Search | Prison Phone Justice

Texas Awards Prison Phone Contract

Article • February 15, 2009 • from PLN February, 2009

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, State Legislation

Texas Awards Prison Phone Contract by Matthew Clarke On August 14, 2008, the Texas Board of Criminal Justice (TBCJ) awarded a phone service contract to two companies, Kansas-based Embarq Corp. and Dallas-based Securus Technologies, Inc. Prior to this historic event, the Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) was the only …

More Damages, Costs & Attorney Fees Awarded in NH False Disciplinary Case

Article • February 15, 2009 • from PLN February, 2009

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Retaliatory Discipline, False Charges (Disciplinary Hearings), Clothing, Showers, Toilets, Water, Strip Cells, Bedding, Hygiene Supplies, PLRA, Attorney Fees (PLRA), Restraints, Damages, Settlements, Costs, Telephone Access, Mail Regulations

for a quick shower while wearing shackles. They were not allowed telephone calls, mail or non-attorney visits, and their food was half the normal portion. The conditions were especially onerous for Palacio ...

Nebraska Appeals Court: Failure to Exhaust Remedies Jurisdictional Defect

Article • December 15, 2008

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Civil Procedure, Administrative Exhaustion, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring

-Netix Telephone Company, which operated the prison "calling system." Mumin claimed, among other things, that the monitoring and recording of his "private telephone conversations involving discussions ...

Millions Paid in Mississippi Jail Deaths; Ten Guards Sentenced for Abuses; Corruption Continues

Article • September 15, 2008 • from PLN September, 2008

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Private Prisons, Correctional Services Corp., Jail Misconduct, Judicial Misconduct, Prison Labor, OB/GYN, Criminal Prosecution, Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding, Excessive Force, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Stun Guns/Tasers, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Restraints, Damages, Disclosure of Records, Telephone Access, Suicides, ACA

Millions Paid in Mississippi Jail Deaths; Ten Guards Sentenced for Abuses; Corruption Continues by Bob Williams “The house always wins,” Warden Don Cabana proclaimed to the Sun Herald, a Mississippi newspaper, in July 2007. However, Harrison County, home of the Harrison County Adult Detention Center (ADC), has agreed to pay …

Nevada Criminalizes Cell Phones in State Prisons

Article • June 15, 2008 • from PLN June, 2008

Filed under: Telephone Access, News, State Legislation

Nevada Criminalizes Cell Phones in State Prisons by On May 10, 2007, Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons signed into law AB-106, a bill making it a felony for prisoners to possess a cell phone in prison or for a person to furnish a prisoner with a cell phone. Anyone charged with …

Monitoring and Limiting Phone Calls by Kansas Prisoners Upheld

Article • May 15, 2008

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Attorney Calls, Telephone Monitoring

to contact such "privileged persons" on a case by case basis. These calls are subject to monitoring. Courts are divided over whether there is any First Amendment right to telephone access at all. The court ...

"Let Freedom Ring" -- Cellphones Abound In California Prisons

Article • February 15, 2008 • from PLN February, 2008

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

"Let Freedom Ring" -- Cellphones Abound In California Prisons by Over 1,000 cellphones and Blackberrys were confiscated in California's 33 prisons in the past year. While such contraband was at a trickle seven years ago, the technology has reduced the size of these items to permit a veritable flood today …

Yount v. T-Netix Inc, PA, Commission Order, Public Utility, 2008

Brief • January 5, 2008

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

involving the efforts of T-Netix to provide telephone service to prison inmates throughout Pennsylvania. On March 22, 2004, Jon E. Yount, AC-8297, filed a Complaint against T-Netix. Twenty-one other inmates 2 ...

