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Article • July 15, 2012
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Reverses Colorado District Court on Mail Issue; Jail Publication Ban Unconstitutional by The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a prisoner made sufficient allegations to state a claim for infringement on a prisoner’s right to receive newspapers and magazines. Appellant Russell Berger, a …
Article • October 15, 2009
Florida DOC’s Pen Pal Advertisement Prohibition Challenged by The operators of two pen pal advertising services have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Florida Department of Corrections’ rule that prohibits prisoners from receiving information from or posting ads with pen pal advertisement services. The lawsuit was filed by the Florida …
Article • May 15, 2008
Challenge to Catalog Ban Mooted by Grievance Relief; Mail Watch Okay by The plaintiff was found with letters detailing an escape plan and convicted of disciplinary charges. Prison officials instituted a mail watch. This action was fully justified by security concerns. Failure to follow defendants' internal directive did not violate …
Mail Restrictions Examined Under Turner Standard by The U.S. Supreme Court held that prison regulations allowing the rejection of certain subscription publications must be examined under the standards set forth in Turner v. Safely. This decision further reaffirms the procedural due process protections of Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, …
Due Process Required in Mail Censorship by The court of appeals for the Ninth circuit upheld the dismissal under FRCP 12(b)(6) of a California prisoner's lawsuit concerning the censorship of law rook catalogs the prisoner attempted to send his mother. The appeals court reversed the dismissal of the due process …
Article • May 15, 2007
$600.00 Settlement In WA Mail Censorship Suit by In 1994 Steven Volstad, a prisoner at the Washington State Penitentiary (WSP), filed a law suit against N.Frost and P.Potts both mailroom employees at WSP and Tana Wood, the superintendent of WSP for violating his First and Fourteenth Amendment Rights. In 1993 …
Article • May 15, 2007
Commercial Speech Protection Extends to Sender & Recipient by The United States Supreme Court held in a Virginia case that First Amendment protections related to commercial speech are enjoyed by both the advertisers who seek to disseminate information and the intended recipients of that information, stating: If there is a …
Article • July 15, 2006 • from PLN July, 2006
Settlement Permits Free and Gift Publications to Connecticut Prisoners by Prisoners in the Connecticut Department of Corrections (CDOC) can now receive free and gift publications that were previously banned under Administrative Directive 10.7, according to the terms of a March 18, 2004, settlement agreement. A.D. 10.7 prohibited prisoners from receiving …
PLN in Court by by Paul Wright Since PLN started in 1990 we have been censored in prisons and jails around the country. We have always attempted to resolve censorship issues administratively, but in cases where the goal was to keep PLN out of prison at any cost, that obviously …
PLN Settles Oregon Censorship Suit for $55,414.31 by On January 29, 2003, the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) agreed to settle a censorship lawsuit filed by Prison Legal News by paying $39,914.31 in fees and costs and $15,500 in damages and changing its policies concerning the processing and censorship of …
Article • September 15, 1998 • from PLN September, 1998
Publications Lawsuit Settled in Alabama by Cayce Moore On February 28, 1998, U.S. district judge U.W. Clemon approved the final settlement in a lawsuit challenging a year of blanket censorship at Donaldson Correctional Facility (DCF), Alabama's highest security prison. In March, 1997, DCF warden Steve Dees implemented a policy that …
Article • March 15, 1998 • from PLN March, 1998
WSP Mail Rules Upheld by Joseph Allen filed suit challenging various aspects of the mail policy at the Washington State Penitentiary. After filing suit Allen did no discovery and when the defendants moved for summary judgment he did not bother responding. Not surprisingly, the court ruled against Allen. Surprisingly, the …
Article • August 15, 1991 • from PLN August, 1991
Mail Rejection Not Upheld by A Michigan prisoner sent another Michigan prisoner an educational brochure on how to study to be a paralegal. Michigan DOC officials rejected the brochure claiming prison rules prohibited "contractual agreements." The district court ruled the brochure was entitled to First Amendment protection and found no …
Prisoner Wins Ban on Military Catalog by A prisoner filed a civil rights complaint alleging that his constitutional guarantees were violated by prison officials refusing to allow him to receive a military surplus catalog. The jury found in favor of the plaintiff on the catalog issue, awarding him $1 in …