Source: https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/issue/9/9/
Timestamp: 2019-09-21 23:29:38
Document Index: 703055026

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1997', '§ 3626', '§ 1915', '§ 1983', '§ 1997', '§ 1997', '§ 12101', '§ 701', '§ 12131', '§ 794', '§ 12132', '§ 794', '§ 12131', '§ 794', '§ 12101', '§ 800', '§ 28', '§ 1000', '§ 1915']

September, 1998 Issue | Prison Legal News
Prison Legal News: September, 1998
U.S. Supreme Court Rules That ADA Applies to Prisoners (p 1)
U.S. Supreme Court Reverses Reed (p 2)
Zero Tolerance Drug Policy in New Jersey (p 3)
Cases of Interest From the U.S. Supreme Court's 1997-98 Term (p 3)
Allan Ellis' Federal Prison Guidebook (p 4)
The Razor Wire (p 5)
Briefs of Leading Cases in Corrections (p 5)
Cigarette Health Hazards (p 5)
Connecticut Prisoner Rights (p 5)
An End to Silence (p 5)
Criminal Law (p 5)
Pro Se Tips and Tactics (p 6)
Critical Resistance Conference (p 7)
Struggling Against the Death Machine (p 8)
Whitewash in Greene County (p 9)
Fee Payment Orders Not Immediately Appealable (p 10)
Administrative Exhaustion (p 10)
CA Death Row Decree Ended (p 10)
Three Strikes Doesn't Apply to Pending Cases (p 11)
Sixth Circuit Requires Administrative Exhaustion (p 11)
Court Refunds PLRA Deferred Fee Overpayment (p 11)
Administrative Exhaustion Still Required (p 11)
ADA/RA Apply to FL Prison Gain Time Issues; Suit Settled (p 12)
ADA Roundup (p 12)
ADA and RA Suits Not Barred by 11th Amendment (p 12)
ADA Applied to AR Jail (p 13)
CA ADA/RA Injunction Affirmed (p 13)
ADA Applies to State Prisons (p 14)
Illinois Suing Prisoners for Cost of Incarceration (p 15)
California Guard Gets Prison in Child Molester Attacks (p 15)
Tennessee Prison Privatization Bill Fails to Pass (p 16)
MI Prison "Fee" Law Preempted by ERISA (p 17)
Bivens Action is Not Time Barred When in Compliance With Rule 3 (p 18)
Kansas Prisoners Entitled to Notice of Prison Rules (p 19)
Two Year Limitations on Illinois § 1983 Suits (p 19)
Dismissal for Incompetent Appointed Lawyer Reversed (p 20)
$13,501 Jury Award in Seg Case Affirmed; New Trial Denied (p 20)
Publications Lawsuit Settled in Alabama (p 21)
Strip Searched Massachusetts Women Settle Suit for $80,000 (p 21)
AEDPA Successive Petitions Clause Not Applicable to Disiplinary Hearings (p 22)
Washington Felon Voting Suit Proceeds (p 22)
No Immunity for Abestos Exposure; Toxic Water Claim Remanded (p 23)
Legislative Immunity For Local Jail Budget Votes (p 25)
$1,000 Awarded in Denial of Dental Care in TX (p 25)
In 1990 congress enacted ...
Loaded on Sept. 15, 1998 published in Prison Legal News September, 1998, page 2
Filed under: Political Prisoners, Retaliation for Media Contact, Sentencing, Parole, Habeas Corpus, Detainers. Location: New Mexico.
In the July, 1998, issue of PLN we reported Reed v. State Ex Rel Ortiz , 947 P.2d 86 (NM 1997) where the New Mexico state supreme court affirmed a lower court ruling that granted asylum to former prison activist Timothy "Little Rock" Reed. Reed was an Ohio parolee who ...
New Jersey Corrections authorities began a "zero tolerance" policy in May, 1998. Under the new policy, prison staff are cracking down on prisoners who use drugs or alcohol by taking contact visits as punishment according to an article published by the Associated Press. In the first week of June, three ...
Filed under: Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Damages, Settlements, Parole, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, Forfeiture, Immunity/Liability, Prosecutorial Immunity. Locations: California, Pennsylvania, Washington.
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. The underlying case involved a defendant convicted of taking $357,144 ...
