by David M. Reutter
In an effort to limit prisoners' free speech rights, the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) has taken steps to prohibit prisoners from engaging in a business or profession. For some years now, the FDOC has had on its books a rule that states: "No inmate may …
by David M. Reutter
Another state prison system that subjected itself to the experiment of privatized medical services has learned the same hard lesson suffered by other states: a trail of inadequate care that leaves prisoners dead or maimed. This time the Michigan prison system is under pressure by the …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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
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
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 …
