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Alaska Computer Printer Ban Questioned

Article • April 15, 1998 • from PLN April, 1998

Filed under: Computers, Court Access, Writing Implements

Alaska Computer Printer Ban Questioned by The supreme court of Alaska held that a state superior court wrongly granted summary judgment to prison officials in a lawsuit challenging a ban on computer printers in the prisoners' cells. Geoffrey Mathis is an Alaska state prisoner. In 1993 prison officials issued a …

Community Notification Upheld by Three Circuits

Article • April 15, 1998 • from PLN April, 1998

Filed under: Discrimination, Sex Offender Registration, Double jeopardy (Hearings), Disclosure of Records, Ex Post Facto

Community Notification Upheld by Three Circuits by In the December, 1997, PLN we reported Doe v. Gregoire , 960 F. Supp. 1478 (WD WASH. 1997), wherein a district court ruled that Washington's "community notification" statute violates the ex post facto clause insofar as releasing information to the public regarding sex …

Conditions in Camden County Jail Unconstitutional

Article • April 15, 1998 • from PLN April, 1998

Filed under: Prison Rebellion, Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding, Exercise, Sanitation, Jail Specific, Hygiene Supplies, Vermin

Conditions in Camden County Jail Unconstitutional by In 1992 and 1993 numerous' present and former CCJ prisoners filed civil rights complaints in federal court alleging an assortment of constitutional violations. Because the issues mirrored those involved in Camden County Jail Inmates v. Parker , 123 F.R.D. 490 (DNJ 1988), a …

BOP Sentence Reductions Cannot Be Denied Based Upon Firearm Enhancements

Article • April 15, 1998 • from PLN April, 1998

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

BOP Sentence Reductions Cannot Be Denied Based Upon Firearm Enhancements by The court of appeals for the third circuit held that the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) cannot use a firearm enhancement under the Sentencing Guidelines, by itself, as the basis for declaring a prisoner ineligible for a statutorily authorized …

BOP Exceeds Statutory Authority in Denying Sentence Reduction

Article • April 15, 1998 • from PLN April, 1998

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Liberty Interests, Good Time, Administrative Procedures Act (Federal), Drug Treatment/Rehab

BOP Exceeds Statutory Authority in Denying Sentence Reduction 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 …

$1.1 Million Award in Sexual Assault

Article • April 15, 1998 • from PLN April, 1998

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Civil Procedure, Damages, State Law Claims, Municipal Liability, Sovereign Immunity

$1.1 Million Award in Sexual Assault by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that recovery under the Texas Tort Claims Act is authorized for the negligent failure to prevent an intentional tort by a government employee. The court affirmed the judgment below and a $1.1 million damage …

$225,000 Jury Award in CDC Shooting Affirmed

Article • April 15, 1998 • from PLN April, 1998

Filed under: Cardiovascular, Injury -- Misc., Shootings, Civil Procedure, Damages, State Law Claims, Eleventh Amendment Immunity

$225,000 Jury Award in CDC Shooting Affirmed by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit affirmed a jury award of $225,000 to a prisoner shot by guards, who then received inadequate medical care. The court rejected the defendants' argument that the eleventh amendment barred the damage award. Todd Ashker, …

U.S. Liable for Loss of Prisoner's Property

Article • April 15, 1998 • from PLN April, 1998

Filed under: Prisoner Property, Federal Statutory Law, Federal Tort Claims Act

U.S. Liable for Loss of Prisoner's Property by Afederal district court in Kansas held that federal prisoners can properly seek damages for the negligent loss of their property by prison employees pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b), 2671, et seq. Warren Melvin, a federal …

The Limits of the Law

Article • April 15, 1998 • from PLN April, 1998

Filed under: Court Access, Judiciary

The Limits of the Law by Mumia Abu-Jamal Human law is law only by virtue of its accordance with right reason, and by this means it is clear that it flows from eternal law. In so far as it deviates from right reason it is called an unjust law; and …

Third Circuit Applies ADA to Prisoners; Supreme Court Grants Review

Article • April 15, 1998 • from PLN April, 1998

Filed under: Medical, Blood, Boot Camps, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act

Third Circuit Applies ADA to Prisoners; Supreme Court Grants Review by The court of appeals for the third circuit held that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12101, applies to state prisoners. The supreme court later granted review to decide whether the ADA applies to state prisoners. …

Weights Banned in California

Article • April 15, 1998 • from PLN April, 1998

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Exercise, Prisoner Privileges

