Prison Legal News Published by the Human Rights Defense Center

VOL. 28 No. 10 October 2017 ISSN 1075-7678 Dedicated to Protecting Human Rights

No-show Cops and Dysfunctional Courts Keep Cook County Jail Prisoners Waiting Years for a Trial Chicago police missed more than 11,000 court dates since 2010, causing months or years of unnecessary delays for prisoners awaiting trial. by Spencer Woodman, Chicago Reader

une 25, 2012, was a terrible day for night, Robinson repaired to his girlfriend’s Jail. After entering a guilty plea, he says, JJermaine Robinson. Overall, life was good house on Rhodes Avenue to hang out with he spent the rest of his teens downstate in – the 21-year-old Washington Park resident friends and to see his one-year-old daugh- the Vienna Correctional Center. In 2011, had been studying music management at ter, he says. But just after midnight, he says, Robinson says, he spent another several Columbia College and was a few weeks several Chicago police officers rammed months in prison after being caught with a into a job working as a janitor at a nearby down the side door of the house and burst small amount of marijuana. Boys & Girls Club. But his 13-year-old into the living room. But upon his release later that year, neighbor had been killed by random gunfire Police would later say that they had Robinson says he was striving toward a dif- the previous day, and Robinson spent the spotted Robinson dashing from the front ferent path. He’d taken two courses in music evening at an emotional memorial service. porch into the house holding a revolver. management at Columbia that spring, and After the service ended around mid- According to police reports, the officers he hoped to return. His dream, he said, was found a handgun in the house, which they to cultivate the talent of musicians he knew claimed belonged to Robinson. They ar- across the south side. His girlfriend was Inside rested him and two other young men. At seven months pregnant with a second child, the precinct, in a cinderblock interrogation and the future seemed to hold promise. From the Editor 14 room, Robinson says he told police he was The arrest at the house in Washington Mississippi DOC Bribery Scheme 16 only visiting the home and knew nothing Park marked a sudden end to Robinson’s about the gun. hopes. He feared his past convictions would Tattoo Recognition Technology 20 But by the time of his arrest, Robinson cast him in a suspicious light in front of a Electronic Monitoring Widespread 24 was well acquainted with Cook County’s judge and jury. criminal justice system. He had grown “My case was basically my word against EPA Recognizes Prisons 28 up poor in the Ida B. Wells Homes in the police’s word,” he says. “So by my be- Parole Remains Elusive in VA 32 Bronzeville, where his great-grandmother, ing a convicted felon, my credibility was a retired CTA bus driver, struggled to raise already shot.” Waging War on the Poor 34 him, his mother and a dozen other grand- In the early hours of the morning, Corizon Loses IN DOC Contract 44 children. “It was sometimes seven of us in Robinson recalls, he was transferred from one bed,” Robinson recalls. At times he’d the police precinct to the Cook County Jail, Prison Phones and Detroit Pistons 48 skip school because he feared that his stu- a 96-acre complex of bleak concrete cell Prison Gerrymandering Rulings 52 dent uniforms were so smelly and unclean blocks stretching along California Avenue they’d draw derision from his classmates. on the southwest side. Stinging 7th Circuit Dissent 56 By his midteens, he’d started deal- Although no court documents indicate Victim-centered Investigations 60 ing cocaine and heroin, and at 17, he was that the state had any physical evidence arrested on drug and weapons charges. linking Robinson to the gun, a judge denied News in Brief 63 Although still a minor, he was charged with his request for electronic monitoring and a felony and booked into the Cook County set his bond at $7,500 – the amount he’d The Habeas Citebook (2nd edition) by Brandon Sample and Alissa Hull

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Date of Birth ______/______/______FILL OUT APPLICATION AND RETURN VIA MAIL MAILING ADDRESS Incarcerated Since ______/______/______PO Box 4315 Lynchburg, VA 24502 October 2017 2 Prison Legal News Cook County Prisoners Wait (cont.) percentage than the jail’s overall popula- Prison Legal News tion. Only 11.5 percent of Cook County prisoners are white, as are a mere 7 percent a publication of the have to pay in order to be released from jail of its long-term pretrial detainees. (The Human Rights Defense Center www.humanrightsdefensecenter.org and resume work and school as he awaited racial breakdown of the jail’s population is EDITOR trial. It was a sum neither Robinson nor already strikingly disproportionate to the Paul Wright his family had at their disposal. Robinson’s county’s population as a whole, which is MANAGING EDITOR family set out on the first of numerous 42.6 percent white.) Alex Friedmann failed attempts to raise the money while Most prisoners awaiting trial for mul- COLUMNISTS Robinson stayed in jail waiting for his case tiple years in Cook County face charges Michael Cohen, Kent Russell, to be resolved. for violent crimes such as murder, rape Mumia Abu-Jamal As Robinson reacclimated to life or assault. But, according to the sheriff ’s CONTRIBUTING WRITERS behind bars, he noticed something that department, nearly half of them have been Matthew Clarke, John Dannenberg, dismayed him: a few of the prisoners he’d held not because they’ve been deemed too Derek Gilna, Gary Hunter, met during his first spate in jail as a teenager dangerous for release, but simply because David Reutter, Joe Watson, Mark Wilson, Christopher Zoukis were still there now, awaiting trial. they couldn’t post bond. (The problem of advertising director “There were guys there still fighting pretrial prisoners being held because they Susan Schwartzkopf their cases from when I first came to the can’t afford even small bond amounts is so advertising coordinator county in 2007,” Robinson said. “These guys widespread that Cook County sheriff Tom Judith Cohen were in there for six, seven years.” Dart has proposed abolishing the state’s LAYOUT He didn’t yet know it, but Robinson cash bond system altogether.) According Lansing Scott was about to join their ranks. Although to a recent report from the Chicago-based HRDC litigation project formally innocent in the eyes of the law, he journalism nonprofit Injustice Watch, less Sabarish Neelakanta – General Counsel would spend 1,507 days in jail – more than than 3 percent of the jail’s population is Daniel Marshall, Masimba Mutamba, four years – awaiting trial for the weapon- serving a post-conviction sentence; the rest Deborah Golden – Staff Attorneys possession charges. are still awaiting trial or sentencing. PLN is a monthly publication. The Sixth Amendment of the Con- But poverty isn’t the only cause of pro- stitution grants anyone accused of a crime longed pretrial detention, our investigation A one year subscription is $30 for prisoners, the right to a speedy trial. But a 2014 New finds. Dozens of attorneys, court adminis- $35 for individuals, and $90 for lawyers and Yorker profile of Kalief Browder, who was trators and prisoners interviewed for this institutions. Prisoner donations of less than $30 will be pro-rated at $3.00/issue. Do not incarcerated as a teenager in New York’s story – plus a highly critical report from send less than $18.00 at a time. All foreign Rikers Island jail and held for three years the Department of Justice – paint a picture subscriptions are $100 sent via airmail. PLN awaiting trial, catapulted the issue of pre- of a court system plagued by unnecessary accepts credit card orders by phone. New trial detention into the national spotlight delays. Court systems around the country subscribers please allow four to six weeks for the delivery of your first issue. Confir- and demonstrated that this constitutional are crippled by overwhelmed public de- mation of receipt of donations cannot be mandate isn’t always enough. In June fenders and overscheduled courtrooms, but made without an SASE. PLN is a section 501 2015, two years after his release, Browder Cook County defendants also face judges (c)(3) non-profit organization. Donations are tax deductible. Send contributions to: committed suicide at age 22. In April of and police commanders who fail to ensure that year, the New York Times reported that that officers appear in court when needed Prison Legal News PO Box 1151 Browder’s case wasn’t an isolated oc- and a state crime lab so overburdened it Lake Worth, FL 33460 currence. Of the approximately 10,000 can take up to a year to turn around basic 561-360-2523 prisoners at Rikers at that time, more than DNA samples. [email protected] www.prisonlegalnews.org 400 people had been awaiting trial for at Perhaps most troubling, some defense least two years. attorneys who choose to invoke Illinois’ PLN reports on legal cases and news stories Now, a joint investigation by the Chica- speedy trial law – which requires the state to related to prisoner rights and prison condi- tions of confinement. PLN welcomes all go Reader and the Investigative Fund at the seat a jury within 120 days for defendants in news clippings, legal summaries and leads Nation Institute has found that although custody – claim to have faced prosecutorial on people to contact related to those issues. Cook County Jail has fewer prisoners than or judicial retaliation. Article submissions should be sent to - The Rikers did then – roughly 8,000 – it holds The Cook County state’s attorney’s Editor - at the above address. We cannot more than double the number of prison- office, which oversees more than 1,500 return submissions without an SASE. Check our website or send an SASE for writer ers awaiting trial for multiple years. More prosecutors and administrative employees, guidelines. than 1,000 Cook County prisoners have declined to be interviewed for this story and Advertising offers are void where prohib- been awaiting trial for more than two years, didn’t respond to a list of questions. In a ited by law and constitutional detention according to the Cook County sheriff ’s de- statement, the office of Cook County circuit facility rules. partment. In some extreme cases, some have court chief judge Timothy Evans said that PLN is indexed by the Alternative Press Index, been held without trial for more than eight a complicated host of factors contributes to Criminal Justice Periodicals Index and the Department of Justice Index. years. Minorities account for 93 percent of trial delays and that the office had launched these long-waiting prisoners, an even higher a series of initiatives to study the problem Prison Legal News 3 October 2017 Cook County Prisoners Wait (cont.) take pleas just because they want to get out covered by steel plates. As the sun began of jail,” says Max Suchan, a private defense to rise, he would arrive at the courthouse attorney and a founder of the Chicago in west-suburban Bridgeview, where he says and implement best practices. Community Bond Fund. he would wait with dozens of other prison- Attorneys agree that complex criminal “That,” he says, “happens in Cook ers in a cramped basement holding area. cases may legitimately take a lot of time – County every day.” As noon approached, Robinson would be sometimes years – to adjudicate. Although formally innocent in the eyes called to appear before a judge. Each time, Nevertheless, the consequences for of the law, Jermaine Robinson spent more the hearing would last for only a minute defendants of such lengthy trial delays are than four years awaiting trial on weapon- or two, Robinson recalls, before the judge severe, and raise troubling questions about possession charges. would decide, for an array of reasons, that the unequal application of justice in Cook Believing the state had no substantial his case wasn’t ready to move forward. County. Extended trial delays deprive de- evidence against him, Robinson hoped “Then it would be another continu- fendants of their liberty for months or years that his case would be tossed out quickly ance,” Robinson says – and another month as they await trial, causing them to lose jobs, – perhaps in time for him to return to his or two in jail. incur debt, fall behind on schooling and studies at Columbia that fall. But as regis- As he faced continuance after con- endure separation from loved ones. tration came and went, Robinson remained tinuance, Robinson tried to readjust to life Perhaps more disturbingly, numerous in jail, struggling to get his defense off the inside the jail. His cell was infested with spi- studies have shown that lengthy trial delays ground. His family hired a private attorney, ders and cockroaches, he says, that crawled mean defendants are more likely to plead then began falling behind on payments; this on him at night and made it difficult for him guilty and less likely to be acquitted at set off several months of uncertainty about to sleep. Yet jail’s greatest indignities, Rob- trial as compared with those able to bond who exactly would represent him, accord- inson says, came from people. To Robinson, out of jail. More than one former Cook ing to the Cook County public defender’s the jail felt like a concentrated version of the County prisoner said that after being held office, which took up Robinson’s case in rivalries and violence of Chicago’s streets. under pretrial detention for years, they’d early 2013. “They take those old-fashioned sham- concluded that their only way out of jail Roughly once every month or two, poo spray bottles and make a concoction was to plead guilty for crimes they maintain guards would wake Robinson up at 4:30 with their feces, urine and all kinds of other they didn’t commit. AM, put him in shackles and lead him stuff, and spray it on people or throw it on “Defendants are much more likely to onto a bus whose windows were mostly people,” he says of his fellow prisoners. “I

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October 2017 4 Prison Legal News guess it’s the next best weapon to a gun in her son’s prolonged trial delays. Robinson 2016 arrived, Bruno was in court, according Cook County Jail. They do it to disrespect had spent four months in jail as his public to records – but in a different courtroom, people; it makes you feel real low.” defender fought to obtain personnel records apparently on a different case. This time, When he was drawn into tussles, on his arresting officer, Anthony Bruno, one of Robinson’s witnesses also failed to guards would send him into “the hole” – records that his judge then took months to appear; she had forgotten the court date solitary confinement – for weeks at a time, review. Before that, Robinson had waited altogether. Costin issued another subpoena Robinson recalls. There, he was alone, with five months just for the court to hear, and for Bruno to appear. At the following hear- nothing to distract him from the incessant reject, a motion to reduce his bond. ing almost two months later, Bruno was screams and moans of prisoners in neigh- Although she believed that the facts of again absent. Costin issued yet another boring isolation cells. (According to the the case were going Robinson’s way, Weekly subpoena. Five weeks later, Bruno again Cook County sheriff ’s office, typically 25 faced a problem that has particularly vexed failed to appear. to 30 percent of Cook County Jail prison- many Cook County defendants: although “It’s been prolonging and prolonging ers suffer from mental illness.) Periodically, under subpoena to testify at a hearing on a and prolonging,” Weekly said. “They want his neighboring prisoners would cover their pretrial motion to quash the arrest, Bruno to get [Robinson] tired of being in that aw- cells with their own feces, filling the block had repeatedly missed court dates, causing ful place and get him to admit to something with a smell so intense that it would make months more delays. that he did not do.” the guards vomit. Once, Robinson says, he In December 2015, Robinson’s public Robinson marveled at how the state saw a shackled prisoner attempt suicide by defender, Rosemary Costin, issued a sub- handled Bruno’s absences. throwing himself over a stairwell banister. poena warning Bruno that his failure to “Had it been the other way around, As Robinson’s case meandered through appear at the next hearing, scheduled two and I’d been subpoenaed to court and didn’t the court system, weeks turned into months, months from then, would result in him be- show up,” Robinson told me, “there would and then a whole year passed, yet he wasn’t ing held in contempt of court. Still, when be a warrant out for my arrest.” any closer to trial. that court date arrived, Bruno was nowhere In 2005, the U.S. Department of Jus- When I reached out to Robinson’s fam- to be seen. tice, with American University, released a ily in January 2016, he had been awaiting Robinson’s judge, Thomas Davy, set a study into how the Cook County Criminal trial for nearly four years. His great-grand- new court date six weeks later, to try again. Court manages felony cases. Primarily mother had passed away in 2008, leaving Costin issued another subpoena for Bruno seeking to understand the relationship his mother, Lasheena Weekly, to battle to appear. When that date in late March between lapses in courtroom efficiency

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Prison Legal News 5 October 2017 Cook County Prisoners Wait (cont.) trators echoed Coyne’s concern over police Plaisance near the University of Chicago witnesses failing to appear. campus. Brown says that the failure of a “Lately, it’s worse than it’s ever been,” police officer to appear at his trial was part and overcrowding in the jail, the report adds Bill Murphy, a private defense attorney of why he pleaded guilty in January 2016, found that the court system suffered from who’s been practicing in Chicago for nearly despite privately maintaining his inno- “a ‘legal culture’ that facilitates unnecessary 50 years. cence, in order to free himself from jail. In delay in case processing.” A major driver of In fact, the backlogged dockets of exchange for his plea, prosecutors allowed this, according to the study, was startlingly Cook County’s overburdened courtrooms Brown’s 488 days of pretrial detention to simple: as in Robinson’s case, police officers mean that, when an officer fails to appear at count toward his sentence, which would were continually failing to show up for court a hearing, it can take months to try again. also include several weeks in state prison. hearings that hinged on their presence as “It’s rarely like, ‘OK, let’s meet next (The CPD declined to comment on Brown’s witnesses. week,’” says Michael Bianucci, a private case, and a spokesperson for the University Police absenteeism not only runs afoul defense attorney who has worked in Cook of Chicago Police Department, which as- of state laws meant to ensure that witnesses County’s criminal courts for 26 years. “No, sisted Brown’s arresting officers, said that appear in court; it also violates the Chicago you’re often talking three months later. If its officers appeared at all of Brown’s court Police Department’s own rules of conduct, that happens a couple of times, nine months dates.) which specifically prohibit officers from is gone. It’s unbelievable.” “They told me the police weren’t there, failing to report promptly when called “These are not witnesses like other wit- and they weren’t ready for trial, and I was to court. Yet the study noted that police nesses,” says Keith Ahmad, a top supervisor looking at, I think, a 94-day continuance,” absenteeism “does not appear to generate in the Cook County public defender’s office. Brown says. “I couldn’t sit any longer, man. any sanctioning” of the officers themselves. The court is “very reluctant” to issue war- I just took the plea.” Daniel Coyne, a defense attorney and rants for police witnesses who repeatedly Twenty-nine-year-old Chante John- clinical law professor at Chicago-Kent fail to come to court, Ahmad says – warrants son has been awaiting trial for more than College of Law at the Illinois Institute of that would often be standard issue for other five years – 2,040 days as of press time Technology, confirmed the DOJ findings on witnesses who fail to appear. “I’ve never seen [in November 2016] – facing charges in no-show officers in a 2007 paper. a warrant issued for a police officer.” connection with the armed robbery of a More than a decade after the DOJ In interviews, several other long- liquor store in the suburb of Blue Island. study was published, little appears to have serving pretrial prisoners and their families His family cites no-show police as one improved in Cook County when it comes cited police truancy as a factor in prolonged of many factors delaying his trial; court to reliably getting officers to show up to jail stays. Some also said it had contributed records document multiple notations of testify. Officers failing to appear in court to a feeling of pressure to give up on getting “witness ordered to appear,” though they continues to be a stubborn contributor to their day in court and simply enter a guilty don’t specify which witness. pretrial delay. plea in order to return home from jail. “What about Chante’s right to a speedy “I haven’t seen any change in this prob- Falandis Brown, a former security trial, what about the prosecutor proving and lem,” says Coyne, who mainly represents guard, spent 16 months in Cook County presenting a case without all these holes in defendants facing serious felony charges. jail awaiting trial on a burglary charge, it?” his grandmother, Gloria Johnson, asked “It really hasn’t been getting much better.” accused of taking a GPS device from a in a 2015 letter to chief judge Timothy Defense attorneys and court adminis- Ford Explorer parked along the Midway Evans. “They have taken four and a half

