Search | Prison Phone Justice

Administrative Exhaustion Required in Pre-PLRA BOP Phone Suit

Article • January 15, 2004 • from PLN January, 2004

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Settlements, Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

of Prisons (BOP), including telephone access and rates and billing of prisoners and their families. The consolidated cases, Washington v. Reno, US DC D KY, Civil Action Nos. 93-217 and 93-290, were settled ...

Scandal-Ridden, Bankrupt MCI WorldCom Wins No-Bid California Prisoner Phone Contract

Article • October 15, 2003 • from PLN October, 2003

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Telephone Rates

by the California Department of General Services to MCI WorldCom, a telephone conglomerate whose recent bankruptcy exposed the largest accounting fraud in US business history - $11 billion. The non-competitive award ...

Nebraska Prisons Get Progressive Phone Contract

Article • October 15, 2003 • from PLN October, 2003

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

digital telephone technology cost up to five international units a minute. The prisoner phone system has digital switching with sophisticated security features. All calls are digitally recorded ...

Secretly Recorded California Jail Phone Conversations May Be Used to Convict

Article • July 15, 2003 • from PLN July, 2003

Filed under: Criminal Prosecution, Telephones, Telephone Monitoring

of arson and two counts of first degree murder. Unbeknownst to her, while awaiting trial in county jail, her telephone conversations with non-attorney visitors were recorded - at the request of the district ...

New Mexico Supreme court Affirms Dismissal of Phone Rate Suit

Article • June 15, 2003 • from PLN June, 2003

Filed under: Mootness, Telephone Rates, Immunity/Liability, Sovereign Immunity, State Legislation

dismissal of an excessive phone rates case for failure to state a claim. Recipients of collect telephone calls from New Mexico jails and prisons brought suit for damages and injunctive relief against state ...

San Mateo County Sues California Jail Phone Service Providers

Article • May 15, 2003 • from PLN May, 2003

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Telephone Rates

San Mateo County Sues California Jail Phone Service Providers by San Mateo County Sues California Jail Phone Service Providers On July 7, 2002, the county of San Mateo, California, brought suit against Pacific Bell and AT&T alleging they cheated the county out of millions of dollars earmarked for a fund …

Acrimonious Michigan Prisoners' Rights Suit Settled After 15 Years

Article • March 15, 2003 • from PLN October, 2004

Filed under: Clothing, Judiciary, Prisoner Legal Assistance, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Writing Implements, Photocopies, Administrative Exhaustion, Prisoner Property, Telephones, Telephone Access, Attorney Calls, Legal Mail, Attorney Visits

Acrimonious Michigan Prisoners' Rights Suit Settled After 15 Years by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg A class-action lawsuit launched by Michigan state prisoners in 1988 which ultimately cost taxpayers $7.5 million in litigation costs was settled on November 4, 2003, resulting in prisoners gaining appropriate classification and psychiatric …

New Mexico Lawyers Entitled to Jail Visiting, Phone and Records Access

Article • March 15, 2003 • from PLN October, 2004

Filed under: Attorney Client, Settlements, Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Discovery, Attorney Calls, Mental Health, Attorney Visits

prohibiting class counsel from having access to the jail, its prisoners and staff, its records, and from imposing time limits on telephone calls to lawyers by prisoners. This is a class action suit ...

Virginia Law Repeals Phone Rate Ruling

Article • March 15, 2003 • from PLN March, 2003

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates, State Legislation

on prison phone rates by the State Corporation Commission (SCC). Robert Lee Jones, a Virginia state prisoner, filed a complaint with the SCC concerning the rates charged consumers for collect telephone ...

Prisoner Phone Recordings not Exempt from FOIA Disclosure

Article • March 15, 2003 • from PLN March, 2003

Filed under: Attorney Misconduct, Freedom of Information Act, Telephones, Attorney Calls, Telephone Monitoring

§2510(5) this latter phrase is defined as specifically excluding telephones being used by law enforcement (including prison authorities). Thus while the law includes specific equipment related ...

