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Washington Women in Prison

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Discrimination, Gender Discrimination -- Women

Washington Women in Prison by Vicki McLemore by V.M. This has been called "The Year of the Woman" in the field of politics, but apparently those politics extend only as far as the media. Certainly there is no evidence of discrimination or abuse coming to a halt within the confines …

Prison Privatization in England

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Private Prisons, Prisoners-International

Prison Privatization in England by The British government's "privatization program" for prisons and prison service is proceeding fast. After the contracting out of the Wolds prison in Humberside to Group 4 security, Blakehurst, a new prison in Worcestshire, has been tendered out to UK Detention Services. Meanwhile bids have just …

The Black Political Voice

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Organizing, Voting

The Black Political Voice by Gerald D Fuller by Gerald D. Fuller Maryland's disenfranchisement statute has its roots in the federal constitution. The state would have its citizens believe that Maryland's election laws which govern disenfranchisement are fair and impartial and are not discriminatory where blacks are concerned. It is …

Prisoners as Workers: Court Defines Applicability of FLSA

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Prison Industries, Federal Statutory Law, Fair Labor Standards Act

Prisoners as Workers: Court Defines Applicability of FLSA by Ed Mead By Ed Mead Court Defines Applicability of Fair Labor Standards Act Many years have passed since the era of liberal court rulings in the field of prisoners' rights. These ground-breaking decisions were handed down in the wake of a …

CEML Update

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Resources, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

CEML Update by [CEML is the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown, an anti-control unit group. PLN recently received the following letter from CEML concerning their activities. ] This has been the busiest of times for CEML. First, work continues to prevent the opening of the new control unit at …

Prisoners as Workers in Washington State: New Law Will Increase Exploitation

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Prison Industries, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, News, State Legislation

Prisoners as Workers in Washington State: New Law Will Increase Exploitation by Ed Mead By Ed Mead The 1993 session of the Washington State Legislature has passed a new law that will dramatically increase the number of prisoners working in this state's institutional industries. Governor Lowry should have signed Senate …

Freedom for Puerto Rican POWs

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Discrimination, Political Prisoners

Freedom for Puerto Rican POWs by Today the United States government holds in its custody many Puerto Rican women and men, criminalizing them for having fought for the independence of their country. Like George Washington in his day, they are anti-colonial combatants. Washington's contemporary, Thomas Paine, defended in Common Sense …

Women Prisoners Hold AIDS Walkathon

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Gender Discrimination -- Women, Organizing, HIV/AIDS

Women Prisoners Hold AIDS Walkathon by The April 24, 1993," Fight AIDS" Walkathon, held at the women's maximum security Shawnee Unit of the federal prison in Marianna, FL, was a great success. Eighty women participated, walking 1636 laps, over 300 miles. Over 90% of the prisoners joined in the effort, …

The Collapse of the Brazilian Penal System

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Overcrowding, International, Prisoners-International

The Collapse of the Brazilian Penal System by Jayme Brenner By Jayme Brenner [Editors Note: This article was translated by Paul Wright from El Dia Latinoamericano , a regional bi-weekly published in Mexico. While most American readers of PLN are familiar with the prison crisis facing the US, the fact …

Grievance Appeals Necessary

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Administrative Exhaustion

Grievance Appeals Necessary by Leck II, Jack Being incarcerated now for over nine years between the federal BOP and the state of Alaska, I have found that many prisoners who file grievances do not follow up on them. Many get "pissed off" and go with that attitude when initially filing …

News from Florida

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Smoking, Overcrowding

News from Florida by M L News From Florida It seems that the governor of this state [Florida] is trying to pass a 25¢ tax on every pack of cigarettes to raise money for the construction 21,000 additional prison beds to keep the violent offenders behind bars longer and, if …

MI Phone Rip Off

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

MI Phone Rip Off by B K I have read the article which appeared in PLN (Vol. 4, number 4) by Paul Wright about the prison telephone system. I was amazed to learn that the Washington DOC telephone contract states that the commission checks are sent to each institution and …

Editorial

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Commentary/Reviews, Editorials

Editorial by Ed Mead RESIST GRANT: In my last editorial comments I waxed eloquent on the increased cost of our current publishing format and the need for us to obtain new readers in order to sustain the cost of these increased pages. More paying subscribers, I pointed out, would ensure …

Solidarity with Revolutionary Prisoners

Article • September 15, 1993 • from PLN September, 1993

Filed under: Political Prisoners, International, Prisoners-International

Solidarity with Revolutionary Prisoners by Solidarity With Revolutionary Prisoners We are a committee formed by two Italian political groups (Il Bollettino and Solidarieta Proletaria), which have been focusing on revolutionary political prisoners for a number of years, since the early eighties. Our activity of support for political prisoners not disassociated …

Lopez v. Riveland, WA, Order, Deny Motion to Appoint Counsel, Spanish Interpreters, 1993

Brief • August 23, 1993

Filed under: Interpreters

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Ad-Seg WACs Do Not Create Liberty Interest

Article • August 15, 1993 • from PLN August, 1993

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Liberty Interests, Ad-Seg Hearings

Ad-Seg WACs Do Not Create Liberty Interest by PLN recently reported Farr v. Blodgett, [PLN, Vol. 4, No. 6] in which the district court for the Eastern District of Washington held that the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) created a due process liberty interest for Washington state prisoners to remain out …

Default Appropriate for Obstructing Discovery

Article • August 15, 1993 • from PLN August, 1993

Filed under: Attorney Misconduct, Civil Procedure, Discovery, Sanctions

Default Appropriate for Obstructing Discovery by This is not a prison case but a personal injury suit concerning the faulty design of Suzuki Samurais. We are reporting it in PLN because obstruction of the discovery process by litigants is quite common and this is a good case explaining the sanctions …

No Cause of Action for Defamation

Article • August 15, 1993 • from PLN August, 1993

Filed under: Discrimination, Gay/Lesbian, Disclosure of Records

No Cause of Action for Defamation by Two Ohio prisoners approached a unit supervisor to discuss a cell change; one of them sought to be moved into a cell occupied solely by another prisoner. The supervisor then either directly told them or implied that the cell's occupant was a homosexual. …

Federal Tort Claims Act Requires Exhaustion

Article • August 15, 1993 • from PLN August, 1993

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion, Federal Statutory Law, Federal Tort Claims Act

Federal Tort Claims Act Requires Exhaustion by William McNeil was a federal prisoner who was without counsel when he filed his suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). The complaint sought money damages arising from his alleged injury by the U.S. Public Health Service. McNeil submitted a claim for …

Dismissal Error for Failing to Obey Local Rules

Article • August 15, 1993 • from PLN August, 1993

Filed under: Transfers, Skeletal Injury, Appointment of Counsel, Civil Procedure, Local Rules

Dismissal Error for Failing to Obey Local Rules by Ronald Kilgo is a Georgia state prisoner. When he was in the Fulton County Jail he filed suit under § 1983 because jail officials had repeatedly refused his requests for medical treatment of a back injury and had subjected him to …