Search | Prison Phone Justice

Protective Custody Conditions Suit Remanded

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Food, Exercise, Attorney Calls, Religious Freedom, Denial of Religious Services

Protective Custody Conditions Suit Remanded by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit held that a lower court erred when it dismissed as frivolous a lawsuit that Missouri prisoners in Protective Custody (PC) were deprived of religious services, only received 45 minutes of exercise a week, were denied adequate …

Jail Detainee Has Right of Court Access

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Court Access, Legal Materials, Telephone Access, Attorney Calls

Jail Detainee Has Right of Court Access by The court of appeals for the Ninth circuit held that a California jail detainee's court access rights were violated when the jail interfered with court ordered local and long distance phone calls, legal materials, subpoena runner and obtaining legal materials and an …

Jail Vermin States Claim

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Exercise, Showers, Vermin, PLRA, Physical Injury Rule, Telephone Access

Jail Vermin States Claim by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit, sitting en Banc, held that a Missouri jail prisoner had stated a constitutional claim because he was held in a six foot by six foot cell for 72 hours at a time and allowed only one fifteen …

Ad-Seg Phone Limit Upheld

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access

Ad-Seg Phone Limit Upheld by The court of appeals for the Eighth circuit upheld a Nebraska prison's administrative segregation policy that permitted ad seg prisoners to call only three on a list, and the list was limited to two family members and one female friend. In doing so, the appeals …

Collect Call Phone System Doesn't Violate Right to Court Access

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorney Client, Court Access, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, Attorney Calls, Telephone Monitoring

Collect Call Phone System Doesn't Violate Right to Court Access by A federal district court in Tennessee held that no constitutional violation occurred when a Tennessee prison replaced its coin operated phones with a coinless, collect call only phone system. Lawsuit was brought in context of access to counsel and …

FBI Can Use Prisoners' Phone Calls for Any Lawful Purpose

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Monitoring

handbook and twice during orientation that all calls other than attorney calls are monitored. Further, Hammond signed a consent form agreeing to monitoring. It found that Hammond's consent was an exception ...

$4,000 Award to IN Jail Prisoner Placed on Suicide Watch

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: HIV/AIDS, Strip Cells, Bedding, Hygiene Supplies, Court Access, Writing Implements, Damages, New Trial Motions, Telephone Access, Postage, Suicides

of the jail's policy; also named in the suit were two deputy jail guards who he alleged violated his constitutional rights by denying him water, hygiene items, visitation privileges, telephone access, writing ...

Prisoner Prevailing Party, Awarded Attorney Fees

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Telephone Access, Mail, Legal Mail, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness)

with regulations regarding "process and delivery of plaintiff's mail and telephone access." In addition, prisoner's refusal to volunteer to be double bunked could not affect his privilege status. However ...

Los Angeles County Jail Conditions Unconstitutional

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Totality of Conditions, Ventilation, Exercise, Jail Specific, Lighting, Court Access, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Court Appearances, Telephone Access

Los Angeles County Jail Conditions Unconstitutional by A California federal district court held the conditions at the Los Angeles County Jail were unconstitutional. This class action suit resulted in a non-jury trial that alleged violations of the pre-trial detainees' constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. The court found the detainees …

Prisoner Telephone Calls In County Jail Can Be Recorded

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Monitoring

Prisoner Telephone Calls In County Jail Can Be Recorded by Federal prisoner Gary Friedman filed a motion to suppress tape recordings of certain telephone conversations that he made to his ...

Louisiana Sheriff Sues Parish For Revenue Generated From Jail Operation

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Standing, Mootness, Telephone Rates

to revenues generated at the Parish jail for commissary, telephones, vending machines, and medical expenses for federal prisoners. The trial court held that the Parish was not entitled to these revenues ...

No Absolute Immunity for Illegal Wiretap; Qualified Immunity Standard Issued

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Telephones, Telephone Monitoring, Qualified Immunity

that officer with absolute immunity from suit. In 1970, Attorney General John Mitchell authorized a warrantless wiretap of William Davidson's telephone for the purpose of gathering intelligence regarding ...

NY Ban on Internet Materials Upheld

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Podiatry, Clothing, Telephones, Attorney Calls, Mail Regulations, Internet

NY Ban on Internet Materials Upheld by A serious medical need is "a condition of urgency that may result in degeneration or extreme pain." (559) (No it isn't, necessarily.) The plaintiff alleged an eight-month delay in diagnosis of his "bowel disorder" (mild distal proctitis and internal hemorrhoids) from the time …

Jail Segregation Ban on Collect Calls Upheld

Article • May 15, 2007

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

Jail Segregation Ban on Collect Calls Upheld by One of the plaintiff's claims was exhausted. At 291-92: He doesn't have "proof-positive," but he does have "some proof that his efforts to file grievances . . . were not facilitated by the Jail as required by the policy." Exhaustion is an …

BOP Prison Phone Suit Wrongly Dismissed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Retaliation, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Venue, Telephone Access

BOP Prison Phone Suit Wrongly Dismissed by New federal prison telephone policies limiting prisoners to 300 minutes per calendar month were instituted after the Bureau of Prisons settled ...

Mentally Ill WI Prisoner Sues over Control Unit Conditions

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Staffing, Exercise, Clothing, Lighting, Noise, Appointment of Counsel, Class Certification, Telephone Access, Publications/Books, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

association." The court can't tell exactly how much his telephone access is limited, but allows the claims to go forward. Visiting--Conditions, Restraints (945-46): The plaintiff is allowed to proceed on his ...

Two Victories in New York’s Struggle Against Unjust Telephone Contract

Article • April 15, 2007 • from PLN April, 2007

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Limitations, Telephone Rates, Contractor Liability

, 2004, as the campaign was heating up, CCR filed a suit against the New York State Department of Corrections and MCI over its monopoly contract and the exorbitant telephone rates family members and others ...

New Jersey Phone Rates Out of Control

Article • March 15, 2007 • from PLN March, 2007

Filed under: Prisoner Privileges, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Telephone Rates

New Jersey Phone Rates Out of Control by Gary Hunter Two calls a week from her incarcerated son costs Marjorie Arniotis over $150 per month. Lorraine Green pays around $200 a month to talk to her imprisoned son and was paying more until one of her sons was acquitted in …

Appeals Court Reverses Summary Judgment of Washington Phone Suit

Article • March 15, 2007 • from PLN March, 2007

Filed under: State Law Claims, Telephone Rates, Immunity/Liability, Contractor Liability

Appeals Court Reverses Summary Judgment of Washington Phone Suit by A Washington appeals court has overturned a lower court's grant of summary judgment to telephone companies in a lawsuit ...

From the Editor

Article • February 15, 2007 • from PLN February, 2007

Filed under: Editorials, Telephones, Telephone Rates

and be able to, if not meet them yet, at least talk on the phone. Texas is the only prison system that does not allow its prisoners to have telephone access. Last month's issue of PLN had a cover story ...