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DC Women Prisoners' Suit Settled

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Gender Discrimination -- Women, OB/GYN, Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Fire Hazards, Food, Sanitation, Bedding, Lighting, Shelter, Vermin, Restraints, Education, Settlements

DC Women Prisoners' Suit Settled by In the December 1995, June 1996 and September 1997 issues of PLN we reported the saga of Womens Prisoners of the District of Columbia DOC v. District of Columbia , which is cited in 877 F.Supp. 634, 899 F.Supp. 659, and 93 F.3d 910, …

Grievance Exhaustion Required

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Retaliation, Retaliation for Litigating, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA)

Grievance Exhaustion Required by The court of appeals for the sixth circuit held that 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) requires administrative exhaustion of all claims filed after the April 26, 1996, enactment of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). Section 1997e(a) states that "no action shall be brought with respect to …

Florida Prisoners Have Right to Present Evidence at Disciplinary Hearings

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Evidentiary Ruling (Disciplinary Hearings), Prisoner Privileges, Grooming Rules, Mandamus

Florida Prisoners Have Right to Present Evidence at Disciplinary Hearings by Florida Prisoners Have Right To Present Evidence At Disciplinary Hearings A Florida state appellate court held that a denial by prison authorities of an opportunity for a prisoner to present exculpatory evidence at a prison disciplinary hearing states a …

Fact Dispute Bars Qualified Immunity Appeal

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Boot Camps, Overcrowding, Ventilation, Toilets, Appeals, Qualified Immunity

Fact Dispute Bars Qualified Immunity Appeal by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction to hear an interlocutory appeal on the denial of qualified immunity to prison officials where the lower court denied qualified immunity due to disputed facts. Two Louisiana state prisoners sued …

Fact Finding Required in Disciplinary Suits

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Disciplinary Litigation, Liberty Interests, Discovery, Venue

Fact Finding Required in Disciplinary Suits by In two separate rulings federal district courts in New York held that prisoners litigating disciplinary due process cases must be given an opportunity to develop a factual record to support their claims before the court rules on a motion to dismiss or for …

Delay in Treatment for Jail Prisoner Actionable

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Medical, Injury -- Misc., Vision, Failure to Protect (General)

Delay in Treatment for Jail Prisoner Actionable by Afederal district court in Mississippi held that disputed issues of fact involving claims by a jail prisoner that he was beaten by his cellmates required a trial to resolve. Emmett Davis was sentenced to 54 days in the Greenville, Mississippi, jail because …

Delay of Dental Service Violates 8th Amendment

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: CMS, Dental Care, Medical Records, Civil Procedure, Service, Contractor Liability

Delay of Dental Service Violates 8th Amendment by The court of appeals for the eighth circuit held that a district court erred when it dismissed a prisoner's suit over delays in dental care. The appeals court also held that untimely service of the suit by the marshalls service was not …

Deliberate Indifference Applies to Detainees

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Immunity/Liability, Qualified Immunity, Municipal Liability, Suicides

Deliberate Indifference Applies to Detainees by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit held that county jail officials have a constitutional duty to protect the health and wellbeing of prisoners in their custody. The appropriate standard of liability under these circumstances is deliberate indifference, not objective reasonableness. Under the …

Denial of Counsel Reversed

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Medication, Hearing, Appointment of Counsel, Civil Procedure, Expert Witnesses

Denial of Counsel Reversed by The court of appeals for the third circuit held that a district court abused its discretion in refusing to appoint counsel to an indigent pro se prisoner litigant. Paul Parham, a Pennsylvania state prisoner, filed suit after receiving inadequate medical treatment for tinnitus (ringing in …

Fee Required in Voluntary Dismissal

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: PLRA, Filing Fees (PLRA)

Fee Required in Voluntary Dismissal by A federal district court in Nebraska held that the IFP fee requirements of the PLRA, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2) require payment of the full filing fee even if the prisoner plaintiff later decides to voluntarily dismiss the action. See: Conley v. Henderson , 980 …

