PLRA Termination Provisions Unconstitutional by A federal district court in Arizona held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) section providing for termination of consent decrees entered into prior to the PLRA's enactment is unconstitutional, as being violative of the separation of powers doctrine. The court further ruled that the …
Refusal of Non-Lethal Injection Kills Arizona Prisoner by Arizona prisoner Teshome Abate, 39, died Jan. 3, 1998, after a four month hunger strike. In 1989 Abate brought suit against the department of corrections seeking to acquire his Ethiopian Orthodox Christian diet. Ethiopian Orthodox leaders had informed officials their faith requires …
AZ Prisoners Have Right to Attend Paternity Hearings by An Arizona state court of appeals held that Arizona prisoners have a right to attend paternity hearings in person or telephonically. Lenny Valentine, an Arizona state prisoner, had a paternity judgment entered against him. A hearing to establish a child support …
Arizona Court Fee Law Upheld by Afederal district court in Arizona upheld the constitutionality of a state statute that requires prisoners to pay the full filing fee in state court actions they initiate. The Arizona legislature enacted A.R.S. § 12-306(c) and A.R.S. § 12-302(B) which eliminates the waiver of filing …
AZ Jail's Discriminatory Treatment of Muslims Requires Trial by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit held that a district court erred when it granted summary judgment to jail officials regarding claims of discriminatory treatment by a Muslim jail prisoner. Benjamin Freeman was held in the Maricopa county jail …
Mailbox Rule Applies to Trust Fund Statement by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit held that Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266, 108 S.Ct. 2379 (1988) applies to the filing of trust fund account statements as required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2) of the PLRA's filing fee requirements. …
Frivolous State Litigation by Paul Wright By Paul Wright The court of appeals for the eighth circuit held that a prisoner's demotion from administrative to punitive segregation did not implicate any federal due process liberty interest. We would not normally report this case because it involves no new or novel …
Arizona Death Row Chain Gang Killing by PLN has previously reported how the death row chain gang in Arizona has resulted in numerous incidents of violence, including prisoners being wounded by shotgun blasts to quell fighting. On July 9, 1997, the violence took a bizarre and deadly turn. On that …
Arizona Holiday Package Decree Modified by In the June, 1997, issue of PLN we reported the lengthy, tortured history of efforts by the Arizona DOC to eliminate holiday packages [On the Edge of Midnight]. The ruling cited in that article, Hook v. State of Arizona, 98 F.3d 1177 (9th Cir. …
PLRA Exhaustion Requirement Jurisdictional by A federal district court in Arizona held that the PLRA's administrative exhaustion requirement, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), requires prisoners to exhaust administrative remedies and the failure to do so deprives the court of subject matter jurisdiction. Dallas Morgan, an Arizona state prisoner, filed …
Pepper Spray Uprising in Arkansas by Wrightsville Arkansas, prison farm labor camp, July, 1997. The sweltering daytime temperature tops 100 degrees. It's still more than 80 degrees just after midnight. And then a spark is lit. A guard at the Arkansas DOC Wrightsville Unit, reportedly acting on a tip, went …
Electronic Guards of the Future? by B.S. The Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) is conducting a pilot program at the Cook Unit. If they like the results, ADC will implement the program state-wide. I am sure you are familiar with these electronic ankle bracelets that people on home arrest are …
Arizona DOC Contempt Fines Affirmed by In the July, 1996, issue of PLN we reported Hook v. Arizona, 907 F. Supp. 1326 (D AZ 1996) where the court held Arizona DOC officials In contempt for refusing to pay the fees for special masters appointed by the court to oversee implementation …
Experiment in Access: Law Libraries Eliminated in Arizona Prisons by O'Neil Stough The August 1996, issue of PLN reported Lewis v. Casey, 116 S.Ct. 2174 (1996). The Lewis court, though not explicitly overturning Bounds v. Smith, 430 US 817, 97 S.Ct. 1491 (1977), redefined the meaning of "court access" as …
Arizona Prisoner Entitled to Kosher Diet by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit held that a district court erred when it upheld the denial of Kosher meals to Jewish prisoners in Arizona. Kenneth Ashelman is one of 70 Jewish prisoners in the Arizona DOC. Prison officials in that …
U.S. Sues Prisons in Arizona and Michigan by In February 1997, the Justice Department filed separate lawsuits in U.S. District Court in Phoenix and Detroit alleging that state-run prisons in Michigan and Arizona fail to protect female prisoners from sexual assaults committed by prison guards and staff. At the Arizona …
Attorney Fee Award in Nominal Damage Case Affirmed by The court of appeals for the eighth circuit affirmed an award of $6,005.40 in attorney fees and costs to a prisoner who was awarded one dollar in nominal damages after a jury trial. Ali Muhammad, an Arkansas state prisoner, filed suit …
Con Artist Dupes 'America's Toughest Sheriff' by Sheriff Joe Arpaio who touts himself as "America's toughest sheriff" is apparently not America's smartest sheriff. Reputed flimflam man David Michael Pecard, 34, wooed his way into the sheriff's heart with empty promises of helicopters, tents and other military surplus. Pecard, an army …
On the Edge of Midnight by Mr Wolf by Mr.Wolf An extraordinary ruling by the ninth circuit court of appeals in Hook v. State of Arizona, 98 F.3d 1177 (9th Cir. 1996), brought the Arizona prison system to the brink of disaster during the 1996 holiday season. The ruling is …
No Immunity for Eighth Amendment Violation in Rectal Search by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit reversed a jury verdict which had found prison officials had violated a prisoner's eighth amendment rights during a rectal search but that they were entitled to qualified immunity for doing so. The …
