The Newsletter of North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services, Inc.

NCPLS

Volume VII, Issue 4, December 2007

ACCESS

NCPLS 2007 STRATEGIC PLAN
WILL LEAD TO IMPORTANT CHANGES
Adopted by the Board of Directors
on October 22, 2007, NCPLS is
implementing a strategic plan that
will affect virtually every aspect of
program operations. Through this
plan, NCPLS intends to
reinvigorate and continue
to improve prisoner legal
services. The focus of this
plan is to ensure robust
investigation, to enhance
efforts to identify possibly meritorious claims
for relief, and to engage in
the proactive and vigorous
pursuit of relief for NCPLS
clients. The 2007 Strategic Plan emphasizes zealous litigation in appropriate cases.
Some key components of the plan
appear in the following paragraphs.
Guiding Principles
The identification of meritorious
issues, cutting-edge advocacy on
behalf of our clients, and meaningful litigation are the most important
functions of NCPLS. Accordingly,
attorneys are strongly encouraged
to exhaust all reasonable bases for
obtaining relief for clients, specifically encompassing proactive, zealous litigation.

New Policies and Procedures
One particularly important procedural change involves proactive
investigation and identification of

meritorious claims for relief. This
means that NCPLS will not necessarily await a client request for
assistance, but will review appellate decisions as they are handed
down, will act promptly on referrals from defense counsel or the
concerns of family members, and
will take other measures to identify
meritorious cases. These changes
will have the greatest impact on our
work to challenge illegal convictions and sentences.
For example, the “Tarnished
Badge” investigation conducted
by the SBI uncovered corruption
in the Robeson County Sheriff’s
Office and led to the conviction

of the Robeson County Sheriff,
as well as a number of Sheriff’s
Deputies. It appears that part of
the wrong-doing uncovered by the
investigation was false testimony
given in criminal prosecutions by some of these
officers. Obviously, such
testimony could taint the
constitutionality of many
convictions. NCPLS is
working to identify those
cases to determine which of
them may be successfully
challenged in post-conviction proceedings.
Shifting Resources
To ensure the success of this new,
more aggressive approach, NCPLS
has shifted significant program
funds to strengthen its Post-Con(Continued on Page 4)

In this Issue:
NCPLS 2007 Strategic Plan Will
Lead to Important Changes

1

NCPLS Board Members Elected
to Office

2

Reminder Regarding Requests
for Assistance

5

IOLTA Awards Safe & Humane
Jails Project $55,000

6

Changes in Federal Crack
Sentencing Law

7

NCPLS ACCESS

Page 2
ACCESS is a publication of North
Carolina Prisoner Legal Services,
Inc. Established in 1978, NCPLS is a
non-profit, public service organization.
The program is governed by a Board of
Directors who are designated by
various organizations and institutions,
including the North Carolina Bar
Association, the North Carolina
Association of Black Lawyers, the
North Carolina Association of Women
Attorneys, and law school deans at
UNC, Duke, NCCU, Wake Forest and
Campbell.
NCPLS serves a population of more
than 38,600 prisoners and 14,000 pretrial
detainees (with about 250,000 annual
admissions), providing information,
advice, and representation in all State and
federal courts to ensure humane conditions of confinement and to challenge
illegal convictions and sentences.

Volume VII, Issue 4, December 2007

NCPLS BOARD MEMBERS
ELECTED TO OFFICE
At its December 7, 2007 meeting,
the NCPLS Board of Directors
elected its officers for 2008. Following out-going President Fred J.
Williams, Vice-President Susan F.
Olive, and Treasurer Ronald Steven
Douglas are the following officers:
PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD:
Dean Ronald Steven Douglas

in the DC area, focusing his practice on criminal defense.
Dean Douglas currently serves
as the Assistant Dean to the Day
Program at NCCU Law School
and is responsible for admissions,
scholarships, grants, financial aid,
and disciplinary matters. He is a
member of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on
Substance Abuse, and he joined the
Board of NCPLS in July, 2004.
VICE-PRESIDENT:
Professor Johnny C. Chriscoe, Jr.

