Ohio Appeals Court Allows Prisoner's Request for Past Work Information on Guards by The Fourth District Court of Appeals of Ohio has reversed the decision of the Pickaway County Court of Common Pleas denying a prisoner's request for specific work information relating to two guards in the Department of Rehabilitation …
Second and Sixth Circuits Uphold Validity of PLRA's Taxation of Costs by Two recent appellate decisions from the Second and Sixth Federal Circuits have upheld the validity of the PLRA's taxation of costs against unsuccessful prisoner litigants, 28 U.S.C. §1915(f). The Second Circuit ruled that taxation of costs could be …
Ohio Appellate Court Holds No Privacy Right in Urine by The highly influential Tenth District Court of Appeals of Ohio has ruled that prisoners "have no reasonable expectation of privacy in the items they possess in a prison or in the activities in which they engage while incarcerated. This loss …
Damages Awarded in Ohio Disciplinary Suit by A federal district court in Ohio held that a trial was required to determine if a prisoner was improperly denied the right to call witnesses at a disciplinary hearing. The Court also held that the suit was not barred by the PLRA or …
Ohio Eliminates Prison Oversight Committee; Reduces Prison Funding by Ronald Young The Ohio legislature reduced funding for the state prison system that will result in the elimination of 1,100 jobs within the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DORC). The May 2001 legislative action also eliminates a prison oversight committee. Ohio …
Corrections Corporation of America Announces Closing of Youngstown Prison by Ronald Young Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) announced it would close its Youngstown, Ohio prison on August 18, 2001. The shutdown means the loss of more than 500 jobs. So much for the recession-proof industry. The 2,016-bed Northeast Ohio Correctional …
Sixth Circuit Rules PLRA Attorneys' Fees Cap Provisions Not Unconstitutional by Two District Court Rulings Overturned The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has overruled two federal magistrates, both of whom, in separate decisions, had previously held that the statutory limitatons on attorneys' fees in prisoner civil rights actions …
Failure to Sign Notice of Appeal Not Jurisdictional by In a unanimous decision, the United States Supreme Court held that although the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure (FRAP) require that a notice of appeal be signed, the failure to sign a timely notice did not require the Court of Appeals …
Blind Ohio Prisoner Spends Months in Strip Cell by Ronald Young Blind Ohio Prisoner Spends Months In Strip Cell by Ronald Young An investigation by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) revealed that a blind prisoner at the Orient Correctional Institution in Pickaway County was subjected to three …
Ohio ACLU Challenges Supermax by The ACLU has filed a class-action suit in federal court in Cleveland, Ohio, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 challenging the conditions of confinement at Ohio's supermax prison in Youngstown. The lawsuit alleges that conditions at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) constitute cruel and unusual punishment, violating …
'No More Prisons' Graffiti Gets Public's Attention by Ronald Young It's spreading like wildfire, from New York to Seattle, Chicago to Dallas, and coming soon to an urban setting near you. It's the "NO MORE PRISONS" graffiti movement, a simple form of civil disobedience which requires only a can of …
Ohio Death Row Prisoners Sue Over Last Words by An Ohio federal district court refused to dismiss a challenge to an Ohio policy prohibiting condemned prisoners from giving last statements. The Court also discussed the PLRA's administrative exhaustion requirements and mootness concerns. Ohio Death Row prisoner Fred Treesh and another …
Private Prison Woes in Ohio by Gary Hunter Less than two years after it opened, the second privately operated prison in the state of Ohio is already in trouble. CiviGenics, a private prison company out of Massachusetts, has succumbed to pressure applied by the state employees union. On January 10, …
No Workers' Compensation for Ohio Slave Laborers by Gary Hunter An attempt by Ohio prisons to manufacture items for retail business had to be cancelled because it could not provide Workers' Compensation insurance for prisoners. State Inspector General Thomas P. Charles says the state is not at fault. Rather, the …
PLRA Limits Guard's Liability for Prisoner's Attorney Fees by John E Dannenberg PLRA Limits Guard's Liability For Prisoner's Attorney Fees by John E. Dannenberg The US District Court, SD Ohio ruled that the Prison Litigation Reform Act's (PLRA) 150% cap restricting a prevailing prisoner plaintiff's attorney fees limited only how …
Wrongfully Convicted Ohio Man Receives $250,000 Award by On January 11, 2001, a Columbus, Ohio man who spent nearly six years in prison for three rapes he did not commit was awarded almost $250,000 in damages by the Ohio Court of Claims. Walter D. Smith, 43, was released from the …
Unlawful Imprisonment Nets Ohio Man $25,000 by In late 2000 ex-Ohio state prisoner Ricky Carter, 44, agreed to accept a $25,000 award to compensate him for being incarcerated over 13 months past his release date. Carter, who was due to be released March 15, 1998, was instead illegally held until …
Austin v. Wilkinson, OH, Complaint, Supermax Conditions, 2001 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO, EASTERN DIVISION CHARLES E. AUSTIN, #A206-996 Ohio State Penitentiary 878 Coitsville-Hubbard Road Youngstown, OH 44505-4635 MICHAEL BENGE, #A276-821 Ohio State Penitentiary 878 Coitsville-Hubbard Road Youngstown, OH 44505-4635 COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY JUDGMENT AND …
Ohio 'Entrepreneur' Lands in Hot Water by An Ohio prisoner will spend an additional three years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to theft charges stemming from an elaborate credit card and telephone scam he ran from behind bars. Lonny Lee Bristow, 27, was already serving a 9year …
Ohio Parole Hearing Officer Acquitted in Bribe Case by After a three-day trial, a jury acquitted an Ohio parole-hearing officer of charges that he sold early parole releases to prisoners. On Nov. 9, 2000, as Lorain Co. Common Pleas Judge Lynett M. McGough read the verdict, parole hearing officer Harold …
