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Arizona Prisoner Entitled to Workers' Compensation Payments During Period of Incarceration

Article • August 15, 2003 • from PLN August, 2003

Filed under: Work, Prison Labor, Workplace Injury, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Arizona Prisoner Entitled to Workers' Compensation Payments During Period of Incarceration by The Arizona Court of Appeals held that a prisoner may collect workers' compensation benefits during his term of imprisonment, despite a 1997 state statute prohibiting workers' compensation payments "during the period of time that [a claimant] has . …

Arizona Governor Must Personally Decide Prisoner Clemency Denials

Article • July 15, 2003 • from PLN July, 2003

Filed under: Sentencing, Pardons/Clemency

Arizona Governor Must Personally Decide Prisoner Clemency Denials by The Arizona Supreme Court held that the governor must personally and timely decide denials of unanimous Clemency Board recommendations to commute prisoners' sentences under that state's Disproportionality Review Act. In one case, after finding the governor had not so acted, an …

Incarcerated Father Retains Child Visitation Rights

Article • June 15, 2003 • from PLN June, 2003

Filed under: Juveniles, Fathers in Prison, Mothers in Prison

Incarcerated Father Retains Child Visitation Rights by The Arizona Court of Appeals recently held that an incarcerated father had a right to visits with his infant daughter, absent proof that such visitation would harm the child. Michael M. is the father of Corianna M. Both Michael and Corianna's mother lost …

Alaska Prisoners' Benefits Extended to Arizona

Article • June 15, 2003 • from PLN June, 2003

Filed under: Out of State Transfers, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Overcrowding, Civil Procedure, Settlements, Mootness

Alaska Prisoners' Benefits Extended to Arizona by The Supreme Court of Alaska sustained a lower court's ruling which provisionally allowed Alaska prisoners to be transferred to an Arizona prison, required the Arizona facility to comply with Alaska's prison overcrowding settlement agreement, and found the Alaska prisoners' challenge to the process …

PI Issued in Arizona Internet Communications Ban

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Injunctions (PLRA), Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Death Penalty, Mail Regulations, Media, Internet, State Legislation

PI Issued in Arizona Internet Communications Ban by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg On December 16, 2002, the U.S. District Court (D. Ariz.) granted plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction (PI) enjoining the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADOC) from enforcing laws arising from Arizona House Bill 2376 (HB …

Arizona Guards Continue to Rape Prisoners

Article • April 15, 2003 • from PLN April, 2003

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct

Arizona Guards Continue to Rape Prisoners by Michael Rigby Two guards at Arizona's Perryville prison are facing numerous charges, substantiated by internal investigations, of sexual misconduct with prisoners. Derrick Renard Allen was indicted in late April 2002 by a state grand jury on 8 counts of sexual assault and 2 …

Vehicle Forfeited for Smuggling Drugs into Arizona Prison

Article • March 15, 2003 • from PLN March, 2003

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Forfeiture

Vehicle Forfeited for Smuggling Drugs into Arizona Prison by The Arizona Court of Appeals upheld the forfeiture of a vehicle involved in smuggling drugs into prison. Arizona prisoner Dennis Day convinced his mother Teruko Simmons, to smuggle three grams of marijuana into the prison for him. Simmons drove her 1996 …

No Probation in Arizona Jail Drug Possession

Article • February 15, 2003 • from PLN February, 2003

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, Crime, Probation

No Probation in Arizona Jail Drug Possession by The Arizona court of appeals held that Proposition 200, which mandates probation for drug possession offenses, does not apply to drug possessions that occur in detention facilities. Edwin Roman was convicted of promoting prison contraband and possessing dangerous drugs after guards in …

Hustler Magazine Survives Arizona Prison Obscenity Test

Article • January 15, 2003 • from PLN January, 2003

Filed under: Damages, Costs, Consent Decrees, Mail, Publications/Books, Sexually Explicit Materials

Hustler Magazine Survives Arizona Prison Obscenity Test by On remand from the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona found that prison officials were misapplying the constitutional obscenity standard and improperly seizing a prisoner's copies of Hustler magazine. Prison officials were ordered to pay $65 in …

Prisoners, Politics, Money and the Census

Article • November 15, 2002 • from PLN November, 2002

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Voting, Crime/Demographics, Census, State Legislation

Prisoners, Politics, Money and the Census by Gary Hunter It's a standing joke that the Texas economy has been grounded in the 3 C's: cattle, crude, and convicts. But while Texas gets most of the publicity for its massive prison build-up, the human-warehousing trend is literally sweeping the countrysideand it …

Advocacy Groups Challenge Arizona Internet Communications Ban

Article • November 15, 2002 • from PLN November, 2002

Filed under: Organizing, Victims, Computers, Death Row, Mail Regulations

Advocacy Groups Challenge Arizona Internet Communications Ban by On July 18, 2002, the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty(CCADP), Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty(CUADP) and Stop Prisoner Rape(SPR), filed a federal law suit against Terry L. Stewart Director of the Arizona Department Of Corrections(ADOC) pursuant to 42 …

