Warden Killed in Alabama by In Mid-October, 1994, Kelvin Washington, 27, was arrested and charged with the murder of Charles Farquhar, the warden of a state prison cattle ranch in Greensboro, Alabama, his wife and two prisoners. The bodies believed to be that of Farquhar and his wife were found …
MI DOC Creates Liberty Interest in Seg Release by Wendell Mackey is a Michigan state prisoner. He was found guilty of possessing contraband and assaulting another prisoner and placed in administrative segregation. After spending nearly one year in segregation, he was reclassified and scheduled to be released to general population. …
State Must Provide Assistance for Parental Suits by Women prisoners in Michigan filed a class action suit against the Michigan Department of Corrections (DOC) challenging the decision to reduce funding to Prison Legal Services in order to end PLS assistance in parental rights matters. The prisoners argued that the decrease …
Cooling Towers Spread Legionnaire's by The Federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued a report stating that cooling towers holding contaminated community water can lead to serious outbreaks of Legionnaire's disease, a pneumonia like illness that can be fatal. The bacteria causing the disease are spread by water or …
MI Parole Consent Decree Vacated by In 1977 Michigan state prisoners filed a class action suit challenging the procedures by which they were granted or denied parole. In 1981 the US district court in Michigan entered a consent decree settling a lawsuit between the Michigan state Parole Board and Michigan …
$273,000 Settlement for Gassing by A hallucinating diabetic was sprayed in the face with a chemical spray called "Freeze + P." after he had been arrested and tried to escape. The spray contains tear gas and a red pepper derivative. After being held in the Montgomery County, Alabama, jail for …
Prison TV: Luxury or Management Tool? by Paul Wright By Paul Wright In March 1994, the Florida state legislature passed a law severely restricting how the DOC could spend prisoner welfare funds. It specifically prohibited the expenditure of welfare funds for cable television, to rent movie videos, televisions, VCRs or …
The Unconstitutionality of Discriminatory Jury Selection by Emmet Jones The foundation for an analysis of the right to be a juror, or be tried by a jury of peers is securely rooted in the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The Sixth Amendment prohibits any substantial under-representation of …
Michigan Prisoner Challenges Jury Selection Process by Dan Pens PLN rarely reports on criminal law cases, but when we think one will interest our readers we print it. Such is the case with an interesting legal struggle going on in Michigan. PLN reader Emmett Jones (see his article on page …
Recidivism Revisited by Michigan's corrections department recently released a five-year study of its paroled prisoners that reached the same conclusion as a similar six-year Louisiana study released last year: 55.2% of Michigan's 1986 parolees never returned to prison (nor did 56% of Louisiana's 1987 released prisoners). 5-year follow-up study on …
MDOC Sanctioned for Ex Parte Contacts with Prisoners in Court Cases by Over eight years ago, lawyers from the Michigan Attorney General's office sent interrogatories directly to prisoners about the Knop v. Johnson case without notifying the plaintiffs' lawyers. Judge Enslen entered a protective order on February 19, 1986, and …
Court is Ultimate Arbiter of Consent Decree by In 1984 the United States government and the state of Michigan entered into a consent decree which required improvements in Michigan penal facilities so that they would comport with minimal constitutional standards. After several years of improvements and monitoring the parties filed …
Shackling States Claim by Jerome Williams is a Michigan state prisoner. After damaging the toilet in his cell, Williams was removed from his cell and placed in restraints where he was fully restrained by chains and shackled to his bed; where he remained for 73 hours. He was allowed to …
Prison Officials Can't Prevent Jailhouse Lawyers From Assisting Other Prisoners by Paul Gibbs is a Michigan state prisoner and jailhouse lawyer. He was placed in segregation in late 1990 for possessing contraband. On April 2, 1991, he was reclassified back to the general population. Due to a lack of bed …
Involuntary PC Violates Due Process by Gregory Howard is a Michigan state prisoner. Howard was a prisoner at the state prison in Jackson when he requested placement into protective custody (PC) for protection from asserted enemies in the general prison population. He was transferred to a close custody prison for …
MI Hearing Officers Have Absolute Immunity by James Sullivan is a Michigan state prisoner. He was infracted for having a urinalysis test that indicated marijuana use. At his disciplinary hearing he stated he had been using the legal pain killer and anti-inflammatory Ibuprofen, which was sold in the inmate store. …
"Tough On Crime" Law Increases Michigan Crime Rates by Despite the increased use of prison as a criminal sanction, nearly every category of violent crime rose from 1981 to 1991. In the past decade, Michigan's legislature has passed many "tough on crime" laws and quadrupled the state's corrections budget, according …
Placing Con in Cell with Dying PWA Doesn't State Claim by Woodrow Johnson is a federal prisoner confined at FCI Talladega, Alabama. The suit was instituted pro se pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. § 2674, Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents , 403 U.S. 388, …
MI Phone Rip Off by B K I have read the article which appeared in PLN (Vol. 4, number 4) by Paul Wright about the prison telephone system. I was amazed to learn that the Washington DOC telephone contract states that the commission checks are sent to each institution and …
Transfers May Violate Eighth Amendment by Timothy Taylor is a small, mentally retarded Michigan state prisoner. While at the Jackson state prison Taylor was transferred to a camp where he was raped. After being raped prison officials labeled him a homosexual and he was denied a job and resident home …
