Washington Prisoners Damage Colorado Private Prison by Amajor prisoner uprising rolled through a for-profit prison at Olney Springs, Colorado, for six hours, causing extensive damage. State prison SWAT teams were called in from as far as 200 miles away to regain control of the prison. The incident took place Friday, …
Washington Prisoners Brutalized in Colorado Private Prison by Waldo Waldron-Ramsey [Editor's Note: The corporate media in Colorado and Washington alike reported on the uprising by Washington prisoners at the Olney Springs prison. They uniformly parroted the line by prison officials that the prisoners had revolted because they were unhappy at …
Colorado Prisoner Acquitted of Kidnapping by Colorado state prisoner William Sojka may have had a "fool for an attorney" (he represented himself at trial). But a jury did acquit him of kidnapping, attempted murder and assault charges for allegedly taking guard Mary Henderson hostage, shocking her with an electrical cord …
Trouble in Mind: ADX – The Fourth Year by Ray Luc Levasseur for Skip Martin "I will hold the candle, til it burns down my arm, I'll keep taking punches until their will grows tired, I will watch the sundown until my eyes go blind, oh I will make my …
Colorado Prisoner Beaten, Not Stabbed by In the December, 1998, "News In Brief" PLN reported that Colorado State Penitentiary (CSP) prisoner Michael Garcia was stabbed to death by two other prisoners. We got our facts from published news accounts, and those facts were wrong. "The Denver Post printed that false …
Colorado Contraband Rule Requires Visitor Notice by The Colorado supreme court held that a state statute criminalizing the introduction of contraband into county jails was constitutional but affirmed dismissal of criminal charges because the jail failed to comply with the statute's notice requirements. Thomas Holmes, an attorney, was charged with …
Felony Trial for Planted Knife Is Malicious Prosecution by Felony Trial for Planted Knife is Malicious Prosecution In an unpublished opinion, the Tenth Circuit held that a felony prosecution for possession of a knife planted by a guard in a prisoner's cell in retaliation for complaining about the guard was …
Juvenile Crime Still Pays -- But at What Cost? by Alex Friedmann Juvenile Crime Still Pays – But at What Cost? by Alex Friedmann [Last February, PLN published a cover article, "Juvenile Crime Pays," concerning the proliferation of for-profit juvenile justice services. This month we revisit the topic following recent …
Discipline for Possessing Legal Papers Vacated by AColorado state appeals court held that no evidence supported an infraction against a prisoner found guilty of bartering and possessing another prisoner's legal papers. John Tebbetts, a Colorado state prisoner, was infracted and found guilty of "bartering'' after prison officials found letters from …
Preliminary Injunction Granted in Kosher Diet Claim by Prisons must provide a diet which conforms to prisoners' sincerely held religious beliefs according to a federal court in Colorado. Charles Beerheide, Sheldon Perlman, and Allen Fistell, Colorado state prisoners who are Orthodox Jews, filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging …
Colorado Supreme Court Holds Utility Commission Lacks Jurisdiction Over Prison Phone Gouging by The Colorado state supreme court held that the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) had no jurisdiction over the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) with regards to inflated phone costs charged to prisoners. Several Colorado state prisoners filed …
No Administrative Exhaustion for Bivens Suit by No Administrative Exhaustion for Bivens Suits The court of appeals for the Ninth and Tenth circuits held that federal prisoners filing Bivens suits for money damages against Bureau of Prisons (BOP) officials need not exhaust administrative remedies where congress has made no provision …
Three Strikes Doesn't Apply to Pending Cases by Three Strikes Doesn't Apply to Pending Cases: The court of appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), which prohibits In Forma Pauperis (IFP) status for prisoners that have had three prior suits dismissed as frivolous, does not apply …
Prisons Promoting Tourism by Alex Friedmann As states spend an increasing amount of their budgets to expand their prison systems they increasingly seek ways to replenish impoverished state coffers. One major source of revenue is tourism, and some states are well-known for their tourist attractions -- such as Disneyworld and …
Bureau of Prisons Estopped from Denying Sentence Reduction by A federal district court in Colorado granted a habeas corpus petition reducing a federal prisoner's sentence by one year for successfully completing a drug treatment program. The court held the BOP was estopped from denying the sentence reduction having initially granted …
Colorado Prisoners Passing Up Parole by More than 2,500 Colorado state prisoners opted to stay in prison rather than ask for parole during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1997. More than 20 percent of those who waived parole hearings were close to ending their full sentence, usually within six …
Mandamus Appeal Denied as Third Strike by The court of appeals for the tenth circuit held that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), which bans in forma pauperis civil actions for prisoners that have had three or more actions dismissed as frivolous, malicious or for failing to state a claim, prevents the …
Escaped Prisoner Rides into Sunset by Eight federal prisoners being transported in a van operated by Federal Extradition Agency escaped July 30 near Ordway, Colorado. Two guards working for the private transport firm were driving nine prisoners across Colorado when they stopped to drop one prisoner off at the Crowley …
Sewing Our Own Destruction by Ray Luc Levasseur When I saw Dan Pens' front page PLN article [Oct. '96] on UNICOR production of bullet resistant vests (there's no such animal as "bullet proof" vests) I was struck by the difference in perspective. I read some of the same material he …
