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From the Editor
This month's cover reports on the Bureau of Prison's (BOP) crackdown on leftist dissident prisoners in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks. A number of PLN subscribers, including our own columnist, Marilyn Buck, have been affected by this. We will continue to report developments in the war on civil rights and liberties as it impacts prisoners. I would like to thank Anne-Marie Cusac and The Progressive for sharing this article with PLN 's readers. Other magazines that are doing an excellent job reporting the attack on civil liberties for all citizens, especially immigrants, include The Nation, Z Magazine ,Mim Notes , and of course, The Progressive . I would encourage people interested in this topic to read these publications for general developments.
We have begun to receive responses to PLN 's reader survey. I would like to thank those who have already responded. If you have not done so yet, it isn't too late. We are very interested both in what you think of PLN and your suggestions on improving it. So far most of the respondents have been prisoners. I would like to encourage all our non-prisoner readers to respond as well, as we aim to serve all of our readers' information needs.
A frequent theme among prisoner readers is a desire for longer law articles. In recent years, many of our law articles have gotten more concise because we have more cases to report and not a lot more room in which to do it. If and when we can expand our size we will first publish more law articles, and if the space is still there, run longer ones again. Part of the problem is that the court's dictate PLN 's law coverage to the extent they generate rulings of interest to prisoner and jail litigants. We can't stop covering these topics lest we create gaps in our coverage and reporting.
The other request we are getting is for more ads for businesses providing services to prisoners. PLN regularly contacts businesses that cater to prisoners and suggest that they advertise in PLN but that has had mixed results. If readers know of businesses that might be interested in advertising in PLN you should contact them and suggest that they advertise. You can also send us their contact information and we will send them an advertising packet. Let us know if you have any other ideas or suggestions. Increasing PLN 's advertising content is another way to increase our size, which will expand our editorial content as well.
It is not too late to donate to PLN 's matching grant fundraiser. If you haven't donated already, please do so. PLN only has until March 31, 2002, to raise the funds from our readers in order to receive $15,000 in matching funds. These funds are essential to PLN 's operations and continuing survival. New, unused stamps and embossed envelopes can also be donated. As this issue goes to press, we have raised a total of $7,500 in matching grant funds, which means we still have $ 7,500 to go to meet the total.
One of PLN 's goals for 2002 is to expand our size to 40 pages to bring readers still more news and information. To add four more pages, PLN needs to raise an additional $500 per month above and beyond our regular income to pay the increased printing and postage expenses. If anyone would be interested in sponsoring PLN 's expansion, please contact us. We can expand immediately if we receive a committment to sponsor that expansion for 12 months.
One of our other goals for 2002 is to increase our circulation. Please let people know about PLN and encourage them to subscribe. We can send you PLN flyers to distribute or post. Just let us know how many you need.
Another thing we would like to ask our readers: PLN needs your assistance in expanding our coverage of verdicts and settlements. A number of survey responses indicate readers would like to see more coverage on verdicts and settlements. If you win or settle a case related to prisons or jails, let us know about it so we can inform PLN readers. Send PLN a copy of the complaint, any dispositive rulings in the case and the verdict or settlement, and PLN will duly report it. Likewise, if you read about such settlements in other media, clip the article and send it to PLN with the date and source. Aside from PLN , no other publication reports on detention facility settlements and verdicts in an organized manner, so please help by providing such information to us, and we will continue sharing this information with our readers.
Enjoy this issue of PLN and please share it with others.
We have begun to receive responses to PLN 's reader survey. I would like to thank those who have already responded. If you have not done so yet, it isn't too late. We are very interested both in what you think of PLN and your suggestions on improving it. So far most of the respondents have been prisoners. I would like to encourage all our non-prisoner readers to respond as well, as we aim to serve all of our readers' information needs.
A frequent theme among prisoner readers is a desire for longer law articles. In recent years, many of our law articles have gotten more concise because we have more cases to report and not a lot more room in which to do it. If and when we can expand our size we will first publish more law articles, and if the space is still there, run longer ones again. Part of the problem is that the court's dictate PLN 's law coverage to the extent they generate rulings of interest to prisoner and jail litigants. We can't stop covering these topics lest we create gaps in our coverage and reporting.
The other request we are getting is for more ads for businesses providing services to prisoners. PLN regularly contacts businesses that cater to prisoners and suggest that they advertise in PLN but that has had mixed results. If readers know of businesses that might be interested in advertising in PLN you should contact them and suggest that they advertise. You can also send us their contact information and we will send them an advertising packet. Let us know if you have any other ideas or suggestions. Increasing PLN 's advertising content is another way to increase our size, which will expand our editorial content as well.
It is not too late to donate to PLN 's matching grant fundraiser. If you haven't donated already, please do so. PLN only has until March 31, 2002, to raise the funds from our readers in order to receive $15,000 in matching funds. These funds are essential to PLN 's operations and continuing survival. New, unused stamps and embossed envelopes can also be donated. As this issue goes to press, we have raised a total of $7,500 in matching grant funds, which means we still have $ 7,500 to go to meet the total.
One of PLN 's goals for 2002 is to expand our size to 40 pages to bring readers still more news and information. To add four more pages, PLN needs to raise an additional $500 per month above and beyond our regular income to pay the increased printing and postage expenses. If anyone would be interested in sponsoring PLN 's expansion, please contact us. We can expand immediately if we receive a committment to sponsor that expansion for 12 months.
One of our other goals for 2002 is to increase our circulation. Please let people know about PLN and encourage them to subscribe. We can send you PLN flyers to distribute or post. Just let us know how many you need.
Another thing we would like to ask our readers: PLN needs your assistance in expanding our coverage of verdicts and settlements. A number of survey responses indicate readers would like to see more coverage on verdicts and settlements. If you win or settle a case related to prisons or jails, let us know about it so we can inform PLN readers. Send PLN a copy of the complaint, any dispositive rulings in the case and the verdict or settlement, and PLN will duly report it. Likewise, if you read about such settlements in other media, clip the article and send it to PLN with the date and source. Aside from PLN , no other publication reports on detention facility settlements and verdicts in an organized manner, so please help by providing such information to us, and we will continue sharing this information with our readers.
Enjoy this issue of PLN and please share it with others.
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