Massachusetts Supreme Court Rules Amended Sex Offender Registration Law Ex Post Facto
by Gary Hunter
On July 12, 2013, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into law a bill requiring the state’s Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) to amend registry requirements for defendants classified as level two and level three sex ...
Ohio Appellate Court Orders Review of State Budget Over Private Prison Sale
by Gary Hunter
Ohio Governor John Kasich joined legislators in protesting an order by Ohio’s Tenth District Court of Appeals that instructed a trial court to edit the state’s biennial budget bill. The appellate court held that lawmakers had violated the “one subject/one bill” rule of Ohio’s Constitution when they inserted a prison privatization proviso in the budget.
In October 2013, the Ohio Court of Appeals unanimously found that lawmakers had improperly enacted a law that allowed for the sale and privatization of up to five state prisons. The Court overturned a trial court’s dismissal of the complaint, filed by the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OSCEA) and Progress Ohio, and ruled that the private prison language had “no rational reason” for being included in the budget.
As a result of the provision in the budget bill, state officials sold one prison, the Lake Erie Correctional Facility, to Corrections Corporation of America in 2011 for $72 million. The state pays CCA to house Ohio prisoners at the facility, at a cost of $29 million per year plus an annual ownership fee of almost $4 million. [See: PLN, Nov. ...
PLN Prevails in Censorship Suit against Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office
by Gary Hunter
In March 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted summary judgment in favor of Prison Legal News (PLN) against the Virginia Beach Correctional Center (VBCC), and granted declaratory and injunctive relief. Further, the court later awarded over $93,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs.
From May 2012 through August 2012, the VBCC mailroom rejected all issues of PLN sent to prisoners at the facility, but failed to provide proper notice to PLN or conduct a proper review of such censorship decisions when they were appealed. VBCC claimed that PLN’s publication violated a variety of institutional policies, including ads that contained “sexually explicit material ... ordering forms with prices, catalogs [and] brochures.”
PLN filed suit against Sheriff Kenneth Stolle, accusing the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office (VBSO) of First Amendment and due process violations. [See: PLN, Oct. 2013, p.47]. In December 2014 the district court upheld the VBSO’s policy of banning publications “that contain ‘ordering forms’ with prices,” but reserved judgment as to the claim related to sexually explicit materials.
Before the court could make a final ruling, the VBSO changed the jail’s mail policy ...
“Deep-Seated Culture of Violence” and Abysmal Medical Care at Rikers Island
by Gary Hunter
Pressure is mounting to speed the progress of reforms at New York City’s infamous Rikers Island jail complex, as city and federal officials focus on two primary areas that have drawn the focus of public attention: violence that escalated to a record level in 2014 – much of it related to guards using force against prisoners – and grossly inadequate healthcare.
According to data obtained by the Associated Press, New York City jail guards reported using force against prisoners 4,074 times during 2014, an average of 11 incidents per day, ranging from pepper spray to punches. During September 2014 alone they reported 406 incidents – just one month after a federal report blasted Rikers Island guards for being too quick to resort to violence against youthful prisoners.
The increase in use-of-force incidents came as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) joined a class-action lawsuit to address what federal prosecutors have called a “deep-seated culture of violence” in New York City’s jail system.
“There has clearly not been a commitment to date to address officer violence on Rikers Island,” complained Dr. Bobby Cohen, who sits on the ...
Deaths, Lawsuits Plague San Diego County Jail
by Gary Hunter
Sixty prisoners died in San Diego County, California’s jail system over the past five years, but the facts surrounding those deaths sometimes remained a mystery as prisoners’ families waited for years and still received few answers. In some cases, the ...
$50,000 Settlement for Prisoner’s Suicide at Iowa County Jail
by Gary Hunter
Black Hawk County and NaphCare, Inc. have agreed to pay equal shares of a $50,000 settlement to the estate of a prisoner who hanged himself at the county jail.
Michael Adair had an 18-year history of mental illness, ...
New York: Companies Settle Claims for Discriminating against Ex-Felons
by Gary Hunter
National retailer Bed Bath & Beyond forked over a large settlement in April 2014 after New York’s Attorney General caught the company illegally discriminating against ex-offenders seeking employment. The housewares mega-chain, which operates 62 stores in New York, ...
Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn’t Work and How We Can Do Better, by Maya Schenwar
(Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2014). 214 pages, $15.00-$25.00 paperback
Book review by Gary Hunter
Few books achieve that delicate balance between being equally empathetic and educational. In Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn’t ...
The Globalization of Supermax Prisons,
edited by Jeffrey Ian Ross
(Rutgers University Press, 2013).
240 pages, $28.95 paperback
Book review by Gary Hunter
"Zero tolerance” is a phrase that has found its way into many facets of our society. But nowhere is it more prevalent than in the vocabulary ...
Battling the Administration: An Inmate’s Guide to a Successful Lawsuit, by David J. Meister
(Wynword Press, April 2014). 566 pages, $34.95 paperback
Book review by Gary Hunter
When asked what the first step would be in challenging a disciplinary charge, prisoners will give a variety of answers. Some say it ...
