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No Immunity for Forcing Disabled Prisoner to Work

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Work, Prison Labor, Inability to Work, Skeletal Injury, Qualified Immunity

No Immunity for Forcing Disabled Prisoner to Work by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that a prison guard was not entitled to qualified immunity from money damages for forcing a prisoner to perform work he was physically incapable of doing. Ramon Sanchez, a Missouri state prisoner, …

BOP Exceeds Statutory Authority in Denying Sentence Reductions

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Good Time, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Mental Health, Drug Treatment/Rehab

BOP Exceeds Statutory Authority in Denying Sentence Reductions by Afederal district court in the District of Columbia held that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) had exceeded its statutory authority by defining "violent" offenses to preclude a sentence reduction for convictions the courts have consistently defined as "non-violent." In 1994 congress …

Utah Strip Search Suit Settled

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Strip Searches, Food, Exercise, Exposure to Cold

Utah Strip Search Suit Settled by On January 21, 1998, the Utah Department of Corrections settled a strip search lawsuit with prisoner David Hansen. Hansen had filed suit claiming his Fourth amendment rights were violated when he was handcuffed and subjected to a strip search where prison guards manipulated his …

$15,001 Excessive Force Verdict Affirmed

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Guilty Pleas, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Damages, Evidentiary Ruling, Juries

$15,001 Excessive Force Verdict Affirmed by The court of appeals for the First circuit affirmed a jury verdict awarding $15,001 in damages to a prisoner beaten by prison guards. The court affirmed several evidentiary rulings by the district court excluding evidence of a disciplinary hearing guilty plea by the plaintiff …

AEDPA Statute of Limitations Tolled

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Transfers, Disciplinary Litigation, Court Access, Legal Materials, Limitations, Habeas Corpus

AEDPA Statute of Limitations Tolled by The court of appeals for the Third circuit held that the one year statute of limitations in which to file a federal habeas corpus petition is a statute of limitation subject to tolling. In 1994 Frank Miller, a New Jersey state prisoner, was found …

California Parolee Gag Order Lifted

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Gang Policies, Retaliation, Retaliation for Media Contact, Parole, Access to Media

California Parolee Gag Order Lifted by The California Department of Corrections (CDC) admits it made a mistake when one of its agents tossed a parolee in jail for refusing to sign off on a parole condition banning him from talking to the media. Arthur Putney, 52, was jailed after parole …

BOP Visitors Subjected to Ion Scan

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Searches, Mechanical Searches/Scanners, Visitor Searches

BOP Visitors Subjected to Ion Scan by M L A memo has been posted alerting the population at USP-Lompoc [federal prison in Calif.] that a pilot program has been implemented whereby visitors will be scanned with a nuclear ion machine that detects "drug use". There are graduated penalties for those …

PLRA Immediate Termination Provisions Unconstitutional

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Drug Testing, PLRA, Consent Decrees (PLRA)

PLRA Immediate Termination Provisions Unconstitutional by Afederal district court in. New Jersey has declared unconstitutional the provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)(2)(3), permitting the immediate termination of consent decrees. In 1983, Robert Lee Denike and Kenneth Vespa, New Jersey state prisoners, sued prison officials …

PLRA Allows Fees on Fees in Failure to Protect Suit

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Failure to Protect (General), Attorney Fees (PLRA), Damages

PLRA Allows Fees on Fees in Failure to Protect Suit by The court of appeals for the Third circuit held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) allows lawyers to collect attorney fees in litigating attorney fee awards. The practice is sometimes referred to as "fees on fees." The court …

En Banc Review Granted in Taylor

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: PLRA, Consent Decrees (PLRA)

En Banc Review Granted in Taylor by In the December, 1998, issue of PLN we reported Taylor v. United States , 143 F.3d 1178 (9th Cir. 1998). In that case, a panel of the Ninth circuit court of appeals unanimously held that 18 U.S.C. § 3626(b)(2) is unconstitutional. This provision …

PLN Sues Oregon DOC Over Bulk Mail Ban

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Mail, Publications/Books, Due Process, PLN Litigation