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October 2017 6 Prison Legal News years of his life away, and it’s like nothing the department doesn’t distinguish in its Leaks, who on April 20, 2012, was arrested to them.” record keeping between instances when in North Lawndale for having allegedly Meanwhile, in late July 2016, Bruno the officer has permission to be absent and stolen two semiautomatic rifles the previous finally appeared in court in Robinson’s case. instances where he or she does not. day. The rifles and other gear, it turned out, Robinson says that, under question- “Whether it be an excused absence, had belonged to then-CPD SWAT team ing from lawyers, Bruno provided answers their presence was required in another member Johnny Quinones, who says he’d regarding Robinson’s arrest that left Judge courtroom at that time, maybe the officer left them in the car. In Leaks’ arrest report, Davy visibly unsatisfied. After Bruno’s tes- wasn’t notified etc. There are a number of police allege that they found Leaks and his timony, Davy granted Robinson’s motion reasons” why an officer might legitimately codefendant, Michael Calvin, in possession to quash arrest, meaning the police had no miss a court date, Malinowski said in a of the stolen guns. grounds to take him into custody in the first statement. By the time Leaks had spent six place. Two weeks later, the state dropped all Still, Malinowski says, the department months in jail, he was already fed up and charges against Robinson. After being held “takes court absentees very seriously,” and filed a complaint with the state. In the letter, in jail for more than 1,500 days, Robinson investigates each instance. Leaks argued that his prolonged pretrial was free to leave. But when asked what portion of detention appeared to be a tactic on the part The Reader attempted to contact Bruno these absences had been investigated and of the prosecution that his public defender for comment, both directly and through found to be impermissible, and what the was doing little to oppose. the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, the consequences were for officers found in “It’s only [an] effort to drag their case police union. Bruno didn’t respond, and the violation of the department’s court policy, out in hopes of getting a plea,” Leaks wrote. FOP said it was unable to reach him. Malinowski declined to comment. “My due process is being violated.” CPD also declined to make Bruno Minorities make up 57.4% of Cook But for Leaks, who was never able to available, but provided a statement to County’s population but account for 93% afford his $30,000 bond, this was only the the Reader about the larger issue of police of prisoners waiting more than two years in beginning. absenteeism. Between January 2010 and Cook County Jail. After more than three and a half years August 2, 2016, CPD recorded 11,698 In extreme cases, defendants have awaiting trial, Leaks sent me a letter. Over instances of officers failing to appear in spent years in pretrial detention waiting the past two years, one obstacle had pre- court, according to department spokesman for their arresting officer to appear in court. vented him from getting his case to trial, Sergeant Michael J. Malinowski, although This was the case for 56-year-old Kermit he says: Leaks’ arresting officers repeatedly

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S.A.S.E. to: TDC # 503730 WriteAPrisoner.com PO Box 10- PLN Edgewater, FL 32132 USA Write, email or call with your inquiries to: PO Box 188 Georgetown, TX 78627 Proud member of the Better Business Bureau of Central Florida & the Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce. BBB *Our website traffic can be independently verified at www.quantcast.com/writeaprisoner.com 512-713-9102 [email protected] ACCREDITED BUSINESS Prison Legal News 7 October 2017 Cook County Prisoners Wait (cont.) with leukemia. ordered to appear,” indicating that a hear- He was on the brink, he wrote me, of ing has been postponed while a no-show admitting guilt to a crime he still insists he witness is subpoenaed. failed to appear at more than a dozen of didn’t commit – known among prisoners On January 26, 2016, after two years his pretrial hearings, setting off a seemingly as “copping out” – in order to free himself of these circular court appearances, I sat in endless cycle of continuances. Court records from jail. Judge Kevin Sheehan’s courtroom to watch document 15 continuances after unnamed “I wake up every day wanting to [plea],” one of Leaks’ hearings. It turned out to be witnesses failed to appear. (More than a Leaks wrote, “but my first mind tells me typical. Leaks entered in shackles, and less dozen officers are listed on Leaks’ arrest don’t cop out for something you know you than a minute later – after an inaudible report, but because there are no subpoenas didn’t do.” exchange took place between Sheehan, in Leaks’ available court records and the An attorney in the Cook County Leaks’ defense attorney, and the prosecu- Cook County state’s attorney’s office -de public defender’s office, who agreed to tor – Leaks was led back to jail without clined to comment, the Reader was unable speak on condition of anonymity because having said a word. In courtroom logs, the to determine which officer or officers had he feared that speaking on the record could hearing is recorded as yet another “witnesses failed to appear in court.) cause judges to disfavor his cases, said that ordered to appear.” Sheehan set Leaks’ In November, in a letter to the public Leaks’ “storied past” – a criminal record that next court date for eight weeks hence, in defender’s office, Leaks again pleaded for included convictions for drug charges and the spring. help. His court-appointed attorney seemed manslaughter – would pose a tough hurdle That June, after Leaks’ arresting officers unable to get his case moving, he said. at trial for a defendant many jurors would finally came to court, the state offered Leaks “Could you please! have a talk with my assume was guilty. The attorney confirmed a deal: If he would plead guilty to the state’s public defender about assigning her some that there had been an unusually long wait charges, the years he’d served in jail would help?” Leaks implored the state. for Leaks’ police officer to appear in court. account for his entire sentence, and he Over the span of his lengthy pretrial “We’re trying to get him in,” the at- could walk free. So, on June 23, after more incarceration, Leaks’ life had changed sig- torney said. “He isn’t coming to court, and than four years of resisting, Leaks entered nificantly. He had been beaten by jail guards that delays the case, but it’s not sufficient a guilty plea. (His codefendant, Michael and forced to sleep on a filth-covered cell to dismiss the case.” Calvin, with whom Leaks was arrested in floor for weeks at a time, he alleged in a fed- “When you can’t get an officer to come 2012, is still incarcerated in Cook County eral complaint. And he had been diagnosed to court, you have to keep trying,” he added. Jail awaiting trial.) “Nobody is issuing bench warrants for cops The Reader attempted to contact all of who don’t show up.” Leaks’ arresting officers for comment, both Do you have diabetes? Starting on February 11, 2014, Leaks’ directly and through the FOP. They didn’t Is your diabetes under control? case entered a spiral of repetition. That date respond to our requests. marked the beginning of hearing after hear- Upon his release in late June 2016, Living with diabetes in prison is very difficult. Order your FREE copy of Prisoner Diabetes ing recorded in Cook County courtroom Leaks moved in with a lifelong friend, Ray Handbook: A Guide to Managing Diabetes — logs with the bare notation: “Witnesses Yarbrough, who says he attended dozens for Prisoners, by Prisoners. of Leaks’ hearings. They had another friend Order your FREE copy and start managing who owned a trucking company across your diabetes and your health. town, and Yarbrough and Leaks talked about going to school together to get truck- ORDER FORM Fill out the information below, and driving certification to take advantage of the send this order form to: company’s available jobs. Prison Legal News But life on the outside proved difficult PO Box 11512420 for Leaks. The jail had sent him home with Lake Worth, FL 33460 West Brattleboro, VT 05303 only a week’s worth of medicine for his

Name leukemia, Yarbrough recalls, and, after this ran out, Leaks struggled to obtain refills on ID number his own. As his days without medication ticked by, Leaks began complaining of pain Facility The Best 500+ Non-Profit throughout his body. Just over a week after Leaks was re- Address Organizations for Prisoners & Their Families (4th edition) leased, he was found dead at a friend’s house Only $17.99 in North Lawndale. According to county records, Leaks had overdosed on a mixture City State Zip Order from: Prison Legal News of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl. PO Box 1151, Lake Worth, FL 33460 “He was in a tremendous amount of 561-360-2523 pain,” Yarbrough said. “I think that led him Add $6 shipping for all book orders under $50. to go get the drugs.” Handbook made possible by the Southern Poverty Law Center Although the failure of police to appear October 2017 8 Prison Legal News in court was central to Leaks’ frustrations, winkle, to reduce its current backlog. lab more than 11 months to conduct DNA for many defendants, it’s just one of an array “The total ISP Lab backlog statistics tests and produce reports. of factors that drag their cases on for years. have decreased each year for the last five At trial in December 2015, Coyne’s Several attorneys cited the Illinois years,” Boerwinkle said, citing a drop client was finally acquitted, he says. How- State Police’s overburdened crime lab as from more than 17,000 total backlogged ever, “he lost five and a half years of his life another routine contributor to unnecessary cases pending in 2012 – including not only waiting to go to trial.” delays. The problem is so bad that a March biological evidence, but evidence related to Several defense attorneys also argue 2016 investigation by the Chicago Sun- drugs, guns, prints, tracks and other matters that the state drags its heels during the Times revealed a backlog of nearly 3,100 – to 12,568 at the end of 2015. (The Sun- discovery process, during which time the cases with biological evidence – such as hair, Times found that the subset of cases with defense’s hands are tied. Going to trial blood or semen – that were either untested biological evidence waiting more than 30 without the ability to review the state’s full or in the process of being tested more than days had actually risen by 19 percent from set of evidence would imperil any defen- 30 days after they had been submitted to 2015 to 2016.) dant. Sometimes prosecutors take more the lab, up from just 130 in 2009. Still, state crime lab backlogs have than a year to complete discovery, even for The state often takes months to turn remained severe enough that some Il- defendants awaiting trial in jail, according around DNA evidence for serious cases linois cities have recently delegated to several attorneys. involving murder and rape, says Eric Bell, a funding to outsource their evidence testing “After a number of years of practicing criminal defense attorney who has practiced to private firms rather than wait hundreds in Chicago, I thought that was the norm,” in Cook County for nearly 20 years. “It can of days for results from the state. says defense attorney Rodney Carr, “until take more than a year.” Daniel Coyne, the clinical professor I started going to seminars in California In an e-mail to the Reader, the Illinois and defense attorney, says he recently rep- or other jurisdictions and hearing how State Police defended its handling of the resented a man who had been held for five quickly things are wrapped up, go to trial backlog, asserting that a state law passed and a half years awaiting trial for murder. and discovery is tendered.” in 2010 mandating the testing of rape kits (Through Coyne, the client declined to In October 2013, Timothy Hooper, from old investigations had contributed to comment, and Coyne declined to share his now 64, was arrested in his car and charged significant delays. As those kits have been client’s name or records, saying he wanted with more than 100 counts of identity theft: cleared, the ISP is working, according to to protect him from reputational harm.) police alleged that he’d been making fake agency spokesperson Sergeant Matt Boer- Coyne says in that case, it took the state IDs. Hooper claimed that he was innocent

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Prison Legal News 9 October 2017 Cook County Prisoners Wait (cont.) state keeps saying they’re still getting stuff disappear, die, or their memories can fade,” together. Don’t they have a time period says Darren O’Brien, a former prosecutor they have to meet? Or can they just go on?’ who spent 30 years in the Cook County of all charges but, unable to afford his It didn’t make sense to me. I was saying, ‘I state’s attorney’s office. $50,000 bond (later reduced to $25,000), only have so much time, why don’t they only But O’Brien, now a private defense he was booked into the Cook County Jail. have so much time?’” attorney, insists that defendants frustrated Hooper has an extensive criminal The chief judge’s office declined to by long waits in jail can request a trial using record dating back to the early 70s, includ- make the judge in Hooper’s case available the state’s speedy trial law. ing, most recently, a 2010 fraud case in for comment. “The fact is that the defendant holds Michigan. He’s also an army veteran who Court records show that, in December the key to how long he stays locked up,” he suffers from degenerative arthritis, and 2013, Hooper fired his public defender and says. “Because if he says those words, then his arrest came after his wife, Darryl, had began representing himself. (In a statement, 100 percent of the time the case will go to undergone a double mastectomy for breast the Cook County public defender’s office trial or be dismissed.” cancer – a time when Hooper said they said it was unlikely that Hooper’s attorney Numerous other defense attorneys had come to rely heavily on each other. At would’ve encouraged him to plead to all interviewed for this story, however, say that first, Hooper says, he believed there had 105 charges.) it’s almost impossible for the defense to been some mistake, and hoped to be out Then, in May 2015, after Hooper had demand trial without jeopardizing a client’s of jail within days. But weeks turned into spent 18 months in jail, the state’s case be- interests. Once the defense has demanded months as Hooper waited for the state to gan to falter. Hooper still doesn’t know what trial, judges may not allow defense attorneys turn over any evidence against him to his exactly changed, but suddenly, in the middle to pursue the pretrial motions that are often public defender. of that month, prosecutors dropped 104 of essential to get a defendant’s case dismissed, Every so often, Hooper and his lawyer the 105 charges against him, according to to get the charges reduced or to properly would meet, but instead of discussing his court records. With his wife struggling at prepare for trial. defense, Hooper claims she would encour- home, Hooper says he felt he had no choice And even if defendants do get to a age him to accept the prosecution’s offer but to plead guilty to his final charge – an point where they are ready to demand a and plead guilty to all 105 felony charges admission he claims was false – in order to speedy trial, they can potentially expect in exchange for a reduced sentence, which return home to help her. In December 2015, blowback from the prosecution or judges, he recalls was more than ten years. Insisting after serving seven months in the Centralia according to several defense attorneys who on his innocence, Hooper refused. Correctional Center, he arrived home. practice in Cook County. “I’m 64 years old,” he said. “That’s like Such delays are not always the fault of “Demanding trial is like calling the a bullet in the head.” the state, some attorneys argue. As cases state’s attorney’s mother a bad name,” says A year passed as Hooper waited in jail. stretch on, defendants sometimes run out the public defender who requested ano- Hearing after hearing ended in continu- of money to pay a private attorney, neces- nymity. “Prosecutors take it very personally ances as the prosecutor repeated that the sitating a potentially time-consuming when you demand trial.” A trial demand state needed more time to gather and pro- switch to a court-appointed attorney, as means that an already busy prosecutor cess evidence, Hooper says. Court records happened with Robinson. Although there must put everything else aside and focus show that Hooper made two motions for has been little documentation of this in on preparing for trial, he explained, or else discovery. Cook County, intentional delays by defense face potentially serious repercussions for “The judge told me to not fight the attorneys have been detailed on the part of exceeding the term. case without having all of my discovery,” certain defense attorneys in Bronx criminal “It’s considered the nuclear option,” Hooper recalls. “So I said, ‘Your honor, it’s courts. In fact, defense attorneys may ben- Coyne says. “In my 32 years of practice, been two years – I’m ready for trial, but the efit from delays, since “state witnesses can I can count on two hands the number of

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October 2017 10 Prison Legal News times I’ve demanded.” “I have seen that happen.” on this culture of disregarding the urgency One of the stipulations in Illinois’ “The speedy trial is more of a fiction of how long cases take,” Suchan says. speedy trial law is that, once a defendant than anything,” said Murphy, the private de- He also emphasizes that judges have begins the 120-day clock on a trial demand, fense attorney, who says prosecutors’ moves a disproportionate influence over the pace the defendant and his or her attorney must to thwart a trial demand are inevitable. “It at which a case moves through the system. appear in court for all scheduled appear- just can’t be done.” “The judges set the schedules for the court- ances; if a defense attorney misses a single Leaning into a small conference table room,” he says. “They can say: this is when court date, the speedy trial clock can stop. in his fifth floor corner office – with its something must happen.” To prevent these constitutional demands floor-to-ceiling tinted windows overlook- In charge of a judicial bench that over- from advancing, several public defenders ing a lunar expanse of cell blocks – Peter sees more than a million pending criminal and private defense attorneys allege, some Coolsen, the administrator of the criminal and civil cases on any given day, the job prosecutors will purposely schedule a trial division of Cook County’s court system, of Cook County’s chief judge, Timothy on a date when they happen to know that cautioned against oversimplifying the issue Evans, certainly has its challenges, and the defense team has an irreconcilable of trial delay. Evans’ tenure has not been an easy one. In conflict. “It’s not any one thing,” Coolsen said September 2016, after a judicial misconduct Even a former prosecutor acknowl- of the problem’s causes. “It’s the whole scandal and a critical assessment from the edges that this happens. “I have heard of combination of factors working together.” state supreme court on the county’s criminal that and I always thought that was a rotten Coolsen’s job is to help the division’s case management, Evans narrowly pre- thing to do,” O’Brien says. “I’ve heard guys presiding judge, LeRoy Martin, come up vailed in a judicial election that the Chicago saying they’ve done it or are going to do with ways to efficiently move thousands of Tribune characterized as unusually acrimo- it. I’ve never seen it done, and I’ve never cases through the court system each year. nious, fueled by widespread discontent with done it.” Coolsen says the issues that lead to trial Evans’ leadership. In rarer instances, some Cook County delays – including the changing of defense A 2010 study on pretrial delay in judges have reacted to defendants’ use of the attorneys and prosecutors on a case, the Cook County published by the Chicago speedy trial law with hostility, according to backlogged state crime lab and no-show Appleseed Fund for Justice, a court-reform several public defenders. They say that these police officers – have been the subject of advocacy organization, found that “no in- judges have sometimes required a prisoner much discussion within the court system. ternal policy enforces the use of ” informal who makes such a demand to return to (The chief judge’s office didn’t respond to standards created by the chief judge’s of- court with his or her attorney every single a request for an interview with Martin.) fice on how quickly various types of cases day, first thing in the morning, for the “I’ve been absolutely preoccupied with should be resolved. In its recommendations, entire 120-day duration of the demand. this for the past few years,” Coolsen says. the report focused on the role of judges. In This forces a prisoner to be dragged out “The culture of the judiciary is really particular, the study suggested that judges of bed at 4:30 AM daily to go wait in the important,” he adds. “Everyone has to feel receive mandatory training and mentorship courthouse’s underground holding pen for a sense of urgency.” to become better at moving cases with ap- hours to appear at one useless hearing after The Chicago Community Bond Fund’s propriate speed. another. For public defenders, with their Suchan, who’s studied the court system In a statement to the Reader, Evans’ packed schedules, such a time commitment extensively, agrees with Coolsen but singles office emphasized the shared responsibility is simply untenable. out judges as the players with the most between all parts of the court. It’s meant to “punish the inmate in or- power to effect the necessary reforms. “In order for case delays to be reduced der to dissuade them from demanding or to “The chief judge and the presiding in this complex, interdisciplinary criminal make them back off the demand,” according judge of the criminal division – both of justice system, it would take more than to Carr, the Cook County public defender. those judges have the ability to push back the judges of the Circuit Court of Cook

