Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 1
[Editor's Note: The following article is the first of a three part series on prison slave labor. The other two articles will appear in the next two issues of PLN.]
The court of appeals for the second circuit held that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. § ...
In the August and November, 1995, issues of PLN we reported the passage of House Bill (HB) 2010 and the DOC's 1996-97 budget by the Washington state legislature. Among HB 2010's provisions were instructions for the DOC to study the use of electrical perimeter fences to replace guard towers. In ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 3
The Prisoner Rights Union of California has released its 72 page 1996-98 resource guide. While aimed at California prisoners (it lists the addresses of all prisons, legislators, courts, public defenders, etc., in the state) the guide contains numerous sections of interest to prisoners and activists on a national level. This ...
Welcome to PLN's eighth year of publication. We're proud that we have published longer than any other independent prisoner publication we know of. You should be proud, too. You're the ones who have made it possible. Recently we conducted an "Emergency Relief" direct mail fundraiser. Many of you responded promptly ...
For several years now, MOVE political prisoner Chuck Africa, has had to do battle with Pennsylvania prison officials to obtain the most fundamental of human rights -- the right to visit with his wife, May 13th, 1985 bombing survivor and ex-political prisoner, Ramona Africa.
Chuck, a veteran of the August ...
The late Malcom Forbes once said it was "more fun to arrive at a conclusion than to justify it." Brookings Institute senior fellow Dr. John J. DiIulio has certainly arrived at a conclusion, but his justifications range from questionable to outright hog wash. On closer examination, the reality of the ...
by Dan Pens
Welcome to PLN's eighth year of publication. We're proud that we have published longer than any other independent prisoner publication we know of. You should be proud, too. You're the ones who have made it possible. Recently we conducted an "Emergency Relief" direct mail fundraiser. Many of ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 6
Like a party clown twisting balloons into cute animal shapes, John J. DiIulio Jr. twists facts, myths, and statistics into fantastical logical conclusions.
DiIulio is professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University. He is also a media-darling of the lock-em-up, conservative right. Professor DiIulio insists that imprisonment is ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 6
According to a study in August 1995, by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley, putting more people in state prisons has had little effect on California's crime rate. In only two categories of criminal activity analyzed in the study -- robbery and larceny -- did the crime rate ...
[Editor's Note: Leonard Feldman is the Seattle attorney representing the plaintiff in the case discussed below.]
Sean Duffy, the plaintiff in Duffy v. Riveland, 1996 WL 583384 (9th Cir. October 11, 1996), is a prisoner at the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe, Washington. Sean also is hearing-impaired. Although Sean can ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 8
The court of appeals for the second circuit held that the provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) requiring payment of filing fees do not apply if the prisoner is released after filing suit. Clarence McGann, a New York state prisoner, sued over the denial of social security benefits ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 8
In five consolidated appeals the seventh circuit held that for purposes of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) neither habeas corpus petitions nor petitions for mandamus in criminal proceedings constitute "prisoner litigation" and thus do not require payment of filing fees by indigent litigants. The court also held that prisoners ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 8
A federal district court in New York upheld the constitutionality of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) and terminated a series of consent decrees in seven cases that governed conditions at Rikers Island and several other New York City jails. Readers should note that the judge in this case, Harold ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 9
The court of appeals for the seventh circuit affirmed a jury verdict awarding damages to two prisoners who were beaten by prison guards and then denied medical care for their injuries for nearly two days. The court held that guards who beat prisoners have a duty to secure medical care ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 9
In five consolidated appeals the court of appeals for the seventh circuit applied the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) to actions brought by federal prisoners. The court held that this ruling, together with Martin v. United States, 96 F.3d 853 (7th Cir. 1996) and Abdul Wadood v. Nathan, 91 F.3d ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 9
Much has happened in recent months and I thought you should hear firsthand that The Center for Advocacy of Human Rights (CAHR) is in the process of being dissolved. For one thing, Little Rock Reed and I have gone our separate ways. Although he has indicated to me that he ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 10
Beginning in July 1996, the Virginia Department of Corrections (DOC) began publishing what has so far proven to be a hot seller: lists of parolees' names, address, offenses, sex and race. The parolee lists costs $5 per zip code. Bargain hunters, however, can purchase a parolee list covering the entire ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 11
The court of appeals for the sixth circuit held that guards employed by private, for profit prisons are not entitled to qualified immunity from suit. This is the first circuit court ruling to squarely address whether private prisons are entitled to qualified immunity. Until now only district courts had ruled ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 12
Review by Jon Marc Taylor
A recent discussion paper published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics reports the results of the National Center for State Courts analysis into the processing of federal habeas corpus petitions. The study encompassed 18 Federal district courts located in 9 selected states (Alabama, California, Indiana, ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 12
This is a 311 page book by federal District of Columbia district court judge Charles Richey. The book is aimed primarily at federal court judges who must deal with pro se prisoner litigation. It also gives an excellent explanation of procedural and constitutional issues to prisoners who file suit in ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 12
Punch and Jurists is a six page weekly newsletter which reports federal criminal rulings of significance. Aimed at defense attorneys and criminal practitioners, Punch and Jurists puts the latest court rulings into the overall context of ever diminishing rights for defendants. Well written and comprehensive, this newsletter is an excellent ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 13
In the July, 1996 and August, 1994, issues of PLN we reported Malik v. Brown, 71 F.3d 724 (9th Cir. 1995) and 16 F.3d 330 (9th Cir. 1994), in which Washington state prisoner, and PLN supporter, Dawud Malik was punished by prison officials for using his legally changed religious name. ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 13
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 consent to the taping of their calls if they ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 14
The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that a county was properly liable where it did not reimburse a jail detainee for work he performed on public property. The court also held that a pretrial detainee's work as a trusty does not violate the thirteenth amendment when such ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 15
CA: In the August, 1996, issue of PLN we reported the March 29, 1996, rebellion by immigrant detainees at the navy brig at the Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego. The government stated that the rebellion, sixteen days after the jail opened, will cost at least $4 million and ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 30
The Washington state court of appeals for Division II held that a county trial court erred when it did not consider a prisoner's motion to be allowed to attend a paternity hearing. Argie Dorsey was incarcerated when he was served with a paternity suit by the state seeking back child ...
Loaded on
Feb. 15, 1997
published in Prison Legal News
January, 1997, page 30
A federal district court in New York held that a state law allowing public notification of sex offenders released from prison violates the ex post facto rights of those offenders convicted before the law was passed. Since 1990 at least 46 states, starting with Washington, have passed laws requiring sex ...
