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Lifers Vote in General Election

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

Filed under: Organizing, Voting

Lifers Vote in General Election by The Lifers' Group, Inc. of Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Norfolk, succeeded in providing all of the nearly 1,300 prisoners there the opportunity to register and vote in the 1993 November General Election. The group's leaders presented a petition to the Norfolk Town Clerk with …

Medical Claims Standards Discussed

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

Filed under: CMS, Medical, Medication, Systemic Medical Neglect, Cardiovascular

Medical Claims Standards Discussed by Ronald Brewer is an Iowa state prisoner. He suffers from coronary artery disease. Employees of Correctional Medical Services (CMS), a contractor with the Iowa DOC, prescribed medicine for Brewer's illness but the treating doctor made an error in the dosage. Brewer filed suit claiming that …

OK State Courts Can Hear Prison Suits

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

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Disciplinary Litigation, Mandamus, Good Time, Habeas Corpus

OK State Courts Can Hear Prison Suits by Dennis Waldon is an Oklahoma state prisoner. He was infracted and punished in a prison disciplinary hearing resulting in the loss of one hundred days of good time credits. Waldon filed a writ of habeas corpus and/or mandamus in the Alfalfa County …

WA Civil Commitment Challenged

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

Filed under: Mental Health, Sex Offender Treatment, Civil Commitment

WA Civil Commitment Challenged by As reported in the December, 1993, issue of PLN the Washington state supreme court upheld the provisions of the Community Protection Act which mandates indefinite confinement of persons deemed to be "sexual predators" until such time as they are "cured." On January 25, 1994, nine …

Hearing Required Before Denial of IFP

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

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Filing Fees

Hearing Required Before Denial of IFP by Khalid Alexander is a Nevada state prisoner. He tried to file suit and requested in forma pauperis status in order to proceed without paying the normally required filing fees. The Nevada district court has a policy of requiring prisoners to pay a partial …

Qualified Immunity Hinges on All Relevant Law

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

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Immunity/Liability, Qualified Immunity

Qualified Immunity Hinges on All Relevant Law by While this is not a prison case we are reporting it because it is a Supreme Court ruling affecting qualified immunity defenses. Qualified immunity allows government officials to escape liability for money damages, even when they violate constitutional rights, as long as …

Prison Officials Can't Prevent Jailhouse Lawyers From Assisting Other Prisoners

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

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Disciplinary Hearings, Liberty Interests, Prisoner Legal Assistance, Complaints, Discovery, Ad-Seg Hearings

Prison Officials Can't Prevent Jailhouse Lawyers From Assisting Other Prisoners by Paul Gibbs is a Michigan state prisoner and jailhouse lawyer. He was placed in segregation in late 1990 for possessing contraband. On April 2, 1991, he was reclassified back to the general population. Due to a lack of bed …

Visitor Awarded Damages

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

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Attorney Fee Awards, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Damages

Visitor Awarded Damages by A man visiting his brother in jail was awarded damages both for battery and for violation of his civil rights, based on a guard's attack on him and making of racially derogatory remarks. On appeal, the Minnesota state appeals court ruled that because the racial slurs …

FL Reforms Sentencing Law

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

Filed under: Government Misconduct, Crime, Overcrowding, Sentencing, Good Time, State Legislation

FL Reforms Sentencing Law by Florida has built 10,729 new prison beds in the past five years yet has been unable to keep up with its growing prison population. In May of 1993 the Florida legislature passed the Safe Streets Initiative which has the goal of reducing prison overcrowding to …

Justice Watch

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

Filed under: Resources, Organizing

Justice Watch by Dan Cahill By Dan Cahill Justice Watch (J.W.) is a grass roots organization that supports prisoners, their families, and all who work for humane conditions until such time as prisons no longer mirror a society based on classism and racism. J.W. organizes trips to Ohio and Kentucky …

Chelan County Jailer Jailed

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

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Sex Offenders (Discrimination)

Chelan County Jailer Jailed by Bob Conklin, the chief of corrections for Chelan County, WA. was arrested on child molestation charges in January, 1994. Since January 13, 1994, he has been held in protective custody in the King County jail, unable to post bond. Prosecutors claim that the 50 year …

Chilean Prisoners Resist Control Unit Move

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

Filed under: Political Prisoners, Prison Rebellion, Prisoners-International, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

Chilean Prisoners Resist Control Unit Move by On February 20, 1994, Chilean prison officials transferred 48 political prisoners, members of the anarchist Lautaro movement and the Marxist Frente Patriotico Manuel Rodriguez (FPMR), to a recently completed control unit (CU) built within the old penitentiary of Santiago. A total of 200 …

Prisoners = Profit

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

Filed under: Work, Prison Industries, Prison Labor

Prisoners = Profit by Anthony Sciarrino By Anthony Sciarrino With all the attention that the media has lavished on our national "drug problem," and the painfully slow growth of our economy, it is surprising that so little attention has been paid to one of the fastest growing industries in the …

Giving Cons and Ex-Cons the Vote

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

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Voting, Federal Statutory Law, Voting Rights Act

Giving Cons and Ex-Cons the Vote by Andrew Shapiro By Andrew Shapiro During Congress's annual open season on criminals, few lawmakers are eager to defend the rights of the accused, let alone the convicted. So it was particularly refreshing this year to see a proposal in an alternative crime bill …

DOJ Orders MS Jails Closed

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

Filed under: Mental Health, Suicides

DOJ Orders MS Jails Closed by The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), citing conditions such as maggot-infested cells, racially segregated holding cells, fire hazards and a high number of jail suicides, has ordered the closing of jails in four Mississippi counties, Neshoba County, Sunflower County, Lauderdale and Jones County. The …

Prison Rape Survivors Sought

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

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Resources

Prison Rape Survivors Sought by Stop Prisoner Rape (SPR) is a non-profit organization dedicated to stopping the all too common practice of sexual assaults within prisons and jails. SPR has recently received numerous media requests where television programs, magazines and journalists are seeking prison rape survivors to interview for news …

Marion Prisoners to be Moved Soon

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

Filed under: Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

Marion Prisoners to be Moved Soon by Ray Luc Levasseur I received a Denver Post article last week with the latest on Florence. The BOP says that the high security prison will open in February. The administrative Maximum prison (AKA "supermax") will open in the "spring or summer." The only …

Informants Must be Reliable

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

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Informants (Disciplinary Hearings), Qualified Immunity

Informants Must be Reliable by John Brewer is an Ohio state prisoner. While held at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) in Lucasville he was infracted for stabbing another prisoner. At his disciplinary hearing he was found guilty of aggravated assault based on statements by confidential informants. The finding was …

Accessible Facilities Required for Disabled

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

Filed under: Discrimination, Disabled Prisoners, Rehabilitation Act

Accessible Facilities Required for Disabled by In a class action suit, Arizona state prisoners challenged the lack of access for mobility impaired prisoners to bathrooms, showers and cells, delays in receiving medical devices and hearing aids and violations of the Rehabilitation Act. The court found that the Arizona DOC houses …

Drugging of Prisoners Upheld

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

Filed under: Mental Health, Involuntary Treatment/Drugging

Drugging of Prisoners Upheld by Albert Sullivan is an Illinois state prisoner forcibly drugged against his will for the past five years. Sullivan filed suit under § 1983 claiming that he has a due process right to stop taking the drugs long enough to prove he does not need them. …