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Prison Legal News 11 October 2017 Cook County Prisoners Wait (cont.) produce final police reports.” “[T]he main emphasis is on the court Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve, an as- building an expectation among the various sistant criminal justice professor at Temple players that cases will take as much time as County to effect significant changes,” said University who has extensively studied the they need for a fair and just resolution of spokesman Pat Milhizer. “All stakeholders Cook County Court system, believes that a case, but not more,” Coolsen said in an in the system would need to examine their the police department could do a better e-mail. “It is that ‘culture of expectation’ internal processes as they relate to case-flow job enforcing its rules of conduct when it that we are trying to build in the Criminal management.” comes to court absences, a problem which Courthouse.” Milhizer also touted several initiatives she says prosecutors can find themselves “We can certainly do better,” Coolsen intended to speed up cases, including efforts helpless to address. added. “But it’s only going to happen if to reduce time from arrest to arraignment “This really impacts people’s lives and we get a regular, sustainable, and systemic and the streamlining of aspects of bond liberty and one would think that such power approach where we’re all sharing the same court, as well as recent grants the court would be concentrated in the hands of vision.” has received to study and improve its case prosecutors,” she said, “but what we see is But while potential fixes to Cook management. that police officers wield a lot of power, and County’s court system crawl forward, they Citing the results of a 2013 review ini- there’s certainly not enough consequences may not be fast enough for the hundreds tiated by the chief judge, Milhizer indicated coming from the police department itself of prisoners stuck in jail for years await- that CPD has itself acknowledged, and is when these types of violations occur.” ing trial. In 2013, Robinson’s younger taking steps to solve, its contribution to Coolsen stopped short of criticizing sister died in a house fire. His inability to case delays. the police department, but suggested that mourn with his family remains one of the “The Chicago Police Department is a more robust system of communication worst traumas he says he suffered during addressing issues that can cause delays,” between prosecutors and police precincts his grim years awaiting trial. Milhizer said, “such as the time needed about court dates could be a starting point After his release in August 2016, for producing 911 tapes and video, prompt in addressing police absenteeism. Robinson moved in with his girlfriend on a notice to the court by officers who are wit- Yet even if this solved the problem of quiet block in South Chicago, just across the nesses of schedule conflicts with dates for police absences, it would constitute only street from the grassy, overgrown expanse of testimony, assuring officers bring required a sliver of the reforms necessary to tackle the old U.S. Steel South Works plant. When evidence to court, and the time needed to pretrial delay in Cook County. Coolsen I met Robinson at their home in September, says the sprawling court system will need he mentioned that one of the only places to adopt new, lasting attitudes and practices he’d ever been outside of Chicago was the guided by the need to fulfill the constitu- downstate penitentiary where he spent the Stop Prison Profiteering: tional imperative of a speedy trial. He also last two years of his teens. Now that he’s Seeking Debit Card Plaintiffs claims the court is already taking steps to free again, he hopes to eventually travel the tackle the problem. country, perhaps to visit New York City and The Human Rights Defense Center is In July 2015, the court received federal get his first glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean. currently suing NUMI in U.S. District funding for a wide-ranging study of case- For now, however, Robinson’s focus Court in Portland, Oregon over its flow management in its criminal division. is getting back on his feet in Chicago. He release debit card practices in that Part of this will include testing the efficacy of says he plans to reenroll in college – at Co- state. We are interested in litigating a judge giving an order at the outset of some lumbia, he hopes. But his most immediate other cases against NUMI and other cases, laying out how much time it should priority is earning a living: in recent weeks, debit card companies, including take to be resolved based on how complex a Robinson has applied for a cashier job at given case is, according to Coolsen. a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts and for several JPay, Keefe, EZ Card, Futura Card temporary positions at janitorial agencies. Services, Access Corrections, Release He’s also been attempting to make up for Pay and TouchPay, that exploit pris- Surrogate Sisters lost time with his children, now four and oners and arrestees in this manner. Services For The Incarcerated For 20 Years five years old. If you have been charged fees to We Offer…. “I’ve been through a lot,” Robinson access your own funds on a debit  Sexy Photos Non-Nude/Nude, Male/Female says. “I’m just happy to be back here.” card after being released from prison  Gifts For Loved Ones or jail within the last 18 months, we  Erotic Stories Marc Daalder, Maya Dukmasova, Jack Ladd, want to hear from you.  Pen-Pal Services Jaime Longoria and Sharon Riley contributed  Bi-monthly Specials reporting to this story. Please contact Jeff McCabe at jmc- …. And More For Free Info Send A Self Addressed Stamped Envelope To: cabe@humanrightsdefensecenter. This article was originally published by The Surrogate Sisters org, or call (206) 257-1355, or write Chicago Reader (www.chicagoreader.com) to: HRDC, SPP Debit Cards, P.O. Box P.O. Box 95043, Las Vegas in partnership with The Nation Institute’s 1151, Lake Worth, FL 33460. NV 89193 Investigative Fund on November 16, 2016. [email protected] Reprinted with permission, with minor edits. October 2017 12 Prison Legal News HRDC FUNDRAISER 2017 Please Help Support the Human Rights Defense Center!

The Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), which publishes Prison Legal News, cannot fund its operations through subscriptions and book sales alone. We rely on donations from our readers and supporters – like you! HRDC conducts only one fundraiser a year; we don’t bombard our readers with donation requests, we only ask that if you are able to contribute something to our vital work, then please do so. Every dollar counts and is greatly appreciated and will be put to good use. No donation is too small, including books of stamps! Where does your donation go? Here’s some of what we accomplished last year: • HRDC continued to pursue our Campaign for Prison Phone Justice to reduce the cost of prison and jail phone calls, despite setbacks with the FCC and the DC Circuit Court; we also continued to manage our Stop Prison Profiteering project to stop financial exploitation of prisoners and their families, and expanded our Prison Ecology Project. • HRDC filed censorship lawsuits against private prison company MTC and the Cook County Jail in Chicago. We also filed a wrongful conviction case in Illinois on behalf of a prisoner who spent a decade in prison before his conviction was overturned, and filed a public records lawsuit against Corizon. We settled censorship suits against jails in Oklahoma, California, Tennessee and Illinois, and against the Nevada Department of Corrections. • HRDC published the second edition of the Habeas Citebook: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel. With your help we can do much more! Please send your donation to: Human Rights Defense Center, P.O. Box 1151, Lake Worth, FL 33460 Or call HRDC’s office at 561-360-2523 and use your credit card to donate. Or visit our website at www.prisonlegalnews.org and click on the “Donate” link.

Prison Legal News 13 October 2017 From the Editor CALIFORNIA HABEAS by Paul Wright

HANDBOOK 2.0 ver the past 27 years we have including criminal case law, civil rights By Kent Russell Oreported extensively on abuses in local litigation, parole litigation, sentencing, the criminal justice systems in the United States, death penalty and more. “A Godsend” For Habeas Pro-Pers including jails, to the point that they are Initially we will be publishing a 40- more ongoing sagas of abuse and corruption page magazine, but expect the page count • All New, Completely Revised & that we update with the latest developments. to grow as more advertisers join. CLN will Upgraded (2016). This month’s cover story on the justice be covering and reporting the front end of • Latest SCOTUS Cases & CA Rules system in Cook County, Illinois is no dif- the criminal justice system with a focus on of Court. ferent. Prison Legal News and the Human policing and prosecution, while PLN will Rights Defense Center are also suing the continue to focus on conditions of confine- • Comprehensive New Chapter on Cook County jail for its ban on books and ment, litigation involving prisons and jails, Parole. magazines; it should come as no surprise that consequences of incarceration, etc. Like • Guide to CA Propositions Affect- facilities which routinely violate the 8th and most publishing projects, CLN initially will ing Early Parole. 14th Amendments also have little regard for be a work in progress but we have a good the First Amendment right to free speech. idea of what information prisoners, criminal Send payment ($79) to: Kent A Russell If you have experienced delays in your defense attorneys and activists need to bet- 3169 Washington St communications with HRDC/PLN in ter advocate against the police state. San Francisco, CA 94115 September, we apologize. Hurricane Irma By now PLN subscribers should have swung by our main office in Lake Worth, received our annual fundraiser, which includes For information: Florida and paid us a visit. The good news is our most recent annual report and some of Send S.A.S.E. to above address. that all of our Florida staff are fine and our the news coverage we have garnered over the office was not physically damaged, though past year. Publishing PLN is a small part of russellhabeas.com or (415) 563-8640 we were without electricity for several days the work that HRDC carries out every day, and had no Internet or phone service for a every week, every month and every year on week. The post office also was closed and did behalf of prisoners, their families and the not deliver mail for almost a week. As this victims of our dysfunctional criminal justice issue goes to press, our office is open again system. For almost three decades, every penny and we are getting caught up. donated to HRDC has gone to improve and As mentioned in previous editori- expand our operations and increase our capac- als, HRDC is planning to publish a new ity for effective advocacy. We receive virtually magazine, Criminal Legal News. We have no funding from foundations; our operating hired a managing editor, Richard Resch, budget comes from magazine subscriptions, and are currently busy putting together the advertising, litigation and individual dona- Introducing Inmate Mingle, the 21st Century ap- proach to inmate pen-pal services. At Inmate Mingle first issue. We expect the premiere issue to tions from readers like you. we do the most to get your profile exposed to people be published in November, and all PLN As far as bang for the buck, no other in the free world. To do this, we actively promote on subscribers will receive a free sample copy. criminal justice organization gets as much social media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram CLN will cover all aspects of litigation done with as little as we do – there is a di- and Twitter daily. As well as using search engines and news around police and prosecutors, rect cause and effect between your financial such as Google and Bing to promote the site. We take our job of finding someone to write letters and support and what we are able to accomplish correspond with you seriously. We promote you on on behalf of prisoners. If you believe in the our website, which is user friendly and easy to nav- work that HRDC does, whether it’s fight- Nationwide sentence reduction. igate. We also offer a mobile app that is available ing for the free speech rights of prisoners Using confidential information. for Apple and Android phones so that people on the and publishers, seeking transparency and go can still find your profile. We would like you to Expensive negotiation service. accountability from the American police become a member of the Inmate Mingle circle and [email protected] give a chance to make a connection for you from the state, trying to stop the financial exploi- inside out! To get a FREE brochure about our ser- 2503 Station Road, Suite #206, tation of prisoners and their families by vices, send a SASE to the address below, or send us Erie, PA 16510 (814-350-6898) prison telecom companies and their gov- an email request (CORRLINKS, JPAY, GETTINGOUT). Must send S.A.S.E. for information. ernment collaborators, fighting the private Inmate Mingle Visit us: Huffmansservices.com prison industry and much more as detailed P.O. Box 23207 Parole • Detainers • Medical in our annual report, then please make a Columbia, SC 29224 • Transfers • Grievances • donation and encourage your friends, family [email protected] 5K.1 • Research • Rule 35 • Rewards • Consecutive to and social network to do so as well. concurrent Enjoy this issue of PLN and please encourage others to subscribe. October 2017 14 Prison Legal News Kansas Supreme Court: Four Years of Pretrial Detention too Long LEARN TO n December 2016, the Kansas Su- lison filed a petition for review. The Kansas PROTECT Ipreme Court ordered the release of a Supreme Court overturned the appellate man who had been held in jail more than decision and ordered Ellison’s release from four years awaiting trial under the Kansas custody. YOUR Sexually Violent Predator Act (KSVPA). “[A] person’s due process rights can The state’s high court held that the un- be violated by an excessive delay in mak- RIGHTS usual length of pretrial detention was a ing the required findings while a KSVPA deprivation of liberty requiring due process respondent is confined awaiting” trial, protections. the high court wrote. “When the state Todd Ellison, a convicted sex of- seeks to impose physical restraints of YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO fender, was subjected to involuntary significant duration on a person it must Adequate medical care commitment proceedings under the afford him fair procedure to determine Protection from assault KSVPA following completion of his the basis and legality of such a depriva- Humane living conditions prison sentence. To civilly commit him, tion.” Safety from officer abuse the state was required to convince a jury The state Supreme Court analyzed that Ellison suffers from a mental ab- the length of and reasons for the four years Learn how to defend your normality or personality disorder which of Ellison’s pretrial confinement, and held basic human rights with makes him likely to engage in acts of that the “delay in bringing his case to trial the comprehensive litiga- sexual violence. was so unreasonable that it violated his due tion guide, Protecting Your If probable cause is found, a trial process rights.” Health and Safety, 2nd edi- must be held within 60 days. However, The Court concluded that while tion, written specifically for state law allows for continuances at the there was “no evidence of any improper prisoners who are unable to request of either party for good cause or motive lurking behind the State’s role in receive help from a lawyer. by the court on its own motion. The state the delay, ... the State had an obligation Written by Robert E. Toone of Kansas filed a KSVPA petition against to bring Ellison’s case to trial. It cannot Edited by Dan Manville Ellison on June 1, 2009, and probable fulfill that obligation by remaining passive A Project of the Southern cause was found 24 days later. Thereafter, year after year. The extraordinary length Poverty Law Center* the record reflects numerous continuances of the delay to provide Ellison with his were requested and granted, though many day in court and the obvious prejudice he COST $16 total were unclear as to which party had sought suffered being incarcerated during that ($10 + $6 shipping/handling) them. time compels the result as the district FREE shipping/handling for orders In addition, three different judges were court determined.” from Prison Legal News over $50 assigned to the case, and at one point three Accordingly, the judgment of the ORDER A COPY years into his pretrial detention, Ellison district court was affirmed and the case -re Send a check filed a habeas corpus petition along with manded for further proceedings to facilitate or money order to: several motions seeking his immediate Ellison’s release. See: In re Care and Treat- Prison Legal News release. ment of Ellison, 305 Kan. 519, 385 P.3d 15 PO BoxBox 1151 2420 The state district court eventu- (Kan. 2016). LakeWest Worth, Brattleboro, FL 33460 VT 05303 ally heard Ellison’s motion for release, 561-360-2523(802) 257-1342 at which time it tried to attribute to MARTYSMILLIONS LLC. each party their portion of the delay in PRESENTS Be sure to include your name, the case. In the end, however, the court identification number (if any), and TO INMATES exclusive nude/non-nude photos for their Jpay found the state was ultimately responsible Tablets. As well as colored 4x6 nude/non-nude and mailing address. We also accept for bringing Ellison to trial and that the hardcore photos. VISA and Mastercard. If using a If interested, please send (4) forever stamps for brochure 1,705 days between the probable cause which will explain everything. credit card, please include the hearing and the scheduled trial date was When ordering please know your Institutional polices. We type of card (VISA or Mastercard), are not responsible for any rejections of photos. card number, and expiration date. “a presumptively prejudicial delay,” as Please understand all photo catalogs are $1.50 each (No stamps exceptions). We also offer official “variations” of Ellison was confined with no chance for “various” rare magazines back issues > hardcore/non- hardcore regular nude Flixs magazines for rational prices. All This book does not deal with legal bail or other means of securing his release. mag catalogs are (4 forever stamps). Please again know your Institutional policies when ordering, we are not defense against criminal charges or The state moved to amend the order but responsible for any rejections of magazines. challenges to convictions that are on the court denied the motion and directed All responses for above mentioned require a S.A.S.E. appeal. Edition last revised in 2009. **MartysMillions LLC. P.O. Box 513 Manville, NJ 08835 that Ellison be freed. *Please do not send orders to the Business # 908-256-9635 Southern Poverty Law Center. The state appealed and, after the Court Money order/ Institutional checks/PayPal friendly…. of Appeals reversed the district court, El- Prison Legal News 15 October 2017 Former Mississippi DOC Commissioner, Co-defendants Sentenced in Massive Bribery Scheme