PLN Sues Oregon DOC Over Bulk Mail Ban by On October 29, 1998, Prison Legal News ( PLN ) sued the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) in federal district court for damages and declaratory and injunctive relief. Since at least 1991 the Oregon DOC has had a policy requiring that …

Tennessee Prisoners Fight to Keep Money

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Money/Property, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Tennessee Prisoners Fight to Keep Money by Eight Tennessee prisoners have filed suit to challenge the constitutionality of a state law that allows the Department of Corrections to seize up to 90 percent of a prisoner's trust account to pay for the cost of their own imprisonment. The new law …

Georgia Prison Officials Take Taxpayers for a Long Ride

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, DOC/BOP misconduct, Prison Industries

Georgia Prison Officials Take Taxpayers for a Long Ride by Georgia prison officials used $23,602 from state prison industries profits to attend a conference on prisons in Israel tied to the country's 50th anniversary celebration. DOC chief Wayne Garner defended the trip, saying he has been a" good steward of …

Arizona Jail Slave Labor Used to Stuff Ballot Envelopes

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Prison Industries, Organizing, Voting

Arizona Jail Slave Labor Used to Stuff Ballot Envelopes by Prisoners at the Maricopa County Jail (home of "America's Meanest Sheriff") were used to stuff 400,000 envelopes with ballots for early voting in the 1998 elections. Maricopa County Elections Director Karen Osborne said that jail inmates received community service credit …

Open Society Institute Funds College Classes in Maryland Prisons

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Prisoner Privileges, Education

Open Society Institute Funds College Classes in Maryland Prisons by When the Clinton Crime Bill gutted federal Pell Grants for prisoners, some states' prison education programs were hit harder than others. Many states funded post-secondary education entirely with state money. Maryland prisoners, though, were the hardest hit. Virtually all of …

News in Brief

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: News, News in Brief

News in Brief by AL : In September, 1998, Madison county (Huntsville) prisoners Rodney Baker, Antonio Davidson, Steven Dillard and Nara Lemons, were charged with murder for allegedly beating prisoner Robert Sevigny to death. AL : Mario Centobe (32) is the Mississippi prisoner who escaped from a prison van when …

From the Editor

Article • January 15, 1999 • from PLN January, 1999

Filed under: Commentary/Reviews, Editorials

From the Editor by Dan Pens Greetings and welcome to a new year of PLN . Our longevity is a proud accomplishment and one that would not be possible without the continuing support of you our readers. I thank each of you who responded to PLN 's recent fundraiser mailing. …

Padilla v. Ryan, CA, Settlement Agreement, Deaf Prisoners, 1999

Brief • January 15, 1999

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Americans with Disabilities Act

Padilla v. Ryan, CA, Settlement Agreement, Deaf Prisoners, 1999 AmandaK. Wilson, CSB #148401 2 3 Michelle L. Cheng. CSB #194072 PUBLIC INTEREST LAW FIRM III W. St John Street, Suite 315 San Jose, California 95113 Telephone: (408) 293-4790 4 .5 6 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 Linda D. …

Miller v. Evans, WA, First Amended Complaint, Educational Materials Denial, 1999

Brief • January 15, 1999

Filed under: Education

Miller v. Evans, WA, First Amended Complaint, Educational Materials Denial, 1999 .. ~. ... -.--:--- ... _"""'" , . The Honorable Alan A. Mc Donald I United States I:?~tIjet 1tid$.e 3 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COUKF:-;": ~~ ~>··:F:~: EASTERL~ £)(STRlCT OF WASHINGTON . . - :-,. I - . ,Case …

Cooke v. Travis County, TX, Complaint, Racial Discrimination, 1999

Brief • January 13, 1999

Filed under: Discrimination

Cooke v. Travis County, TX, Complaint, Racial Discrimination, 1999 . SIX Atty Gen '0' ~ 006/006 . 99 00 445 ((':SO (D)~. CAUSE NO.___ ~ ~ fJ if § § § § ARTHUR COOKE, ERNEST CORTEZ, LARRY JOHNSON and OeaUINNA MOORE Plaintiffs, IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF § § § …