Prison Legal News

Last updated

Prison Legal News
EditorPaul Wright
Categories Prisons, law
FrequencyMonthly
Total circulation
(2014)		9,000
First issueMay 1990
CountryUnited States
Based in Lake Worth, Florida
Language English
Website www.prisonlegalnews.org

Prison Legal News (PLN) is a monthly American magazine and online periodical published since May 1990. It primarily reports on criminal justice issues and prison and jail-related civil litigation, mainly in the United States. It is a project of the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. [1]

Contents

Prison Legal News is the longest running newspaper produced by and for current and former prisoners in U.S. history. [2]

PLN covers all aspects of the criminal justice system, including court access, prison conditions, privatization, disciplinary hearings, excessive force, mail censorship, jails, wrongful convictions, crime labs, visitation, prison phone services, immigration detention, religious freedom, free speech, prison rape, abuse of women prisoners, retaliation, the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), medical treatment, HIV and hepatitis C, prison slave labor, disenfranchisement, the death penalty and control units/supermax facilities. However, the mainstay of PLN's coverage from the beginning has been the issue of conditions of confinement. [3]

Origins and function

Prison Legal News was inspired by the need for prisoners and their families to have a voice in criminal justice policy and to provide timely, accurate news about justice-related issues and progressive reform efforts. PLN has been admired and disliked for its strong advocacy of prisoner rights, including its extensive litigation involving jails and prison systems.

As of February 2017, PLN had an average circulation of over 9,000 hardcopy issues per month. The Human Rights Defense Center estimates that about 70% of PLN's subscribers are state and federal prisoners, and PLN has incarcerated subscribers in all fifty states. [4] Based on PLN's media pack, each subscriber's magazine is read by an average of almost 10 people, so monthly readership is around 90,000. [4] As of February 2017, subscriptions were $30/year for prisoners, $35/year for non-incarcerated individuals and $90/year for attorneys, government agencies and corporations.

The PLN website has over 18,000 news and law articles in its database. [4] The publication section has more than 5,600 reports, audits and other documents related to criminal justice topics, and the brief bank contains over 7,500 assorted legal pleadings - including complaints, motions, appeal briefs, verdicts, judgments and settlements in prison and jail cases. [4] The site receives over 150,000 visitors each month and also functions as a resource for media and community outreach as well as a platform for public education on criminal justice issues. [4] A website subscription is $149.95/year and gives full access to all of PLN's online content.

Prison Legal News also publishes and distributes legal reference and self-help educational books, [5] ranging from their own in-house-published The Habeas Citebook: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel by Brandon Sample and the Prison Education Guide [6] by Christopher Zoukis, to the Nolo legal how-to series, the Prisoners' Self-Help Litigation Manual, and the Federal Prison Handbook. [7] PLN also distributes (free upon request) the Prisoner Diabetes Handbook, and is the exclusive distributor of Protecting Your Health & Safety: A Litigation Guide for Inmates, a book published by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In addition to the monthly magazine and website, PLN has published three anthologies related to mass incarceration: The Celling of America: An Inside Look at the U.S Prison Industry (Common Courage Press, 1997); Prison Nation: The Warehousing of America's Poor (Routledge) (2003); and Prison Profiteers: Who makes Money from Mass Imprisonment (2008). [1]

Litigation

PLN has been involved in litigation concerning First Amendment and censorship issues in the prison and jail context since 1994. Co-editor Ed Mead was prevented from assisting in publishing Prison Legal News due to a condition of his parole prohibiting association with other felons – a policy specifically enacted to prevent him from further involvement with PLN. [8]

In 1997, PLN, represented by the ACLU of Washington, joined with other publishers and prisoner plaintiffs in a suit challenging the state of Washington DOC's wide-ranging censorship of incoming mail, publications and mail classifications, among other issues. The lawsuit was settled in 2000, with the state agreeing to change its censorship policies and pay the plaintiffs' attorney fees and costs. [9]

