By Paul Wright
In March 1994, the Florida state legislature passed a law severely restricting how the DOC could spend prisoner welfare funds. It specifically prohibited the expenditure of welfare funds for cable television, to rent movie videos, televisions, VCRs or purchase other electronic entertainment equipment for prisoners. The law ...
From the Editor
By Paul Wright
Welcome to another issue of PLN. In the March, 1994, issue of PLN we started the News in Brief column which carries little tidbits we think readers might be interested in but which either don't merit an article of their own or that we ...
By Paul Wright
The Washington Citizens for Justice are the right-wingers headed by Dave LaCourse, of the Public Policy Institute in Bellevue, WA; John Carlson, of KVI radio and Seattle Times columnist and Ida Ballasiotes, Republican state representative for Mercer Island. [Editor's Note: writing for the Times plugging I-593 Carlson ...
By Paul Wright
As consistently reported in PLN, most recently in the March, 1994, issue, prisoners at the Washington State Reformatory (WSR) have been involved in nearly 13 years of litigation involving prison officials' challenge to the consent decree they entered into in 1981. The decree mandated that prison officials ...
By Paul Wright
North Coast XPress is a magazine for people who care about Constitutional issues, U.S. foreign policy, the criminal "justice" system, labor news, animal rights, global and domestic economics, the environment and other topics that the mainstream media won't touch. Each issue has prisoner art, poetry, and articles ...
From the Editor
By Paul Wright
Welcome to another issue of PLN. As we reported last month, the ACLU has filed suit against the Washington state parole board over their no-contact parole condition on Ed Mead, PLN's former coeditor, which terminated his involvement with PLN. So far the case has ...
By Paul Wright
In the May, 1994, issue of PLN we ran an article, "Giving Cons and Ex-Cons The Right to Vote" which outlined a litigation strategy to obtain just such a right. Nine New York state prisoners at the Green Haven prison filed suit under a strategy similar to ...
From the Editor
By Paul Wright
Welcome to another issue of PLN. We apologize to our readers for the delays caused in recent months. Our new printer is working out quite well and as a result we are able to bring you more pages for the same amount of money. ...
By Paul Wright
Readers may recall that former PLN coeditor Ed Mead was released from prison in October, 1993, after serving nearly 18 years in prison. The day after he was released he was required to sign a standard conditions of release document for the Washington state Indeterminate Sentence Review ...
Three Strikes Racks 'Em Up
By Paul Wright
In November of 1993 voters in Washington state passed Initiative 593 which mandates life without parole for defendants convicted of one of 42 qualifying felonies for the third time. PLN covered the initiative process as it was unfolding at the time, [see ...