Board of Directors
President Dean Ronald S. Douglas
Vice-President Prof. Johnny Crisco
Treasurer Paul Meggett, Esq.
Jim Blackburn
Prof. J. Bryan Boyd
James A. Crouch, Esq.
Arnita M. Dula, Esq.
Dean B. Keith Faulkner
Barry Nakell, Esq.
Susan Olive, Esq.
Gary Presnell, Esq.
Fred Williams, Esq.
Prof. Ronald F. Wright
Interim Director
Michael S. Hamden, Esq.
Editor
Patricia Sanders, CLA
Please Note: ACCESS is published
four (4) times a year.
Articles, ideas
and suggestions are welcome.
Contact: tsanders@ncpls.org

Dean Douglas

Dean Ronald S. “Steve” Douglas
was born March 30, 1950 in New
Rochelle, New York. He received
his undergraduate degree in Economics in 1978 at Howard University. After graduation, Mr. Douglas
served as a Public Health Advisor
for the District of Columbia.
Mr. Douglas took up the study of
law at North Carolina Central University, working as a Law Clerk for
the District of Columbia’s Office
of Employee Appeals during the
summer after his first year. Dean
Douglas received his Juris Doctorate in 1982.
As a lawyer, Dean Douglas held
the position of Legal Advisor to
the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration Review Board for
the State of North Carolina and was
in private practice for many years

Professor Chriscoe

Professor Chriscoe is a summa
cum laude graduate of the Norman
Adrian Wiggins School of Law,
where he graduated first in his
class, was an articles editor for the
Campbell Law Review, and was
a regional champion trial team
member. Following graduation
from law school, he served as a law
clerk on the North Carolina Court
of Appeals. Professor Chriscoe
then entered the private practice
of law and concentrated primarily on the areas of civil litigation,
appellate advocacy, and worker’s
compensation. Professor Chriscoe returned to Campbell and the
Norman Adrian Wiggins School of
(Continued on Page 3)

NCPLS ACCESS

Volume VII, Issue 4, December 2007

NCPLS BOARD MEMBERS
ELECTED TO OFFICE
(CONTINUED)

(Continued from Page 2)

Law in 1995 to manage the Career
Services and the Alumni Relations
Offices. He also taught law parttime. In 1999, Professor Chriscoe
became a member of the faculty
and teaches Insurance Law, and
Trial andA ppellate Advocacy I and
II. He also works with student trial
teams and has taught in various
continuing legal education programs. Professor Chriscoe joined
the NCPLS Board in April of this
year.
TREASURER:
Paul A. Meggett, Esq.

Paul Meggett

Paul Meggett earned his J.D.
degree from the University of
North Carolina School of Law.
Before law school he earned a
Bachelor of Science degree from
North Carolina State University.
Mr. Meggett is also an alumnus
of the North Carolina School of

Science and Mathematics. After
law school, Mr. Meggett clerked
for retired Chief Justice Burley B.
Mitchell, Jr., of the North Carolina Supreme Court. He currently
serves as Associate General Counsel for UNC Hospitals and Assistant University Counsel for UNC
at Chapel Hill. Mr. Meggett also
serves as an Adjunct Professor of
Law at UNC Law School, teaching
in the Research and Writing Program. He is a member of the North
Carolina Bar Association, serving
as Co-Chair of the Minorities in
the Profession Committee; Chair of
the Momentum 2010 Joint Diversity Task Force; and is a member
of the Education and Health Law
Sections. Mr. Meggett joined the
NCPLS Board in the spring of
2007.
NCPLS is grateful to these leaders, both those who are completing
terms of service and those who are
taking up new responsibilities. As
volunteers, these and other members of the Board devote a significant amount of time to setting
policy and serving as ambassadors
for NCPLS to the broader community. It simply would not be possible for NPCLS to operate without
their selfless service.

