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No Cause of Action for Defamation

Article • August 15, 1993 • from PLN August, 1993

Filed under: Discrimination, Gay/Lesbian, Disclosure of Records

No Cause of Action for Defamation by Two Ohio prisoners approached a unit supervisor to discuss a cell change; one of them sought to be moved into a cell occupied solely by another prisoner. The supervisor then either directly told them or implied that the cell's occupant was a homosexual. …

Reduction In Damages Improper

Article • July 15, 1993 • from PLN July, 1993

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Systemic Medical Neglect, Damages, Injunctions, Mootness, Qualified Immunity, Mental Health

Reduction In Damages Improper by Harry Weeks was a parapeligic Ohio state prisoner. For a two year period Weeks was housed in a control unit at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) at Lucasville, OH. The control unit did not permit Weeks to have a wheelchair. L.R. Chaboudy was the …

SOCF Chronology

Article • June 15, 1993 • from PLN June, 1993

Filed under: Organizing, Prison Rebellion

SOCF Chronology by Chryztof Knecht [Editor's Note: (May 1, 1993) What follows is a chronology of events as they unfolded at Lucasville, Ohio, during the April uprising at that facility. It was written by a Lucasville segregation prisoner who wasn't an actual part of the riot, but who was close …

MANCI: The Aftermath

Article • May 15, 1993 • from PLN May, 1993

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Prison Rebellion, Crime/Demographics, Prison/Jail Murders

MANCI: The Aftermath by John Perotti By John Perotti In June, 1992, MANCI guard Thomas Davis was stabbed in the back shoulder. Prisoner Roy Slider was accused of the stabbing. Davis died at a Mansfield hospital the next day. This began a series of retaliatory transfers and total lockdown of …

Prisoners Win Suit Over Circulating Petition

Article • March 15, 1993 • from PLN March, 1993

Filed under: Retaliation, Retaliation for Organizing, Notice of Rules, Attorney Fee Awards, Injunctions, Eleventh Amendment Immunity, Qualified Immunity

Prisoners Win Suit Over Circulating Petition by Dennis Wolfel and three other Ohio state prisoners, including longtime PLN supporter John Perotti, were infracted and disciplined for circulating a petition complaining of brutal prison conditions. The petition was going to be sent to Amnesty International, the international human rights group, to …

Court Cannot Dismiss Suit if Partial Filing Fee Paid

Article • March 15, 1993 • from PLN March, 1993

Filed under: Food, Civil Procedure, Frivolous Litigation, Complaints, Filing Fees

Court Cannot Dismiss Suit if Partial Filing Fee Paid by Autry Clark is an Ohio state prisoner. He filed suit against Ocean Brand Tuna claiming he bought cans of cat food from the prison commissary that had been re-labelled as tuna fit for human consumption. Clark became ill after eating …

Perotti Needs Help

Article • November 15, 1992 • from PLN November, 1992

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Retaliation for Litigating, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Retaliation for Organizing, Retaliatory Searches, Retaliatory Segregation, Malicious Prosecution, Informants (Disciplinary Hearings), Retaliatory Discipline, False Charges (Disciplinary Hearings), Crime/Demographics, Informants

Perotti Needs Help by John Perotti John Perotti, Mansfield, OH On August 7, 1992, MANCI prisoncrats Bill Rachael (unit manager), Terry Knight (SHP Investigator), Mr. Fleming (SHP) and Capt. Jackson and Sgt. Harrell called a prisoner named Jerome Evans to their office and made a deal that if he set …

Outside Strip Search Constitutes Excessive Force

Article • October 15, 1992 • from PLN October, 1992

Filed under: Discrimination, Gender Discrimination -- Men, Prison Rebellion, Strip Searches, Eighth Amendment, Exposure to Cold, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Damages, Jury Instructions

Outside Strip Search Constitutes Excessive Force by Michael Cornwell is an Ohio state prisoner. In February, 1987, while in prison in Mansfield, he participated in a sit down strike with 76 other prisoners protesting a cutback in recreation time. Dahlberg, the prison warden, ordered guards to use force to terminate …

Guard Killed - MANCI Madness

Article • October 15, 1992 • from PLN October, 1992

Filed under: Prison Rebellion, Crime/Demographics, Prison/Jail Murders, Lockdowns, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Guard Killed - MANCI Madness by John Perotti By John Perotti MANSFIELD, OHIO - On June 27, 1992, a black guard named Davis was beaten and stabbed. A white prisoner named Roy Slieber was picked up for the assault, beaten and shipped to the J1 SuperMax control unit in Lucasville, …