Florida Finally Learns the Meaning of Ex Post Facto

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Sentencing, Ex Post Facto, Good Time

Florida Finally Learns the Meaning of Ex Post Facto by In a one paragraph memorandum opinion the Supreme Court of Florida held that the retroactive cancellation of provisional credits, previously awarded pursuant to statute, violates the ex post facto restrictions of the state and federal constitutions. As a result of …

News in Brief

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: News, News in Brief

News in Brief by CA : On January 8, 1998, Lancaster state prison guard Elizabeth Begaren was shot and killed by four men while driving on a freeway. The assailants chased Bergaren's vehicle and forced it to stop on an on ramp in Anaheim where she was shot in front …

Book Reviews

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Work, Prison Industries

Book Reviews by Paul Ortiz Profits First! Convict Labor in America Alex Lichtenstein, Twice the Work of Free Labor: The Political Economy of Convict Labor in the New South (London and New York: Verso, 1996). Matthew J. Mancini, One Dies Get Another: Convict Leasing in the American South (Columbia S.C.: …

Profits First! Convict Labor in America, book: Worse than Slavery, D. Oshinsky

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Work, Prison Industries

Profits First! Convict Labor in America, book: Worse than Slavery, D. Oshinsky by Paul Ortiz In Worse than Slavery, David Oshinsky writes about a world of forced toil with which we are more familiar: the great agricultural slave labor camp of Parchman Farm in the Mississippi Delta. Actually, Oshinsky's canvas …

Profits First! Convict Labor in America, book: Twice the Work of Free Labor (Book Review)

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Work, Prison Industries

Profits First! Convict Labor in America, book: Twice the Work of Free Labor (Book Review) by Paul Ortiz A. Lichtenstein The United States, in the throes of a vicious social war against the poor, is poised on the brink of dismantling New Deal legislative prohibitions such as the Ashurst-Sumners Act …

Prior Dismissals Count as Strikes

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: PLRA, Filing Fees (PLRA), Frivolous Litigation (PLRA)

Prior Dismissals Count as Strikes by The court of appeals for the third and ninth circuits joined the fifth, seventh and tenth circuits in holding that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) applies to cases dismissed before the PLRA's April 26, 1996, enactment. Section 1915(g) prohibits prisoners from proceeding with in forma …

Prison Disciplinary Proceedings Cognizable Under § 1983 in Florida

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Disciplinary Litigation, Witnesses (Disciplinary Hearings), Staff Assistance, Evidentiary Ruling (Disciplinary Hearings), Immunity/Liability, Qualified Immunity, Sovereign Immunity

Prison Disciplinary Proceedings Cognizable Under § 1983 in Florida by Prison Disciplinary Proceedings Cognizable Under § 1983 In Florida AFlorida state appellate court held that a denial of staff assistance, documentary evidence, and witness testimony in a prison disciplinary hearing states a due process claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, …

Prison Jobs and Free World Unemployment

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Work, Prison Industries

Prison Jobs and Free World Unemployment by Adrian Lomax In May, 1996, the Fabry Glove & Mitten Company opened a production facility in Wisconsin's Green Bay Correctional Institution. The company hired 70 prisoners as laborers, later adding 30 more. The prisoners, who operate cutting and sewing machines, earn $5.25 per …

Prison Phones Discussed

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Injunctions, Estoppell, Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Monitoring

Prison Phones Discussed by As more and more prison systems use automated phone systems that automatically record and monitor conversations there are increased questions about the legality of such systems. This ruling arose from an indirect challenge to the Massachusetts Inmate Telephone System (MITS). The MITS requires prisoners to obtain …

Tenth Cir. Upholds IFP Provisions

Article • May 15, 1998 • from PLN May, 1998

Filed under: Filing Fees (PLRA), Mail, Publications/Books, Religious Property

Tenth Cir. Upholds IFP Provisions by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit held that the PLRA's IFP provisions, requiring full payment of all filing fees, were constitutional. All circuit courts to consider the issue have held likewise. The court also upheld the censorship of the magazine Muhammad Speaks …