Boot Camp or Boot Hill? Troubled Teens Suffer From Too Much Tough Love

Article • September 15, 2002 • from PLN September, 2002

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Esmor/CSC, Youth Services International, Contractor Misconduct, Guard Misconduct, Boot Camps, Staffing, Excessive Force, Prisoner Privileges, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Boot Camp or Boot Hill? Troubled Teens Suffer From Too Much Tough Love by Roger Hummel Boot Camp Or Boot Hill? Troubled Teens Suffer From Too Much Tough Love by Roger Hummel On February 15, 2002, Charles Long II was arrested on murder and child abuse charges growing from the …

U.S. Supreme Court: No Death Penalty for Retarded; Juries Must Impose Death Sentence

Article • September 15, 2002 • from PLN September, 2002

Filed under: Juries, Death Penalty, Mental Health

U.S. Supreme Court: No Death Penalty for Retarded; Juries Must Impose Death Sentence by David Zuckerman June was a good month for many death row prisoners. In Ring v. Arizona , 122 S.Ct. 2428 (2002) and Atkins v. Virginia , 122 S.Ct. 2242 (2002), the Supreme Court placed new and …

News in Brief

Article • August 15, 2002 • from PLN August, 2002

Filed under: Private Prisons, Esmor/CSC, Financing, CMS, Youth Services International, Contractor Misconduct, Vision, Boot Camps, Staffing, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Immigration, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

News in Brief by Roger Hummel Alaska: On April 11, 2002, Cynthia Cooper, the head prosecutor in the state attorney general's office, resigned after being judicially admonished for pursuing felony charges against a public defender who crashed his car into a light pole. Anchorage prosecutors had agreed to a misdemeanor …

Arizona DOC's Endless Isolation of Suspected Gang Member Enjoined

Article • May 15, 2002 • from PLN May, 2002

Filed under: Gang Policies, Disciplinary Hearings, Liberty Interests, Injunctions, Ad-Seg Hearings

Arizona DOC's Endless Isolation of Suspected Gang Member Enjoined by Roger Smith Afederal District Court in Arizona recently enjoined Arizona Department of Corrections (ADOC) officials from indefinitely isolating a prisoner whom they suspect to be a gang member. Mark Koch, an Arizona prisoner and successful prison litigator of long standing, …

Equitable Tolling May Apply to Administrative Exhaustion

Article • March 15, 2002 • from PLN March, 2002

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Administrative Exhaustion, Limitations, Premises Liability

Equitable Tolling May Apply to Administrative Exhaustion by The Arizona Court of Appeals reversed a trial court's grant of summary judgment against a prisoner for failure to file a tort claim notice with the Attorney General's office within 180 days of his injury as required by ARS § 12821.01(A). On …

Arizona Prisoner Adequately Pleaded Section 1983 Claim

Article • March 15, 2002 • from PLN March, 2002

Filed under: Legal Materials, Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Prisoner Property

Arizona Prisoner Adequately Pleaded Section 1983 Claim by The Arizona Court of Appeals held that a prisoner was barred from bringing a tort action against the state and Department of Corrections (DOC) but that his allegations were sufficient to support a claim against a prison official under 42 U.S.C. § …

Arizona CCA Prison Found 'In Turmoil'

Article • December 15, 2001 • from PLN December, 2001

Filed under: Classification, Out of State Transfers, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Gang Policies, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, Failure to Protect (Staff)

Arizona CCA Prison Found 'In Turmoil' by Ronald Young Hawaii officials found a prison "in turmoil" while inspecting a Florence, Arizona prison where about 560 Hawaii prisoners are being warehoused. The prison is operated by Nashville based Corrections Corporation of America. An inspection of the prison conducted in April 2001 …

$100,000 Awarded in Arizona Medical Indifference Case

Article • December 15, 2001 • from PLN December, 2001

Filed under: Medical, Systemic Medical Neglect, Injury -- Misc.

$100,000 Awarded in Arizona Medical Indifference Case by Lonnie Burton In January 2000, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict awarding $100,000 to a former Arizona prisoner who was refused medical treatment while at the Maricopa County Jail. In late 1994, Daniel Hawkins was arrested and booked …

Arizona Supreme Court Upholds Application of Gate Money Amendments

Article • December 15, 2001 • from PLN December, 2001

Filed under: Sentencing, Ex Post Facto, Seizure of Prisoner Funds

Arizona Supreme Court Upholds Application of Gate Money Amendments by The Arizona Supreme Court, sitting en banc , held that amendments to Arizona's "Gate Money" statute were not applied retroactively and did not violate due process or ex post facto prohibitions. Arizona prisoner Reinhold Zuther was convicted in 1992. At …