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Articles by David Reutter

Eleventh Circuit Holds RLUIPA Constitutional

By David M. Reutter


The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held the Religious Land
Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) does not violate either the
Spending Clause, the Establishment Clause, or the Tenth Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution.

Georgia Prisoner Ralph Benning, who is a Torah observant Jew,"
filed ...

Lawsuit Challenging BOP's Reporter/Writer Pay Ban Regulation Remanded to District Court

Lawsuit Challenging BOP's Reporter/Writer Pay Ban Regulation Remanded to
District Court

By David M. Reutter


The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that it does not have
jurisdiction to hear an appeal of a partial judgment dismissing a statutory
vagueness claim when a statutory over breadth claim challenging the ...

Michigan's Prison Health Care System Found Contemptuous

by David M. Reutter

"Step on a man's foot once, and a polite apology will do. Do it twice, and a profuse apology is in order. Do it thrice, and you have left the land of apology and entered the arena of self-defense." That saying is the beginning of U.S. ...

Michigan's In-Cell Restraints Considered Torture; Injunction Issued

by David M. Reutter

A Michigan federal district court has held that the use of in-cell restraints for punitive reasons constitutes torture. In reaching that conclusion, the Court reopened its previous judgment concerning mental health claims and issued a preliminary injunction.

The Court's ruling comes in the Hadix case, a ...

Florida's Prison Industry Practices Tightening

by David M. Reutter

Three years after its scathing report on the corporate nepotism that was lining the pockets of administrators of Florida's Prison Industries and Diversified Enterprises (PRIDE), Florida's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accounting (OPPAGA) has issued a progress report. The fiascos revealed by the OPPAGA?s ...

PLN Uncovers Secret Sweetheart Settlement Between PRIDE and Former Board Members

by David M. Reutter

In its continual effort to expose corruption within prisons, PLN has uncovered the confidential settlement between Florida?s Prison Rehabilitation Industries and Diversified Industries (PRIDE) and the corporations spawned by its former directors? corporations.

Our January 2005 cover article detailed how PRIDE corporate executives and directors had ...

ABA Recommends Congress Repeal Portions of PLRA

by David M. Reutter

The American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section has issued a report that “urges Congress to repeal or amend specified portions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA).” That report was sent for approval and action by the ABA’s House of Delegates in February 2007, which approved ...

Florida Warden Susceptible to Liability in Valdes’ Murder; Suit Settles for $1,169,923.42

Florida Warden Susceptible to Liability in Valdes' Murder; Suit Settles for $1,169,923.42

by David M. Reutter

While former Florida Department of Corrections director James Crosby was never charged in the murder of Florida death row prisoner Frank Valdes, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that Valdes' family presented ...

New York’s Prison System Infested With Drugs

New York's Prison System Infested With Drugs

by David M. Reutter

The most glaring result of America's war on drugs has been the explosion of the nation?s prison population. Over 75 percent of all prisoners are either doing time for drug related offenses or were under the influence of drugs ...

The Warehousing of New Hampshire’s Mentally Ill

The Warehousing of New Hampshire's Mentally Ill

by David M. Reutter

Despite over 30 years of litigation, mentally ill prisoners at the New Hampshire State Prison (NHSP) are still not receiving care to treat their conditions. In fact, with NHSP adopting the trend of locking prisoners down in Special Housing ...