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Third Circuit Rules that PLRA Doesn't Apply to Habeas

Article • February 15, 1997 • from PLN February, 1997

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

Third Circuit Rules that PLRA Doesn't Apply to Habeas by The court of appeals for the third circuit held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act's (PLRA) provision that prisoner litigants pay the filing fee for civil actions does not apply to habeas corpus petitions. The court gave an extensive discussion …

New Jersey MCU Suit Settled

Article • August 15, 1996 • from PLN August, 1996

Filed under: Classification, Out of State Transfers, Racial Discrimination, Attorney Fee Awards, Damages, Settlements, Special Masters, Ad-Seg Hearings

New Jersey MCU Suit Settled by On December 22, 1995, the federal district court in New Jersey signed a settlement order dismissing a class action suit filed by prisoners in New Jersey's Management Control Unit (MCU). The plaintiff class in the suit was composed of all black prisoners in the …

New Jersey Jail Guards Indicted in Beating Death

Article • July 15, 1996 • from PLN July, 1996

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Prison/Jail Murders, Guard Brutality/Beatings

New Jersey Jail Guards Indicted in Beating Death by Analdo Ortega was being held in the Hudson County, N.J., Jail in March of 1989 awaiting trial on burglary charges. According to court testimony, Ortega asked for a blanket and that triggered the anger of some of his captors. Shortly thereafter …

New Jersey Governor Vetoes Frivolous Bill

Article • July 15, 1996 • from PLN July, 1996

Filed under: Court Access, Frivolous Litigation, State Legislation

New Jersey Governor Vetoes Frivolous Bill by In the January '96 issue of PLN we featured "TX Anti-Litigation Law," about a law passed in Texas purportedly to stem "frivolous" litigation by prisoners. Also in that article was information about how this type of law was crafted by the National Association …

State Seizes County Jail

Article • June 15, 1996 • from PLN June, 1996

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Jail Misconduct, Prison/Common Area Searches

State Seizes County Jail by On January 19, 1996, nearly 200 New Jersey state corrections officers, dressed in full riot gear, descended on the Hudson County Jail and seized control of the facility. The jail's warden was removed, the facility was locked down, and every cell was searched for contraband. …

Legal Materials Available

Article • March 15, 1996 • from PLN March, 1996

Filed under: Reviews, Resources, Organizing

Legal Materials Available by The Prisoners Self Help Legal Clinic (PSHLC) in New Jersey is a volunteer project of the ACLU and is made up of attorneys, former prisoner paralegals, law students, civil rights advocates and other members of the community who assist pro se prisoner litigants. The PSHLC's concept …

New Jersey Takes Computers

Article • February 15, 1996 • from PLN February, 1996

Filed under: Prisoner Privileges, Computers

New Jersey Takes Computers by Since about 1985 the New Jersey DOC has allowed prisoners to possess personally owned computers in their cells and for approved prisoner groups to have computers in their offices. On September 12, 1995, the NJ DOC announced that effective September 18, 1995, it plans to …

NJ Prisoners Have Liberty Interest in Staying in Population

Article • December 15, 1995 • from PLN December, 1995

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Disciplinary Hearings, Liberty Interests, Overcrowding, Summary Judgment, Ad-Seg Hearings

NJ Prisoners Have Liberty Interest in Staying in Population by The court of appeals for the third circuit has held that New Jersey state prisoners have a due process liberty interest, enforceable in federal court under § 1983, to remain in general population. David Sheehan is a PLN reader at …

INS Detainees Trash Private Prison

Article • September 15, 1995 • from PLN September, 1995

Filed under: Private Prisons, Esmor/CSC, Prison Rebellion, Immigration

INS Detainees Trash Private Prison by On June 18, 1995, some 300 im migrants being held at the privately-run Esmor Immigration Detention Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, chased out the guards, trashed the facility and held off federal, state and local law enforcement agents for nearly six hours. Police finally …

Pack v. Beyer, NJ, Settlement Agreement, Management Control Unit, 1995

Brief • September 1, 1995

Pack v. Beyer, NJ, Settlement Agreement, Management Control Unit, 1995 CRUMMY, DEL DEO, DOLAN, GRIFFINGER & VECCHIONE A Professional Corporation One Riverfront Plaza Newark, New Jersey 07102-5497 (201)596-4500 Attorneys tor Plaintiffs By: John V. Jacobi (3897) -: : 1 ¯· Ï995' UNITED STATES DISTRICT COL'RT DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY Harry …