Allan Ellis' Federal Prison Guidebook is a 312 page book that gives a detailed rundown of federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities. Alan Ellis is a California attorney who specializes in the pre-sentence and post conviction representation of federal prisoners. He is nationally recognized as an expert in this area ...
PLN 's book, The Celling of America , (TCOA) continues to do well. The first print run of 3,000 copies was sold out by June, less than three months after its official release date of March 1, 1998. All publications that have reviewed TCOA so far have liked it. This ...
Filed under: Reviews, Organizing. Location: United States of America.
The Razor Wire is a 24 page bi-monthly tabloid published by the November Coalition. Its focus is on federal drug policy issues, specifically mandatory minimums and sentencing issues. A grassroots movement, the November Coalition encompasses prisoners, their families, as well as academics and other critics of the drug war. Subscriptions ...
Briefs of Leading Cases in Corrections is a 268 page book by Rolando Del Carmen, Susan Ritter and Betsy Witt, which gives a summary and synopsis of 113 United States supreme court cases dealing with prisons, jails, probation, parole, the death penalty, sentencing and juvenile justice. The book is well ...
Cigarette Health Hazards
Filed under: Reviews, Medical, Cardiovascular, Smoking. Location: United States of America.
Cigarette Health Hazards: The January 14, 1998, Volume 279, No. 2, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) contains an article on the risks of cigarette smoke in increasing the risk of heart disease. Title "Cigarette Smoking and Progression of Athero Sclerosis," by eight doctors, the article ...
Connecticut Prisoner Rights is a brand new 232 page book produced by the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union and the Jerome Frank Legal Services Organization of Yale Law School. A group effort by Peter Stern and numerous other law students and attorneys, the end result is a concise, well organized book ...
Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Sexual Harassment, Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Gender Discrimination -- Women, Resources. Location: United States of America.
An End to Silence: Women Prisoners' Handbook on Identifying and Addressing Sexual Misconduct is a 67 page booklet published by the National Women's Law Center. The booklet is designed for women prisoners, their advocates, prison officials and attorneys. It contains chapters on recognizing misconduct; the physical and emotional effects ...
Criminal Law is an 809 page book designed for criminal justice personnel, judges, prosecutors, police, etc. The book is extremely useful for anyone seeking a basic understanding of substantive criminal law. It does not deal with criminal procedure. With extensive state and federal case citations the book is not intended ...
Loaded on Sept. 15, 1998 by John Midgley published in Prison Legal News September, 1998, page 6
Filed under: Immunity/Liability, Qualified Immunity. Location: United States of America.
Arecent Supreme Court decision, Crawford-EI v. Britton , 118 S.Ct. 1584 (1998), highlights some issues of importance for prisoners doing pro se cases. Crawford-El , which was summarized in detail in the July 1998 PLN , holds that a federal court cannot make a ...
Critical Resistance: Beyond the Prison-Industrial Complex is a national conference and strategy session that will occur at the University of California in Berkeley, September 25-27. There is still time for outside activists to register to attend the conference. If you are among the 1.8 million who live behind walls ...
Whitewash in Greene County
Loaded on Sept. 15, 1998 by Mumia Abu-Jamal published in Prison Legal News September, 1998, page 9
Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Racial Discrimination, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings. Location: Pennsylvania.
"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 is bludgeoned, and a nightstick is ...
Fee Payment Orders Not Immediately Appealable: The court of appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that district court orders requiring partial payment of filing fees under the PLRA cannot be appealed prior to the entry of final judgment. Kirk Thompson, a Texas state prisoner, was ordered to pay a $1 ...
Filed under: Retaliation, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA). Location: California.
Administrative Exhaustion: A federal district court in California held that prisoners filing suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 must first exhaust administrative remedies under 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). A California prisoner sued for money damages and declaratory relief after he was removed from a prisoner advisory council ...
Filed under: Consent Decrees (PLRA), Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Row. Location: California.
CA Death Row Decree Ended: A federal district court in California upheld the constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. § 3626 and terminated a consent decree that governed numerous conditions of confinement for death row prisoners at San Quentin. Shortly after the PLRA's enactment in 1996 the California Department of ...
Filed under: PLRA, Filing Fees (PLRA), Frivolous Litigation (PLRA). Location: Colorado.
Three Strikes Doesn't Apply to Pending Cases: The court of appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), which prohibits In Forma Pauperis (IFP) status for prisoners that have had three prior suits dismissed as frivolous, does not apply to cases filed before the ...