Scottish Court Holds Prison Phone Call Imprinting Violates European Convention On Human Rights

Article • December 15, 2007 • from PLN December, 2007

Filed under: International, International Law, Telephone Access, Telephone Monitoring

Scottish Court Holds Prison Phone Call Imprinting Violates European Convention On Human Rights by Lord Glennie of the Court of Session in Edinburgh, Scotland ruled that the blanket policy of imprinting all prisoner originated phone calls with the warning, "This call originates from a Scottish prison" violated the European Convention …

Texas Last State in Union to Get Prison Phones

Article • November 15, 2007 • from PLN November, 2007

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Victims, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, State Legislation

prisoner telephones in state prisons. State Senator Letica Van de Putte filed SD 1580, authorizing the phones, which took effect Nay 15, 2007. State Representatives Terri Hodge (D-Dallas) and Pat Haggerty (R ...

GAO Audit: Alien Detention Facilities Suffer Continuing Deficiencies

Article • October 15, 2007 • from PLN October, 2007

Filed under: Government Misconduct, Overcrowding, Attorneys, Attorney Client, Stun Guns/Tasers, Dogs, Immigration, Telephone Access, Attorney Calls

. These included telephone access, medical care, holding room procedures, use of force, food service, recreation, access to legal materials and grievance procedures. The most persistent problem was inadequate ...

Government Segregates Muslim Prisoners Restricts Phone Calls and Visits

Article • July 15, 2007

Filed under: Political Prisoners, Religious Discrimination, Administrative Procedures Act (Federal), Interpreters, Telephones, Telephone Access, Attorney Calls, Telephone Monitoring, Mail Regulations, Federal Legislation

Management Unit (CMU), and is located in the medium security federal prison at Terre Haute, Indiana. Its occupants are almost entirely Muslims. Under the CMU program, telephone communications must ...

More Settlements and Verdicts in New Hampshire False Disciplinary Charge Case

Article • July 15, 2007 • from PLN July, 2007

Filed under: Witnesses (Disciplinary Hearings), Notice of Charges, False Charges (Disciplinary Hearings), Toilets, Hygiene Supplies, Reading Materials, Telephones, Telephone Access, Supervisory Liability

material of any kind, writing materials, access to their legal papers, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper, the ability to receive or send mail, use of a telephone, or visits. The water ...

Seventh Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Race/Exposure Claims

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Furloughs, Racial Discrimination, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Court Access, Telephone Access

for failure to state a claim, of Flournoy's race-based denial of telephone and visiting claims. The court found that dismissal was precipitous because officials may not deny prisoners privileges based on race ...

Ninth Circuit Upholds Prosecutor Denying Detainee Phone Access

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Telephone Access, Attorney Calls, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

telephone access based on a letter from the prosecutor to the U.S. Marshal, which requested such action because the plaintiff's superseding indictment named five new defendants who were not yet in custody ...

$163,900 Settlement in Illegal Shackling of Chicago Jail Prisoner

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Excessive Force, Restraints, Telephone Access

and $6,500, respectively under the settlement. The prisoners were handcuffed to beds at the Cook County Hospital, which prevented them from going to court, using the telephone, writing and reading ...

Telephone User Has Standing to Sue Over Poor Service

Article • May 15, 2007

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

Telephone User Has Standing to Sue Over Poor Service by A telephone user complaining of poor service had standing to sue the telephone service provider under 47 U.S.C. §§ 206 and 207 ...

Michigan Court Requires Total Administrative Exhaustion of All Claims

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion, Telephones, Telephone Access

of unauthorized conduct, but challenges a permanent telephone restriction that was imposed pursuant to prison policy, and sues the warden and regional prison administrator who approved the restriction. At 742 ...

N.Y. Detainee Rights Upheld Under Due Process

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Publications/Books, Mail Regulations

constituted deprivation of due process, which included limitations on telephone use, receiving and sending letters, non-contact visiting periods, the receipt and reading of magazines and newspapers, medical ...

Denial of Mail and Phone Privileges Unreasonable Disciplinary Measures

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Mail Regulations

Denial of Mail and Phone Privileges Unreasonable Disciplinary Measures by The U.S. District Court of Maine held that denial of detainee's access to mail and telephone privileges were ...