Prison Legal News obtained a preliminary injunction against the Nevada DOC's statewide ban on PLN, followed by a consent decree in which the DOC agreed to pay damages and change its policies concerning mail and publications. The matter was settled in September 2000. [10]

ADX Florence, run by the federal Bureau of Prisons, enacted a policy banning all books related to prisons and prisoners. PLN filed suit in 2003 and withdrew the lawsuit in 2005 after the ADX mooted the claim by changing its unconstitutional policy. [11]

In 2006, PLN and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) settled the magazine's claims that CDCR mail policies violated a number of federal and state rights, under precedents established by PLN. As a result of the settlement, CDCR ordered five-year subscriptions to PLN for all of its facilities and is being monitored by PLN for compliance. [12]

In 2012, PLN settled with the State of New York, reversing a statewide ban on the magazine in New York prisons. [13] That year, it also settled with Berkeley County, South Carolina, reaching the largest ever jail-related censorship settlement in the United States, totaling almost $600,000 in damages and attorney fees. [14] The U.S. Department of Justice joined PLN in its lawsuit against the unconstitutional mail policies enacted by Berkeley County. [15]

In 2015, PLN settled a case with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after PLN filed a FOIA request for records related to telephone services and other documents concerning the ability of immigration prisoners to communicate with people outside the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington; this is operated by the GEO Corporation, a private for-profit company. [16]

In addition to battling unconstitutional censorship through litigation (see the May 2010 issue of PLN for a full listing of cases), [17] Prison Legal News has also filed numerous lawsuits related to public records and Freedom of Information Act requests in order to pursue its investigative reporting on detention facility issues.

These cases have led to landmark rulings. including PLN v. Washington Department of Corrections, 115 P.3d 316 (Wash. 2005). At the time it was the largest penalty and attorney fee payout in a Washington state public records case in history and disclosed serious misconduct among Washington prison doctors.

PLN v. Lappin held that PLN was entitled to fee waivers in Freedom of Information Act requests where the information sought would educate the public about government operations. PLN v. Lappin, 436 F. Supp.2d 17 (D DC 2006). Additional cases include: PLN v. The GEO Group, Inc., Circuit Court of the 15th Judicial Circuit of Florida, Case No. 50 2005 CA 011195 AA; Friedmann v. CCA, Chancery Court for Davidson County (TN), Case No. 01-1105-I; and PLN v. EOUSA, USDC (D. Col.), Case No. 1:08-cv-01055-MSK.

Developments and advocacy

Founded as Prisoners Legal News, in 2009 PLN's parent organization was renamed as the Human Rights Defense Center . It is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the human rights of people held in U.S. detention facilities. HRDC also supports Prison Legal News in national campaigns in coordination with other advocacy groups to lower prison phone rates [18] and demand transparency and accountability of private prison contractors, [19] and is involved with numerous other activities related to the human rights of prisoners.

PLN's managing editor is a former prisoner. The magazine features contributions from nationally recognized scholars and activists involved in criminal justice reform or advocacy efforts. Contributors include Mumia Abu-Jamal, [20] Noam Chomsky, [21] Marie Gottschalk, [22] Prison Policy Initiative Director Peter Wagner, [23] Prison Law Office Director Donald Specter, [24] ACLU National Prison Project Director David Fathi, [25] and Christopher Zoukis, founder of PrisonEducation.com and PrisonerResource.com. [26] The bulk of PLN's content is written by current and former prisoners. As of 2017, Prison Legal News has published continuously for 27 years.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solitary confinement</span> Strict form of imprisonment

Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to discipline or separate incarcerated individuals who are considered to be security risks to other incarcerated individuals or prison staff, as well as those who violate facility rules or are deemed disruptive. However, it can also be used as protective custody for incarcerated individuals whose safety is threatened by other prisoners. This is employed to separate them from the general prison population and prevent injury or death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prison–industrial complex</span> Attribution of the U.S.s high incarceration rate to profit

