Longtime readers of PLN will have followed our reports as PLN was censored at various prisons across the country. The role of prison, legal and political publications in prison is very important as it enables prisoners to learn, study and be in a better position to vindicate their civil and ...

Houston, Texas- Five Harris County, Texas, deputies were fired June 9 upon being indicted on felony charges for abusing inmates at the county's boot camp for first time offenders.

Those charged are Darryl Coleman, Benny Galindez, Alfonso Giraldo, W.E. Jones and Joe Saenz. They acted as camp drill instructors and ...

By Adrian Lomax

In the late 1980's, administrators at Waupun, Wisconsin's largest prison, devised a grand scheme to increase the difficulties facing any prisoner attempting to vindicate his rights in court. In May, 1988, the keep disbanded the Paralegal Base Committee (PBC), an organization made up of inmate paralegals who ...

The Washington state DOC has been given an additional $15 million in emergency funding to ease overcrowding in state prisons.

Even after the money is spent to open new prisons and add beds in existing prisons, the system is likely to be operating well beyond its intended capacity, said DOC ...

Travis Blanks, a Wisconsin state prisoner, filed suit under 1983 claiming his 8th amendment rights had been violated by prison officials searching his cell nearly everyday for a 2 week period.

The District Court granted Blanks leave to proceed In Forma Pauperis . The court notes that there may well ...

George Goff is an Iowa prisoner who was infracted for verbally abusing a guard. He was found guilty at a disciplinary hearing and filed suit under § 1983 claiming violation of his rights to free speech and due process.

The district court held that prisoners do not have a First ...

Guard Liable For Not Stopping Beating by Other Guards

Donnie Jones is a New York state prisoner who was beaten by prison guards after refusing to follow orders to go to a transit dorm. Jones was taken to the dorm in a headlock and arm hold and beaten some more ...

Michael Cornwell is an Ohio state prisoner. In February, 1987, while in prison in Mansfield, he participated in a sit down strike with 76 other prisoners protesting a cutback in recreation time. Dahlberg, the prison warden, ordered guards to use force to terminate the peaceful strike. After firing warning shots ...

From the Editor

By Paul Wright

Welcome to another issue of PLN. We are enclosing a PLN subscription form with this issue. If you are receiving PLN and have not yet donated, please take this opportunity to do so. Otherwise, you might miss some issues. We would also appreciate it ...

Lawrence Hill is an Ohio state prisoner. While in the Cincinnati jail Hill tested positive for tuberculosis and was prescribed medication to prevent it from becoming active and to eradicate it. The medication had to be taken continuously for one year otherwise the bacteria may develop an immunity to the ...

Clark Boardman has published Prisoner Collateral Attacks , a guide to bringing or defending against inmates lawsuits challenging their confinement. Topics include: prisoner challenges to state and federal convictions; the exhaustion of state remedies requirement; appealing a district court decision, procedural default; showing cause and prejudice; the miscarriage of justice ...

The Creations Connection is an offender/ex-offender reference directory listing hundreds of groups, organizations and publications in all 50 states that deal with and are concerned with prisoner rights. It also includes useful addresses such as those of the federal courts, governors, federal and state agencies with prisoner assistance programs, etc. ...

Killer Cops Whine About "Cop Killer"

Rap Singer Ice-T has recently been in the news because one his latest albums, "Body Count" has a song on it called "Cop Killer". Nationally the swine have mounted a campaign to get the record's producer and distributor, media conglomerate Time-Warner, to pull the ...

By John Perotti

MANSFIELD, OHIO - On June 27, 1992, a black guard named Davis was beaten and stabbed. A white prisoner named Roy Slieber was picked up for the assault, beaten and shipped to the J1 SuperMax control unit in Lucasville, Ohio, within hours.

On June 28, 1992, Davis ...

By Carolyn Dock

Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas- On May 11, 1992, the military prisoners at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks (USDB) at Ft. Leavenworth [Editors Note: the USDB is a separate prison from the federal prison also located in Leavenworth.] revolted in protest against the conditions at the prison. A result of ...

The state of Arizona adopted a new inmate personal property policy that made contraband many items that prisoners were previously allowed to possess, including the amount of personal clothing a prisoner could own. Inmates affected by the new policy filed a complaint seeking injunctive and declaratory relief to prevent implementation ...

Astate prison inmate sued a prison guard for $3.55 in actual damages, an injunction, and a declaratory judgement. His claim was that the guard took his coffee bag and two packs of cigarettes. Six days after the suit was filed, the trial court found the suit to be frivolous and ...

By Adrian Lomax

In an encouraging decision, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that prisoners employed by the industry program in Arizona state prisons must be paid minimum wage.

Arizona prisoners are required by statute to "engage in hard labor for not less than forty hours per ...

PLN recently reported that Creations , a prisoner rights group in North Carolina, had filed suit concerning the practice of U.S. Sprint operators of announcing the fact that a call was originating in a prison and the limitations on phone services available to prisoners. We have recently received an update ...

The Illinois prison system is rapidly becoming one of the nations most severely overcrowded, and the states prisons are becoming increasingly dangerous places for both inmates and staff, according to a task force established by Gov. Jim Edgar. The crowding could reach a crisis level as early as next April, ...

Tom Manning Moved To Marion

Just a note to inform you of my recent change of address. While in my 4th year of being held in the control unit at Trenton, N.J., state prison. I applied for a contact visit with my children, who were to be brought down from ...

National Association of Legal Assistances (sic) Certified Paralegal. Graduate of Southern Career Institute, seeks other S.C.I. graduates, and incarcerated paralegals, and everyone interested in prisoners' rights, prison reform, and civil rights to join me in establishing a monthly newsletter, and a network of paralegals for the exchanging of legal knowledge, ...