Search | Prison Legal News

Oregon Will Hold Release Hearings for 73 Prisoners Sentenced to LWOP as Juveniles

Article • September 15, 2023 • from PLN September, 2023

Filed under: Parole, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Parole Conditions, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders

Oregon Will Hold Release Hearings for 73 Prisoners Sentenced to LWOP as Juveniles by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson On October 6, 2022, the Oregon Supreme Court denied a petition for review from prosecutors seeking to stop the Governor and Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision (BPPS) from granting early …

Ninth Circuit Upholds Order Vacating Conviction in Oregon Prison Director’s 1989 Murder; SCOTUS Declines Review

Article • May 1, 2023 • from PLN May, 2023

Filed under: Prison/Jail Murders, Actual Innocence/Claim of Innocence, Effect of Vacatur

Ninth Circuit Upholds Order Vacating Conviction in Oregon Prison Director’s 1989 Murder; SCOTUS Declines Review by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson On September 29, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court’s decision to toss the murder conviction of Frank Gable, now 62, in …

Prisoner’s Experience in Solitary Wins PEN America Writing Award

Article • May 1, 2023 • from PLN May, 2023

Filed under: Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Prisoner Media

Prisoner’s Experience in Solitary Wins PEN America Writing Award by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett Former prisoner Alex Tretbar won PEN America’s first-place award for poetry in September 2022 for his poem “Variations on an Undisclosed Location.” Tretbar, 33, penned the poem during his five-year incarceration with the Oregon Department …

Ninth Circuit: Grievance Policy May Excuse Oregon Prisoner’s Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies

Article • May 1, 2023 • from PLN May, 2023

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion, Grievances, Exhaustion of Remedies

Ninth Circuit: Grievance Policy May Excuse Oregon Prisoner’s Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett On October 12, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated dismissal of an Oregon prisoner’s civil rights claims for failure to exhaust administrative remedies available in the …

Voters in Four States Change Constitution to Ban Prison Slavery

Article • April 1, 2023 • from PLN April, 2023

Filed under: Prison Labor, Prison Reform, State Legislation

Voters in Four States Change Constitution to Ban Prison Slavery by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders The November 2022 elections did more than send new faces to Congress and statehouses around the country. They also saw historic ballot measures passed to change the constitutions in four states. Voters in Alabama, …

PLN Contributor’s Retaliation Suit Against Oregon Prison Officials Survives

Article • February 1, 2023 • from PLN February, 2023

Filed under: Retaliation for Media Contact, Retaliation for Filing Grievances

PLN Contributor’s Retaliation Suit Against Oregon Prison Officials Survives by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett On July 7, 2022, the federal court for the District of Oregon denied a motion by the state Department of Corrections (DOC) to dismiss a suit filed by longtime PLN writer Mark Wilson, accusing officials …

Oregon Supreme Court Holds Corizon Health and Other Jail Contractors Liable Under State Disability Rights Laws

Article • November 30, 2022 • from PLN December, 2022

Filed under: Corizon, Contractor Misconduct, Americans with Disabilities Act

Oregon Supreme Court Holds Corizon Health and Other Jail Contractors Liable Under State Disability Rights Laws by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson On June 3, 2022, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that private companies providing services in jails and prisons are liable under state disability rights laws — even though …

COVID-19 Injunction Lapses in Oregon, Another Fails in Massachusetts

Article • October 31, 2022 • from PLN November, 2022

Filed under: COVID-19, Injunctions

COVID-19 Injunction Lapses in Oregon, Another Fails in Massachusetts by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson On June 21, 2022, a preliminary injunction granted by the federal court for the District of Oregon expired, ending its mandate that state prison employees comply with the COVID-19 masking policy of the state Department …

After $90,000 Settlement for Sexual Abuse of Oregon Juvenile Detainee, Second Suit Filed Against Now-Imprisoned Former Youth Counselor

Article • September 30, 2022 • from PLN October, 2022

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Settlements, Juveniles

After $90,000 Settlement for Sexual Abuse of Oregon Juvenile Detainee, Second Suit Filed Against Now-Imprisoned Former Youth Counselor by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman On December 30, 2021, a second suit was filed in Oregon state court accusing former state youth worker Frank Milligan of sexually assaulting a juvenile detainee. …

Oregon DOC Auctions Land Possibly Containing Native American Burial Mounds

Article • September 7, 2022

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Abandoned Property

Oregon DOC Auctions Land Possibly Containing Native American Burial Mounds by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett Second-round bidding closed on August 4, 2022, for the 390-acre site of the now-shuttered Mill Creek Correctional Institution (MCCI) owned by the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC). But a 98-year-old grandson of the land’s …