Prisoner Entitled to Receive Medication

Article • October 15, 1992 • from PLN October, 1992

Filed under: Medication, Systemic Medical Neglect, Tuberculosis, Civil Procedure, Damages, Evidentiary Ruling, Expert Witnesses, Supervisory Liability

Prisoner Entitled to Receive Medication by Lawrence Hill is an Ohio state prisoner. While in the Cincinnati jail Hill tested positive for tuberculosis and was prescribed medication to prevent it from becoming active and to eradicate it. The medication had to be taken continuously for one year otherwise the bacteria …

Just Us - Ohio Style

Article • September 15, 1992 • from PLN September, 1992

Filed under: Sentencing, Pardons/Clemency, Death Penalty

Just Us - Ohio Style by John Perotti By John Perotti Three days before former Ohio Governor Dick Celeste left office he commuted the death sentences of Donald Maur, Leonard Jenkins, Willie Jester, Crazy Horse Seiber, Debra Brown, Rose Grant and Elizabeth Green to life in prison. Celeste also commuted …

Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission Update

Article • August 15, 1992 • from PLN August, 1992

Filed under: Parole, News, State Legislation

Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission Update by John Perotti By John Perotti There have been a lot of rumors of abolishing the parole board in Ohio. Here are the facts in relation to this rumor. In 1990 former Governor D. Celeste created the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission to study Ohio's sentencing …

Supreme Court Slams Conditions Case

Article • September 15, 1991 • from PLN September, 1991

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Overcrowding, Eighth Amendment, Ventilation, Exposure to Cold

Supreme Court Slams Conditions Case by Just before finishing its last session, the United States Supreme Court handed down a ruling making it more difficult for prisoners to challenge the constitutionality of prison conditions. The five to four decision held that prisoners must prove that prison officials not merely maintained …

Justice for Jimmy Haynes?

Article • August 15, 1991 • from PLN August, 1991

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Justice for Jimmy Haynes? by John Perotti Justice For Jimmy Haynes?? ? By John Perotti On February 9, 1984, Jimmy Haynes, a black prisoner, was beaten and then murdered by 12 white guards at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) al Lucasville, Ohio. The cause of death was a crushed …

Aftermath MANCI Control Unit & Perotti Update

Article • June 15, 1991 • from PLN June, 1991

Filed under: Prison Rebellion, Hunger Strikes, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Aftermath MANCI Control Unit & Perotti Update by Numerous organizations inquired into the beatings of six prisoners in the AC Control Unit at Mansfield, Ohio prison by 35 guards. The Cleveland ACLU has requested a written explanation and investigation into the matter. A civil rights complaint was filed by a …

Inhumane Living at CCI

Article • June 15, 1991 • from PLN June, 1991

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Toilets, Strip Cells, Vermin, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Inhumane Living at CCI by Angelo Crimi Inhumane Living At CCI By Angelo Crimi CHILLICOTHE, OHIO - Prisoners at Chillicothe Correctional Institution (CCI) confined in the segregation unit are constantly subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. Prisoners are confined to a building that is over 100 years old and the …

Beating in the MANCI Control Unit

Article • April 15, 1991 • from PLN April, 1991

Filed under: Hunger Strikes, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Beating in the MANCI Control Unit by John Perotti Beating In The MANCI Control Unit By John Perroti MANSFIELD, OHIO - On February 8, 1991, in the super-max administrative control unit (AC-Isolation) at the Mansfield Correctional Institution (MANCI) high tech prison, designed after the U.S. Penitentiary at Marion, II, 35 …

John Perroti on Hungerstrike

Article • April 15, 1991 • from PLN April, 1991

Filed under: Organizing, Hunger Strikes

John Perroti on Hungerstrike by John Perotti John Perroti On Hungerstrike John Perroti and his partner, Linda Leisure, have been on a hunger strike since February 14, 1991. Perroti has been held on a one-man isolation tier supposedly only until MANCI's AC unit opened. His visits have been restricted to …

Police Torture in Ohio

Article • October 15, 1990 • from PLN October, 1990

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Police Misconduct

Police Torture in Ohio by Police Torture In Ohio Dayton Ohio City Manager Richard Helwig has reprimanded police officials for a "breakdown of command" that allowed allegations of police torture of a drug suspect to go unreported for six months. Greer, a drug suspect, with a clothes iron several times …

Litigating for Maximum Effect

Article • September 15, 1990 • from PLN September, 1990

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Discovery

Litigating for Maximum Effect by John Perotti Litigating For Maximum Effect By John Perotti A lot of us know that our system of justice is a hypocritical one-Just-Us. The rich buy their justice; the poor are served theirs in prison cells every time they're served their cold oatmeal and powered …