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Resisting a Prison Without End

Article • August 1, 2021 • from PLN August, 2021

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Civil Commitment

Resisting a Prison Without End by Jayson Hawkins, Panagioti Tsolkas by Jayson Hawkins and Panagioti Tsolkas The fantasy of those who profit off the Prison Industrial Complex has long been perpetual incarceration. This dream has seeped into reality in recent decades as many states began adopting LWOP (life without parole) …

Minnesota Mothers to Receive More Bonding Time with Their Newborn Children

Article • August 1, 2021 • from PLN August, 2021

Filed under: Children of Prisoners

Minnesota Mothers to Receive More Bonding Time with Their Newborn Children by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss The Healthy Start Act in Minnesota will allow mothers who give birth while incarcerated more time to bond with their children. Signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz, the bill transfers expectant mothers …

News in Brief

Article • July 1, 2021 • from PLN July, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: According to a report by the Alabama Political Reporter, a state prisoner was fatally stabbed by another man incarcerated with him at Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore on May 4, 2021—just one day before his scheduled release, which would also have been his twenty-fourth birthday. …

From a Picture Grew Thousands of Words

Article • July 1, 2021 • from PLN July, 2021

Filed under: Commentary/Reviews

From a Picture Grew Thousands of Words by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon When Minnesota state prisoner C. Fausto Cabrera was transferred to the Rush City Correctional Facility (RCCF), he came across a photo by acclaimed photographer Alec Soth on a book cover of a poetry collection. It was of …

News in Brief

Article • June 1, 2021 • from PLN June, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Australia: A February 2021 ruling by the Supreme Court in the Australian province of Victoria presented “a rare win” for a prisoner contesting prison procedures, according to a report by The Conversation. The convict, 56-year-old Craig Minogue, argued that Barwon Prison’s random drug testing and strip-searching …

Prisoners Find Their Voice in Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop

Article • June 1, 2021 • from PLN June, 2021

Filed under: Education

Prisoners Find Their Voice in Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon Jennifer Bowen Hicks wandered the United States for many years freelancing for literary magazines and teaching writing classes before making her home in Minnesota. In 2011, she decided to share her unique writing skill with …

Minnesota Counties Pay Out More Than $10 Million For Prison and Jail Settlements

Article • March 1, 2021 • from PLN March, 2021

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Treat, Settlements

Minnesota Counties Pay Out More Than $10 Million For Prison and Jail Settlements by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss "In the last 10 years, Minnesota counties have paid out more than $10 million in settlements and legal fees following lawsuits accusing jails of providing inadequate to non-existent health care to …

Lynas v. Stang, MN, Settlement, Wrongful Death - Medical Neglect, 2021

Brief • February 9, 2021

Filed under: Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Drug Treatment/Rehab, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Negligence/Reckless Endangerment

Lynas v. Stang, MN, Settlement, Wrongful Death - Medical Neglect, 2021 RELEASE OF ALL CLAIMS I For and in consideration of the total sum of One Million Three Hundred Thousand Dollars and 00/100 ($1,300,000.00), the sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, I, David W. Lynas, as trustee for the next-of-kin …

Minnesota State and Federal Prisoners COVID Case Surge Sparks ACLU Lawsuit

Article • February 1, 2021 • from PLN February, 2021

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Treat, COVID-19

Minnesota State and Federal Prisoners COVID Case Surge Sparks ACLU Lawsuit by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna According to statistics compiled by The Marshall Project, one in five U.S. prisoners has already contracted COVID-19, a rate more than four times that of the general population. The problem has been particularly …

Minnesota Man Out of Prison After Being Exonerated of Murder

Article • February 1, 2021 • from PLN February, 2021

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Actual Innocence/Claim of Innocence

Minnesota Man Out of Prison After Being Exonerated of Murder by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon Javon Davis, aka James Lamar Davis, was talking to his girlfriend on the phone during the wee hours of April 12, 2014 as two men were gunned down while leaving their workplace at Target …

How Jails Became a Breeding Ground for the Coronavirus

Article • January 1, 2021 • from PLN January, 2021

Filed under: COVID-19, Conditions of Confinement, Overcrowding, Hygiene Supplies

How Jails Became a Breeding Ground for the Coronavirus by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders Back in August 2020, “things at Waseca were calm,” recalled Channing Lacy. Like many other women incarcerated in the low-security Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Waseca, Minnesota, the 33-year-old considered herself lucky that the prison …

