The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a prisoners First Amendment religious exercise right to practice Mahayana Buddhism was not violated by prison officials refusal to provide a vegan diet. The appellate court, however, reversed for consideration of the prisoners claim under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized ...
Michigan Jails Strip Policy Unconstitutional; Guards and Get Qualified Immunity, County Liable
by David M. Reutter
A Michigan federal district court has held that the practice of removing the clothing of unruly pretrial detainees and keeping them naked in the hole, violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, but held the ...
by David M. Reutter
Florida's First District Court of Appeal has held the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) does not have legislative authority to support its rule regarding the amount prisoners are charged for photographic copying services, authorizing deductions from prisoners' accounts for copying services, and imposing liens on prisoner ...
by David M. Reutter
A New York federal district court reduced a jurys damage award in a prisoners civil rights action alleging excessive force by guards. The total award came to $165,000 and $68,000 in attorney fees and costs.
This action was brought against New Yorks Nassau County Sheriffs Department ...
by David M. Reutter
Florida's Correctional Privatization Commission (CPC) consistently failed to safeguard the State's interests in its role as steward of privately operated correctional facilities," causing Florida's taxpayers to pay $12.7 million in questionable and excessive of cost. That conclusion was arrived at in a scathing report of the ...
by David M. Reutter
Anthony Pierce was serving a 14 month sentence for parole violation of a burglary charge at Delaware's Sussex Correctional Institution when he discovered a marble-sized lump growing on the back of his head. A prison doctor employed by the Delaware Department of Corrections' (DDOC) medical contractor, ...
Lawsuit: Appeal Pending
by David M. Reutter
A Florida federal district court has held that PLN has not suffered, and is not currently suffering, a significant First Amendment injury from Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) rule, policies, or procedures that ban compensation to prisoner writers and caused the impoundment of ...
By David M. Reutter
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Florida District Court's order denying that prisoners' cell temperatures on Florida's death row constitute cruel and unusual punishment. This civil rights action was filed by Jim E. Chandler and William Kelley, prisoners on death row at Union Correctional ...
Florida's Law Libraries Provide Adequate Access to Courts
Under State's Constitution
By David M. Reutter
Florida's First District Court of Appeal has held that Article I, § 21 of the Florida constitution requires the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) to provide more affirmative assistance to prisoners in the preparation and ...
On October 14, 2004,the estate of PLN contributing writer James Quigley sued the Vermont Department of Corrections (V.D.O.C.) and several V.D.O.C. employees, alleging their mistreatment of Quigley resulted in his suicide death. Four months later the state settled the suit for $750,000. In previous issues, PLN reported Quigley's death and ...