n January 2017, U.S. District Court count of bribery related to his payments and was ordered to pay a $150,000 fine IJudge Henry T. Wingate sentenced Sam and kickbacks to Epps from sometime in (later reduced to $20,000) and forfeit $1.7 Waggoner, 62, to five years in prison for his 2012 until at least August 2014. Waggoner million. Wingate said he was sentencing role in a bribery scheme involving Missis- worked as a consultant for Global Tel*Link, McCrory to a light prison term due to his sippi’s former corrections commissioner. which provided phone services at Missis- early cooperation with prosecutors, includ- The sentence also included two years of sippi state prisons; he received 5 percent of ing meeting with them without an attorney supervised release. the revenue generated from that contract for several months. Waggoner admitted to giving then-Mis- as his fee. He acknowledged he “corruptly “I have extreme remorse,” McCrory sissippi DOC Commissioner Christopher B. gave” kickbacks to Epps twice in 2014. [See: said. “I can’t make this right, but whatever Epps a portion of the money he earned as a PLN, Oct. 2015, p.42]. I can do to offset the wrong, I will do it.” prison telephone contractor. Waggoner told Waggoner entered a guilty plea in Au- He agreed to cooperate in cases pend- federal agents that before their investigation gust 2015 and agreed to forfeit $200,000. ing against other defendants accused in the started, he wrote to Epps saying he wanted In early February 2017, Judge Wingate scandal, and depending on the value of that to end the payments. handed down a 102-month sentence in the cooperation his sentence may be reduced. “I don’t want the FBI knocking on my same bribery scheme to Cecil McCrory, a In March 2017, Judge Wingate sen- door in the middle of the night,” Waggoner businessman who was a central figure in the tenced a third defendant in the Epps said in the letter. Epps corruption case. bribery case, former Mississippi legislator But Epps ripped the letter into “teeny, McCrory, 66, a former state legislator, Irb Benjamin, to 70 months in prison plus tiny pieces,” flushed it down a toilet and and Epps were charged in November 2014 a $100,000 fine and forfeiture of $261,000. told him their arrangement would continue, in a 49-count federal indictment that ac- As with McCrory, Benjamin’s sentence Waggoner said. “He was basically my boss. cused Epps of taking at least $1.4 million could be reduced based on his future co- He could hurt my business.” in bribes and kickbacks over eight years operation with federal officials. At the time, in addition to serving as to steer more than $800 million worth “I’m so sorry that I destroyed all the Commissioner of the Mississippi DOC, of Mississippi prison contracts – mostly history and character that my family stood Epps was president of both the Ameri- to companies owned or associated with for,” Benjamin, 70, said when he was sen- can Correctional Association (ACA) and McCrory, including American Transition tenced. “I have no one to blame but myself.” Association of State Correctional Admin- Services. Benjamin, who represented Alcorn istrators (ASCA). [See: PLN, July 2016, McCrory’s attorney, Carlos Tanner, County as a state representative and sena- p.1]. In 2011, the ASCA honored Epps said his client received about $3 million tor, was ordered to report to federal prison with an award for Outstanding Corrections in commissions and other revenue from in May 2017. He had pleaded guilty to one Commissioner. such contracts. The U.S. Attorney’s office count of bribery and said Epps threatened Judge Wingate saw Waggoner’s at- claimed he received about $4.6 million. to withhold state prisoners from regional tempt to end his involvement in the scheme In sentencing McCrory in February jails that Benjamin helped develop in as the result of a mix between remorse and 2017, Judge Wingate said the corruption several counties unless he received bribes. fear of being investigated. The five-year case had tarnished the reputation of Mis- Such a move could have made the jails sentence, recommended by prosecutors, was sissippi and its penal system. McCrory, money-losers. a compromise. who had initially tried to withdraw his “I should have just walked away,” Ben- The FBI charged Waggoner with one guilty plea, received 8½ years in prison jamin said. “I was pressured.”

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October 2017 16 Prison Legal News Benjamin estimated he paid Epps be- bribery before U.S. District Judge Daniel telling Reddix he was steering contracts tween $180,000 and $225,000 in cash bribes Jordan, who has not yet imposed sentence. to Health Assurance. Further, Epps had to secure the MDOC Commissioner’s Reddix, 58, remains free on $10,000 called Reddix before a bid was due and support for the regional jails, as well as for bail. He faces up to 10 years in prison and encouraged him to pad the fee with money drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs $250,000 in fines. Prosecutors also want for Epps’ bribe, and quoted Reddix as re- his company ran at work centers. him to forfeit assets. A July 2016 indictment sponding, “We always got you. You know He added that Epps also threatened accused Reddix of six counts of bribery and that part ain’t never an issue.” to withhold prisoners from Chickasaw one count of conspiracy to commit honest According to LaMarca, Epps called County unless officials signed a prison services wire fraud. back after bids were collected to tell Reddix phone contract with a business affiliated Starting in 2012, Reddix allegedly paid that Health Assurance was the low bid- with Waggoner. Epps $2,000 a month for each state prison der, but that he would not have approved Attorney Joe Hollomon argued lenien- contract held by his company, Health As- any company that outbid Reddix. Reddix cy was justified considering Benjamin’s age, surance. That amount was initially $6,000 reportedly admitted his misconduct when health problems and legislative achieve- a month, then increased to $8,000 a month FBI agents confronted him in October ments. More than 40 people submitted in 2013 and peaked with a final $9,500 2014. There have also been questions about letters asking the court to show mercy. payment in October 2014. payments made by Health Assurance to “He has led a life of accomplishment Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren La- counties in Mississippi and Alabama. and a life he can be proud of up until the Marca said FBI agents watched or recorded In April 2017, Alabama health care time he met Chris Epps and this situation at least six monthly meetings where Reddix consultant Michael Goddard pleaded guilty developed,” Hollomon said. passed cash to Epps. It’s unclear how much to making a false statement to the FBI by Judge Wingate rejected that argument Reddix paid, but it was more than $170,000. lying about money he received from Health but sentenced Benjamin to the minimum Reddix’s lawyers had suggested in court Assurance. Goddard falsely told agents that prison term under federal sentencing filings that Health Assurance won contracts the funds weren’t related to a contract to guidelines. honestly, without Epps’ corrupt assistance, provide health care for prisoners in Jefferson In May 2017, another guilty plea was but that Reddix later fell prey to the Com- County, Alabama. Goddard was sentenced entered in the Epps scandal by a physician missioner’s avarice. on August 2, 2017 to two years of probation with contracts to treat state prisoners. Dr. However, LaMarca said wiretapped and a $1,000 fine. Carl Reddix pleaded guilty to one count of conversations from 2014 recorded Epps In a related prosecution, Alabama busi-

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Prison Legal News 17 October 2017 Mississippi Bribery Sentences (cont.) Epps, who once called himself “the tallest at his sentencing hearing, the former MDOC hog at the trough,” to 235 months – almost Commissioner told Judge Wingate that he 20 years – in prison. had been motivated by greed. nessman Robert Simmons was sentenced Rejecting prosecutors’ recommen- “I’ve made some stupid mistakes I will in April 2017 to more than seven months dation for a 13-year sentence, Wingate regret for the rest of my life,” Epps said, in prison after pleading guilty to passing said Epps’ decision to break into his former reading from a statement. bribes from Health Assurance to a Missis- house to retrieve outdoor lights in October The bribes allowed Epps, Mississippi’s sippi Gulf Coast official in exchange for a 2016 – after Epps had pleaded guilty, result- longest-serving corrections commissioner, jail medical contract. ing in an additional burglary charge – made to pay off the mortgage on his more than Simmons’ indictment accused him of him question whether the former MDOC $300,000 house in a gated suburban sub- giving kickbacks on consulting fees – from Commissioner truly took responsibility division, buy a beachfront condo on the companies doing business with the MDOC for his crimes. Epps was also ordered to Gulf Coast, acquire two Mercedes and and Harrison County – to Epps and an un- pay a $100,000 fine and forfeit over $1.7 accumulate hundreds of thousands of dol- named Harrison County Supervisor. million in assets. See: United States v. Epps, lars in investments and cash – all of which Although unnamed, former Harrison U.S.D.C. (S.D. Miss.), Case No. 3:14-cr- was forfeited to the federal government County Supervisor William Martin was 00111-HTW-FKB-1 as part of Epps’ plea agreement. His wife, implicated in the case. He committed “This is the largest graft operation Catherlean Epps, who did not face criminal suicide in 2015, hours before he was due that certainly I have seen, and I have seen charges, was allowed to keep $200,000. to appear in federal court to answer to a lot,” said Wingate, who has served as Evidence showed that Epps had ac- bribery charges. a federal judge since 1985. “[Epps] has cepted monthly cash payments, then tried Reddix became the seventh person to bruised tremendously the image of the state to deposit cash in banks in amounts small plead guilty in the bribery scheme, after of Mississippi.” enough to escape scrutiny. At one point, he Epps, Waggoner, McCrory, Benjamin, Governor Phil Bryant ordered all the even had McCrory take a bag containing Goddard and Simmons. Mark Longoria, contracts implicated in the criminal cases to $40,000 in dirty money, label it as proceeds the CEO of the Texas-based Drug Testing be canceled and rebid; he also appointed a task from a tractor sale and wire it to Epps’ in- Corp., later entered an eighth guilty plea; he force to review all other MDOC contracts “to vestment account. had paid almost $230,000 in bribes to Mc- ensure they were both legally procured and in Unbeknownst to Epps, however, Crory in exchange for securing sales of drug the best interest of taxpayers.” Leake County Sheriff Greg Waggoner testing supplies to the MDOC. McCrory Epps pleaded guilty in 2015 to charges of had reported concerns about the MDOC kicked back $60,000 of the bribes to Epps. money laundering and filing false tax returns Commissioner to investigators in 2009, Longoria was sentenced in February 2017 related to the bribes he extracted from con- after Epps allegedly tried to cover up a sex to five years in prison, and ordered to forfeit tractors doing business with the state prison scandal involving a warden and a female $131,000 and pay $368,000 in restitution. system. He had been jailed since his bail was prisoner at the Walnut Grove Transition Finally, in May 2017, Judge Wingate revoked in November 2016 following the Center. [See: PLN, July 2013, p.54; Aug. sentenced former MDOC Commissioner house break-in. In shackles and a jail jumpsuit 2012, p.45]. By June 2014, when FBI agents asked Epps to come to their office on the NATIONAL |V|F|C| Voice Freedom Calls pretext that someone had threatened his life, they had been collecting evidence for ASSOCIATION FOR Send and receive voice years – including tapping his phone. Once ATIONAL EXUAL and text messages confronted, Epps agreed to help prosecutors, R S from inside prison. secretly recording conversations and enticing OFFENSE LAWS Your own personal phone number corrupt contractors to pay higher bribes. O L FBI Agent Ty Breedlove told Judge in any US area code. Friends and Want to know what's happening Wingate that Epps was the best source he in the fight to change our nation's family call or text your number to had had in 15 years as an agent. approach to sex offender leave messages. You call your number Defense attorney John Colette denied registries & restrictions? and listen to messages, leave messages, that Epps had extorted bribes from con- place return calls. VFC works with tractors, despite testimony from the other Subscribe to the Digest! GTL, Securus, TelMate, and others. defendants. Wingate questioned how much Don't miss a single edition!! Easy signup: leniency he should show Epps for turning in others involved in the bribery scandal. VoiceFreedomCalls.com “You’re asking he get credit for reveal- Bi‐monthly @ $9/year or call (206) 596-2208 ing the involvement of conspirators who P..O.. BOX 36123 SASE to: Voice Freedom Calls he may have brought into the conspiracy,” ALBUQUERQUE,, NM 87176 2620 Bellevue Way NE, Box 175 the judge said. “In this instance, we have Bellevue, WA 98004 - or email: 888..997..7765 | NARSOL ORG an elaborate scheme which allowed your .. [email protected] client to lead an extravagant lifestyle while October 2017 18 Prison Legal News his criminal conduct made a mockery of Mississippi Correctional Management, denied wrongdoing. Hood took note that his position as head of the Department of Inc.; Branan Medical Corp.; Drug Testing only three of the companies named in the Corrections.” Corporation; Global Tel*Link Corporation; lawsuits are based in Mississippi. Two other co-defendants still face Health Assurance, LLC; Keefe Commis- “Out-of-state corporations were eager charges of bribing Epps: insurance broker sary Network, LLC; Sentinel Offender to take advantage of Mississippi taxpay- Guy E. “Butch” Evans and Teresa Malone, Services, LLC and AJA Management & ers and secure MDOC contracts through the wife of former House Corrections Technical Services, Inc. bribery and fraud. It is critical for the state Commission Chairman Bennett Malone Hood claims in the civil actions that to use the remedies at its disposal to recover and a consultant for AdminPros, LLC, a the companies violated Mississippi’s public damages and get back the money exchanged medical contractor. Teresa Malone entered a ethics, racketeering and antitrust laws, along in these schemes,” he said. “I have a duty to guilty plea in July 2017 and awaits sentenc- with several other claims. In addition to protect the integrity of the public contract- ing. Discussions during Epps’ sentencing compensatory and punitive damages he is ing process, as well as to vindicate the rights indicated that investigations remain active seeking forfeiture of all funds the defen- of the state when it is a victim of public against six or seven other people in Missis- dants received that were involved in the corruption and other wrongful conduct.” sippi and Louisiana, including one who has alleged conspiracies. In August 2017, Global Tel*Link, the already been indicted under seal. “The state of Mississippi has been largest prison phone provider in the nation, On February 8, 2017, Mississippi defrauded through a pattern of bribery, agreed to settle the RICO lawsuit for $2.5 Attorney General Jim Hood filed RICO kickbacks, misrepresentations, fraud, con- million while admitting no wrongdoing. lawsuits seeking damages against all of the cealment, money laundering and other PLN will report the settlement in that case defendants charged in connection with the wrongful conduct,” Hood stated. “These in greater detail in a future issue. Previously, Epps bribery scandal, as well as Michael individuals and corporations that benefited in May 2017, Alere, Inc., which had pur- Reddix and Andrew Jenkins, who were by stealing from taxpayers must not only pay chased Branan Medical Corp., settled the not indicted, and the following companies: the state’s losses, but state law requires that suit filed by the Attorney General’s office Management & Training Corp. (MTC); they must also forfeit and return the entire for $2 million. The GEO Group, Inc.; Cornell Companies, amount of the contracts paid by the state.” Inc.; Wexford Health Sources, Inc.; The Two of the firms – MTC and The Sources: WJTV, The Clarion-Ledger, Merid- Bantry Group Corporation; AdminPros, GEO Group – are among the largest pri- ian Star, www.msnewsnow.com, Associated LLC; CGL Facility Management, LLC; vate prison contractors in the country; both Press, www.usnews.com Is someone skimming money or otherwise charging you and your loved ones high fees to deposit money into your account? Prison Legal News (PLN) is collecting information about the ways that family members of incarcerated people get cheated by the high cost of sending money to fund inmate accounts. Please write to PLN, and have your people on the outside contact us as well, to let us know specific details about the way that the system is ripping them off, including:

• Fees to deposit money on prisoners’ accounts or delays in receiving Friends and families of prisoners can follow this effort, which no-fee money orders is part of the Nation Inside network, at www.StopPrisonProfiteers.org • Costly fees to use pre-paid debit cards upon release from custody • Fees charged to submit payment for parole supervision, etc. Please direct all related correspondence to [email protected]@humanrightsdefensecenter .org This effort is part of the Human Rights Defense Center’sStop Prison Call (561) 360-2523, or send mail to PLN Profiteering campaign, aimed at exposing business practices that Prison Legal News result in money being diverted away from the friends and family Attn: JeffPanagioti McCabe Tsolkas PO Box 1151 members of prisoners. Lake Worth, Florida 33460

Prison Legal News 19 October 2017 Tattoo Recognition: Law Enforcement’s Newest Identification Tool by David M. Reutter

ew technology is giving law fiti or a drawing. Here, the results were poor broke this story, has called for an end to the Nenforcement agencies the ability to with the best reported accuracy coming use of prisoners’ body art to create a tattoo- identify people by taking a photo of their from the MITRE Corporation, at 36.5%. matching database. The EFF, which calls tattoos; it can also group people with others There was also a tattoo similarity test, tattoos “unique biometric identifiers,” noted who have the same type of body art. which was the most controversial for its that the NIST project has expanded to Federal researchers at the National ability to group people according to their 100,000 images gathered by Florida’s Pinel- Institute of Standards and Technology religion, politics or other affiliations based las County Sheriff ’s Office, the Michigan (NIST) have launched a program to ac- on their tattoos. In this test, the participants State Police and the Tennessee Department celerate tattoo recognition technology. In grouped people with tattoos of religious of Correction. 2014 and 2015, the Institute initiated its symbols such as crucifixes, praying hands With increased tattoo recognition, Tatt-C program, which stands for Tattoo holding a rosary or gang symbols. The people could be tracked or identified while Recognition Technology Challenge. results were very poor, with MITRE re- walking down the street based solely on The project started with an FBI database porting the highest accuracy rate of 14.9%. their body art. containing 15,000 images of prisoner tat- Tattoos have long been recorded by Private company Face Forensics an- toos. The biometric database was shared by law enforcement officials during arrests or nounced in January 2016 that its system NIST with 19 participating organizations: incarceration; for example, mug shots of can do just that – it can identify scars, marks five research institutions, six universities and arrestees’ body art have been taken since the and tattoos. Once a match is made, it then eight private companies; the objective was to turn of the century. Typically, photograph- displays the face and name of the owner use their algorithms to create a database for ing tattoos resulted in investigators having from a database. This is all done in a mat- law enforcement officials. to spend hours going through telephone ter of seconds, allowing law enforcement Five tests were involved in the Tatt-C book-size portfolios to find an image. officers to match a person to an image of project. The first was determining if an -im Tattoo recognition technology aims to their tattoo. Of course, as with any identifi- age contained a tattoo. With a reported 90% achieve the same result as facial recognition. cation system, tattoo recognition is subject accuracy rate, it is evident that technology In fact, plans are in place to meld the two to errors. is already highly sophisticated. The high- technologies – the FBI’s Next Generation According to a January 10, 2017 online est result came from biometric technology Identification System calls for an automatic news report, the National Institute of Stan- company MorphoTrak. retrieval system for scars, marks and tattoos. dards and Technology stated, “The goal of Next, the participants were asked to The use of prisoners’ tattoos in the Tatt- the NIST project is to help ensure tattoo match images of the same person’s tattoo. C project was highly controversial, as they matching technologies are evaluated using Overall, they reported more than 95% ac- were not freely given the ability to consent sound science to improve accuracy and curacy. MorphoTrak reported an accuracy to the use of their personal identifying minimize mismatches.” rate of 94.6%, while Purdue University information. In several cases, the tattoos For now the focus is on tattoos from reported 91.6%. had names and birthdates, or were located arrestees and prisoners, but technological Another test required matching tattoos in intimate places. advances potentially allow authorities to to a similar image in another medium; in The Electronic Frontier Foundation include photos taken from surveillance other words, matching tattoos to street graf- (EFF), a civil rights advocacy group that videos. The technology is being touted as a