Weights Banned in California by Willie Wisely by W. Wisely On January 2, 1998, Gregory Harding, Chief Deputy Director of the California Department of Corrections, issued an Administrative Bulletin announcing the end of weightlifting in the free world's largest prison system. The weightlifting ban includes prisons, Community Correctional Facilities, and …

From the Editor

Article • April 15, 1998 • from PLN April, 1998

Filed under: Commentary/Reviews, Editorials

From the Editor by Dan Pens Greetings and welcome to another issue of PLN . If you haven't seen, ordered, or read a copy of The Celling of America (TCOA), well... you don't know what you're missing. It took a while, but I finally got my copy. I let my …

Lott v. WA DOC, WA, Tort Settlement and Release, Phallam Bay Accident, 1998

Brief • April 3, 1998

Filed under: Accidents

Lott v. WA DOC, WA, Tort Settlement and Release, Phallam Bay Accident, 1998 • Claim # 31031273-01 RELEASE (TORT) I},I/( FOR AND IN CONSIDERATION of the sum of, One Thousand Sixty Three Dollars and 49/Cents 51,063.49, inclusive of all liens known and unknown), Alvina Lott, Ilis/her heirs. assigns, or other …

Lucas v. White, CA, Plf Memo in Support of Mot for Atty Fees, BOP Sexual Assault, 1998

Brief • April 2, 1998

Filed under: Sexual Assault, DOC/BOP misconduct, Attorney Fees (PLRA)

Lucas v. White, CA, Plf Memo in Support of Mot for Atty Fees, BOP Sexual Assault, 1998 1 2 3 4 5 ROSEN, BIEN & ASARO, LLP MICHAEL W. BIEN - 096891 155 Montgomery Street, 8th Floor San Francisco, California 94104 Telephone (415) 433-6830 LAW OFFICES OF GERI L. GREEN …

Ortiz v. Pearson, NY, Complaint, Unprovoked Assault by Prison Officials, 1998

Brief • March 23, 1998

Ortiz v. Pearson, NY, Complaint, Unprovoked Assault by Prison Officials, 1998 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x ORLANDO ORTIZ, Plaintiff, 97 Civ. 0885 (KMW) -againstSECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT LIEUTENANT C.A. PEARSON, CORRECTIONS …

Chladek v. Pennsylvania, Discovery Order, Parole Officer Excessive Force, 1998

Brief • March 18, 1998

Filed under: Excessive Force (Police)

Chladek v. Pennsylvania, Discovery Order, Parole Officer Excessive Force, 1998 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA MICHAEL B. CHLADEK and MARIE CHLADEK v. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, et al. : : : : : : CIVIL ACTION NO. 97-0355 MEMORANDUM AND ORDER HUTTON, J. March …

Ohio Death Row Uprising

Article • March 15, 1998 • from PLN March, 1998

Filed under: Prison Rebellion, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Prisoner Property, Death Row

Ohio Death Row Uprising by In the November '97 PLN , we reported "Tensions Rise in Ohio Prisons." Our coverage of the September 5, 1997 uprising on Ohio's death row at the Mansfield Correctional Institution (MANCI) was based entirely on published press reports, and as such was woefully inadequate. PLN …

Ohio Students Rally in DC

Article • March 15, 1998 • from PLN March, 1998

Filed under: Organizing

Ohio Students Rally in DC by Students from Dayton Ohio's Colonel White High School were outraged when they read about Kemba Smith in Emerge magazine. Smith, a 24-year-old Virginia woman, was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole for refusing to cooperate with federal prosecutors …

New Jersey DOC Required to Follow Own Rules

Article • March 15, 1998 • from PLN March, 1998

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Disciplinary Litigation, Witnesses (Disciplinary Hearings), Notice of Hearing, Written Findings

New Jersey DOC Required to Follow Own Rules by The appellate division of the superior court of New jersey held that a prisoner was entitled to reversal of a disciplinary sanction because the prison hearing officer disobeyed a court ordered prison rule requiring the prisoner to sign a form documenting …

Pelican Bay $600,000 Wrongful Death Settlement

Article • March 15, 1998 • from PLN March, 1998

Filed under: Excessive Force, Shootings, Damages, Settlements

Pelican Bay $600,000 Wrongful Death Settlement by California taxpayers coughed up another $600,000 to settle a use-of-force lawsuit at Pelican Bay State Prison. The biggest chunk of the award goes to the family of Jesse Castillo, who was shot and killed by guards while engaged in a fistfight on Pelican …