Filed under: PLRA, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA). Location: Michigan.
The court of appeals for the sixth circuit ruled that all prisoners filing § 1983 actions involving prison or jail conditions must allege, and prove, they have exhausted administrative remedies and a failure to do so will result in the dismissal, without prejudice, of the lawsuit.
42 U.S.C. § 1997e ...
Filed under: PLRA, Filing Fees (PLRA), Contempt (Civil Procedure), Seizure of Prisoner Funds. Location: Illinois.
A federal court in Illinois has held that neither prison officials nor the courts have the statutory authority to take more than 20% of a prisoner's monthly income to satisfy deferred filing fees under the PLRA. James Higgason, an Illinois prisoner, filed suit and paid a $20.00 partial ...
Administrative Exhaustion Still Required: A federal district court in New York dismissed a prisoner's suit due to the plaintiff's failure to exhaust administrative remedies under § 1997e(a). Anthony Soto, a New York state prisoner, filed suit claiming prison officials failed to protect him from attack by another prisoner ...
Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Work, Inability to Work, Settlements, Good Time, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act. Location: Florida.
A federal district court in Florida held that the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C § 12101 et seq., and Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (RA), 29 U.S.C. § 701 et seq., apply to prisons ...
Filed under: Discrimination, Disabled Prisoners, Americans with Disabilities Act. Location: Maryland.
After the U.S. Supreme Court granted review in Yeskey v. Pennsylvania DOC to decide whether the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applied to state prisoners we stopped running articles on the ADA until the supreme court resolved this important question. Below are cases that were decided before Yeskey and ...
The court of appeals for the ninth circuit held that the eleventh amendment does not bar suits under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12131, or the Rehabilitation Act (RA), 29 U.S.C. § 794. Developmentally disabled prisoners in California filed a class action lawsuit under ...
Loaded on Sept. 15, 1998 published in Prison Legal News September, 1998, page 13
Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Skeletal Injury, Conditions of Confinement, Jail Specific, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act. Location: Arkansas.
In the first ruling out of the eighth circuit on this issue, a federal district court in Arkansas held that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12132 and the Rehabilitation Act (RA), 29 U.S.C. § 794, apply to state correctional facilities. John Herndon was a ...
Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Disabled Prisoners, Work, Inability to Work, Education, Injunctions, Appeals, Good Time, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Eleventh Amendment Immunity. Location: California.
In the September, 1997, issue of PLN we reported Armstrong v. Wilson , 942 F. Supp. 1252 (ND CA 1996) where a federal district court held that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12131-34 and the Rehabilitation Act (RA), 29 U.S.C. § 794, applied to state ...
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 PA 1996), was a magistrate ...
Loaded on Sept. 15, 1998 published in Prison Legal News September, 1998, page 15
Filed under: Money/Property, Seizure of Prisoner Funds. Location: Illinois.
Illinois prisoner Kenneth Williams has spent much of the last 12 years working in the Stateville Correctional Center tailor shop sewing prison pants, coats, jumpsuits and shirts. As a result of the job, Williams has saved about $5,000. Money he says he'll need to start a new life ...
Jose Ramon Garcia, 42, was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for soliciting Pelican Bay prisoners to assault alleged child molesters. The former prison guard's April sentencing in Del Norte County Superior Court came amid widening state and federal investigations into civil rights ...
Adramatic confrontation between the private corrections industry and opponents of prison privatization played out in Tennessee earlier this year, ending in an embarrassing defeat for the prison profiteers. Similar struggles can be expected in other states as privatization continues to expand across the nation's corrections systems -- and the Tennessee ...
Loaded on Sept. 15, 1998 published in Prison Legal News September, 1998, page 17
Filed under: Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Federal Statutory Law, ERISA. Location: Michigan.
Afederal district court in Michigan held that the State Correctional Facility Reimbursement Act (SCFRA), Mich.Comp.Laws.Ann. § 800.401 and Mich.Stat.Ann. § 28.1701, is preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1000, which prevents the state from seizing pension funds to ...
Loaded on Sept. 15, 1998 published in Prison Legal News September, 1998, page 18
Filed under: Civil Procedure, Complaints, Limitations, Service, Federal Tort Claims Act, Medical Neglect/Malpractice. Location: Texas.
