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Call Recipient's Rights Not Violated in Phone Taping

Article • February 15, 1997 • from PLN January, 1997

Filed under: Criminal Prosecution, Telephones, Telephone Monitoring

Call Recipient's Rights Not Violated in Phone Taping by The court of appeals for the second circuit held that the rights of the free person accepting a collect call from a prisoner are not violated when the calls are taped and monitored by law enforcement officials. It also held prisoners …

ADA Requires Phones for Deaf

Article • February 15, 1997 • from PLN February, 1997

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Damages, Standing, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, Eleventh Amendment Immunity

ADA Requires Phones for Deaf by A federal district court in Michigan held that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 12131 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, requires state prison officials to provide prisoners and the people they call with Telecommunications Device for the …

ADA Ruling for Deaf New York Prisoners

Article • December 15, 1996 • from PLN December, 1996

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Disabled Prisoners, Interpreters (Disciplinary Hearings), Civil Procedure, Injunctions, Declaratory Judgment, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Telephone Access

ADA Ruling for Deaf New York Prisoners by The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of NY ruled in favor of hearing impaired New York prisoners litigating a number of constitutional and statutory issues relating to the imprisonment of hearing impaired prisoners. The court held that the defendants, New …

No Right to Unmonitored Prison Calls

Article • November 15, 1996 • from PLN November, 1996

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Monitoring

No Right to Unmonitored Prison Calls by The court of appeals for the ninth circuit held that pretrial detainees and prisoners retain no statutory or constitutional right to privacy in their outgoing phone calls. From the outset readers should note this is a criminal case, not a civil rights action …

BOP Phone Suit Settled

Article • September 15, 1996 • from PLN September, 1996

Filed under: Settlements, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

BOP Phone Suit Settled by Paul Wright In the March and November, 1994 and March, 1995, issues of PLN we reported developments in Washington v. Reno, a class action suit filed by federal prisoners which challenged numerous aspects of a new phone system imposed by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). …

Florida Utilities Commission Refunds Phone Kickbacks

Article • September 15, 1996 • from PLN September, 1996

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Telephone Rates

Florida Utilities Commission Refunds Phone Kickbacks by The June, 1996, issue of PLN reported that the contract to provide phone services to Florida state prisoners was awarded without competitive bidding in circumstances strongly suggesting corruption. Since 1987 Florida prisoners have been allowed to make collect calls to friends and families, …

Phone Activist Seeks Info

Article • September 15, 1996 • from PLN September, 1996

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

Phone Activist Seeks Info by In late 1994 I asked you to publish a request for information regarding prisoners whose friends and families have had to pay for collect calls which the prisoners didn't make. I received several replies, and ended up maintaining correspondence with one prisoner. With his help …

Washington Legislation Passed

Article • July 15, 1996 • from PLN July, 1996

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Victims, Costs, Three Strikes, Telephones, Telephone Monitoring, Death Penalty, State Legislation

Washington Legislation Passed by The Washington legislature was in session for a mercifully short 60 day session between January and March, 1996. In that period several hundred anti-prisoner and anti-defendant bills were introduced, at a cost of $1,500 each. While several passed the legislature about half of those passed were …

Prisoner Accounts Add Up to Millions

Article • July 15, 1996 • from PLN July, 1996

Filed under: Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Telephones, Telephone Rates

Prisoner Accounts Add Up to Millions by The U.S. prison population has tripled in the last fifteen years and now stands at well over a million. But the number of bodies is not the only statistic that has grown. According to the Newhouse News Service, 1995 saw record sums of …

Massachusetts Phone Injunction Affirmed

Article • July 15, 1996 • from PLN July, 1996

Filed under: Settlements, Injunctions, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Telephones, Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring

Massachusetts Phone Injunction Affirmed by The court of appeals for the first circuit affirmed a district court's contempt finding against prison officials concerning the monitoring and taping of prisoners' phone calls. In 1979 William Langton and David LeBlanc filed suit against Massachusetts prison officials over the interception and monitoring of …

