Tennessee Prison Privatization Bill Fails to Pass by Alex Friedmann Adramatic confrontation between the private corrections industry and opponents of prison privatization played out in Tennessee earlier this year, ending in an embarrassing defeat for the prison profiteers. Similar struggles can be expected in other states as privatization continues to …
PLN Writer Exiled by CCA by PLN Writer Exiled by CCA Alex Friedmann is a prisoner and a journalist. Until recently he also warmed a for-profit bunk at the Corrections Corporation of America's (CCA) South Central Correctional Facility in Clifton, Tennessee. That is, until his corporate warders decided that Alex …
Union Reverses Position on Private Prisons by Last May, when a bill was introduced in the Tennessee legislature to privatize the state's entire corrections system, the private prison industry achieved a major coup by winning the support of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a 1.3 million-member …
Recent US Supreme Court Rulings of Interest: Civil Rights by The court held that 18 U.S.C. § 242 imposes criminal liability on government officials who violate the constitutional rights of citizens if the unlawfulness in question is apparent in light of preexisting law. The court adopted a test identical to …
U.S. Supreme Court: No Immunity for Private Prisons by Paul Wright The U.S. supreme court, in a five to four ruling, held that employees of privately owned and operated prisons are not entitled to qualified immunity from suit. In the January, 1997, issue of PLN we reported McKnight v. Rees, …
Jail Assault Requires Trial by The court of appeals for the sixth circuit held that whether a prisoner's question to a guard about what would happen if he assaulted another prisoner, required a trial to determine if the guard was liable when the questioner then assaulted another prisoner. William Street …
Prisoners Roasted Alive by A van carrying prisoners burst into flames alongside a Tennessee interstate highway, killing all six prisoners shackled inside a wire mesh cage in the back of the van. The prisoners were being transported in a van operated by Federal Extradition Agency, a private Memphis-based company that …
Hill v. Germantown, TN, Plaintiff Consolidated Brief Supporting Fed Damages Claims - Joint and Several Liability in Wrongful Death (1997) IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF TENNESSEE FOR THE THIRTIETH JUDICIAL DISTRICT AT MEMPHIS GREGORY HILL, et al., Plaintiffs, vs. NO. 70577-9 T.D. CITY OF GERMANTOWN, et al., Defendants. RONALD CROWDER, …
Tennessee Jail Overcrowding is State's Fault by Tennessee is now spending over $100 million a year to house state prisoners in county jails - a 14% increase from the previous year. Despite 7,350 prison inmates being double-celled, state prisoners still overcrowd jails because the state has no room for them. …
No Qualified Immunity for Private Prisons; Supreme Court Grants Review by The court of appeals for the sixth circuit held that guards employed by private, for profit prisons are not entitled to qualified immunity from suit. This is the first circuit court ruling to squarely address whether private prisons are …
Jail Guards' Convictions Affirmed by On November 29, 1995, the US court of appeals for the sixth circuit issued a ruling affirming the federal conviction of three jail guards for violating prisoners' civil rights. Ulysses Tines, Glynn Bridgeforth and Belinda Marshall were guards employed at the Shelby County jail in …
NC Prisoners Riot in Tennessee by On October 28, 1995, more than 100 North Carolina prisoners at the Corrections Corporation of America owned private prison in Mason, TN rioted, demanding to be returned to North Carolina. The prisoners smashed toilets and sinks and knocked a hole in a dormitory wall. …
Jurors Challenge Tennessee Constitution by Two prospective jurors who were excluded from capital trials in Tennessee because of their religious objections to the death penalty have filed a temporary injunction against the state, charging that barring them violates the state constitution. They cite Article I, Section 6 of the document, …
Visitor Search Held Illegal by Lenora Daugherty frequently visited her husband at the Turney Center, a Tennessee state prison. Prior to one of Daughertys visits a prison guard told the warden that he had received information that she was smuggling drugs into the prison. The warden also received two letters …
Change in Parole Eligibility Actionable Under Section 1983 by Thomas Lewis is a Tennessee state prisoner convicted in 1984 and sentenced to 30 years in prison. At the time of his conviction prisoners became eligible for parole consideration after serving thirty percent of their sentence. In 1989 the Tennessee DOC …
Prisoners Have Right to Jury from Community by Emmanuel Mitchell is a Tennessee state prisoner. He sued prison officials claiming excessive use of force and placement in an unsanitary cell. After a jury trial judgment was entered in favor of prison officials, Mitchell filed a motion for a new trial …
Censoring Legal Mail States Claim by Henry Lavado was a federal prisoner whose legal mail from attorneys, the ACLU and various state and federal law enforcement agencies was opened and read outside of his presence. Some of his legal mail was opened and read in his presence. Lavado filed suit …
Exposure to Tobacco Smoke Violates Eighth Amendment by Two non-smoking Tennessee prisoners suffering from various medical problems were forcibly celled with prisoners who smoked. They claim the Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) of their cellmates aggravated their existing medical conditions. They filed suit in district court under § 1983 claiming prison …
The Prison Privatization Debate by Ed Mead "Prisons are by their very nature coercive and oppressive institutions, designed to disempower and destroy the resistance of those confined within them, so any discussion of `reform' is largely meaningless and futile. Prisons, whether controlled and operated by the state or private companies, …
Incarcerated Juveniles Have Right to Court Access by In a still developing area of the law, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that juvenile prisoners have a constitutional right of access to the courts. To make this right meaningful, the state must provide juveniles with access to attorneys. This …