The prison-industrial complex (PIC) is a term, coined after the "military-industrial complex" of the 1950s, used by scholars and activists to describe the many relationships between institutions of imprisonment and the various businesses that benefit from them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Incarceration in the United States</span> Form of punishment in United States law

Incarceration in the United States is one of the primary means of punishment for crime in the United States. In 2023, over five million people are under supervision by the criminal justice system, with nearly two million people incarcerated in state or federal prisons and local jails. The United States has the largest known prison population in the world. Prison populations grew dramatically beginning in the 1970s, but began a decline around 2009, dropping 25% by year-end 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation</span> Law enforcement agency in California, USA

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is the penal law enforcement agency of the government of California responsible for the operation of the California state prison and parole systems. Its headquarters are in Sacramento.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detention (imprisonment)</span> Process whereby a state or private citizen lawfully holds a person, removing their freedom

Detention is the process whereby a state or private citizen lawfully holds a person by removing their freedom or liberty at that time. This can be due to (pending) criminal charges preferred against the individual pursuant to a prosecution or to protect a person or property. Being detained does not always result in being taken to a particular area, either for interrogation or as punishment for a crime. An individual may be detained due a psychiatric disorder, potentially to treat this disorder involuntarily. They may also be detained for to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis.

Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism or rebellion, to control illegal immigration, or to otherwise protect the ruling regime.

There are cases, both documented and alleged, that involve the usage of torture by members of the United States government, military, law enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies, health care services, and other public organizations both in and out of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GEO Group</span> American institutional facilities company

The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO) is a publicly traded C corporation that invests in private prisons and mental health facilities in North America, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, the company's facilities include illegal immigration detention centers, minimum security detention centers, and mental-health and residential-treatment facilities. It also operates government-owned facilities pursuant to management contracts. As of December 31, 2021, the company managed and/or owned 86,000 beds at 106 facilities. In 2019, agencies of the federal government of the United States generated 53% of the company's revenues. Up until 2021 the company was designated as a real estate investment trust, at which time the board of directors elected to reclassify as a C corporation under the stated goal of reducing the company's debt.

In United States law, habeas corpus is a recourse challenging the reasons or conditions of a person's detention under color of law. The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. A persistent standard of indefinite detention without trial and incidents of torture led the operations of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to be challenged internationally as an affront to international human rights, and challenged domestically as a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments of the United States Constitution, including the right of petition for habeas corpus. On 19 February 2002, Guantanamo detainees petitioned in federal court for a writ of habeas corpus to review the legality of their detention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pre-trial detention</span> Detention after arrest and charge until a trial

Pre-trial detention, also known as jail, preventive detention, provisional detention, or remand, is the process of detaining a person until their trial after they have been arrested and charged with an offence. A person who is on remand is held in a prison or detention centre or held under house arrest. Varying terminology is used, but "remand" is generally used in common law jurisdictions and "preventive detention" elsewhere. However, in the United States, "remand" is rare except in official documents and "jail" is instead the main terminology. Detention before charge is commonly referred to as custody and continued detention after conviction is referred to as imprisonment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT people in prison</span> Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people in prison

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people face difficulties in prison such as increased vulnerability to sexual assault, other kinds of violence, and trouble accessing necessary medical care. While much of the available data on LGBTQ inmates comes from the United States, Amnesty International maintains records of known incidents internationally in which LGBTQ prisoners and those perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender have suffered torture, ill-treatment and violence at the hands of fellow inmates as well as prison officials.

Plata v. Newsom, Docket No. 4:01-cv-01351-JST, is a federal class action civil rights lawsuit alleging that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's (CDCR) medical services are inadequate and violate the Eighth Amendment, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. As a result of the case, the CDCR's prison medical conditions were found to be in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. After repeated violations of a stipulated agreement and order for injunctive relief, the CDCR was held in civil contempt and the medical health care system was placed in receivership.

