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Tax Court Required to Assist in Witness Subpoena

Article • March 15, 1998 • from PLN March, 1998

Filed under: Evidentiary Ruling, Witnesses, Money/Property, Tax Law

Tax Court Required to Assist in Witness Subpoena by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit held that a tax court's refusal to honor subpoenas filed by an indigent pro se prisoner litigant, without prepayment of the witness and mileage fees, violated the prisoner's right of access to the …

Fourth Amendment Forbids Taping of Jail Confession to Clergy

Article • November 15, 1997 • from PLN November, 1997

Filed under: Criminal Prosecution, Conditions of Confinement, Electronic Monitoring, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Religious Practices, Clergy

Fourth Amendment Forbids Taping of Jail Confession to Clergy by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit held that state prosecutors, judges and jail officials violated the fourth amendment and the now defunct Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb, by secretly taping the confession a jail …

BOP Sentence Reductions Cannot Be Denied Retroactively

Article • November 15, 1997 • from PLN November, 1997

Filed under: Good Time, Habeas Corpus, Mental Health, Drug Treatment/Rehab

BOP Sentence Reductions Cannot Be Denied Retroactively by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit held that a Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policy which created a new definition of "non-violent" offense could not be applied retroactively to deny a one-year sentence reduction to prisoners who had successfully completed a …

Ninth Circuit Affirms BOP Sentence Reductions

Article • May 15, 1997 • from PLN May, 1997

Filed under: Good Time, Habeas Corpus, Mental Health, Drug Treatment/Rehab

Ninth Circuit Affirms BOP Sentence Reductions by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit affirmed a district court granting of habeas relief to a federal prisoner who had been denied a one year sentence reduction after completing a drug treatment program. This also implicates two other district court cases …

Asbestos Exposure Violates Eighth Amendment

Article • September 15, 1996 • from PLN September, 1996

Filed under: Work, Prison Labor, Work Conditions/Safety, Eighth Amendment, Asbestos

Asbestos Exposure Violates Eighth Amendment by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit held that exposing prisoners to asbestos violates the eighth amendment. Clarence Wallis is an Oregon state prisoner assigned to a cleanup crew. His work detail was ordered to remove asbestos hanging off pipes, without any type …

IMU Placement Implicates Due Process

Article • September 15, 1996 • from PLN September, 1996

Filed under: Liberty Interests, Conditions of Confinement, Food, Ventilation, Exercise, Hygiene Supplies, Reading Materials, Lighting, Noise, Injunctions, Qualified Immunity, Publications/Books, Mail Regulations, Legal Mail, Ad-Seg Hearings

IMU Placement Implicates Due Process by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit held that an Oregon prisoner's transfer to an Intensive Management Unit (IMU) control unit may violate due process if done without procedural due process. The court also held that several control unit conditions stated a claim …

Attorney Fees Awarded in Jail Suit for Attorney-Client Space

Article • August 15, 1996 • from PLN August, 1996

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Attorney Client, Costs, Consent Decrees, Visiting, Attorney Visits

Attorney Fees Awarded in Jail Suit for Attorney-Client Space by Criminal defense attorneys filed suit against the Washington County Jail in Oregon claiming that the space available for client consultation violated their clients right to counsel by inhibiting full and free consultation between clients and counsel; violated the attorneys' right …

Grievance Discipline Struck Down

Article • April 15, 1996 • from PLN April, 1996

Filed under: Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Disciplinary Hearings, Notice of Rules, Legality of Rules, Retaliatory Discipline, Administrative Exhaustion

Grievance Discipline Struck Down by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit affirmed a lower court ruling that found Oregon DOC rules that punished prisoners for using hostile, sexual, abusive or threatening language in their written grievances to be unconstitutional. Jeff Bradley, an Oregon state prisoner, was infracted for …

Ninth Circuit Rejects Disciplinary Double Jeopardy

Article • February 15, 1996 • from PLN February, 1996

Filed under: Double jeopardy (Hearings), Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution

Ninth Circuit Rejects Disciplinary Double Jeopardy by The ninth circuit has joined the third and second circuit in holding that prison officials do not violate the double jeopardy clause of the constitution by subjecting a prisoner to administrative disciplinary proceedings and later to criminal prosecution. It is the first ninth …

OR DOC To Ban Smoking

Article • August 15, 1995 • from PLN August, 1995

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Smoking

OR DOC To Ban Smoking by The Oregon DOC has announced plans to ban smoking in all its facilities by October 1, 1995. The ban will be implemented in a four phase plan which gradually limits, then eliminates, the areas in which prisoners may smoke. The DOC will offer smokers …

