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Articles by Sam Rutherford

Good Time Allowed on Washington Weapon Enhancements

The Washington Supreme Court recently held that prisoners are entitled to good time credits for time served in presentence detention, even if they receive a firearm or other deadly weapon sentence enhancement following conviction. Understanding the Court's ruling first requires a brief discussion of Washington's firearm and deadly weapon enhancement ...

Represent Yourself in Court: How to Prepare & Try a Winning Case, 3rd Ed.

Represent Yourself in Court: How to Prepare & Try a Winning Case, 3rd Ed.

By Attorneys Paul Bergman & Sara BermanBarrett, Nolo Press, 2001 (528 pages)

Reviewed by Sam Rutherford

The third edition of Represent Yourself in Court is a plainenglish guide to handling a civil case from start to ...

The Cost of Medical Neglect in Washington Prisons

By Sam Rutherford

The case, Corner v. State of Washington , [see page 6] is only one of many medical neglect suits that the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) has settled. In fact, below is a comprehensive list of the medical neglect cases filed by prisoners that the DOC settled ...

America's Jails: The Dungeons of the New Millenium

At any given time there are approximately 500,000 people incarcerated in the more than 3,500 city and county jails across the United States. Some of these individuals are confined while awaiting trial, others are serving relatively short sentences for offenses ranging from misdemeanor or minor felony convictions to probation or ...

Legal Research: How to Find and Understand the Law

by Stephen Elias and Susan Levinkind

Legal Research does exactly what its title indicates; it explains how to find and understand the law. The book is written in easy to understand language, while imparting a vast amount of information in a comprehensive manner.

The book is broken down into sections ...

The Prisoner's Guide to Survival: A Comprehensive Legal Assistance Manual for PostConviction Relief and Prisoners' Civil Rights Actions

By L. Powell Belanger PSI Publishing, Inc. (745 Pages)

Reviewed by Sam Rutherford

The Prisoner's Guide to Survival is a new legal research tool that covers all aspects of federal litigation common to prisoners. The book is useful both to the novice pro se litigant and to the experienced attorney ...