Ohio Students Rally in DC by Students from Dayton Ohio's Colonel White High School were outraged when they read about Kemba Smith in Emerge magazine. Smith, a 24-year-old Virginia woman, was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole for refusing to cooperate with federal prosecutors …
More Ohio Jail Construction Corruption by In the April '97 issue of PLN we reported "Ohio Jail Construction Corruption?" about questionable contract provisions and cost overruns by a construction firm owned by Ohio governor George Voinovich's brother. That article was about the firm's $9 million renovation of the Franklin county …
Americans with Disability Act Applies to Jails by In two separate rulings, federal district courts in Ohio and Michigan held that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 42 U.S.C. § 12131 and the Rehabilitation Act (RA), 29 U.S.C. § 794, apply to county jails. Leonard Raufman was imprisoned in the …
Ohio Overtime Gravy by According to a report in the Columbus Dispatch, overtime pay for Ohio state employees is expected to reach an all-time high of $72 million in 1997. Among the 68 Ohio state agencies, employees of the state's burgeoning prison system account for $23.7 million, about a third …
Former Prison Security Chief Convicted by Julia Lutsky By Julia Lutsky William T. Mack, 53, was convicted at the end of May in a continuing federal investigation of corruption at the Mansfield Correctional Institute (MANCI) in Ohio. Mack, who had been chief of security at MANCI prior to his transfer …
Ohio Prison Doctor Liable in Asthma Death by A federal district court in Ohio held that factual disputes required a trial to determine if Ohio DOC medical staff were liable in the death of a prisoner who died from an asthma attack. Ernest Davis was an Ohio state prisoner with …
Tensions Rise in Ohio Prisons by A PLN subscriber wrote to describe a "mini riot" which occurred June 3, 1997, in one of the dorms at the North Central Correctional Institution in Marion, OH. He reported that six prisoners and two guards were injured. The disturbance "was brought on by …
A Day at the Human Zoo by Alice Lynd My husband and I toured the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, a new "private prison" that is soon to open in Youngstown. Near the entrance there is a bulletin board with the words, "Yesterday's Closing Stock Price," a reminder that the Corrections …
CCA Prison Off to a Rocky Start by In its first five weeks of operation, the CCA-owned and operated Northeast Ohio Correctional Center (NOCC) in Youngstown was locked down three times. According to warden Willis Gibson, the first lockdown occurred on May 30 after 50 Washington D.C. prisoners, apparently unhappy …
Administrative Exhaustion Requirements Not Retroactive by The court of appeals for the sixth circuit held that 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), which requires prisoners to exhaust administrative remedies before filing suit in federal court do not apply to cases pending on April 24, 1996, when the PLRA was signed into law, …
6th Circuit Upholds PLRA IFP Provisions by The court of appeals for the sixth circuit rejected the first extensive constitutional challenge made to the In Forma Pauperis (IFP) provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). The PLRA changes to 28 U.S.C. § 1915, the IFP statute, were detailed in …
Lucasville Uprising: $4.1 Million Settlement by In January, 1997, a settlement was filed in federal court in the three-year-old class action based on injuries stemming from the 1993 Easter Day uprising and 11-day siege at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) at Lucasville, OH. The settlement establishes a $4.1 million …
PLRA Confuses Courts; Applies Only to Prisoners by To illustrate how poorly written the PLRA is, the court of appeals for the sixth circuit held that 28 U.S.C. § 1915 still "allows individuals who are not prisoners to litigate a case without the prepayment of filing fees." In their haste …
Ohio Jail Construction Corruption? by Questions arise as to whether a contract for the Franklin County jail renovation was legal. The county commissioners awarded the unbid contract in May 1995 to Voinovich-Sgro Architects, Inc., a subsidiary of the Voinovich Group, owned by Paul Voinovich, the brother to Governor George Voinovich. …
Ohio "Eases" Prison Overcrowding by On June 30, 1996, Ohio had the second- or third-most overcrowded prison system in the country with prisoners packed in at 170.1 percent of capacity. At the stroke of midnight, however, like magic, that figure dropped to 138.3 percent, placing the state eighth or ninth …
Supreme Court Closes Double Jeopardy Door by Jeffrey Steinborn "Counsel, are you trying to show contempt for this court?" "No, your honor, I'm doing my best to conceal it." -- Attributed to Clarence Darrow in the Scopes "Monkey Trial" He had a point. Some days it's tough to conceal it. …
Photocopies Required for Court Access by A federal district court in Ohio held that a prison policy which charges prisoners 35 cents per copy and does not allow a credit system violates prisoners' right of access to the courts. Scott Giles, an Ohio state prisoner, filed suit challenging the Ohio …
Jury Power in Action by A single mother in Cleveland, Ohio went on trial for welfare fraud. She was charged with "stealing" $11,000 in cash and food stamps over a two-year period. Between June 1988 to January 1990 she is accused of working at a $6,000-a-year part time job emptying …
Exploitation of Ohio Prison Labor by William Ridenour Ohio Penal Industries (OPI) in recent years has stepped up their campaign to entice local industry into using Ohio's cheap prison labor force to manufacture their products. Their efforts have been met with considerable success. A number of Ohio companies have voiced …
$460,800 Verdict in Ohio Beating Affirmed by A district court in Ohio denied prison officials' motion for a new trial and affirmed a jury verdict of $460,800 to two Ohio state prisoners who had been beaten by prisoner guards. In the January, 1995, issue of PLN we reported the jury …