Page 3

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Page 4

Volume VII, Issue 4, December 2007

NCPLS 2007 STRATEGIC PLAN
(CONTINUED)

(Continued from Page 1)

viction Team from eight to twelve
attorneys. In addition, for the first
time in its history, NCPLS will
permanently employ investigators to augment our capacity to
dig beneath the perceptions of our
clients, the legal pleadings in the
case, and the opinions of the courts
in order to determine whether
some important fact was initially
overlooked or has subsequently
come to light. An experienced lead
investigator will train, direct, and
coordinate four other paralegal/
investigators at the direction of
NCPLS attorneys.
In addition, NCPLS attorneys will
continue vigilant efforts to identify
questionable policies or procedures, as well as suspicious recurring events that adversely impact
the general prison population.
Meritorious cases will be aggressively pursued to achieve relief on
behalf of entire classes of prisoners, or the prison population as a
whole.
To leverage its resources, NCPLS
will continue to actively recruit
law student volunteers from North
Carolina law schools to assist in
client interviews and conduct other
investigations year round. Through
coordination with North Carolina
law schools’ criminal advocacy
clinics and legal organizations, we
will seek law student assistance
with research, interviewing, investigation, and similar activities
under the supervision of NCPLS
attorneys. NCPLS will also foster
close relationships with the Appel-

late Defender’s Office and the
Public Defender Offices in each
district to actively solicit cases
from, and seek ways in which we
can better collaborate with defense
counsel.
Finally, NCPLS will foster communication with prisoner advocacy
groups such as the National Prison
Project, Prisoner Legal Services of
New York, Florida Institutional
Legal Services, the Prison Law
Office, and others. Further,
NCPLS will strengthen alliances
with grassroots citizen advocacy
groups like CURE (Citizens United
for the Rehabilitation of Errants),
FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums), and the ACLU
(American Civil Liberties Union).
Changes in Existing NCPLS
Policies, Procedures, & Services
NCPLS will continue to respond to
prisoner requests for legal advice
and assistance. However, in view
of the reallocation of resources to
focus on investigation and litigation, NCPLS services will be more
limited in other ways. We will continue to fulfill requests for routine
information through form letters,
forms, or informational packets.
Requests for services that the
program does not offer and those
which (in our opinion) present
no legal issues will be summarily rejected with form letters that
explain in general terms the legal
protections afforded prisoners by
law. We will no longer be able to

provide lengthy explanations about
the law, the way the law applies to
individual circumstances, or other
services that are not directly related
to the identification and resolution
of substantive meritorious claims.
Meritorious claims are those which
are legally recognized or for which
a good faith argument could be
made for recognition, and which
could generate either monetary or
injunctive relief or both, but have
more than de minimis value. By
the phrase “de minimis value,” we
mean cases in which the cost of
litigation will significantly exceed
the relief we could obtain for our
client and that no other prisoners
would be helped by a favorable
outcome.
Requests that meet NCPLS criteria will be investigated through
client and witness interviews, fact
investigation, examination of court
documents, examination of forensic
evidence, and/or such further measures as are necessary to determine
the legitimacy of a client’s claim.
When (in our opinion) such a case
is not sufficiently supported by
evidence, law, or otherwise lacks
merit, NCPLS correspondence
with the client will be significantly
abbreviated, containing a short
recitation of the client’s allegation,
NCPLS investigative actions, and a
statement concluding that NCPLS
cannot offer representation. In
appropriate circumstances, the
client will be provided explanatory
materials, self-help manuals,
instructional booklets and the
(Continued on Page 5)

Volume VII, Issue 4, December 2007

NCPLS ACCESS

Page 5

NCPLS 2007 STRATEGIC PLAN
(CONTINUED)

(Continued from Page 4)

forms necessary to prosecute an
action, pro se.
Implementation of the New
Approach
NCPLS began to implement this
approach to our work in September.
Personnel changes and additions,
as well as the restructuring of the
Intake, Civil, and Post-Conviction Teams were aspects of the
new approach that were completed
within the first week of September.
On September 19, NCPLS began
to initiate contact with prisoners
whose convictions have recently
become final. In those instances,
NCPLS has requested authorization to investigate and review the
conviction, and to provide representation in meritorious collateral
proceedings. We plan to continue
this procedure to be sure that no
valid claims for relief are overlooked, even by prisoners who may
not know that their conviction or
sentence is illegal. This practice
will also maximize the time available to investigate and prosecute

meritorious cases before the expiration of the one-year statute of
limitation imposed by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty
Act, Pub. L. 104-132, 110 Stat.
1214 (1996) (AEDPA), codified at
28 U.S.C. §1244(d)(1).
Effective October 1, 2007, our
clients began receiving abbreviated
responses to requests for assistance, including reports of completed investigations and decisions
to decline representation. NCPLS
will no longer devote significant
resources to lengthy explanations
of litigation or other decisions.
Other parts of the plan are being
implemented in a thoughtful, deliberate way as we gain experience
under the new approach.
New Leadership Sought
Discussion regarding the development and implementation of the
new Strategic Plan led to a realization that new program leadership
will be required. Consequently,