Afederal court of appeals reversed a district court's dismissal of a wrongful death complaint filed by the mother of a federal prisoner, Shelia Moore.
Moore was put in an administrative segregation cell on suspicion of taking an unknown substance. Hours later she began screaming. The guard on duty called ...
Loaded on Sept. 15, 1998 published in Prison Legal News September, 1998, page 19
Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Liberty Interests, Notice of Rules, Legality of Rules. Location: Kansas.
The Kansas state court of appeals held that Kansas prisoners have a due process liberty interest in their good time credits and are entitled to notice of prison rules before they can be punished for violating them. Xuan Hiep Le is a Kansas state prisoner. While in segregation he was ...
Filed under: Retaliation, Retaliatory Transfers, Filing Fees (PLRA), Frivolous Litigation (PLRA), Limitations. Location: Illinois.
The court of appeals for the seventh circuit held that a district court erred in dismissing a prisoner's lawsuit because it had miscalculated the statute of limitations. The court also held that 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), the "Three Strikes" provision of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA ...
Filed under: Appointment of Counsel, Attorney Client, Attorney Misconduct, Civil Procedure, Appeals, Sanctions. Location: Illinois.
The court of appeals for the seventh circuit held that district courts should not dismiss cases for want of prosecution where court appointed counsel is plainly incompetent. Lawrence Dunphy, an Illinois state prisoner filed suit claiming prison officials violated his eighth amendment rights by disobeying a medical order to give ...
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 attacked by his cellmate Paul Murphy after guards searched ...
In March, 1997, DCF warden Steve Dees implemented a policy that banned all periodicals not included ...
Loaded on Sept. 15, 1998 published in Prison Legal News September, 1998, page 21
Filed under: Gender Discrimination -- Women, Searches, Cell Searches, Strip Searches, Prison/Common Area Searches, Drug Testing, Damages, Settlements, Prisoner Property. Location: Massachusetts.
On December 12, 1997, the Massachusetts DOC settled a lawsuit filed by women prisoners for a total of $80,000 plus attorney fees. The class action suit was filed in Suffolk county superior court on behalf of 112 female prisoners by Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services. In the middle of the ...
The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that habeas corpus petitions challenging prison disciplinary hearings that became final after prior habeas petitions challenging a criminal conviction have become final, are not successive for purposes of the Anti-Terrorism and Effective ...
In the October, 1997, issue of PLN we reported Farrakhan v. Locke , a lawsuit challenging the felon disenfranchisement provisions of the Washington state constitution which prohibit convicted felons from voting. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), arguing the suit failed to ...
Loaded on Sept. 15, 1998 published in Prison Legal News September, 1998, page 23
Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Toxic Fumes/Chemicals, Eighth Amendment, Water, Asbestos, Summary Judgment, Discovery, Qualified Immunity. Location: New York.
The court of appeals for the second circuit held that prison officials are not entitled to qualified immunity for exposing a prisoner to airborne asbestos. The court also held that a prisoner plaintiff was entitled to present evidence that a prison's water supply was contaminated with toxic chemicals and ...
Loaded on Sept. 15, 1998 published in Prison Legal News September, 1998, page 24
AZ : In July, 1998, a jury acquitted Bruce Howell, a Perryville prisoner, of murder and all charges but one related to the killing of prison guard Brent Lumley. Howell faces a second trial on a single charge of deadly assault by a prisoner.
AZ : On June 29, 1998, an unidentified ...
Loaded on Sept. 15, 1998 published in Prison Legal News September, 1998, page 25
Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Jail Specific, Municipal Liability, Legislative Immunity. Location: Michigan.
The Eleventh Circuit has held that county commissioners are entitled to absolute legislative immunity for failing to adequately fund a jail, thereby causing inadequate jail conditions
Current and former Alabama jail prisoner plaintiffs sued alleging overcrowding, inadequate medical care and medical facilities, inadequate supervision, and other unconstitutional conditions in the ...
Filed under: Dental Care, Civil Procedure, Damages. Location: Texas.
On July 14, 1997, federal magistrate Judith Guthrie held that Texas prison dentists were deliberately indifferent in refusing to provide dental care to a prisoner. Following a bench trial magistrate Guthrie awarded the plaintiff $1,000 in damages. Garmon Coats, a Texas state prisoner, sought to have a broken filling ...