Coleman v. Schwarzenegger, docket no. 2:90-cv-00520-LKK-JFM, is a federal class action civil rights lawsuit under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 alleging unconstitutional mental health care by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marsy's Law</span> California law regarding victim legal rights and parole boards

Marsy's Law, the California Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 2008, enacted by voters as Proposition 9 through the initiative process in the November 2008 general election, is an amendment to the state's constitution and certain penal code sections. The act protects and expands the legal rights of victims of crime to include 17 rights in the judicial process, including the right to legal standing, protection from the defendant, notification of all court proceedings, and restitution, as well as granting parole boards far greater powers to deny inmates parole. Critics allege that the law unconstitutionally restricts defendant's rights by allowing prosecutors to withhold exculpatory evidence under certain circumstances, and harms victims by restricting their rights to discovery, depositions, and interviews. Passage of this law in California led to the passage of similar laws in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio and Wisconsin, and efforts to pass similar laws in Hawaii, Iowa, Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, and Pennsylvania. In November 2017, Marsy's Law was found to be unconstitutional and void in its entirety by the Supreme Court of Montana for violating that state's procedure for amending the Montana Constitution. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reached the same conclusion as Montana under its own state constitution in 2021.

Manjaagiin Ichinnorov is a Mongolian civil rights activist, born in the Khovd Province of Western Mongolia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration detention in the United States</span>

The United States government holds tens of thousands of immigrants in detention under the control of Customs and Border Protection and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Immigrants are detained for unlawful entry to the United States, when their claims for asylum are received, and in the process of deportation and removal from the country. During Fiscal Year 2018, 396,448 people were booked into ICE custody: 242,778 of whom were detained by CBP and 153,670 by ICE's own enforcement operations. A daily average of 42,188 immigrants were held by ICE in that year. In addition, over twelve thousand immigrant children are housed by facilities under the supervision of the Office of Refugee Resettlement's program for Unaccompanied Alien Children. Prior to referral to these other agencies, the CBP holds immigrants at processing centers; between mid-May and mid-June 2019, it held between 14,000 and 18,000 immigrants.

<i>Brown v. Plata</i> 2011 United States Supreme Court case

Brown v. Plata, 563 U.S. 493 (2011), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States holding that a court-mandated population limit was necessary to remedy a violation of prisoners’ Eighth Amendment constitutional rights. Justice Kennedy filed the majority opinion of the 5 to 4 decision, affirming a decision by a three judge panel of the United States District Court for the Eastern and Northern Districts of California which had ordered California to reduce its prison population to 137.5% of design capacity within two years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justice Action</span> Australian not-for-profit organization

Justice Action is a not-for-profit community organisation based in Sydney, Australia. Justice Action focuses on abuses of authority in the criminal justice and mental health systems in Australia. Founded in 1979 as Prisoner Action, Justice Action is independent of the Australian government and is funded by voluntary donations and the work of the social enterprise, Breakout Media Communications. Justice Action's coordinator is Brett Collins, an ex-prisoner who began with the organisation in 1979 as co-founder. Alongside Collins, Justice Action is run by a team of interns who are university students in law and other degrees.

Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that campaigns on behalf of prisoner rights across the United States. The organization advocates for the rights of people in "state and federal prisons, local jails, immigration detention centers, civil commitment facilities, Bureau of Indian Affairs jails, juvenile facilities and military prisons." Some of the major focuses of the HRDC include work on free speech issues, government transparency and accountability, as well as opposition to the private prison industry.

<i>Prison Legal News v. Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections</i>

Prison Legal News v. Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, 890 F.3d 954, was a case before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in which the Court held that a prison's ban of the Prison Legal News (PLN) monthly magazine did not violate the First Amendment, but its failure to give notice as required by its own rules violated the Fourteenth Amendment. In doing so, it affirmed the decision of the District Court from which the appeal came. PLN appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on just the First Amendment issue, but the Supreme Court denied their petition for certiorari, declining to hear the case.

