Publication Reviews by Voices Behind the Walls is a bi-monthly newsletter published by Pennsylvania prisoners. Each issue covers news and events in the PA prison system as well as commentaries on the criminal justice system. Subscriptions are $10 for prisoners and $20 for everyone else. Contact: VBTW, P.O. Box 474, …
Pennsylvania Ban on Writing by Mumia Abu-Jamal Enjoined by The court of appeals for the Third circuit held that a district court erred when it refused to grant a Preliminary Injunction (PI) to PLN columnist Mumia Abu-Jamal to enjoin a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) rule prohibiting him from writing. …
BOP Violent Offender Notification Policy Overinclusive by The court of appeals for the Third Circuit held that a conviction for simple possession of a weapon by a convicted felon is not a "crime of violence" within the scope of 18 U.S.C. section 4042(b), a law which requires federal prison officials …
Former 'Guinea Pigs' Protest by Fifty former Pennsylvania state prisoners protested outside the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania on a cold December morning in 1998 to draw attention to the pain and suffering they say resulted from medical experiments performed on them in Holmesburg prison "We are the experimentation …
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Draws the Line on Jailhouse Snitches by In a highly unusual ruling, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that "luck or happenstance" is the only allowable means for prosecutors to obtain incriminating information through the use of jailhouse snitches. In a 4-2 decision, the court overturned a murder …
Pennsylvania Consent Decrees Terminated Under PLRA by In two separate rulings, different federal district courts in Pennsylvania held the consent decree termination provisions of the PLRA to be constitutional and dissolved the decrees at issue. In the July, 1998, issue of PLN we reported Imprisoned Citizens Union v. Shapp, 977 …
PLRA Allows Fees on Fees in Failure to Protect Suit by The court of appeals for the Third circuit held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) allows lawyers to collect attorney fees in litigating attorney fee awards. The practice is sometimes referred to as "fees on fees." The court …
Fired SCI Greene Guards Regain Jobs by After months of negotiation with the union, the Pennsylvania DOC agreed to reinstate two guards who were fired from its Greene County prison. George Reposky and Mark Powell were fired and other guards were disciplined in May 1998 for using excessive force against …
Anatomy of a Whitewash by Mumia Abu-Jamal "Authority is never without hate" --Euripides In a decision that was as remarkable as it was predictable, the Greene County DA, David Pollock, announced his office would take no criminal action against prison guards who were viewed on videotape, "roughing up" men in …
Struggling Against the Death Machine by Dan Pens Imagine your entire life concentrated within one tiny cage. Twenty-four hours, by seven days, times three-hundred sixty-five. The state of Pennsylvania owns the cage. Everything you own, everything you do, is squeezed into that suffocating space. There is nothing else. The State …
Cases of Interest From the U.S. Supreme Court's 1997-98 Term by Forfeitures: In a federal criminal case the supreme court held that the Excessive Fines clause of the Eighth amendment prohibits "grossly disproportionate" forfeitures of funds. The court held that forfeitures are "fines'' if they are punishment for a crime. …
ADA Applies to State Prisons by A federal district court for Pennsylvania held that the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213, applies to state prisons. This is the second recently published opinion in this case. The first, Saunders v. Horn , 959 F.Supp. 689 (ED …
$13,501 Jury Award in Seg Case Affirmed; New Trial Denied by A federal district court in Pennsylvania denied defendants' motion for a new trial or to remit a jury's damage award of $13,501 to a wrongfully segregated prisoner. Jerry Wilson, a federal prisoner awaiting sentencing at a city jail, was …
Whitewash in Greene County by Mumia Abu-Jamal "There's an atmosphere created by (prison officials) in which this kind of thing has been going on for years. The attitude is, 'you're in Greene County now, boy.'" -- Randy Gauger, PA Prison Society, Eayette-Greene Chapter, ( PGH Post-Gazette , 4/26/98) Ahandcuffed man …
U.S. Supreme Court Rules That ADA Applies to Prisoners by Paul Wright By Paul Wright On June 15, 1998, a unanimous United States supreme court held that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12132, applies to prisoners. In doing so the court resolved a split between the …
Pennsylvania Consent Decree Clarified by Afederal district court in Pennsylvania held that a consent decree was applicable only to prisoners confined to six prisons named therein. The court further held that violations of the decree could be considered by the court in contempt proceedings. However, the court would only entertain …
PA County Medical Co-Payment Constitutional by The court of appeals for the third circuit held that a program charging prisoners a small ($3-$5) fee when they sought medical care, is not per se unconstitutional, nor as implemented, under the eighth amendment. The court further held that the program is not …
Denial of Counsel Reversed by The court of appeals for the third circuit held that a district court abused its discretion in refusing to appoint counsel to an indigent pro se prisoner litigant. Paul Parham, a Pennsylvania state prisoner, filed suit after receiving inadequate medical treatment for tinnitus (ringing in …
Prior Dismissals Count as Strikes by The court of appeals for the third and ninth circuits joined the fifth, seventh and tenth circuits in holding that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) applies to cases dismissed before the PLRA's April 26, 1996, enactment. Section 1915(g) prohibits prisoners from proceeding with in forma …
PA DOC Not 'Victim' for Restitution Purposes by A Pennsylvania court of appeals held that the DOC was not a "victim" for restitution purposes and that prison expenditures on health care for a murdered prisoner were not compensation reimbursable to the DOC under a restitution statute. Three Pennsylvania state prisoners …