Rinkel v. MN Department of Corrections, MN, Settlement, Disability Access, 2020

Brief • September 22, 2020

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, First Amendment, rights

Rinkel v. MN Department of Corrections, MN, Settlement, Disability Access, 2020 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE OF CLAIMS This Settlement Agreement and Release of Claims (“Settlement Agreement”), is a full and complete settlement of the lawsuit entitled Brian Rinkel, Eric Jaeger, Michael Sherman, Kevin Adams, and Tiffany Gagner, Case No. 62-CV-19-1165, …

University of St. Thomas School of Law-Abusing Taxation of Court Costs, Aug 2020

Publication • August 25, 2020

Filed under: Taxation Offenses

University of St. Thomas School of Law-Abusing Taxation of Court Costs, Aug 2020 University of St. Thomas School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series Abusing Taxation of Court Costs by Government Lawyers to Chill Pro Se Civil Rights Claimants University of St. Thomas Law Journal (forthcoming 2021) Gregory C. …

HRDC v. Sherburne County, Minnesota; et al., MN, Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial, Censorship, 2020

Filing • August 20, 2020

Filed under: PLN Litigation

HRDC v. Sherburne County, Minnesota; et al., MN, Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial, Censorship, 2020 CASE 0:20-cv-01817 Document 1 Filed 08/20/20 Page 1 of 14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA Human Rights Defense Center, Civil File No.______________ Plaintiff, COMPLAINT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL vs. Sherburne County, …

HRDC v. Sherburne County, Minnesota; et al., Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial

Brief • August 20, 2020

Filed under: PLN Litigation

HRDC v. Sherburne County, Minnesota; et al., Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial CASE 0:20-cv-01817 Document 1 Filed 08/20/20 Page 1 of 14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA Human Rights Defense Center, Civil File No.______________ Plaintiff, COMPLAINT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL vs. Sherburne County, Minnesota; Joel Brott, …

$120,000 Settlement for Minnesota Woman Forced to Remove Hijab for Booking

Article • May 1, 2020 • from PLN May, 2020

Filed under: Religious Discrimination, Religious Freedom/Worship

$120,000 Settlement for Minnesota Woman Forced to Remove Hijab for Booking by David Reutter by David M. Reutter A $120,000 settlement was reached on November 5, 2019 in a lawsuit alleging officials at Minnesota’s Ramsey County Jail applied discriminatory treatment to a Muslim woman. The settlement with the county also …

Minnesota Prison Bans “No Touch” Rule

Article • May 1, 2020 • from PLN May, 2020

Filed under: Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Prisoner-Prisoner Harassment

Minnesota Prison Bans “No Touch” Rule by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon Back in 2011, the United States Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) performed an anonymous survey at the Minnesota Department of Corrections’ (MDOC) Shakopee women’s prison. The survey’s results showed that Shakopee was among the worst …

USA v. Ramirez-Rodriguez, MN, Order, COVID-19 Release, 2020

Brief • April 14, 2020

Filed under: COVID-19

USA v. Ramirez-Rodriguez, MN, Order, COVID-19 Release, 2020 CASE 0:20-cr-00028-JRT-KMM Document 42 Filed 04/14/20 Page 1 of 15 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Case No. 0:20-CR-00028-JRT-KMM Plaintiff, v. ORDER MANUEL Ramirez-Rodriguez, Defendant. Manuel Ramirez-Rodriguez has moved the Court to reconsider the Order detaining him …

All 50 States Report Prison Understaffing

Article • April 1, 2020 • from PLN April, 2020

Filed under: Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding, Staffing

All 50 States Report Prison Understaffing by Brian Sonenstein by Brian Sonenstein, Shadowproof Every state in the nation has reported prison staffing shortages since 2017, according to research by Shadowproof. This is concerning because “staff shortages” are historically used to push for greater investments in prison systems, oftentimes riding reform …

More States Restore Felony Voting Rights

Article • April 1, 2020 • from PLN April, 2020

Filed under: Voting, State Legislation

More States Restore Felony Voting Rights by David M. Reutter by David M. Reutter In 2019, Colorado, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Nevada enacted legislation to restore voting rights to felons who have been released from prison but are still under such supervision, the latest of 24 states to make similar …