Michael Hamden tendered his
resignation as Executive Director
on December 8, 2007. That resignation was accepted by the Board
of Directors on Tuesday, December
11, 2007, with a request that Mr.
Hamden continue as Interim Director until such time as a national
search can be completed and a successor chosen. Hamden expressed
his willingness to serve the program and its clients in that capacity.
CONCLUSION
Implementation of these changes
will significantly reduce the amount
of time NCPLS advocates spend on
inmate correspondence and education. The plan will substantially
reallocate resources to investigation of post-conviction and conditions of confinement cases, and is
expected to dramatically increase
the number of such cases litigated
by NCPLS attorneys. Adoption
of this plan is intended to improve
the overall delivery of meaningful
legal services to North Carolina
prisoners.

REMINDER REGARDING REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE
To reach a decision about whether
we can offer assistance to a
client, we must first receive and
review all grievances and grievance responses. We can begin an
assessment when we have received
those materials through Level II

of the process, as long as a Level
III appeal has been filed. Why?
Exhaustion of all available administrative remedies is a prerequisite
to the institution of a federal lawsuit. 42 U.S.C. §1997(e)(a); Porter
v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516 (2002)(The

Prison Litigation Reform Act of
1995 (PLRA) requires prisoners to
exhaust all available administrative
remedies in accordance with grievance procedural rules before they
can file a federal lawsuit.) Thank
you for your cooperation.

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Page 6

Volume VII, Issue 4, December 2007

IOLTA AWARDS
SAFE & HUMANE JAILS PROJECT
$55,000
NCPLS provides a wide range of
services, from advice about prisoners’ legal rights, to representation
in all State and Federal courts. The
promotion of safe and humane
conditions of confinement for our
clients continues to be one of the
highest priorities of NCPLS.
People who are held in jail pending
trial on criminal charges have little
or no access to the courts in cases
pertaining to conditions of confinement or other important matters.
The population of pretrial detainees constantly changes, but there
are 17,000 beds in North Carolina
detention facilities, an average
jail population that totals approximately 14,000 at any given time,
and jail admissions that exceed
250,000 on an annual basis.
To address the legal needs of
North Carolina’s pretrial detainees, NCPLS operates the Safe &
Humane Jails Project under the
leadership of Michele LueckingSunman, and with the invaluable
experience and assistance of Paralegal Sharon G. Robertson. During
2007, NCPLS provided a variety
of services to these detainees.
For instance, NCPLS representatives toured jails in Lee, Johnston,
Bladen, Harnett, Carteret, Surry,
and both the Mecklenburg Central

extensive surgery to correct. Copeland v. Causey, et al., No. 5:07-CT3-41-BO (EDNC 2007). The case
is pending.

and Mecklenburg North detention
facilities. Ms. Robertson appeared
together with NCPLS Attorney
Luecking-Sunman as guests at the
Jail Administrator’s Conference in
High Point last October to make
a brief presentation of our current
activities and to participate in a
roundtable discussion of jail issues.
And our team contributed an article
for the quarterly magazine of the
National Association of Legal
Assistants, “Establishing Excessive
Force in Civil Rights Litigation.”
Among a number of cases accepted
by the Project was an appointment to represent a detainee who
repeatedly complained of severe
pain but received no treatment.
When he was finally admitted to
the hospital, he was diagnosed with
communicable MRSA, pneumonia,
and empyema (the presence of pus
in a bodily cavity) which required