OR Voters Pass New Prison Laws

Article • February 15, 1995 • from PLN February, 1995

Filed under: Prison Industries, Sentencing, State Legislation

OR Voters Pass New Prison Laws by On November 8, 1994, Oregon voters passed three criminal justice measures that will cost millions to implement. Measure 10 requires a two thirds vote by the legislature before it can change voter approved prison sentences. Measure 11 imposes mandatory minimum prison sentences on …

Legal Papers Filed When Mailed

Article • January 15, 1995 • from PLN January, 1995

Filed under: Court Access, Mail Regulations, Legal Mail

Legal Papers Filed When Mailed by Prisoner litigants representing themselves face greater problems when litigating than do most ordinary litigants. Not only are they usually untrained in the law but they lack control over basic things such as the mail. Courts operate on deadlines which often result in penalties for …

Women Prisoners Entitled to Equal Education

Article • December 15, 1994 • from PLN December, 1994

Filed under: Gender Discrimination -- Women, Education, Defenses, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Federal Statutory Law, Title IX, Federal Legislation

Women Prisoners Entitled to Equal Education by This is a precedent setting case that should be read and studied by women prisoners who are denied educational opportunities comparable to those offered to male prisoners. This ruling applies to state prisons who receive federal funding and who provide educational programs. Since …

Prisoners Have Right to Prompt Sentence Computation

Article • October 15, 1994 • from PLN October, 1994

Filed under: Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Good Time, Parole, Wrongful Imprisonment, Qualified Immunity, Municipal Liability

Prisoners Have Right to Prompt Sentence Computation by David Plumb is an Oregon state prisoner. He filed suit under § 1983 claiming that his right to due process under the fourteenth amendment and his right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment under the eighth amendment were violated by …

OR DOC Held in Contempt for Retaliatory Transfer

Article • August 15, 1994 • from PLN August, 1994

Filed under: Classification, Out of State Transfers, Retaliatory Transfers, Legal Materials, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Special Masters

OR DOC Held in Contempt for Retaliatory Transfer by In 1988 Arlen Smith and several other Oregon state prisoners sought judicial review of Oregon DOC administrative regulations in Oregon state courts. Shortly before the briefs were due, Smith, the initiator of the litigation, was transferred to the Nevada state prison …

Delay in Treatment States Claim

Article • July 15, 1994 • from PLN July, 1994

Filed under: Medical, Medical Expenses, Surgery, Hernias, Damages, Qualified Immunity

Delay in Treatment States Claim by Dean Delker is an Oregon state prisoner. He filed suit under § 1983 seeking injunctive and monetary relief from prison officials who refused to authorize surgery to treat his inguinal hernia (this is a hole in the abdominal wall where the intestine pokes through; …

Intake Center Prisoners Have Right of Access to Courts

Article • June 15, 1994 • from PLN June, 1994

Filed under: Dental Care, Court Access, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Photocopies, Contractor Liability

Intake Center Prisoners Have Right of Access to Courts by After conviction and sentencing, Oregon prisoners are taken to the Oregon Corrections Intake Center (OCIC) which conducts an initial assessment and classifies the prisoner to the prison he/she will ultimately be sent. The average stay is between four to twelve …

Public Strip Searches Unlawful

Article • June 15, 1994 • from PLN June, 1994

Filed under: Searches, Strip Searches, Qualified Immunity, Municipal Liability

Public Strip Searches Unlawful by Alvin Canell is an Oregon state prisoner held at the Oregon Corrections Intake Center (OCIC), which is jointly operated by the Oregon DOC and Clackamas County. Upon arriving, leaving or after any trip outside of OCIC, prisoners are made to disrobe, lift their genitals, bend …

Legal News in Brief - 9th Cir. Amends LeMaire Opinion

Article • April 15, 1994 • from PLN April, 1994

Filed under: Eighth Amendment, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

Legal News in Brief - 9th Cir. Amends LeMaire Opinion by The Court of Appeals for the ninth circuit recently amended an opinion concerning the constitutionality of conditions in the Oregon State Penitentiary's (OSP) Disciplinary Segregation Unit (DSU). PLN reported the decision in Vol. 5, No. 1 (January, 1994). The …

Ninth Circuit Approves Oregon Control Unit Conditions

Article • January 15, 1994 • from PLN January, 1994

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Food, Exercise, Clothing, Showers, Strip Cells, Bedding, Lighting, Attorney Fee Awards, Restraints, Injunctions

Ninth Circuit Approves Oregon Control Unit Conditions by Paul Wright By Paul Wright This is a case which challenged numerous conditions of confinement at the Oregon State Penitentiary's Disciplinary Segregation Unit (DSU), which is a control unit. The ruling does not bode well for prisoners seeking to question such conditions. …