the walls of the Massachusetts Correctional Institution was banned by executive order of Republican Governor Paul Cellucci. Guards confiscated the prisoners' political materials and …

Testing Testing: Sweat Patch Under Scrutiny

Article • May 15, 2000 • from PLN May, 2000

Filed under: Drug Testing, Court Access, Judiciary, Parole, Probation

Testing Testing: Sweat Patch Under Scrutiny by Lara A. Bazelon Sheryl Woodhall a California woman in her late 30s, first lost custody of her four children in 1995, when her youngest tested positive for methamphetamine at birth. The state's Child Protective Services intervened and sent her two older children to …

Good and Bad News in Haverty Aftermath: No Good Time for Ad-Seg Placement

Article • May 15, 2000 • from PLN May, 2000

Filed under: Gang Policies, Good Time, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Ad-Seg Hearings

Good and Bad News in Haverty Aftermath: No Good Time for Ad-Seg Placement by Phillip Kassel Good and Bad News in Haverty Aftermath: No Good Time for Ad-Seg Placement by Phillip Kassel Last October, the Massachusetts Su-preme Judicial Court held that prisoners may not be maintained in harsh solitary confinement …

Guards Fired in Massachusetts Sex Abuse Cases

Article • April 15, 2000 • from PLN April, 2000

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Gender Discrimination -- Women, DNA Testing/Samples

Guards Fired in Massachusetts Sex Abuse Cases by Four guards were fired from the Suffolk County House of Correction in Boston in August and October 1999 on charges that they had sexual contact with female prisoners. One of the prisoners became pregnant in what was described by the Boston Globe …

Filing Fee Refunded in Habeas Case

Article • February 15, 2000 • from PLN February, 2000

Filed under: PLRA, Filing Fees (PLRA), Habeas Corpus

Filing Fee Refunded in Habeas Case by A federal district court in Massachusetts held that a habeas petitioner had incorrectly been required to pay the appellate filing fee. Because the Prison Litigation Reform Act's (PLRA) filing fee requirements do not apply to habeas petitions the court ordered the filing fee …

PLRA Doesn't Apply to Civil Commitments

Article • February 15, 2000 • from PLN February, 2000

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Consent Decrees (PLRA), Civil Commitment

PLRA Doesn't Apply to Civil Commitments by A federal district court in Massachusetts held that the PLRA does not apply to sexually dangerous people who are civilly committed, even when the facility they are housed in is in fact a prison administered by the state prison system. In 1975 a …

Liberty Interest in Parole-Required Custody Classification

Article • July 15, 1999 • from PLN July, 1999

Filed under: Out of State Transfers, Disciplinary Hearings, Liberty Interests, Parole

Liberty Interest in Parole-Required Custody Classification by Liberty Interest In Parole-Required Custody Classification A federal district court in Massachusetts held that depriving a prisoner of eligibility for minimum security classification, when it's a necessary prerequisite for parole consideration, violated the prisoner's equal protection right to be treated as other prisoners …

Behind the Razor Wire: Portrait of a Contemporary American Prison System (Review)

Article • May 15, 1999 • from PLN May, 1999

Filed under: Commentary/Reviews, Reviews

Behind the Razor Wire: Portrait of a Contemporary American Prison System (Review) by Paul Wright by Michael Jacobson Hardy. 136 pp, 50 BW photos. New York University Press Reviewed by Paul Wright "Prisons do their dirtiest work in the dark. The evil they perpetrate depends on a kind of willed …