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 …
Inmate Assaulted by Guard Wins Suit by An inmate's suit claimed that he was beaten by a number of officers in the presence of the sheriff. The court found that the beating was unprovoked. It was possible that the inmate had been talking loudly, but "that was no justification for …
Search of Prison Visitors Without Probable Cause Illegal by Search Of Prison Visitors Without Probable Cause Illegal Lenora Daugherty is the wife of a Tennessee prisoner who was subjected to a visual body cavity search and a search of her vehicle in 1988 as a condition to be able to …
Prison Visitors May Not Be Searched Without Probable Cause by The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Tennessee prison regulations give Tennessee prisoners a due process liberty interest in prison visitation. The Court ruled that removing the visitation right in retaliation for the visitor refusing to submit to …
Severe Injury Not Required for Damage Claim Against Guards for Assault by Severe Injury not Required for Damage Claim Against Guards for Assault A prisoner filed a civil rights complaint against guards for assaulting him. A jury awarded the prisoner with compensatory and punitive damages. The state appealed. On appeal …
A Mother's Story by Shirley Dicks By Shirley Dicks My son is on death row for a crime he did not commit, and time has almost run out for him. I am trying, somehow or somewhere to find help for him. My son was with his friend Donald Strouth on …
Prisoner Advisors Reinstated by A warden's refusal to reappoint four inmates to their positions as inmate legal advisors has been overturned by a federal appeals court. The inmates sued, alleging that the warden had refused to reappoint them because they criticized the performance of the chairman of the disciplinary board. …
Friedmann v. Corrections Corporation of America, Petition, Public Records, TN 2008 IN THE CHANCERY COURT OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNNESSEE ALEX FRIEDMANN, Individually And As An Associate Editor of PRISON LEGAL NEWS, Petitioner, v. No. CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Respondent. PETITION FOR ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS AND TO OBTAIN JUDICIAL REVIEW …
Friedmann v. Corrections Corporation of America, Transcript of Oral Court Ruling, Public Records, TN 2008 In The Matter Of: ORIGINAL· Alex Friedmann v. Corrections Corporation ofAmerica Davidson County Chancery Court Honorable Claudia Bonnyman July 29,2008 Vowell & Jennings, Inc. 214 Second Avenue North Suite 207 Nashville, Tennessee 37201 615-256-1935 · …
