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Discipline for Correspondence Containing Legal Advice Vacated; US S.Ct. Grants Review by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that punishment imposed upon a prisoner law clerk for sending a letter containing legal advice to another prisoner was an exaggerated response, which violated the law clerk's First Amendment rights. While …
Article • September 15, 2000 • from PLN September, 2000
Colorado DOC Attacks Jailhouse Lawyers by In March 1998, PLN reported on the case of Tebbetts v. Whitson, 956 P.2d 639 (Colo.App. 1997), where a Colorado prisoner was convicted of attempted bartering as a jailhouse lawyer and possessing another prisoner's legal papers. The Court of Appeals held the attempted bartering …
Retaliatory Acts Need Not "Shock the Conscience" to be Actionable by by Matthew T. Clarke The Sixth Circuit court of appeals, sitting en banc, has held that prisoners who claim retaliation for constitutionally protected activities are no longer required to prove the retaliatory acts "shock the conscience." Instead, they must …
Prisoner May Not File Unsigned Complaint for Another Prisoner by The Fifth Circuit court of appeals has held that the a pro se prisoner's civil rights complaint was time barred even though a prisoner assisting the pro se prisoner filed a timely unsigned complaint. Raul Gonzales, a Texas state prisoner, …
Article • February 15, 1999 • from PLN February, 1999
No Right to Mutual Legal Assistance in 11th Circuit by The court of appeals for the eleventh circuit held that actual injury is a threshold requirement in all prisoner access to courts claims. Without such a showing, under the doctrine of standing, federal courts do not have jurisdiction to address …
Discipline for Possessing Legal Papers Vacated by AColorado state appeals court held that no evidence supported an infraction against a prisoner found guilty of bartering and possessing another prisoner's legal papers. John Tebbetts, a Colorado state prisoner, was infracted and found guilty of "bartering'' after prison officials found letters from …
Legal Papers Must be Returned to Owner; Prisoner Legal Mail Banned by The court of appeals for the eighth circuit held a district court erred when it ordered prison officials to allow prisoner co-plaintiffs to correspond with each other about their case. The court affirmed an injunction requiring prison officials …
Consent Decrees Enforceable on Its Own Terms by The court of appeals for the seventh circuit held that a consent decree that incorporated state law requirements on prison officials did not violate the eleventh amendment and could be enforced on its own terms. In 1992 Indiana state prisoners filed suit …
Article • August 15, 1997 • from PLN August, 1997
Florida Ban on Prisoner Legal Help Struck Down by A state district court of appeals held that Florida DOC rules were unconstitutional to the extent that they purport to prohibit prisoners in disciplinary confinement from filing federal petitions seeking habeas corpus, or civil rights complaints alleging violations of federally protected …
Women Prisoners Win Court Access Claim by Past issues of PLN have reported the class action suit filed by women prisoners in Nebraska concerning a wide range of prison conditions. See: Klinger v. Nebraska DOC, 824 F. Supp. 1374 (D NE 1993); 31 F.3d 727 (8th Cir. 1994) and 887 …
Newell Superseded by In the April, 1996, issue of PLN we reported Newell v. Sauser, 64 F.3d 1416 (9th Cir. 1995) which held that Alaska prison officials were not entitled to qualified immunity for infracting a prisoner who had another prisoner's legal papers in his cell. On March 11, 1996, …
Illinois DOC Violates Court Access Rights by A federal district court in Illinois held that the Illinois DOC violates the rights of segregated prisoners by requiring them to rely on a "runner system" in order to do legal research and litigate their claims. In a lengthy post trial ruling examining …
Jailhouse Lawyers Retain Right to Assist Prisoners by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit has held that prison officials are not entitled to qualified immunity when they punish a jailhouse lawyer for assisting another prisoner. Terry Newell, an Alaska state prisoner, was employed as a prison law library …
Article • February 15, 1996 • from PLN February, 1996
How the Florida DOC Circumvents Prisoners' Rights to Meaningful Access to the Courts by Van Poyck, William by William Van Poyck and Enrique J. Diaz Although prisoners' constitutional right to meaningful access to the courts has been clearly established for almost three decades, the Florida DOC continues to evade and …
Washington Court Access Suit Settled by Paul Wright In the April, 1994, issue of PLN we reported the filing of Scott v. Peterson which challenged numerous aspects of court access for Washington state prisoners. On October 31, 1995, most of the suit was settled and the settlement terms were effective …
No Habeas for Jailhouse Lawyer Aid by In a rather novel ruling the third circuit has ruled that federal courts lack authority to issue writs of habeas corpus to ensure that an imprisoned pro se litigant has the assistance of a jailhouse lawyer at trial. Michael Jones is a New …
Article • January 15, 1995 • from PLN January, 1995
From a Michigan Reader by Reader Mail I was curious as to how you get your stories. They are very interesting, and that one in the Sept. issue about Emmett Jones and jury rigging in Michigan really hit close to home. I might have a story for you. I recently …
Article • January 15, 1995 • from PLN January, 1995
Activists Labeled "Security Threat" by Reader Mail Being labeled as a "Security Threat Group" (gang) means anyone that is organizing and whose actions are considered disruptive to the prison system. For the most part the state [OH] is not focusing on real gangs, but rather focusing on prison activists and …
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 …
AZ DOC Denies Court Access by This case deals with a class action suit filed by Arizona state prisoners. They claimed that Arizona prison officials denied them access to the courts by enacting policies that unduly abridged their ability to file and litigate court actions. The district court ruled in …
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