Search | Prison Phone Justice

Kentucky Phone Rate Ruling

Article • May 15, 2001 • from PLN May, 2001

Filed under: Injunctions, Telephone Rates, Immunity/Liability, Municipal Liability, Contractor Liability

Kentucky Phone Rate Ruling by A federal district court in Kentucky held that the filed rate doctrine barred any claims for money damages against Phone Company and county jail defendants. However, injunctive relief was still available. The court questioned the legality of an exclusive service provider contract. In the August, …

Ohio 'Entrepreneur' Lands in Hot Water

Article • April 15, 2001 • from PLN April, 2001

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

credit card and telephone scam he ran from behind bars. Lonny Lee Bristow, 27, was already serving a 9year 11month sentence at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, OH, for retaliation ...

Work Stoppage at Idaho CCA Prison

Article • February 15, 2001 • from PLN February, 2001

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Organizing, Work Strikes, Grooming Rules, Telephone Rates

to more stringent rules at the new CCA prison south of Boise, including a prohibition on beards and higher telephone call charges. The work-stoppage prompted an immediate response from state prison ...

IL Prison Phone Ruling Published

Article • February 15, 2001 • from PLN February, 2001

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

IL Prison Phone Ruling Published by In the June 2000, issue of PLN we reported that a federal district court in Illinois had dismissed a class action lawsuit challenging the phone rates charged to consumers who accept phone calls from prisoners in Illinois prisons and jails. The court's ruling is …

Controversy Surrounds Letourneau Tape

Article • December 15, 2000 • from PLN December, 2000

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Attorney Client, Telephones, Attorney Calls

Controversy Surrounds Letourneau Tape by A Washington DOC investigator allegedly left his job at the state women's prison in Purdy with a souvenir: a tape recording of Mary K. Letourneau talking on the phone with her attorney. After starting a new job at the state Attorney General's office in 1998, …

Alabama Officials Guilty in Phone Scam

Article • December 15, 2000 • from PLN December, 2000

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Guard Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Criminal Prosecution, Telephone Rates

of interest while lobbying for the Public Service Commission, Boyett became their cover. Global sold the Alabama state prison contracts in 1993 to People's Telephone Co. in Miami. Ellis told the court that he ...

WA and IN Prison Phone Rates Challenged

Article • September 15, 2000 • from PLN September, 2000

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

are: American Telephone and Telegraph,GTE Northwest, Centurytel Telephone Utilities, Northwest Telecommunications, U.S. West and T-Netix. In 1998 these companies gave the Washington DOC 45% of their gross billed ...

Sweeping ADA/RA Jail Settlement Benefits Hearing Impaired Prisoners

Article • August 15, 2000 • from PLN August, 2000

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Fire Hazards, Jail Specific, Attorney Fee Awards, Court Appearances, Civil Procedure, Damages, Settlements, Defenses, State Law Claims, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Interpreters, Telephone Access

telephone access to the DOC by hearing impaired callers making calls to the DOC through the California Relay Service or other similar services by offering to immediately transfer all such calls to a live ...

$100,000 Awarded Under ICCPR in GA Jail Suit

Article • July 15, 2000 • from PLN July, 2000

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, Skeletal Injury, Gastrointestinal, Conditions of Confinement, Exercise, Jail Specific, Damages, International Law, Telephone Access

$100,000 Awarded Under ICCPR in GA Jail Suit by On February 24, 2000, a federal jury In Augusta, Georgia awarded 1100,000 in damages to a Danish citizen who was denied medical care and phone calls to his family in Denmark while he was awaiting trial in the Lincoln county jail …

West Virginia Prisoners Protest Visit/Phone Restrictions

Article • June 15, 2000 • from PLN June, 2000

Filed under: Prison Industries, Prison Rebellion, Work Strikes, Prisoner Privileges, Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

in telephone service, and demanded that prisoners locked-down in the Quilliams II unit (a "supermax" segregation unit) be given back lost privileges. Warden Painter agreed to restore privileges ...