NJ Sex Offender Registration Ruled On

Article • July 15, 1995 • from PLN July, 1995

Filed under: Discrimination, Sex Offender Registration, Disclosure of Records

NJ Sex Offender Registration Ruled On by In 1990 Washington state passed the Community Protection Act which contained provisions requiring that sex offenders register with police and it also allowed law enforcement officials to notify the public of the sex offender's address, criminal history, etc. Since then several other states …

No Habeas for Jailhouse Lawyer Aid

Article • April 15, 1995 • from PLN April, 1995

Filed under: Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Prisoner Legal Assistance, Appeals, Habeas Corpus, Federal Statutory Law, All Writs Act, Federal Legislation

No Habeas for Jailhouse Lawyer Aid by In a rather novel ruling the third circuit has ruled that federal courts lack authority to issue writs of habeas corpus to ensure that an imprisoned pro se litigant has the assistance of a jailhouse lawyer at trial. Michael Jones is a New …

Settlements and Jury Awards

Article • February 15, 1995 • from PLN February, 1995

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Medical, Medication, Systemic Medical Neglect, Employee Litigation

Settlements and Jury Awards by NJ: Former Bayside State prison, NJ, doctor John Napoleon, will have to pay six prisoners $80,000 to settle an eighth amendment medical neglect suit against him. The prisoner plaintiffs, all incarcerated in NJ state or county prisons, claimed that Napoleon deliberately failed to treat them …

FBI Heroin Dealer

Article • August 15, 1994 • from PLN August, 1994

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Police Misconduct

FBI Heroin Dealer by FBI agent Kenneth Withers stole one hundred pounds of high quality heroin from FBI evidence lockers and then sent mail solicitations with a one ounce sample packet of heroin, to drug dealers whose names he had acquired from FBI files. Withers, a seven year FBI veteran, …

NJ Prisoners' Resource Center

Article • August 15, 1994 • from PLN August, 1994

Filed under: Commentary/Reviews, Resources

NJ Prisoners' Resource Center by In conjunction with the New Jersey American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) former prisoners have set up a Prisoner's Resource Center (PRC) to provide services and advocacy for both current and former prisoners in New Jersey. Among the services provided for prisoners are: assistance with parole …

Infraction No Double Jeopardy Bar

Article • June 15, 1994 • from PLN June, 1994

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Double jeopardy (Hearings), Sanctions (Disciplinary Hearings), Good Time, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines

Infraction No Double Jeopardy Bar by Gene Newby and Raynaldo Barber were federal prisoners convicted in US District Court of assaulting and interfering with BOP guards. Prior to being criminally convicted they had been infracted and found guilty, in a prison disciplinary hearing, of the same charges. As a result …

NJ Prison "Emergency" 12 Years Old

Article • May 15, 1994 • from PLN May, 1994

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Overcrowding

NJ Prison "Emergency" 12 Years Old by On January 20, 1994, New Jersey governor Christie Whitman renewed a 12 year old "emergency" declaration that forces counties to keep more than 3,600 state prisoners in their jails and accept the state's payment rate. As earlier reported in PLN the New Jersey …

Access to Courts: Standing to Assert Right

Article • October 15, 1993 • from PLN October, 1993

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Appointment of Counsel, Court Access, Prisoner Legal Assistance, Paralegals, Standing

Access to Courts: Standing to Assert Right by Access To Courts: Standing To Assert Right This access to the courts case was filed by the Prisoners' Legal Association (PLA), a sanctioned organization of seven jailhouse lawyers operating inside the East Jersey State Prison. The PLA claimed they were harassed because …

Court Access for Spanish Speakers

Article • October 15, 1993 • from PLN October, 1993

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Court Access, Mootness, Interpreters

Court Access for Spanish Speakers by This is a § 1983 access to the courts case filed by a county jail prisoner who was not conversant in the English language. The plaintiff, Acevedo, claimed that his jailers denied him meaningful access to the courts by failing to maintain an adequate …

Denial of Physical Therapy Shows Deliberate Indifference

Article • October 15, 1993 • from PLN October, 1993

Filed under: Medical, Systemic Medical Neglect, Brain Injury, Eighth Amendment

Denial of Physical Therapy Shows Deliberate Indifference by Joel Durmer was a New Jersey state prisoner. Shortly before being imprisoned he suffered two strokes which left him weakened and partially paralyzed. His treating physician prescribed extensive physical and water therapy which he received until he entered the DOC's custody. After …