October 2017 20 Prison Legal News way to not only identify criminals, but also victims of crime or natural disasters. Yet Misdemeanor Trespassing Arrest tattoo identification has already been used for more questionable purposes. Leads to Permanent Impairment California’s prison system has long by Christopher Zoukis used prisoners’ ink to classify them as gang members or associates and add them to n March 2015, 53-year-old Ralph declared legally incompetent and Kincanon gang databases. Tattoos have also been used IKarl Ingrim suffered a seizure at a Dollar was named as his guardian. by the U.S. State Department to deny visas General store in Amarillo, Texas. A store clerk The lawsuit alleged a “systemic failure” to applicants because it was believed they was kind enough to call the police to have him to provide adequate medical care at the had gang-related tattoos. And in one case in removed. When they arrived, Ingrim allegedly jail, and cited two other incidents in which Tennessee, state prison officials mistakenly became argumentative, placed his hand on an prisoners were denied anti-seizure medica- identified a prisoner’s military patch tattoo officer’s chest and was promptly arrested on a tion and suffered injuries as a result. One of as a gang symbol. misdemeanor trespass charge. those prisoners, 52-year-old Wendell Carl “The number of people getting tattoos When Ingrim’s mother, Serena Kin- Simmons, died in April 2015, ten months is rapidly growing. About 20 percent of canon, became aware of her son’s arrest, after he had a seizure, fell face-first onto the population has at least one tattoo, and she immediately traveled to the Randall a metal grate and experienced a subdural this percentage is even higher [among] County Jail and alerted guard Nick Wright hemorrhage. Randall County settled a delinquents,” said Anil Jain, a Professor of Ingrim’s medication needs. While she wrongful death suit brought by Simmons’ of Computer Science and Engineering provided a list of her son’s necessary medi- family in February 2017, for $50,000. at Michigan State University. “This sys- cations, Wright allegedly wadded up and The complaint filed by Ingrim’s mother tem has huge implications for helping threw away the notes. According to Kin- remains pending; the jail’s for-profit law enforcement with suspect and victim canon, Wright told her the only recourse medical contractor, Correct Care Solutions, identification.” was to post Ingrim’s bond. LLC, is named as a defendant. See: Kin- The larger issue, however, is the impact Kincanon left to arrange for her son’s canon v. Randall County, U.S.D.C. (N.D. of tattoo recognition on civil rights by release. But before she returned to the Tex.), Case No. 2:17-cv-00055-C. using people’s body art to associate them jail a few hours later, Ingrim had suffered with religious, political, criminal or other a seizure in his cell. During the seizure Source: www.amarillo.com groups, and to create databases for use – or he fell, fractured his skull and suffered a misuse – by law enforcement agencies. brain bleed. According to a lawsuit filed on Ingrim’s behalf on March 24, 2017, the Help redefine justice in America. Sources: Electronic Frontier Foundation, seizure and fall resulted in “permanent and Make decarceration a reality. www.sciencecodex.com, www.fusion.net, extremely severe” impairments. After two Join JustLeadershipUSA. www.hdiac.org, www.constitutionproject. years of therapy, Ingrim’s reading ability org, www.oneworldidentity.com didn’t surpass the third-grade level; he was Questions about Islam? Islam is the religion of inclusion. Muslims believe in all the prophets in both testaments. Read Quran, the original and unchanged word of God, the last and final testament. Watch www.Peacetv.tv Visit www.Gainpeace.com GainPeace 1S270 Summit Ave, Suite 204 OakBrook Terrace, IL 60181 1-800-662-ISLAM

Prison Legal News 21 October 2017 Florida Lawmaker Visits Prisons, Audits Private Prison Contracts by David M. Reutter

n prison after prison across the In the audience sat lobbyists for private “What I would like to see is some pro- Istate, over a period of two years, Florida prison firms GEO Group, Management visional language in this budget that would state Representative David Richardson & Training Corp. and CoreCivic (for- allow more safeguards and more oversight found that toilet paper, toothbrushes, tooth- merly known as Corrections Corporation because what I have found is that we have paste, pillows, sheets, shirts and soap were of America). None spoke out against the a lot of spending going on but we have very often withheld from prisoners, especially bill, but they had been urging members of little oversight,” Richardson said. “Many of those in solitary confinement. Further, food the committee to reject it. you may not know this, but in the entirety had been denied as a form of punishment “I understand why the private pris- of the life of private prisons there has never and medical conditions went untreated. on operators wouldn’t want it because been one financial audit of a private prison Richardson, a retired forensic auditor, for years they have had DMS hood- operator. Not one.” has used his legislative authority to enter winked,” Richardson said after the hearing. He had just completed a review of six state prisons unannounced to view condi- “We have found inflated pricing, tre- contracts with non-profit vendors hired tions without the “dog and pony show” mendous performance problems and to manage prison work release facilities; typically provided to official guests. He cost-cutting measures that were unsafe and in 2012, Governor Rick Scott had recom- presented his findings to his colleagues in wasting taxpayer money.” mended privatizing the facilities to cut costs. the state House in April 2017 and urged Richardson described how the state’s The FDOC privatized the work release them to require more accountability over private prison contracts are audited when they programs by 2014 and promised $550,000 Florida’s private prison contracts, offering a come to an end, but “they never have an end” per year in savings. But a review of the level of scrutiny not often seen on the floor as they are routinely renewed without being contracts led Richardson to a different of a legislative chamber. rebid. He spoke about how he had audited conclusion. “All nine contracts that I had audited had numerous contracts, made 90 prison visits, “We are not saving a dime,” he stated, the numbers fudged,” Richardson declared met 300 prisoners and devoted 700 hours to noting instead that the agencies engaged moments before the House voted 89-26 for investigating Florida’s prison system. in a “shell game that perpetrated this little its draft of the 2017-2018 fiscal year budget. “My audits have shown that the money trick.” Part of the problem, Richardson said, is not being spent the way we think we’re When a work release prisoner is em- is that the agency in charge of monitoring spending it,” he said. ployed in the community, the work release private prison contracts – the Department Richardson’s review of the FDOC oc- facility keeps 55 percent of their net earnings of Management Services (DMS) – had no curred the same year that House Speaker to recover the cost of room and board, and experience in corrections, making it suscep- Richard Corcoran and his deputies made the prisoner keeps the rest, Richardson said. tible to being “hoodwinked” by for-profit a point of calling out “corporate welfare” But during the recession that began prison companies. and questionable contracts at two much in 2008, the Florida legislature seized the “I want one agency accountable, and we smaller state agencies, Enterprise Florida revenue from the FDOC’s work release will call them when things go wrong,” Rich- and Visit Florida. programs and used it to fund other agen- ardson said in March 2017, as the House But when Richardson addressed his cies and projects in general revenue. So Criminal Justice Subcommittee voted to legislative colleagues, his concerns about the state’s general revenue grew but the shift oversight of the state’s private prisons the state’s prison system were greeted with FDOC fell further into the red. Then the from DMS to the Florida Department of polite stares from leaders in the Republican- equation changed when the governor and Corrections (FDOC). controlled House – and no reaction. legislature decided to privatize the work

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October 2017 22 Prison Legal News release facilities. Alexander, previously had been identified by the situation was “deplorable.” He detailed “They gave away the general rev- Richardson for twice assaulting prisoners, deficiencies in 37 cells, and found one pris- enue,” Richardson explained. “The six but since he didn’t actually witness the as- oner so sick he was throwing up. Another facilities were bringing in $2.1 million saults, no action had been taken. had an “open, weeping wound” that had not into the state coffers every year – our share “All officers on duty were counseled been treated for days. Windows in many of the 55 percent of net income,” but the that withholding food can never be utilized of the dorms that lacked air conditioning contracts with the vendors allowed them to as a form of discipline and that the depart- wouldn’t crank open for proper ventilation. keep those funds. ment and facility will not condone it,” said Several prisoners wore shirts and pants that So rather than saving $550,000, the Michelle Glady, an FDOC spokeswoman. were torn or threadbare. state was losing millions. “I am proud of the swift action taken, Richardson said he had not gone “How could so many people know­ but I wonder if I had not been present if public with his findings about the lack of ledgeable about these contracts not see the incident would have been disclosed,” hygiene products and other issues, hoping that?” he asked. “And it’s a nice little shell Richardson wrote on his Facebook page. his reports and complaints to the FDOC game that got played because people didn’t “Unfortunately, we still have a few bad would result in reforms. talk about that little bucket of money.” officers, and they taint the integrity of the “I’m not seeking publicity for myself. Adding to the problems in Florida’s department and all the fine officers who I’m seeking change,” he noted. “I wanted to prison system, a November 2015 study by serve our state with distinction.” work with them and see if they could get a private auditor found that many of the Richardson was on a January 19, their problem under control and change FDOC’s operational deficiencies “can be 2017 visit to the Baker Correctional Insti- behavior without being publicly shamed.” directly or indirectly tied to the lack of tution in northern Florida when he found But his audits of the private prison an adequate work force that possesses the dozens of prisoners without toilet paper, contracts apparently changed his mind. experience and skills to consistently carry toothbrushes and other supplies. He asked “We have got to take a serious look out the mandates of the FDOC as outlined the warden to open the storage unit just feet into these contracts,” Richardson told other in policy and procedure.” away from the dorms, and they delivered state lawmakers. “I have now audited nine It was June 2016 when Richardson hygiene products to more than 50 prisoners. contracts ... and all nine contracts that I had visited the Sumter Correctional Institution “It is behavior that is intended to audited had the numbers fudged to justify and began questioning youthful prisoners dehumanize them – treating them like an privatization. And it’s time for this body and held at that facility. animal,” Richardson said, while also not- this legislature to take a serious look at how “How’s your day going?” he asked one ing that the warden was embarrassed. He we are spending the taxpayers’ money.” of them. complained to the FDOC and “they were “Not very good,” was the reply. “We apologetic and put out an all-points bulletin Sources: Miami Herald; Tampa Bay Times; were just at the lunch room and a couple that this was wrong.” “Study of Operations of the Florida De- of people were talking and the guard told But problems continued. During his partment of Corrections,” by the Florida us to go dump all our food in the trash.” fourth visit to the Tomoka Correctional Insti- Legislative Office of Program Policy Analysis The FDOC guard in question, Denzel tution near Daytona Beach, Richardson said and Government Accountability (Nov. 2015)

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Prison Legal News 23 October 2017 Electronic Monitoring Becomes More Widespread, but Problems Persist by Derek Gilna, Christopher Zoukis

he use of wearable electronic is accurate within seven feet. If the device is In La Crosse County, the cost of lost Ttracking devices for defendants and removed or tampered with, or if the person monitoring units was $35,000 in 2015 people on community supervision has risen being monitored strays from the area in alone; further, officials collected only 44 sharply over the past decade. Cash-strapped which he or she is supposed to be confined, percent of monitoring fees in 2014 and municipalities like the reduced cost, which an alert is sent to law enforcement officials. 2015 combined, often due to the indigency is much lower than a prison or jail bed and The projected cost savings over jails of offenders, which cost the county another is often passed on to the device wearer. are attractive, too. In La Crosse County, $171,000. Those on electronic monitoring and their Wisconsin, for example, GPS monitors The ability of someone on electronic families prefer the freedom it grants them cost $800 each to purchase and $6 each monitoring to pay the fees can have dra- to remain together. And defense attorneys per month to monitor – versus a jail bed matic effects. In January 2017, Mitchell say non-incarcerated clients receive better which can cost tens of thousands of dollars convinced a judge to let his client, Wil- criminal justice outcomes. to build and up to $83 a day to maintain. In liam Edwards, out of jail with a bulky But there are difficulties with electronic most municipalities that use them, the cost GPS monitor attached to his ankle. Then monitoring. If the technology fails, a person of the monitoring device is passed on to the Edwards received a bill. can end up unfairly jailed. The devices are wearer, through weekly or monthly fees. “I didn’t know it was going to cost that also startlingly easy to foil or remove, and The benefits to people on electronic much money,” he said. “The cost was about when they are lost or damaged, or when a monitoring who can remain employed $900 a month or roughly $26 a day.” wearer fails to pay the monitoring fees, the and with their families, instead of in jail, While on electronic monitoring, costs for municipalities begin to eat away are obvious. Less obvious, but equally Edwards was able to get his job back, but at the savings anticipated from electronic important, is the potential for a better he doesn’t make much money. The case tracking systems. In addition, the practice outcome in court. Research by the Arnold dragged on so long that he began looking of passing on monitoring fees to the wearers Foundation published in 2013 found that for a way out of the mounting bills, even if can leave them in a sort of debtor’s prison; defendants who are incarcerated before that meant pleading guilty. in some cases, it’s more economical to stay trial plead guilty more often and receive “I had to convince him, ‘Don’t take in jail than run up a large monitoring bill. harsher sentences. San Francisco attorney any deal, you’re not guilty, don’t take a deal According to a September 2016 re- Kevin Mitchell said he has a better chance just to get out of this financial bind. You’ll port by Pew Charitable Trusts, more than of winning a case if his client can walk freely pay that money back, alright? But you can’t 125,000 people were on electronic monitor- into court in a coat and tie rather than under get back your guilty plea,’” Mitchell stated. ing in 2015. That’s a small fraction of the guard or in an orange jumpsuit. After three months, prosecutors 4.65 million on parole or probation in the “I always prefer having a client come dropped the case due to lack of evidence. United States, but is also 140 percent higher through the front door,” Mitchell stated. But Edwards said he’s still paying back fam- than just a decade earlier. “Judges and the prosecutors treat them ily members who loaned him the money he “That’s fairly rapid growth of a new better that way.” had to pay Leaders in Community Alterna- technology throughout the system without But what happens when tracking de- tives (LCA) — the company that provides a solid research base that shows when and vices malfunction? Some people who have electronic monitoring for Alameda County. how the technology would be most effective,” been fitted with GPS devices claim they LCA and similar firms stand to benefit noted Adam Gelb, director of Pew’s Public are not reliable. In Indianapolis, Indiana, from California’s proposed SB10, which Safety Performance Project, which produced Community Corrections client Nakiea would mandate the use of bail alternatives, the report. “There are some indications that Theus said her device is difficult to charge including electronic monitoring. The bill electronic monitoring can reduce recidivism, and often doesn’t hold a charge. It mal- was referred to an appropriations commit- but at this point it’s not clear for which of- functioned while she was getting dialysis, tee in September 2017. fenders or at what stage of the process.” resulting in her being jailed for five weeks Leslie Summers, the director of com- Driving the trend of increased elec- in the summer of 2016. The problem was munity and government relations for LCA, tronic monitoring is the fact that the ultimately traced to a defective cord. said the company was founded in the 1980s technology is enticing in its effectiveness: Videos available on YouTube show when Jack Love, a judge in New Mexico, the person to be tracked is fitted with a how to remove the monitoring devices was reading a Spider-Man comic. waterproof, impact-resistant device about using readily available household supplies. “The villain put some type of a tracking the size of a smart phone, usually worn And while cheaper than prison or jail, device on Spider-Man,” Summers stated. around the ankle. It uses either radio fre- monitoring wearers’ movements still incurs “He wanted to know where he was at all quency (RF) or GPS via satellite through costs for new and replacement devices, plus times.” cell phone towers to monitor an offender’s monitoring manpower – which is often The judge was struck by that concept movement – in the case of GPS devices, it outsourced to private firms. and thought, “‘Hmm, why can’t we do that October 2017 24 Prison Legal News with offenders?’” offender qualified as a “search” for Fourth should only be used when truly necessary In the case of convicted sex offenders, Amendment purposes. However, the Court in a particular case, and only when its GPS tracking devices are used to moni- left open the question of when such a search effectiveness has been convincingly dem- tor those on lifetime supervision. A 2013 would be reasonable. onstrated to a court.” study in California, sponsored by the U.S. One convicted pedophile, Michael J. Additionally, critics have noted that Justice Department’s National Institute of Belleau, a 72-year-old Wisconsin resident, electronic monitoring often expands the Justice, found high-risk offenders released challenged his state’s policy of requiring number of people involved in the criminal on parole and fitted with GPS devices had a sex offenders to wear tracking devices on justice, and thus does little to curb mass recidivism rate 38 percent lower than those Fourth Amendment grounds, and a district incarceration – since people who violate the without the devices. court judge ruled in his favor. However, the terms of their supervised release while being “With appropriate protections and Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals called monitored are funneled back into prisons oversight, this kind of monitoring can the lower court’s ruling “absurd,” saying the and jails. [See: PLN, April 2015, p.22]. sometimes be a useful alternative to in- requirement to wear the device does not Further, the Electronic Frontier Foun- carceration,” Nathan Freed Wessler, a staff violate the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition dation (EFF), a leading advocate of electronic attorney with the ACLU, wrote in an email. against unreasonable searches and seizures. privacy, notes on its website that “All too But two convicted sex offenders in The appellate court wrote that Belleau’s often, new police surveillance tools are ini- Southern California raped and killed four right to privacy was more directly impacted tially applied only to the ‘worst of the worst’ women after being released on parole in by the fact that his conviction was published and then slowly – but surely – expanded to 2014, despite both wearing GPS monitors. on an online sex offender registry, finding include an ever-growing number of less cul- And there have been other cases where that any burden on his privacy “must in pable individuals. We’ve seen it with DNA people being monitored have committed any event be balanced against the gain to collection. And now we’re starting to see it crimes both while wearing tracking devices society.” See: Belleau v. Wall, 811 F.3d 929 with GPS tracking.” or after removing them. (7th Cir. 2016). The U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on “It is important to understand how Sources: Pew Trusts, U.S. News & World the issue of electronic monitoring in Grady onerous, restrictive, and privacy-invasive Report, www.kqed.org, www.govtech.com, v. North Carolina, 135 S.Ct. 1368 (2015) it can be to have a GPS monitor attached www.fox59.com, www.arstechnica.com, [PLN, June 2015, p.51], and found that the to your body 24 hours a day,” said Wessler, Detroit Times-Free Press, www.bjs.gov, attachment of a GPS tracking unit to a sex with the ACLU. “GPS tracking of people www.eff.org