These and a number of other
services were provided our clients
with limited funding provided by
“IOLTA.” The North Carolina
State Bar Plan for Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) was
established in 1984 by the North
Carolina State Bar and the North
Carolina Supreme Court to generate income from lawyers’ trust
accounts in order to fund programs
for the public’s benefit. The provision of legal aid to poor people
is one of the public purposes for
which IOLTA funds can be used,
but there are a great many organizations which seek IOLTA support
to serve indigent clients.
This year, IOLTA awarded a grant
in the amount of $55,000 to fund
the Safe & Humane Jails Project
through 2008. That grant is the
most generous IOLTA has ever
bestowed on the Project.
Without the support of IOLTA,
NCPLS could not operate the Safe
& Humane Jails Project or offer
legal assistance to pretrial detainees. We are deeply grateful to
IOLTA for its continuing support.

Volume VII, Issue 4, December 2007

NCPLS ACCESS

Page 7

CHANGES IN FEDERAL CRACK SENTENCING LAW
Although not directly bearing on people convicted
on state charges of crack
offenses, there have been
significant developments
recently at the federal
level.
Recently, the United States
Sentencing Commission
(USSC) recommended
relaxing the harsh 100
to 1 sentencing disparity between convictions for crack
and powder cocaine. Previously,
equivalent amounts of those substances resulted in much harsher
sentences resulting from convictions involving crack. The USSC
recommended very modest, technical changes in applying the federal
sentencing guidelines, addressing what many have identified as
a gross injustice in the criminal
justice system that has disproportionately affected blacks. This
draconian approach resulted from
widespread hysteria in the ‘90’s
about the perceived “crack epidemic” (which turned out to be no
epidemic at all).
On November 14, 2007, the
American Bar Association (ABA)
testified in hearings held by the
USSC, asking that those modest
changes be made retroactive (and
thus applicable to about 20,000
people who are still incarcerated
under earlier convictions for crack
offenses). In addition, the USSC
received more than 33,000 letters,
almost all of which favored retroactivity.

On December 10, 2007, the U.S.
Supreme Court reaffirmed that the
federal sentencing guidelines are
“advisory” [citing U.S. v. Booker,
25 S.Ct. 738 (2005)], and held that
a federal judge may exercise discretion in allowing for individual
differences in sentences. Gall v.
United States, (No. 06-7949), ___
U.S. ___ (10 Dec. 2007)(defendant pled guilty to a conspiracy to
distribute “ecstasy” in college from
which he withdrew and engaged
in no illegal conduct in subsequent
42 months was properly sentenced
to 36 months probation where
Sentencing Guidelines would have
required imprisonment for a similar
period).

offenders currently in
federal prisons. Not
all crack offenders will
be eligible for sentence
reductions, and among
those who are, each
defendant will have to
file a federal habeas
action and ask the sentencing judge to exercise
discretion to reduce the
sentence based upon the
particular facts of the
defendant’s case.
However, congressional legislation still sets mandatory minimum
sentences which are triggered for a
five-year prison term at five grams
of crack. But it takes 500 grams
of powdered cocaine to result in
a sentence of equal length. The
disparity has disproportionately
affected blacks, who account for
85 percent of crack offenders. The
disparate impact results from the
fact that most crack offenders are
inner city black men, while suburban white folks are most frequently
busted for powder cocaine.

And these events have brought
On the next day, December 11,
renewed attention to legislation
2007, the USSC voted unanimously that has been introduced in both the
House and in the Senate. Legislato give retroactive effect to the
amendment to the Federal Sentenc- tors may now feel that the Court
and the USSC have provided
ing Guidelines that reduces penalpolitical “cover” against potential
ties for crack cocaine offenses.
charges of being “soft on crime”
Retroactivity of the crack cocaine
should a bill be enacted to rectify
amendment will become effective
this sentencing injustice.
on March 3, 2008. As a result,
prison sentences may be reduced
for as many as 19,500 of the
estimated 36,000 to 37,000 crack

THE NEWSLETTER OF NORTH CAROLINA
PRISONER LEGAL SERVICES, INC.
1110 Wake Forest Road
P.O. Box 25397
Raleigh, NC 27611
Phone: (919) 856-2200
Fax: (919) 856-2223
Email: tsanders@ncpls.org

Visit our website at:
http://www.ncpls.org