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Fourth Circuit: Deaf North Carolina Prisoner Should be Allowed Direct Videophone Calls to Communicate with Deaf Community

Article • April 1, 2021 • from PLN April, 2021

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Video Visitation

Fourth Circuit: Deaf North Carolina Prisoner Should be Allowed Direct Videophone Calls to Communicate with Deaf Community by David Reutter by David M. Reutter In reversing a district court’s judgment, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that a deaf prisoner be allowed “access to point-to-point videophone calls because the …

News in Brief

Article • February 1, 2021 • from PLN February, 2021

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Afghanistan: As fighting continued between Taliban forces and the Afghan military on September 3, 3020, both parties announced they had nearly completed a prisoner exchange negotiated the previous February. According to a report by Japan’s public broadcasting company, HNK, the Taliban said all 1,000 Afghan prisoners …

News in Brief

Article • January 1, 2021 • from PLN January, 2021

News in Brief by Alabama: On August 21, 2020, Sylvester Hartley became the seventh prisoner to die of complications from COVID-19 at Alabama’s St. Clair Correctional Facility, according to a report in the St. Clair News-Aegis. The 60-year-old, who was serving a life-without-parole sentence for three counts of first-degree kidnapping, …

North Carolina Prisoners at Deadliest Federal Prison File Suit on COVID-19 Response

Article • January 1, 2021 • from PLN January, 2021

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, COVID-19, Failure to Protect (General)

North Carolina Prisoners at Deadliest Federal Prison File Suit on COVID-19 Response by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On October 26, 2020, federal prisoners aided by civil rights groups and a major international law firm, filed a class action lawsuit challenging the handling of a COVID-19 outbreak by the Bureau …

North Carolina Cancer Patient Dies From COVID-19 After BOP Denies Compassionate Release and Sentencing Judge Rejects Appeal

Article • January 1, 2021 • from PLN January, 2021

Filed under: Cancer, COVID-19, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Compassionate Release

North Carolina Cancer Patient Dies From COVID-19 After BOP Denies Compassionate Release and Sentencing Judge Rejects Appeal by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna On July 3, 2020, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) reported prisoner John Dailey died of COVID-19 at the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) in Butner, North Carolina. …

North Carolina Case Involving Death of Black Prisoner: “I Can’t Breathe,” Revisited

Article • December 1, 2020 • from PLN December, 2020

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Private Contractors, Wrongful Death

North Carolina Case Involving Death of Black Prisoner: “I Can’t Breathe,” Revisited by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon In late July 2020, about 30 protesters stood all day in the rain in Bailey Park near the Forsyth County Detention Center (FCDC) in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to demand answers and …

News in Brief

Article • November 1, 2020 • from PLN November, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: The Birmingham News reported that an Alabama prison guard had been arrested for drug trafficking after a search of his vehicle when he arrived for work at the St. Clair County prison turned up 138 grams of methamphetamine and 16 grams of heroin. Ivan Caldwell, …

Fourth Circuit Orders Sealing of North Carolina Court’s Order to “Protect Defendant from Harm”

Article • November 1, 2020 • from PLN November, 2020

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, First Step Act

Fourth Circuit Orders Sealing of North Carolina Court’s Order to “Protect Defendant from Harm” by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On June 17, 2020, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the sealing of a North Carolina federal district court’s order. That order denied a Defendant’s motion for resentencing …

Fourth Circuit: Opening of Detainee’s Legal Mail Outside His Presence Violates Right to Free Speech

Article • November 1, 2020 • from PLN November, 2020

Filed under: Legal Mail, Fourth Amendment, rights, Sixth Amendment

Fourth Circuit: Opening of Detainee’s Legal Mail Outside His Presence Violates Right to Free Speech by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld on June 8, 2020, that a pretrial detainee’s First Amendment claim that officials violated his right to free speech by opening …

North Carolina Temporarily Closes Three Prisons for Lack of Guards; Final One Reopens During COVID-19 Pandemic

Article • November 1, 2020 • from PLN November, 2020

Filed under: Work Conditions/Safety, Staffing

North Carolina Temporarily Closes Three Prisons for Lack of Guards; Final One Reopens During COVID-19 Pandemic by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon The North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice (DACJJ) has been in a severe crisis mode regarding prison guard understaffing. The …

Federal Judge Rules Prisoners Eligible for $1,200 Stimulus Checks; Must Apply by October 30