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Prison Legal News 25 October 2017 Correctional Health Report Suppressed by Bush Administration Finally Released

“prophetic” U.S. Surgeon General’s “If this study had seen the light of day, Serpas, a former Nashville and New Or- Areport that warned of a coming crisis there is no telling how much money would leans police chief – particularly considering with mentally ill prisoners and prison have been saved,” said Chicago’s Cook the increasing number of prisoners who health care in general, suppressed by the County Sheriff Tom Dart. “This is why have mental health and substance abuse Bush administration, was only released in people have complete disgust with the way problems. mid-2016. government operates.” The 2006 document, titled “The Sur- The “Surgeon General[’s] report was Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, geon General: Call to Action on Corrections prophetic, to say the least,” added Ronald USA Today and Community Health,” was prepared by then-Surgeon General Richard Carmona. Vermont Supreme Court Invalidates It urged action by the government and community leaders to develop a treatment Sex Offender Probation Conditions strategy for sick and addicted prisoners following their release, or face worsening ast year the Vermont Supreme tencing court’s findings ... were insufficient public health care burdens. LCourt vacated four sex offender proba- to justify the imposition of this broad con- The 49-page report recommended tion conditions, finding that they improperly dition.” In reaching that conclusion, the enhanced medical screenings for arrestees delegated judicial authority to probation of- Court followed its earlier rulings in State v. and their victims; better surveillance of ficers and were overbroad, unconstitutional Freeman, 2013 VT 25, 70 A.3d 1008 (Vt. diseases in prisons; and ready access to or based upon insufficient findings. 2013) and State v. Campbell, 2015 VT 50, community-based medical, mental health In 2013, Owen Cornell was convicted 120 A.3d 1148 (Vt. 2015). and substance abuse prevention programs of a sex offense and sentenced to two to six As in Campbell, the Court found “that for released prisoners. years in prison. The trial court suspended all the [trial] court could craft a narrower con- “The correctional health report is but 20 months with credit for time served, dition that anticipated future issues while pointing out the inadequacies of health and imposed a term of probation with 21 still providing flexibility.” As such, it struck care within our correctional health care supervision conditions. Cornell appealed the condition and remanded “for additional system,” Dr. Carmona said. “It would force six of those conditions. justification, revision, or removal.” the government on a course of action to The Vermont Supreme Court invalidated The Supreme Court then turned to improve that.” four of the probation conditions; it also in- a condition that required Cornell to give However, as PLN reported at the time, structed that a fifth condition should be revised. blanket permission to his probation of- the report was mothballed by the govern- The Court first vacated a condition ficer for warrantless searches and seizure ment and not publicly released. [See: PLN, that required Cornell to participate in any privileges. The Court concluded “that the Aug. 2007, p.6]. In recent years, PLN has treatment ordered by his probation officer, condition is impermissible in the absence also reported on the burgeoning population noting that the same condition had been of any requirement of reasonable suspicion.” of prisoners who suffer from mental illness. struck down in State v. Putnam, 2015 VT The condition “should be redrafted to elimi- Substance abuse was cited as “the most 113, 130 A.3d 836 (Vt. 2015) as impermis- nate the specification that the state’s search prevalent ailment” among prisoners in the sibly delegating “open-ended authority” powers are based on some kind of waiver by Surgeon General’s report, but it also found from the trial court to a probation officer. defendant,” it instructed. That condition also that mental illness was up to three times “While it is permissible under Putnam “should state explicitly that the State’s search higher in U.S. prisons than in the general to delegate authority to a probation officer rights are dependent on its having reason- population. “The nation’s largest mental to select among a predetermined list of pro- able suspicion, that evidence of a violation health facilities are in large urban jails,” the gramming options relevant to a defendant’s of probation conditions would be found.” report stated. particular needs,” the state Supreme Court Additionally, the Court instructed “We deny the American public essen- held it could not “approve the delegation that “the condition should clearly state the tial information that they need when this of ‘full authority’ to impose counseling or constitutional requirement to make the information is suppressed,” Dr. Carmona training purely on the grounds that de- probationer aware of his or her rights and said in 2016, when the report was finally fendant may falter in his commitment to the State representative aware of the limita- disclosed. “We missed an opportunity to pre-existing programming.” tions of its power.” take appropriate action to protect the public The Court remanded for the trial court The Supreme Court further invalidated health.” to either revise the language of the condi- a condition prohibiting Cornell from own- According to the former Surgeon tion or strike it entirely. ing a computer in his home or accessing General, the report was not publicly re- It also invalidated a condition requir- the Internet without approval from his leased because the Bush administration did ing probation officer approval of Cornell’s probation officer. not want to spend more money on prison residence and employment. The Supreme The Court held “that ‘without evidence that health care. Court agreed with Cornell that “the sen- [Cornell’s] offense involved the use of a computer October 2017 26 Prison Legal News or the internet,’ the condition is unconstitution- Supreme Court recognized “that the wording this probation condition by incorporating ally overbroad and fails to meet Vermont’s of the condition has frequently caused it to be language that ‘anticipates the interpretation individualized sentencing requirements.” narrowly interpreted to ensure that the pro- difficulties and defines more specifically the While upholding a condition that pro- bationer has fair warning of its meaning.” As coverage of the condition.’” See: State v. Cor- hibited “violent or threatening behavior,” the such, the Court asked “trial judges to clarify nell, 2016 VT 47, 146 A.3d 895 (Vt. 2016). Seventh Circuit: Rodent Infestation Claims Survive Summary Judgment

he Seventh Circuit Court of Ap- must use it all at once.” ment,” the appellate court held. Tpeals held that an Illinois prisoner’s Gray had not been bitten or directly “Hygienic supplies sufficient to meet claims regarding a rodent infestation were harmed by any type of pest or rodent. He basic needs are constitutionally required,” prematurely dismissed because he presented argued, however, that the pest dander ag- the Court of Appeals added. “It is not triable issues of fact for a jury. gravated his asthma and he developed skin enough for the prison to ‘allow’ inmates to Illinois state prisoner Marcos Gray rashes within eight months of his arrival purchase them.” was confined at the Stateville Correctional at Stateville. Recalling “Winston’s unreasoning Center for 15 years, in apparently deplor- Gray was far from alone. On February fear of rats in Nineteen Eighty-Four, a fear able conditions. 11, 2014, a federal class-action suit was exploited by his torturers to break his spirit “He sees cockroaches at least every certified in Dobbey v. Weilding, U.S.D.C. without actually touching him,” the Seventh other day, and sometimes as often as every (N.D. Ill.), Case No. 13-cv-01068, alleging Circuit acknowledged that the “potential few minutes. Birds fly and nest all over the infestations of birds, mice and cockroaches, psychological harm from living in a small prison, leaving their droppings on the floors as well as a failure to provide cleaning sup- cell infested with mice and cockroaches is and wall,” he alleged in his federal lawsuit, plies at Stateville. That suit, which remains pretty obvious,” citing Thomas v. Illinois, 697 writing in the third person. “Mice are often pending, seeks only injunctive relief. Gray F.3d 612 (7th Cir. 2012). in Gray’s cell, where they eat his food. The is a member of the Dobbey class and may Gray’s summary judgment pleadings cell house is also infested with ants, spiders, not opt-out, as it was certified under Federal “present triable issues of fact for a jury, which flies, gnats, moths, and mosquitoes.” Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2). must determine the degree of both physical The birds and other pests entered The district court granted summary and psychological harm he suffered as a re- through broken windows and holes in the judgment to the defendant prison officials sult of the infestation and dirt,” the appellate walls that prison officials had not bothered on Gray’s individual damage claims, finding court concluded. “If the jury finds that Gray to repair, according to Gray. that none of the conditions he described, suffered only psychological harm, he will be Prison officials also denied prisoners standing alone, were so bad as to violate the limited to nominal and punitive damages.” adequate cleaning supplies. “Gray receives Eighth Amendment. He appealed. Gray was represented on appeal by ap- only one towel, which is replaced every “Reading the record in the light most fa- pointed counsel Thomas Shriner. See: Gray eight months; he also gets some watered- vorable to Gray,” the Seventh Circuit reversed. v. Hardy, 826 F.3d 1000 (7th Cir. 2016). down disinfectant spray. He does not have Gray “has shown enough to avoid summary The case remains pending on remand, access to mops, brooms, or buckets, and he judgment on his claim that the myriad in- where Gray moved on August 7, 2017 to is not permitted to store chemicals such as festations and his lack of access to adequate tax the appellate costs to the defendants. soap in his cell,” he wrote. “He is allowed cleaning supplies, taken together, deprived Attorney Thomas B. Underwood was ap- to purchase soap or detergent at the com- him of the basic human need of rudimentary pointed by the district court to represent missary, but because he may not store it, he sanitation in violation of the Eighth Amend- Gray after the appellate ruling.

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Prison Legal News 27 October 2017 Environmental Protection Agency Finally Recognizes Prisons in Screening Tool by Panagioti Tsolkas

wo years ago, the Human Rights areas with contaminated water supplies. prisonlegalnews.org or FightToxicPrisons@ TDefense Center (HRDC), which The Prison Ecology Project is in the gmail.com, or write to: HRDC, Attn: Pan- publishes Prison Legal News, introduced process of creating such a map, which agioti / PEP Project, P.O. Box 1151, Lake the concept of prison environmentalism, will be populated with data collected Worth, FL 33460. building off the work of jailhouse lawyers, primarily by HRDC. For those who can’t attend EPA scholars and activists around the country. An annotated map could even link webinars, the agency’s Office of Envi- On many occasions spanning the last four scanned files of hand-written letters from ronmental Justice staff have said they can decades of mass incarceration in the U.S. prisoners, giving a personal connection to offer trainings for smaller groups upon – in which prison populations increased a direct source of information to which so request. Perhaps the next step will be nationally by 700% – prisoners and their few people outside of prison have access. getting them to take those trainings into advocates had noted environmental con- Therefore, please contact us if you have prisons, where prisoners can learn to use cerns in local battles involving prison relevant information related to prisons or the EJSCREEN tool – which needs to be operations and efforts to stop new prison jails and the environment that belongs in available as a resource in prisons and jails construction. the map that’s under development by the nationwide. In 2015, HRDC decided that the Prison Ecology Project and the Campaign problem was far beyond the scope of lo- to Fight Toxic Prisons. Email to: ptsolkas@ Source: www.epa.gov/ejscreen cal campaigns and launched the Prison Ecology Project to address the issue on a national level. DOJ Audit Rips Privately-operated This summer, the Office of Environ- mental Justice, part of the Environmental Federal Facility; Trump Administration Protection Agency (EPA), formally an- Presses Forward nounced that it would be including the location of correctional facilities in its by Derek Gilna updated EJSCREEN mapping tool. In August and September 2017, the n December 2016, the Office of Institute, which uncovered serious problems EPA hosted online webinars about the Ithe Inspector General (OIG), a watch- at the Adams facility and 10 other privately- agency’s new EJSCREEN map which, at dog agency within the U.S. Department operated federal prisons used to incarcerate the request of the Prison Ecology Project of Justice (DOJ), issued an audit of the non-citizens convicted of crimes. The inves- and over 130 other groups and activists, now federal Bureau of Prisons’ contract with tigation found that CoreCivic had failed includes more than 6,000 prisons, jails and private prisoner company CoreCivic, for- for years to correct inadequacies in the other detention facilities. merly known as Corrections Corporation provision of medical care, and prisoners had This is a major victory; it means that of America, to operate the Adams County died as a result. anyone can now easily see where prisons Correctional Center. Prison Legal News has published are in proximity to sites of industrial pol- That 2,232-bed facility, located in numerous articles exposing the deficien- lution and other environmental concerns. Natchez, Mississippi, gained notoriety cies essentially built into the for-profit The government agencies that rely on the in May 2012 following a major riot that prison industry’s business model, including EPA’s mapping tool to review environ- left one prison employee dead. [See: PLN, chronic understaffing, inadequate training mental permits will have no excuse not to June 2014, p.48]. A post-riot report recom- of correctional employees, substandard do the same. mended changes, which the OIG’s 2016 health care, and dangerous conditions for Using this new feature, agencies and audit found still hadn’t been completed. both prisoners and staff. [See, e.g.: PLN, organizations can create reports, journalists Further, according to the audit, CoreCivic Jan. 2012, p.20]. can use the data for articles, and activists can had not been held accountable by the Bu- Federal monitoring reports obtained organize around prisons and jails located reau of Prisons (BOP). The Inspector by The Nation through a Freedom of In- near known environmental hazards. General wrote it was “deeply concerned” formation Act lawsuit revealed that BOP But what the EJSCREEN map does that the Adams facility remained “plagued monitors had documented 34 prisoner not have is an accompanying narrative by the same significant deficiencies” that deaths following shoddy care at privately- that includes input from prisoners’ let- had sparked the deadly riot. run federal prisons between January 2007 ters, news articles and public records The audit directly echoed the findings and June 2015. Fourteen of those deaths requests concerning many of the facilities of a multi-part investigation released ear- occurred in facilities managed by Core- listed on the map – such as those built on lier this year by The Nation, in partnership Civic, including at least seven at the Adams landfills, former coal mining sites and in with the Investigative Fund of the Nation County Correctional Center. October 2017 28 Prison Legal News The Adams facility first came under that the BOP allowed CoreCivic to ignore “a significant step backwards for criminal scrutiny by federal investigators after the following the after-action riot report issued justice reform and a sign that the admin- 2012 riot left guard Catlin Carithers dead four years earlier. istration wants to cozy up to the private and 20 other employees and prisoners with In August 2016, the DOJ had released prison industry, which gave it a lot of money injuries. The after-action report for the riot a memo directing the BOP to begin ending in terms of campaign contributions.” determined that it was a consequence of its use of for-profit prisons. The memo fol- “This is a sign that under President what prisoners perceived to be “inadequate lowed a contemporaneous OIG report that Trump and Attorney General Sessions, medical care, substandard food, and disre- described a litany of problems at privately- America may be headed for a new federal spectful staff members.” managed federal prisons, including violence prison boom,” added Carl Takei, a staff at- The OIG’s December 2016 audit between prisoners and staff, poor security torney with the ACLU’s National Prison found little had changed in the four years and misuse of solitary confinement. The Project. since the riot. Nonetheless, the BOP report concluded private prisons were less Trump spoke favorably of private prisons had continued to renew its contract with safe and no less costly than those operated while on the campaign trail, and private prison CoreCivic, extending it to July 2017 and by the BOP. [See: PLN, Oct. 2016, p.22]. companies donated generously to one of his increasing the total contract value to ap- The DOJ ordered the federal private affiliated political action committees and proximately $468 million. The company prison population to shrink from 22,000 to his inauguration. Further, Sessions has long is still operating the facility following roughly 14,000 prisoners by May 2017, and touted himself as a criminal justice hard-liner another contract renewal. in five years the total private federal prison throughout his career, and he apparently in- The audit noted that CoreCivic contin- population was to reach zero. tends to continue along that tough-on-crime ued to have difficulty hiring and retaining However, on February 21, 2017, the path as Attorney General. Spanish-speaking employees for the prison’s U.S. Attorney General for the Trump ad- largely Hispanic population, while it also ministration, Jeff Sessions, rescinded the Sources: www.oig.justice.gov, The Nation, continued to suffer high staff turnover – in memo phasing out for-profit facilities. [See: Forbes, www.shadowproof.com, www.news. part due to a salary structure lower than that PLN, April 2017, p.30]. vice.com, “Audit of the Federal Bureau of Pris- at comparable federal facilities. Bob Libal, executive director of Grass- ons’ Contract with CoreCivic, Inc. to Operate In addition, the OIG said CoreCivic roots Leadership, a Texas-based civil rights the Adams County Correctional Center in had failed to adequately report the status organization that opposes the private prison Natchez, Mississippi,” by OIG, Audit Division of five critical health service positions, industry, called Sessions’ announcement 17-08 (Dec. 2016) including two dentists, two physicians and one advanced registered nurse practitioner at the Adams prison. Even more troubling was the lack of Disciplinary Self-Help Litigation Manual, adequate oversight of the facility by federal Second Edition, by Dan Manville prison officials, with OIG investigators stating they found “several aspects of the By the co-author of the Prisoners’ Self- BOP’s control and oversight of the contract Help Litigation Manual, this book provides performance to be inadequate,” noting the detailed information about prisoners’ BOP “did not implement appropriate per- formance standards to measure and evaluate rights in disciplinary hearings and how to CoreCivic’s performance.” enforce those rights in court. The audit made recommendations for Now available from Prison Legal News Publishing. improvements, similar to the suggestions $49.95, shipping included