References

  1. 1 2 "FAQ". Prison Legal News. Archived from the original on November 3, 2021.
  2. ↑ Caldwell, Leah (June 15, 2006). "The Decline and Fall of the Prison Press". Archived from the original on November 3, 2021.
  3. ↑ 2PLN May 2010, Vol. 21, No. 5 page 3 https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2010/may/15/twenty-years-of-pln-in-court/ (archived 2018-07-12 at the Wayback Machine)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Human Rights Defense Center. "2014 Annual Report" (PDF). p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 20, 2015.
  5. ↑ "PLN Book Store". Archived from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  6. ↑ Zoukis, Christopher (January 22, 2017). Federal Prison Handbook: The Definitive Guide to Surviving the Federal Bureau of Prisons (1st ed.). Middle Street Publishing. ISBN   9780692799734.
  7. ↑ Zoukis, Christopher (March 14, 2018). Federal Prison Handbook: The Definitive Guide to Surviving the Federal Bureau of Prisons. ASIN   0692799737.
  8. ↑ Mead v. ISRB, USDC (W.D. Wash.), Case No. 3:94-cv-00529.
  9. ↑ Humanists of Washington v. Lehman, USDC (W.D. Wash.), Case No. 3:97-cv-05499-FDB-JKA.
  10. ↑ PLN v. Crawford, USDC (D. Nev.), Case No. 3:00-cv-00373-HDM-RAM.
  11. ↑ PLN v. Hood, USDC (D. Col.), Case No. 1:03-cv-02516.
  12. ↑ PLN v. Schwarzenegger, 561 F.Supp.2d 1095 (N.D. Cal. 2008).
  13. ↑ Santo, Alysia (July 29, 2012). "Words land behind bars". Times Union (Albany) . Archived from the original on April 11, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Prison Legal News Settles Censorship Suit Against Berkeley County Detention Center". National Police Accountability Project. National Lawyers Guild. January 1, 2012. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016.
  15. ↑ UNITED STATES' BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFF PRISON LEGAL NEWS' AND HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE CENTER'S MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION, Department of Justice, archived 2015-09-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  16. ↑ PLN v. U.S Dept. of Homeland Sec. Case No. C14-479 MJP.
  17. ↑ [ dead link ]
  18. ↑ "Human Rights Watchdog Applauds FCC for Investigating Price Gouging of U.S. Prisoners". Afro.com . November 15, 2012. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013.
  19. ↑ , Mother Jones, May 2012. Archived 2012-05-13 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ↑ Abu-Jamal, Mumia, "Prison Legal News at 15", Prison Legal News, July 2005, Vol. 16, No.7, page 11. Archived 2021-11-03 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ↑ Chomsky, Noam, "Drug Policy as Social Control", Prison Legal News, May 1997, Vol. 8, No. 5, page 12. Archived 2021-10-06 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ↑ Gottschalk, Marie, "Days Without End: Life Sentences and Penal Reform", Prison Legal News, Jan. 2012, Vol.23, No. 1, page 1. Archived 2021-08-28 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ↑ Wagner, Peter, "Momentum Builds to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering", Prison Legal News, Dec. 2012, Vol. 23, No. 12, page 1. Archived 2021-02-28 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ↑ Spector, Donald, "Everything Revolves Around Overcrowding: The State of California's Prisons", Prison Legal News, Aug. 2010, Vol. 21, No. 8, page 1. Archived 2021-11-03 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ↑ Fathi, David, "The New Asylum: Supermax as Warehouse for the Mentally Ill", Prison Legal News, July 2007, Vol. 18, No. 7, page 1. Archived 2021-11-03 at the Wayback Machine
  26. ↑ Zoukis, Christopher (March 14, 2018). "Zoukis Prisoner Resources". PrisonerResource.com.
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