Article • October 6, 2020

Filed under: Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Tax Law

Federal Judge Rules Prisoners Eligible for $1,200 Stimulus Checks; Must Apply by October 30 by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna In a clear victory for prisoners and their families, a federal judge has ordered the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to make stimulus payments previously denied …

News in Brief

Article • October 1, 2020 • from PLN October, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: In February 2020, a grand jury in Limestone County, Alabama, returned an indictment for “possession/receipt of a controlled substance” against Travis Wales, a former guard at the Limestone County Correctional Facility in Harvest. According to Columbus, Georgia, TV station WBRL, Wales was arrested in September …

Scholl v. Mnuchin, et al., CA, Order, Withholding Prisoners Money, 2020

Brief • September 24, 2020

Filed under: Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Tax Law

Scholl v. Mnuchin, et al., CA, Order, Withholding Prisoners Money, 2020 Case 4:20-cv-05309-PJH Document 50 Filed 09/24/20 Page 1 of 45 1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 COLIN SCHOLL, et al., 9 10 11 Case No. 20-cv-05309-PJH Plaintiffs, 8 v. STEVEN …

Scholl v. Mnuchin, et al., NC, Order, Withholding Prisoners Money, 2020

Publication • September 24, 2020

Filed under: Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Tax Law

Scholl v. Mnuchin, et al., NC, Order, Withholding Prisoners Money, 2020 Case 4:20-cv-05309-PJH Document 50 Filed 09/24/20 Page 1 of 45 1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 COLIN SCHOLL, et al., 9 10 11 Case No. 20-cv-05309-PJH Plaintiffs, 8 v. STEVEN …

Federal Judge: BOP Exercising “Reasonable Efforts” Against Coronavirus at NC Prison

Article • September 1, 2020 • from PLN September, 2020

Filed under: Failure to Treat, COVID-19

Federal Judge: BOP Exercising “Reasonable Efforts” Against Coronavirus at NC Prison by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On June 11, 2020, a federal court in North Carolina found that 11 prisoners at the Federal Correction Complex (FCC) in Butner had failed to prove officials with the Bureau of Prisons …

North Carolina Criticized for Prisoner Transfers During Pandemic

Article • September 1, 2020 • from PLN September, 2020

Filed under: COVID-19, Prisoner Transfer

North Carolina Criticized for Prisoner Transfers During Pandemic by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon On June 16, 2020, North Carolina’s Wake County Superior Court ordered the state Department of Public Safety (DPS) temporarily to cease the majority of prisoner transfers. Except for medical emergencies or cases of life endangerment, ordered …

News in Brief

Article • July 1, 2020 • from PLN July, 2020

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: A Maricopa County grand jury indicted Daniel Davitt, 60, on January 14,  2020 on charges of second-degree murder in the death of Lower Buckeye Jail guard Gene Lee on October 30. Buckeye Jail video shows Davitt talking to Lee on October 29, then suddenly grabbing …

North Carolina Prisoner Escapes to Flee Coronavirus Death Sentence

Article • June 1, 2020 • from PLN June, 2020

Filed under: COVID-19, Escapes

North Carolina Prisoner Escapes to Flee Coronavirus Death Sentence by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Fearing his existing medical condition could transform his sentence to death if he caught COVID-19, federal prisoner Richard Cephas elected to escape. After nearly a month on the run, Cephas turned himself in on …

Silence: The Bureau of Prisons’ Pathetic Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Article • June 1, 2020 • from PLN June, 2020

Filed under: COVID-19, Journalist

Silence: The Bureau of Prisons’ Pathetic Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic by Christopher Zoukis by Christopher Zoukis The silence is deafening. Over a week in mid-May, Prison Legal News tried to contact public information officers at seven federal prisons seeking an answer to a straightforward question: What are you doing …

Hallinan v. Scarantino, NC, Class Action Petition, COVID-19 Release, 2020

Brief • May 26, 2020

Filed under: COVID-19

Hallinan v. Scarantino, NC, Class Action Petition, COVID-19 Release, 2020 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA WESTERN DIVISION No. __:___-CV-___-__ CHARLES HALLINAN, JOSEAN KINARD, ARNOLD J. HILL, BENJAMIN D. MCRAE, JOHN DAILEY, LEE M. AYERS, GEORGE B. RIDDICK, JORGE LUIS MALDONADO, ANTWAN HARRIS, ANTHONY BUTLER, …