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Prison Legal News 29 October 2017 HRDC Lawsuit: Kentucky DOC Guilty of Censorship, Violations of Due Process and Equal Protection

n July 20, 2017, the Human Rights Kentucky prison officials three times but HRDC, which has successfully liti- ODefense Center (HRDC) filed a never received a response; those efforts gated dozens of other First Amendment federal lawsuit against the Kentucky De- included two letters sent directly to the censorship cases nationwide, is seeking partment of Corrections for violating its General Counsel for the Department of damages, attorney fees and costs in addi- free speech, due process and equal protec- Corrections. tion to injunctive relief. It is represented tion rights. “Prisoners have already been stripped by attorneys Camille Bathurst, Gregory HRDC, a Florida-based non-profit of many of their freedoms, but the [Ken- Belzley, Bruce Johnson with the law firm of organization and publisher of Prison Legal tucky DOC] isn’t stopping there. It is Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, and HRDC News, contended that the Kentucky DOC illegally denying prisoners constitutionally- attorneys Sabarish Neelakanta, Dan Mar- was guilty of censoring books sent to pris- protected, free speech materials that might shall and Masimba Mutamba. See: HRDC oners, violating equal protection laws by actually teach them about their rights while v. Ballard, U.S.D.C. (E.D. Ken.), Case No. selectively blocking some materials but not behind bars,” Wright stated. 3:17-cv-00057-GFVT. others, and infringing upon the organiza- tion’s due process rights by not allowing HRDC to appeal censorship decisions. Compensation for Wrongful Convictions Specifically, HRDC stated in its complaint that prison officials had un- in Massachusetts Not Easily Obtained constitutionally blocked the delivery of by Christopher Zoukis numerous books mailed to Kentucky state prisoners, including the Prisoner Diabetes evin O’Loughlin was wrongfully to the offense, that they were sentenced to Handbook, the Merriam-Webster Diction- Kconvicted of raping an 11-year-old at least a year in prison and, crucially, that ary of Law and the Prisoners’ Self-Help girl in 1983. He spent almost four years in they did not commit the crime. The process Litigation Manual, among others. Dozens prison, where he endured multiple assaults involves a higher burden than obtaining a of books sent to prisoners over a 12-month – all for a crime he did not commit. not-guilty verdict at trial. period were censored. On several occasions, Then a convicted rapist confessed that Compensation cases are also not sub- HRDC received notices indicating the he was “99 percent sure” he had committed ject to rules of evidence typical in criminal books were rejected for a variety of reasons, the sexual assault for which O’Loughlin was cases. Evidence cannot be excluded, even if such as having “colored paper/envelope/ convicted. O’Loughlin filed for compensa- it was obtained in violation of the Fourth, ink,” “stickers,” being a “free book” or “not tion from the State of Massachusetts, but Fifth and Sixth Amendments, according directly [sent] from publisher or authorized despite the confession and other evidence to the compensation statute. distributor.” pointing to his innocence, the state refused Cases can take a long time to resolve, Kentucky DOC policies ban books not to pay and the case will soon go to trial. with two years allowed for evidence dis- directly purchased by prisoners; they also At stake is a payment of up to $500,000 covery under the trial schedule used for ban books from publishers not included on provided under Massachusetts’ wrongful con- compensation requests. a pre-approved vendor list. Those practices viction compensation statute. Since the law “This process is designed to last at violated HRDC’s rights under the First was passed in 2004, 27 people have received least three years,” said attorney John Amendment as well as its Fourteenth a total of $8.34 million, in sums ranging from Thompson. “That means that the guy who’s Amendment right to due process notice, $60,000 to the half-million maximum. coming out of prison has to wait at least the organization argued in its complaint. But unlike the criminal trial that three years to get the benefits from this, if “The actions taken by the Kentucky landed O’Laughlin in prison – in which he ever gets them.” Department of Corrections violate the prosecutors had the burden of proving his Thompson’s client, Mark Schand, was free speech rights of not only the Hu- guilt – a claimant under the state’s compen- wrongfully convicted in 1986 of murder- man Rights Defense Center, but all other sation law must prove his or her innocence, ing Victoria Seymour. He served nearly constitutionally-protected publishers that following a multi-step process. 27 years in prison before being granted have an absolute right to communicate Initially, a court must agree either a new trial in 2013, after eyewitness An- with prisoners held by the department,” that the claimant received a full pardon thony Cooke recanted his identification of said HRDC executive director Paul Wright. or had his or her conviction overturned Schand and three new witnesses testified “While it seems preposterous that a book in a manner that “tends to establish the that he was not at the crime scene that offering information about diabetes would innocence of the individual.” Prisoners night – the same testimony offered in vain be banned, the fact is that the content of the freed solely due to prosecutorial miscon- at Schand’s original trial by his wife. books doesn’t matter. The Kentucky DOC’s duct or on technicalities are not eligible Then-Hampden County District At- disregard for free speech and due process under the law. torney Mark Mastroianni, who is now a rights is reckless and intentional.” Next, former prisoners must prove a se- federal judge, dropped the murder charge, Prior to filing suit, HRDC contacted ries of claims: that they never pleaded guilty sparing Schand another trial and clearing October 2017 30 Prison Legal News the path for his release from prison. against the state at trial. He was awarded prevail. “I don’t think they have any right However, in addition to 27 years with $500,000. to put me through any more,” he said. no income or career advancement, plus the State Senator Pat Jehlen, the sponsor steady expense of his wife’s weekly visits, of the law as it currently stands, introduced Sources: Boston Globe, www.masslive.com, the record of his conviction still costs him new legislation in January 2017 that would www.eye.necir.org, www.theweek.com, www. job opportunities due to criminal back- allow released prisoners to seek $50,000 in law.umich.eduPLN - JMNY 1-8th 8-23-17 NEW ADDR_Layout 1 8/23/17 5:06 PM Page 1 ground checks, Schand said. immediate financial assistance if they can “I’m sure I wouldn’t be working a $14, show they will likely win their compensa- $15 an hour job at this point in my life. I’m tion case. 200 percent sure that’s because of my in- “There is a saying, justice delayed is carceration,” he stated. “I don’t think that’s justice denied,” Jehlen stated. “I feel pretty GIFTS OK. I definitely feel that I was held back.” strongly we owe them – people wrongfully Amol Sinha, state policy advocate for or erroneously incarcerated. It’s a moral the New York-based Innocence Project, debt.” declared the Massachusetts law is too The legislation would also entitle restrictive. successful plaintiffs to attorneys’ fees We bring the “[Y]ou may be preventing people who and prohibit the state from requiring recipi- Shopping Mall to You! are actually innocent from compensation” by ents to return compensation funds if they Gifts, Flowers & Desserts setting the evidentiary bar so high, she said. win damages from other parties. The bill Nearly 200 Selections! While 27 people have received com- failed to pass during the legislative session. FREE GIFT CATALOG pensation from Massachusetts, 36 others The University of Michigan’s National ... BUT if you include 3 Stamps or $1.50 have filed claims under the law without Registry of Exonerations counts 54 over- for catalog postage, we will send you success. Just three cases have gone to trial, turned convictions in Massachusetts due to Discount Coupons for Your First Purchase!! with two decided in favor of the Com- wrongful convictions as of September 21, NEW ADDRESS! monwealth. Ulysses Charles, who served 2017, though the actual number is likely Jaden Moore of New York 17 years before DNA evidence cleared him higher. ATTN: Gift Catalog-PLN of rape and robbery charges in 2001, is the O’Loughlin intends to see his case 309 Main Street, Suite 1 only former prisoner to win a judgment through, hoping justice will eventually Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 Email: [email protected] New Titles Available in PLN’s Bookstore

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Prison Legal News 31 October 2017 Information for advertisers Parole Remains Elusive for Virginia Prisoners by David M. Reutter

irginia has more than 3,500 pris- job could be gone tomorrow.” population over 50 grew from 4.5% in Voners eligible for parole, representing According to the Virginia chapter of 1990 to 20% by 2015. A Department of over 9% of its prison population of 38,000 Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Er- Corrections report that year found 22% of – a significant number considering that the rants (VA CURE), of the 3,156 cases the prisoners who were supposed to be in state state abolished parole over 20 years ago. board reviewed in 2012, only 116 resulted prisons were instead being held at local jails. Still, even for those long-serving prison- in a grant of parole – or just 3.7%. The “We have a different culture in this ers who are still eligible, the odds of being board refused to grant parole in 536 of the country than exists in Canada or Europe granted parole are slim. 547 cases it considered in December 2015 where people who have committed very Virginia ended parole in 1995 during and 2016 – a 98% denial rate. During that bad crimes serve 20 years or so, and that the heyday of the “tough on crime” era. time period, every prisoner over 50 was is pretty significant punishment,” said Prisoners sentenced since then have been denied parole. criminal defense attorney Steve Rosenfield. required to serve their full prison term, The Virginia statute that abolished “Supporting that are our own studies in this less good time credits. This is one of the parole also provided for “geriatric release” country that show that once people reach more restrictive examples of punitive “truth by requiring annual parole hearings for their 30’s and start aging into their 50’s in sentencing” laws that were enacted in prisoners over age 60 who have served at and 60’s, the rate and incidence of crimes exchange for federal prison construction least ten years, or five years for those over that are committed by them when they are grants under the 1994 Violent Crime 65. But parole is rarely granted in those released is exceedingly small.” Control and Law Enforcement Act. The cases; of 1,417 elderly prisoners considered That applies especially to those serving Act provided funding to states that required between January 2014 and March 2017, just time for the most violent crimes. An often- certain prisoners to serve at least 85% of 68 – 4.7% – were paroled. cited Stanford University study of 860 their sentences, on average. In 2017, Governor Terry McAuliffe murderers released on parole in California The over 3,500 offenders in Virginia’s appointed Adrianne L. Bennett to chair found only five returned to prison for new prison system sentenced before the 1995 the Virginia parole board. Bennett said that crimes, none of which were for homicide. law went into effect have been subject to because the population of elderly prisoners The high parole denial rate in the face a parole board that emphasizes “self pro- is growing so fast, many younger prisoners of statistics that show it’s safe to parole cer- tection” by making “cautious” decisions. are serving their sentences in city, county tain offenders costs taxpayers $28,000 per The chairwoman until recently was Karen and regional jails scattered across the state. year per prisoner. The cost for older prison- Brown, a prosecutor for 16 years; the four “You’ve got people spending two or ers is even higher due to medical expenses. current members include a former public three years in a local jail because our prisons In Virginia, the 9% of state prisoners over defender, a city councilman and prison of- are now stuffed with old men taking up bed 60 years old account for 22% of the prison ficial, an attorney and state legislator, and space,” she stated. system’s budget for medical care. a Baptist minister. Prisoners must obtain She cited statistics showing that young Often, the focus during parole hear- votes from three of the board members to offenders are more likely to recidivate than ings is more on the original crime than an obtain parole, or four if the conviction was older men whose criminal history “is long offender’s degree of rehabilitation. for first-degree murder resulting in a life gone” – yet because there isn’t room for “Many model prisoners are getting sentence. younger prisoners in state facilities, they turned down for ‘nature of the crime.’ The University of Minnesota law professor are being released back into the commu- door has been slammed on ‘old law’ pris- Kevin Reitz, who is also a national expert on nity from local jails without the benefit of oners,” said Stephen Northrup, executive parole, commented on the board’s composi- rehabilitative programs intended to reduce director of Virginians for Alternatives to tion and the way it carries out its mission. recidivism. the Death Penalty and a retired attorney “The original model of the parole board “Do we keep somebody warehoused who dedicated a portion of his career to is that this would be a group of experts who who is no longer a threat to the community parole reform. “Many [prisoners] have good really knew something about human behav- and has already served decades in prison?” records but are made to rot in prison at the ior and changing human behavior,” he said. Bennett asked. “A 60-year-old in prison or taxpayer’s expense. It isn’t cheap to keep a However, Reitz argued that fear has a 70-year-old in prison who committed an 70 year old in jail. It has gotten to the point been driving the board’s decisions. offense decades ago is a huge tax liability where the governor is the only person that “There is a feeling that if I let this and is not making our community safer. We can change this.” person out today, and God forbid, he or she are warehousing old men who are no longer The public seems to support parole goes on to do something terrible, then, that’s a threat. In fact, what it’s doing is making reform. A survey of 1,000 Virginians found on me. On the other hand, if I make the our communities less safe.” 75% believe the state prison system costs cautious decision and keep the person in, The parole board’s dismal grant rate for too much. Two-thirds of those surveyed then there’s no risk to me,” he stated. “They elderly offenders, however, stands in sharp thought parole should be reinstated for have a reasonably nice job, but if they make contrast to such comments. most prisoners. Those who identified them- a mistake and let the wrong person out, that The percentage of Virginia’s prison selves as conservatives supported the idea October 2017 32 Prison Legal News by a 2-1 margin, yet Republican lawmakers of the subcommittee, said there was no eligible for parole. have ignored the public’s wishes and op- evidence to suggest that juries would posed bills aimed at oversight of the parole have handed down different sentences Sources: WVTE Public Radio, Capital News board and reform efforts. had they known that offenders were not Service, Daily Press, www.richmond.com “In politics, if it takes time to explain an issue, you are losing. No one takes the time to learn the facts,” said Virginia Delegate Mark TV Production Company has Sickles. “Saying you are tough on crime may Friends in Low Places go over well on the campaign trail, but in reality, crime isn’t lower now than in 1995 by Christopher Zoukis before parole was abolished. In many cases, new prisoners are committing the same ucky 8 TV is a production company and fees waived appears to be a conflict of crimes as old prisoners, and are getting out Lthat produces “Behind Bars: Rookie interest as not all of the decisions appear of jail faster than the pre-1995 inmates.” Year” – a reality show about first-time to be in the best interests of the state,” the Even prosecutors have expressed shock prison guards – and thus requires access to audit noted. at the outcome of the law that abolished a prison for filming. What better way to Sanchez, now deputy superintendent parole. gain access than to hire someone from the of the New Mexico Regulation and Li- “I recently came across the com- corrections department to help facilitate censing Department, denied any conflict monwealth’s attorney who prosecuted my such arrangements? and told the Albuquerque Journal that all of husband,” said the wife of a 73-year-old A recent report released by the New her decisions regarding Lucky 8 had been prisoner who has served 25 years on a Mexico State Auditor’s Office found that approved by former Corrections Secretary parole-eligible sentence, “and he was aston- Alex Sanchez, former deputy secretary Gregg Marcantel. ished when I told him he was still in jail.” and public information officer for the New “After my return to Corrections from Until 2000, judges were not required Mexico Corrections Department, was hired employment with Lucky 8 I had a very clear to inform juries during sentencing hearings by Lucky 8 for about 5 months and then conversation with Secretary Marcantel to that the state had ended parole in 1995. A returned to work for the department. Upon ensure that there would not be a conflict bill introduced in the General Assembly in her return, Sanchez participated in the of interest in the dealings with Lucky 8 2016 sought to make all prisoners sentenced determination of what Lucky 8 owed for productions,” Sanchez wrote. “That con- by juries between 1995 and June 2000 eli- filming rights in a state prison. According to versation included ensuring I would not gible for parole, which would have applied the February 24, 2017 audit, that arrange- be making decisions on any dealings with to about 400 offenders. But it was narrowed ment amounted to a conflict of interest. Lucky 8 and the department.” by a Senate panel to apply only to nonviolent All told, at least $20,000 in fees were But according to the audit, “No evi- offenders, of which only 17 were still incar- waived by Sanchez after her short stint as dence was provided to support” the claim cerated, according to prison officials. a Lucky 8 employee. The audit specifically that anyone other than Sanchez made Regardless, the amended bill died referenced emails between Sanchez and the financial decisions related to Lucky 8 TV’s in the Criminal Law Subcommittee of production company concerning the fees. fee determination. the House Courts of Justice Commit- “The involvement of this employee tee. Delegate Robert B. Bell, chairman in the determination of amounts billed Source: www.abqjournal.com