Washington Jail Sued Over Conditions

Article • February 15, 2003 • from PLN February, 2003

Filed under: Medication, Systemic Medical Neglect, Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, Exposure to Cold, Plumbing, Water, Jail Specific, Laundry, Exposure to Heat, Attorney Client, Attorney Calls, Mail Regulations, Legal Mail

, and by locking the jail down during the day thereby denying prisoners the opportunity to telephone their lawyers. The jail also prohibits all access to books, magazines and newspapers, "in violation of the First ...

South Carolina County Pays $276,660 for Illegal Wiretaps on Judges' Telephones

Article • February 15, 2003 • from PLN February, 2003

Filed under: Judiciary, Telephones, Telephone Monitoring, Municipal Liability

South Carolina County Pays $276,660 for Illegal Wiretaps on Judges' Telephones by The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a federal district court's $276,660 damage award ...

Texas Extends 6th Amendment Right to Prisoners: Confidential Attorney Calls Allowed

Article • November 15, 2002 • from PLN November, 2002

Filed under: Attorney Client, Telephones, Attorney Calls

Texas Extends 6th Amendment Right to Prisoners: Confidential Attorney Calls Allowed by On December 14, 2001, Texas finally released its stranglehold on the right to confidential phone calls ...

Settlement Agreement Reached in Wisconsin Supermax Suit

Article • November 15, 2002 • from PLN November, 2002

Filed under: Food, Exercise, Exposure to Cold, Reading Materials, Lighting, Exposure to Heat, Restraints, Education, Telephone Access, Ad-Seg Hearings, Mental Health

Settlement Agreement Reached in Wisconsin Supermax Suit by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) officials settled the 42 USC § 1983 class action civil rights suit brought by seriously mentally ill prisoners housed in the Boscobel, WI Supermax state prison by agreeing not to …

New Mexico Caps High Telephone Rates

Article • June 15, 2002 • from PLN June, 2002

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates, State Legislation

New Mexico Caps High Telephone Rates by The governor of New Mexico signed a bill in February 2001, prohibiting prisons from profiting on prisoners' phone calls, which was exceeding 10 times ...

U.S. Cited for Human Rights Violations

Article • May 15, 2002 • from PLN May, 2002

Filed under: Political Prisoners, Attorney Client, Telephones, Attorney Calls, Legal Mail, Attorney Visits

U.S. Cited for Human Rights Violations by Gary Hunter On May 15, 2001, at a human rights conference in Geneva, the United States was denounced for its inhumane and discriminatory practices. Amnesty International and the U.N. Committee Against Torture cited the U.S. for oppressive tactics by both public law enforcement …

High Cost of Prison Telephone Calls Goes to Illinois State Court

Article • May 15, 2002 • from PLN May, 2002

Filed under: Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Standing, Telephone Rates, Qualified Immunity

High Cost of Prison Telephone Calls Goes to Illinois State Court by In a characteristically colorful opinion from Judge Richard Posner, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ...

Prison Phone Rate Case Remanded to South Carolina State Court

Article • May 15, 2002 • from PLN May, 2002

Filed under: Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Venue, Telephone Rates

who have accepted telephone calls from prisoners. Prisoners have no choice of telephone service provider, as DOC contracts for the services. Plaintiffs filed suit under various South Carolina statutes ...

MCI WorldCom Investigated in Georgia for Phone Overcharges; State Senator Involved

Article • April 15, 2002 • from PLN April, 2002

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Telephone Rates

MCI WorldCom Investigated in Georgia for Phone Overcharges; State Senator Involved by Lonnie Burton MCI WorldCom owns the exclusive contract to provide phone services to the 45,000 prisoners incarcerated in the State of Georgia. Of course, the prisoners are only allowed to place collect calls, and have no choice on …

Claims Dismissed in First Challenge to BOP Communications Ban

Article • March 15, 2002 • from PLN March, 2002

Filed under: Political Prisoners, Attorney Client, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Telephones, Telephone Access, Mail Regulations, Ad-Seg Hearings

.Due to Yousef's association with terrorist activities, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) implemented SAMs restricting Yousef's access to mail, telephone, media, and visitors and limited his carrying ...