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 …
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 …
Actual Injury Required in Legal Mail Claim by In the December, 1995, issue of PLN we reported Bieregu v. Reno , 59 F.3d 1445 (3rd Cir. 1995) where the third circuit held that a prisoner need not show harm to a court claim when the confidential) of his legal mail …
NJ Guards Threaten Walkout Over Vests by On July 31, 1997, New Jersey state prisons were locked down after a guard was fatally stabbed and angry union leaders told guards for the next shift not to report for work unless the state agreed to purchase body armor vests. Bayside State …
New Jersey Jail Brutality Settlement by Seventeen former detainees of the Sussex County (NJ) Jail settled a lawsuit alleging a pattern and practice of guard brutality, inadequate medical and psychiatric care, and inadequate legal access. As part of the settlement, the county agreed to pay $372,000; install video surveillance cameras …
Managed Care Infects Prison Health Services by by Adrian Lomax In September, 1996, Melody Bird complained to guards at Florida's Pinellas County Jail that she was experiencing severe chest pains and having trouble breathing. Nurses at the jail, finding no discernible blood pressure, concluded that Bird was suffering a heart …
New Jersey Prisoners Have Liberty Interest in Parole by A federal district court in New Jersey held that New Jersey parole statute N.J.S.A. § 30:4-123-53(a) creates a due process liberty interest in parole release. Hubert Watson filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming his due process rights were violated …
New Jersey Prison Guard Recruiting for KKK by State and federal authorities launched an investigation in 1996 to probe the extent of the Ku Klux Klan involvement at New Jersey's Bay State Prison. On June 5, 1996, the New Jersey DOC fired Wayne Keller, 45, who was described by a …
Double Celling States Eighth Amendment Claim by The court of appeals for the third circuit set forth the conditions under which double celling will violate the eighth amendment. The court also held that segregation prisoners are entitled to legal assistance to present their claims to the courts. Several New Jersey …
New Jersey Sex Offender Registration Injunction Vacated by In the July, 1995, issue of PLN we reported Artway v. Attorney General of New Jersey, 876 F. Supp. 666 (D NJ 1995) where a district court held that a New Jersey sex offender registration law was constitutional as far as requiring …
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 …