Illinois Phone Suit Dismissed

Article • June 15, 2000 • from PLN June, 2000

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

Illinois Phone Suit Dismissed by In the August, 1999, issue of PLN we reported that a class action suit had been filed in federal court in Illinois challenging the extortionate phone rates charged to those who accept collect calls from prisoners. On March 23, 2000, federal district court judge William …

New Mexico Private and State Prison Phone Rates Challenged

Article • May 15, 2000 • from PLN May, 2000

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Esmor/CSC, GEO Group/Wackenhut, Cornell Corrections, Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Telephone Rates, Contractor Liability

New Mexico Private and State Prison Phone Rates Challenged by Two separate state court class action lawsuits have challenged the excessive phone rates charged to people who accept collect calls from New Mexico state prisoners. The first lawsuit, Valdez v. Wackenhut Corrections Corporation, was filed on December 30, 1999, in …

Private Prison Denied Wiretap Exception

Article • September 15, 1999 • from PLN September, 1999

Filed under: Cornell Corrections, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Standing, Telephones, Attorney Calls, Telephone Monitoring

) intercepted telephone calls from the prisoners, including confidential and privileged legal communications. Section 2520 of the Act creates a private right of action for any person whose oral communication ...

Class Action Suits Challenge Rip-Off Prison and Jail Phone Rates

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

, the Illinois counties of DuPage, Cook, and Kane and telephone companies AT&T, Invisions Telecom, MCI Telecommunications Corporation and Consolidated Communications Public Services, Inc. The plaintiffs allege ...

FCC Requires Rate Disclosure for Prison Phones

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

shall: (i) Identify itself, audibly and distinctly, to the consumer before connecting any interstate, domestic, in interexchange telephone call and disclose immediately hereafter how the consumer may ...

Kentucky Utilities Commission Reduces Prison and Jail Phone Rates

Article • August 15, 1999 • from PLN August, 1999

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

of an operator Surcharge Rate for Collect Telephone Calls from Confinement Facilities; and Obligations of Inmate Phone Service Providers to Call Recipients Regarding Notice of Blocking and Billing Procedures ...

Judicial Sentence of Life in Solitary Upheld

Article • March 15, 1999 • from PLN March, 1999

Filed under: Gang Policies, Criminal Prosecution, Judiciary, Telephones, Telephone Access, Mail Regulations

Judicial Sentence of Life in Solitary Upheld by The court of appeals for the Second circuit affirmed a court imposed sentence of life imprisonment in solitary confinement and prohibiting all communication with anyone except the defendant's attorney and close family members after the district court had approved them. The appeals …

Settlement in Washington State Deaf Prisoners' Lawsuit

Article • February 15, 1999 • from PLN February, 1999

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Disabled Prisoners, Attorney Fee Awards, Attorney Fees (PLRA), Damages, Settlements, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Interpreters, Telephones, Telephone Access

Settlement in Washington State Deaf Prisoners' Lawsuit by Jeff Crollard Aclass action lawsuit was settled on behalf of deaf and hearing-impaired prisoners in Washington State on September 3, 1998. The settlement agreement obligates the Washington State Department of Corrections to provide qualified sign language interpreters and assistive devices, such as …

Colorado Supreme Court Holds Utility Commission Lacks Jurisdiction Over Prison Phone Gouging

Article • November 15, 1998 • from PLN November, 1998

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

Telephone System (ITS) implemented by the Colorado DOC and Sprint Communications Company violated state public utilities law by overcharging for prisoner calls. The PUC dismissed the petition, holding it had ...

ADA/RA Apply to Jails and Give Deaf Right to TDD

Article • November 15, 1998 • from PLN November, 1998

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Telephones, Telephone Access, Qualified Immunity

to jails and require that deaf prisoners be given access to alternate assistance in using a telephone, such as a Telephone Text Device (TDD) and TDD directory or a sign-language interpreter according ...