Oregon Appeals Court Okays Legal Change of Transgender Prisoner’s Name and Sex

Article • September 1, 2022 • from PLN September, 2022

Filed under: Name Changes, Transgender

Oregon Appeals Court Okays Legal Change of Transgender Prisoner’s Name and Sex by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett On February 2, 2022, the Court of Appeals of the State of Oregon held that a lower court erred in denying a state prisoner’s petition for change of legal name or sex …

Senators Spank BOP Director on Last Day Before Replacement by Former Oregon DOC Director

Article • September 1, 2022 • from PLN September, 2022

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct

Senators Spank BOP Director on Last Day Before Replacement by Former Oregon DOC Director by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett On August 2, 2022, the federal Department of Justice introduced its pick to helm the nation’s Bureau of Prison (BOP): Collette Peters, the director of Oregon’s Department of Corrections (DOC) …

News in Brief

Article • September 1, 2022 • from PLN September, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A federal prisoner in Birmingham was gunned down outside a privately-operated reentry facility on July 16, 2022. The Associated Press reported that the prisoner, Larry Taylor, 47, had just been released from the facility, which is operated under contract from the federal Bureau of Prisons …

Two Top Oregon Prison Administrators Ousted

Article • August 30, 2022

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct

Two Top Oregon Prison Administrators Ousted by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett One official in the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) has been fired and another has resigned following separate investigations into allegations of misconduct. On July 29, 2022, then-DOC Director Colette Peters fired Assistant Director Nathaline Frener, 52, in …

Marteeny v. Brown, OR, Opinion, Clemency, 2022

Brief • August 10, 2022

Filed under: Pardons/Clemency

Marteeny v. Brown, OR, Opinion, Clemency, 2022 250 August 10, 2022 No. 488 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF OREGON Douglas R. MARTEENY, District Attorney for Linn County, Oregon; and Patricia W. Perlow, District Attorney for Lane County, Oregon; on behalf of all Oregonians and Randy Tennant, …

Oregon Prison Superintendent Pleads Guilty to Drunk Driving and Interfering With Arrest

Article • August 1, 2022 • from PLN August, 2022

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, DUI

Oregon Prison Superintendent Pleads Guilty to Drunk Driving and Interfering With Arrest by Panagioti Tsolkas by Panagioti Tsolkas In Oregon Circuit Court for Deschutes County on November 16, 2021, the newly appointed Superintendent of the state’s Deer Ridge Correctional Institution (DRCI), Randy Ray Gilbertson, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge …

Oregon Court Rules Prisoner’s Admissions in Disciplinary Hearing Violate Miranda, But Harmlessly

Article • August 1, 2022 • from PLN August, 2022

Filed under: Self Incrimination, Miranda

Oregon Court Rules Prisoner’s Admissions in Disciplinary Hearing Violate Miranda, But Harmlessly by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett On September 9, 2021, the Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the assault conviction of a prisoner based on statements he made during a jail disciplinary proceeding, agreeing with him that they were …

Ninth Circuit Won’t Spring Oregon Sex Offender Trapped in Self-Incrimination Box

Article • July 30, 2022

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Sex Offender Treatment, Self-Incrimination Clause

Ninth Circuit Won’t Spring Oregon Sex Offender Trapped in Self-Incrimination Box by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson On September 8, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declined to offer any relief to an Oregon sex offender who challenged his removal from parole-required sex offender treatment—which led …

Oregon Judge Invalidates Governor’s Clemency Grant to Dozens Sentenced to Life as Juveniles, Halting Parole Hearings

Article • July 15, 2022 • from PLN July, 2022

Filed under: Pardons/Clemency, Juveniles, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders

Oregon Judge Invalidates Governor’s Clemency Grant to Dozens Sentenced to Life as Juveniles, Halting Parole Hearings by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson On March 1, 2022, a lawsuit challenging clemency orders by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) was mostly rejected in Marion County Circuit Court. However, in ruling on the …

News in Brief

Article • July 15, 2022 • from PLN July, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by   Alabama:The Birmingham News reported that a jail guard in Mobile was arrested on May 17, 2022, for smuggling adult movies intoMobile County Metro Jail. The guard, Fredrick Johnson, 37, was charged with 21 counts of promoting contraband that included a camera, phone chargers, and flash drives, …