Phone Graft in Florida

Article • June 15, 1996 • from PLN June, 1996

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Telephone Rates

Phone Graft in Florida by Competing telephone companies submitted bids to provide "inmate phone services" to 35 Florida prisons. The contract was awarded to North American Intelecom (NAI) Inc. over rival MCI Telecommunications. MCI filed a protest based on the fact that they scored higher than NAI in the Department …

Nevada Utilities Commission Caps Prison Phone Rates

Article • June 15, 1996 • from PLN June, 1996

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

Nevada Utilities Commission Caps Prison Phone Rates by In the July, 1995, issue of PLN we reported that the Nevada Public Service Commission (PSC) was considering putting an end to the extortionate phone rates paid by people who accepted collect calls from Nevada state prisoners. On September 12, 1995, the …

Washington Court Access Suit Settled

Article • February 15, 1996 • from PLN February, 1996

Filed under: Transfers, Attorney Fee Awards, Prisoner Legal Assistance, Legal Materials, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Photocopies, Settlements, Telephones, Attorney Calls, Legal Mail

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 …

Detainee States Claim for Retaliation and Med Needs

Article • December 15, 1995 • from PLN December, 1995

Filed under: Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Pain, Skeletal Injury, Strip Cells, Bedding, Attorney Client, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints, Telephones, Telephone Access, Attorney Calls

Detainee States Claim for Retaliation and Med Needs by The court of appeals for the seventh circuit has held that pretrial detainees are entitled to adequate medical care and have a right to be free from retaliation for complaining of guard misconduct. Richard Murphy was a pretrial detainee in the …

Washington v. Reno, KY, Settlement Agreement, Telephone Services in Prison, 1995

Brief • August 1, 1995

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

Washington v. Reno, KY, Settlement Agreement, Telephone Services in Prison, 1995 Washington v. Reno United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Lexington Division November 9, 1999, Decided ; November 9, 1999, Filed CIVIL ACTION NO. 93-290 Reporter: 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22485 CONCHITA WASHINGTON, ET AL., PLAINTIFFS …

NV Phone Rate Scalping Examined

Article • July 15, 1995 • from PLN July, 1995

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

NV Phone Rate Scalping Examined by In response to complaints from prisoners, family members and prison activists, the Nevada Public Service Commission (PSC) began work in December on a plan to regulate phone systems at jails and prisons. PSC Commissioner, Galen Denio, said he has to review testimony and documents …

9th Circuit Affirms Court Access Case

Article • June 15, 1995 • from PLN June, 1995

Filed under: Law Library Access/Adequacy, Photocopies, Injunctions, Interpreters, Telephones, Attorney Calls

9th Circuit Affirms Court Access Case by In a wide ranging ruling, a unanimous panel of the ninth circuit court of appeals affirmed most of a lower court ruling designed to ensure Arizona prisoners' right of access to the courts. In the May 1994 issue of PLN we reported Casey …

6th Cir. Rules on BOP Phone Suit PI

Article • March 15, 1995 • from PLN March, 1995

Filed under: Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Class Certification, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring

6th Cir. Rules on BOP Phone Suit PI by The March and November, 1994, issues of PLN both contained extensive articles about Washington v. Reno, the nationwide class action suit that challenges numerous aspects of the Inmate Telephone System (ITS) in the process of being installed at federal Bureau of …

CT Phone Suit Filed

Article • February 15, 1995 • from PLN February, 1995

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Monitoring, Mail Regulations

CT Phone Suit Filed by The Connecticut Civil Liberties Union (CCLU) has filed suit against the Connecticut DOC over a phone monitoring system recently implemented by the DOC. Washington v. Meachum, Case No. CV-94-0534616S was certified as a state wide class action suit on May 3, 1994, in the state …

MA DOC Uses New Phone System

Article • November 15, 1994 • from PLN November, 1994

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring

MA DOC Uses New Phone System by Paul Wright By Paul Wright As part of the nationwide trend towards more restrictive and more expensive prison phone systems, the Massachusetts DOC signed a contract with NYNEX on January 27, 1994, for the provision of phone services to Massachusetts prisons. The new …