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Prison Legal News 33 October 2017 Waging War on the Poor: Unpaid Fines Lead to Jail by Christopher Zoukis

tung by a series of lawsuits filed Rebecca Adams, one of the defendants sanis said. “Those practices are flagrantly Sacross the nation challenging the prac- named in the suit, did not inform Brown unconstitutional.” tice of jailing people unable to pay court fees that she had the right to a court-appointed The plaintiffs were each reportedly and fines, Texas legislators passed a law that attorney, or that she could claim financial jailed for over 72 hours and did not receive requires judges to offer community service hardship and seek a waiver of the $40 public a hearing as to their ability to pay court costs alternatives to low-income defendants defender application fee. and fines. According to the complaint, “the convicted of offenses where the maximum Without being told about her rights, courts created an unconstitutional debtors’ punishment is a fine. The law went into Brown pleaded guilty to the charges and prison by jailing the defendants for failure effect on September 1, 2017. was ordered to pay a total of $2,407.63 in to pay without giving them a hearing.” One lawsuit, filed on behalf of five fines. Judge Adams required her to pay in Karakatsanis said the root of the case indigent plaintiffs in June 2017, alleges $100 monthly installments, though Brown is the reality that Orleans Parish judges that Lexington County, South Carolina said she could only afford $50. depend on convicting defendants and col- has been engaging in the equivalent of “I don’t care what happens,” Adams lecting fines and fees to fund their own modern-day “debtors’ prisons” by issuing said, according to the complaint. “I want my courthouse budgets. arrest warrants for people unable to pay money on the 12th [of the month].” “We want to see a legal system that court-ordered fees or fines for minor infrac- After making five payments, Brown doesn’t depend on convictions to fund itself tions such as parking tickets, then jailing could no longer continue because her and a society in which no human being is them without offering them legal counsel or checks from Burger King kept bouncing, placed in a jail cell just because they cannot determining whether they have the ability she told Rewire in a phone interview. make a monetary payment,” he added. to pay in the first place. About four months later sheriff ’s The suit remains pending, with summa- Another suit, filed in September 2015, deputies showed up at Brown’s door on ry judgment motions filed in June 2017. See: seeks to overturn the entire system of court- a Saturday morning and served her with Cain v. New Orleans City, U.S.D.C. (E.D. ordered fines and fees in Orleans Parish, a bench warrant requiring her to pay La.), Case No. 2:15-cv-04479-SSV-JCW. Louisiana, which are used to finance court $1,907.63 – the remainder of the balance The practice of jailing the poor who operations. In an attempt to resolve the she owed – or serve 90 days in jail. She are unable to pay court costs and fines is a class-action case, Orleans Parish judges couldn’t pay and was arrested. nationwide problem. [See: PLN, April 2017, voided $1 million in unpaid fines in July Brown ultimately spent 57 days in jail, p.48; Jan. 2017, p.42; July 2016, p.52]. It has 2017, hoping to satisfy the plaintiffs while and thinks she was released early because become so pervasive that under the Obama leaving the current system intact. she earned time off her sentence by cleaning administration, the U.S. Justice Department Although the U.S. Supreme Court out- at the facility. In addition to being separated sent a letter to state court administrators to lawed debtor’s prisons in the 1980s, the new from her children, she lost her job as a re- clarify that imposing jail time for unpaid law in Texas will help to reinforce that ban. sult of her time behind bars. See: Brown v. fines can violate federal law and may be According to the Texas Judicial Council, Lexington County, U.S.D.C. (D. SC), Case unconstitutional. 95 percent of warrants issued in the state No. 3:17-cv-01426-MBS-SVH. Incarcerating the poor for their in- in 2016 were for fine-related offenses, and In Louisiana, the judges in Orleans ability to pay fines is more than just a more than 640,000 people spent at least Parish who agreed to waive $1 million in potential violation of federal law, though, one night in jail on charges that typically fines were responding to a lawsuit filed by then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch said carry no jail time. Alec Karakatsanis, founder and executive in a statement. “If the court has someone not able to director of the Civil Rights Corps. He told “The consequences of the criminaliza- make a fine, but is trying to repay their debt the Louisiana Record that the suit seeks a tion of poverty are not only harmful – they to society then this is a good option,” ex- declaration that financial conflicts of in- are far-reaching,” she declared. “They not plained Bowie County Attorney John Delk. terest permeate the judges’ debt-collection only affect an individual’s ability to support The class-action lawsuit filed by the system in violation of the Due Process their family, but also contribute to an ero- ACLU in South Carolina stems from an Clause of the U.S. Constitution. sion of our faith in government.” incident involving Lexington County resi- The plaintiffs allege a conflict of in- Court-ordered fines and fees are often dent Twanda Marshinda Brown. terest exists when state judges who find an important part of a municipality’s bud- The single mother of seven children, defendants guilty impose costs or fines that get. New York City alone collected $1.9 five of whom live with her, was working at help finance court operations. (The fees and billion in such costs during fiscal year 2015. Burger King, living in Section 8 housing fines are not used to pay the judges’ salaries.) California has over $10 billion in outstand- and earning less than $7,200 per year when “For many years, impoverished people ing court fees and fines. she was ticketed by a Lexington County were routinely jailed in brutal conditions The revenue generated from court- sheriff ’s deputy for driving on a suspended simply because they could not pay debts related costs does not always stay in the license with no tag light. set by [Orleans Parish] judges who have a judicial system. In California, for example, At Brown’s initial court hearing, Judge financial interest in that money,” Karakat- funds from such penalties can end up in the October 2017 34 Prison Legal News California Beverage Container Recycling Fund, Cigarette Tax Fund, Underground Prisons, Jails Combat Smuggling by Storage Tank Cleanup Fund, State Fire Marshal Fireworks Enforcement and Dis- Shredding Mail, Requiring Fresh Underwear posal Fund, Private Security Services Fund, by Christopher Zoukis or the Fish and Game Propagation Fund. In Oklahoma, according to the New he regional jail system in West prison systems are adopting rules designed York Times, indigent defendants are billed TVirginia receives and screens about to thwart contraband smuggling, including for requesting a public defender; the money 300,000 pieces of mail per year. Some the Arkansas Department of Correction, collected from such fees is used to fund letters contain illegal substances being which also is now photocopying corre- the District Attorney’s office. On the day smuggled into facilities for prisoners, spondence and shredding the originals. The that a Times reporter visited the county particularly subuxone; in response, the AR DOC’s new policy, effective August jail in Tulsa, he found 23 people who were West Virginia Department of Military 21, 2017, also restricts letters to just three imprisoned for failure to pay fines or fees. Affairs and Public Safety has imple- pages and bans large greeting cards, among Tulsa County District Attorney Ste- mented a new rule meant to foil such other provisions. phen Kunzweiler thinks that billing attempts. According to prison spokesperson someone who cannot afford an attorney The rule, which was reported by USA Solomon Graves, “This policy change for the appointment of a public defender Today on March 27, 2017, is simple and was a result of intelligence received is not sensible. straightforward: All incoming mail is by the Department that inmates were “It’s a dysfunctional system,” he said. shredded. introducing drugs into the facility by Legislators and judges have also Of course, prisoners have a consti- having mail soaked in liquefied drugs or expressed concerns over revenue from court- tutional right to receive mail. So West having the drugs placed under stamps. ordered costs being used to balance budgets. Virginia regional jail officials are photo- These types of activities have been seen “It brings me a great deal of discomfort, copying all incoming mail, shredding the throughout the country in jails and I must say, when I look at all the buckets original and distributing the copies to prisons.” hanging off our fines and fees,” noted Cali- prisoners. fornia Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani The Virginia Department of Correc- Sources: www.usnews.com, www.richmond. Cantil-Sakauye. tions instituted a similar rule on April 17, com, www.arktimes.com According to the Sacramento Bee, only 2017. According to VDOC official Lisa 12 percent of defendants who were incar- Kinney, nine prisoners have died since 2015 cerated were also ordered to pay fines in due to heroin overdoses; she also noted that 1986. Less than two decades later, in 2004, drugs were intercepted in the mail a dozen that number had increased to 37 percent. times last year. Today it is likely much higher. “These policy updates are a result of Massachusetts state Senator Michael what we’ve seen,” Kinney said. Barrett, chair of the Senate Committee In an attempt to curtail smuggling on Post Audit and Oversight, expressed during contact visitation, the VDOC also concerns over the continued practice of col- implemented a new policy that requires lecting large amounts of money from poor prisoners to strip out prior to a visit and defendants through court fines and fees. put on state-issued clothing, including fresh “The fact that we’re making substantial underwear and socks. money off people who have otherwise paid A number of other jails and state their debt to society and have no money, that’s the troubling aspect of this broader question about criminal justice reform,” Barrett stated. A report issued by his committee found more than 100 incidents where defendants were jailed because they couldn’t afford to pay fines. And in some cases, the cost of incarceration exceeds the cost of the unpaid fine – resulting in a net loss for taxpayers.

Sources: Associated Press, Boston Globe, The New York Times, Sacramento Bee, www.us- news.com, www.louisianarecord.com, www. thecrimereport.org, www.rewire.news, www. wbur.org, www.kvia.com, www.ktbs.com Prison Legal News 35 October 2017 $200,000 Settlement for Restraint of Pregnant Prisoner after Ninth Circuit Vacates Summary Judgment

he Ninth Circuit vacated a sum- Mendiola-Martinez was escorted to court “a jury could find in this case that the Tmary judgment order in favor of in restraints. Within two days of leaving the restraints used on Mendiola-Martinez Arizona jail officials in a case that involved a hospital, she pleaded guilty to solicitation were an ‘exaggerated’ response to the pregnant prisoner who was restrained while to commit forgery, was sentenced to time County Defendants’ safety concerns.” See: she was in labor and after she gave birth. served for the 62 days she had spent in jail Mendiola-Martinez v. Arpaio, 836 F.3d Miriam Mendiola-Martinez was six and then released. 1239 (9th Cir. 2016). months pregnant when she was arrested Mendiola-Martinez filed suit in federal Following remand, the case settled in for forgery and identity theft in Maricopa court in 2011, alleging that jail officials December 2016 with the county agreeing County in October 2009. When she could had violated the Eighth and Fourteenth to pay $200,000 to resolve Mendiola- not prove she was a legal resident of the Amendments by restraining her during Martinez’s claims. United States, Mendiola-Martinez was labor and postpartum recovery. The district Meanwhile, former Sheriff Arpaio, detained under the Arizona Bailable Of- court granted summary judgment to the who lost his reelection bid last year, is fac- fenses Act, ARS 13-3961(A)(5), a law that defendants and dismissed the case. ing his own legal troubles – specifically, was later ruled unconstitutional in Lopez- The Ninth Circuit reversed on Sep- being found guilty of criminal contempt Valenzuela v. Arpaio, 770 F.3d 772 (9th Cir. tember 12, 2016, finding that then-Sheriff by a federal district court on July 31, 2017 2014) (en banc). Joe Arpaio and Maricopa County were not for his “flagrant disregard” of a court order While Mendiola-Martinez was in cus- entitled to qualified immunity. The appellate related to the racial profiling of Latinos tody, Maricopa County’s written restraint court held that Mendiola-Martinez had by the Maricopa County Sheriff ’s Office. policy required restraints anytime a prisoner “presented sufficient evidence for a reason- Arpaio will not face any jail time, however, was outside the jail, unless medical pro- able jury to conclude that by restraining as he was pardoned by President Trump in cedures required the absence of restraints [her] when she was in labor and postpartum August 2017. during treatment. recovery, the County Defendants exposed Two weeks before her expected de- her to a substantial risk of serious harm.” Additional source: www.azcentral.com, livery date, Mendiola-Martinez began The Court of Appeals concluded that CNN having contractions and was transported to a hospital in handcuffs and shackles. She $60,000 Settlement in GEO Group remained in restraints as hospital staff used a fetal monitor to check her baby; she was Employee’s Sexual Harassment Case then discharged and returned to the jail two hours later. he GEO Group – one of the nation’s firing her. Additionally, following her termi- The next day, Mendiola-Martinez Tlargest private prison firms, which is nation, Jones’ former managers continued to was again transported to the hospital “to frequently the subject of scandal arising harass her by initiating contact with her new rule out active labor.” Once again she was from repeated human rights violations at employer and providing a searingly negative handcuffed and shackled in the ambulance its for-profit facilities – has agreed to settle performance review regarding her prior em- and during an examination by medical staff. a lawsuit brought against the company in ployment with GEO Group. Doctors confirmed that she was in labor. 2015 by the U.S. Equal Employment Op- The case settled with the parties en- Mendiola-Martinez gave birth later portunity Commission (EEOC). tering into a consent decree, which was that day via cesarean section. She was not The suit was filed on behalf of Ro- approved by the district court on August restrained during the procedure, but re- berta Jones, a former guard at the Central 24, 2017. GEO Group will pay damages straints were reapplied when she was taken Arizona Correctional Facility (CACF), who to Jones in the amount of $60,000, which to a recovery room. accused the company of workplace sexual will cover back pay and all accrued interest. Four days before Mendiola-Martinez harassment and retaliation. CACF, located The company further agreed to fulfill certain gave birth, the county issued a “Restraints in Florence, is privately owned and operated requirements as a preventative measure and Labor” directive dictating when guards by the GEO Group under contract with the against future allegations of sexual harass- could use restraints on prisoners in labor. Arizona Department of Corrections. ment, which include conducting a review of The policy mandated removal of restraints According to the lawsuit, Jones was corporate policies and providing additional during epidurals and the stage of active routinely subjected to sexual harassment by training to staff members and managers at labor in order “to protect the mother and her male superiors and coworkers at CACF. CACF, among other provisions. baby,” and to avoid “liability of a restrained Her repeated complaints about the abuse were Though GEO Group did not expressly inmate giving birth which resulted in any ignored by corporate officials; however, she oppose the terms of the settlement as set injury to the mother and child.” alleged the complaints prompted her supervi- forth in the consent decree, the company The next day, a friend took custody of sors to retaliate by assigning her to undesirable did not admit to wrongdoing. See: EEOC Mendiola-Martinez’s son during the re- work posts, issuing arbitrary “write-ups” for v. The GEO Group, Inc., U.S.D.C. (D. Ariz.), mainder of her confinement. The day after, fabricated attendance issues and eventually Case No. 2:15-cv-01909-SPL. October 2017 36 Prison Legal News Stay in touch with a good Magazine! 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he Court of Appeals for the Eighth scope of their authority are not liable in tort for for the defendants and David again appealed. TCircuit reversed a district court’s ruling injuries arising from their discretionary acts or On June 9, 2017 the Eighth Circuit that held a jail detainee’s excessive force omissions,” and that the decision to use force held the district court had not erred in and assault and battery claims could not against Davis was a valid exercise of discretion. rejecting Davis’ Batson challenge to the go forward. While the Eighth Circuit agreed striking of the only black juror; further, Henry M. Davis was arrested in Fergu- that was true, it pointed out that official the Court of Appeals found that racist son, Missouri for driving while intoxicated immunity from allegations such as Davis’ emails sent by one of the officers had been between 3 and 4 a.m. on September 20, assault and battery claims “does not apply properly excluded because that officer was 2009. During the booking process, he was to discretionary acts done in bad faith or not involved in the excessive use of force instructed to enter an occupied, one-person with malice.” As it would be impossible to incident. Also, the district court did not cell without a mat. Davis refused unless determine at the summary judgment stage error when it declined to give an adverse provided a mat from a nearby stack. Offi- that the beating was without bad faith or inference instruction after the defendants cers John Beaird and Christopher Pillarick malice, the district court’s order dismissing failed to preserve video footage of the inci- called for backup and Officers Michael the case was reversed. See: Davis v. White, dent, finding they had acted negligently but White, Kim Tihen and William Ballard 794 F.3d 1008 (8th Cir. 2015). not maliciously. The judgment of the district responded. A “short, bloody fight” ensued, Following remand, the case proceeded court was affirmed. See: Davis v. White, 858 and Davis and White were hospitalized. to a jury trial that began on February 29, F.3d 1155 (8th Cir. 2017). Later testimony indicated that White, 2016 and concluded two days later. During The defendants subsequently sought Beaird and Tihen beat and kicked Davis jury selection, the defendants used a peremp- litigation costs of almost $5,000 from Davis, after he was handcuffed and subdued on tory strike to remove the only black juror but the district court awarded them only the floor. After the incident, Beaird drafted from the panel. The jury subsequently found $74.98. four complaints, each charging Davis with the offense of “property damage” for getting blood on the officers’ uniforms. Seventh Circuit Upholds Jury Award for Following his release from the hospi- tal, Davis sued the officers and the City of Illinois Prisoner Beaten by Guards Ferguson. He asserted 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by Derek Gilna claims against the officers for use of exces- sive force; he sued the city for municipal harles Murphy, an Illinois state $410,000 in compensatory and punitive liability and Beaird individually for filing Cprisoner housed at the Vandalia Cor- damages against guard Robert Smith false complaints. He also sued the officers rectional Center, raised the ire of several and Lt. Gregory Fulk. The district court individually for assault and battery. guards on July 25, 2011 when he refused reduced that amount to $307,734.82, and The district court applied an “objective to eat at a dining hall table and chair he also awarded $110,643.66 in attorney fees reasonableness” test to the facts related to maintained were wet. Cuffed without with the provision that 10 percent of the the excessive force claim. The court then incident and led to segregation, he was damages award be applied toward the fees. found that “as unreasonable as it may sound, reportedly beaten while restrained, choked Smith and Fulk appealed, raising both a reasonable officer could have believed that into unconsciousness and thrown into a sovereign immunity and waiver arguments beating a subdued and compliant Mr. Davis cell, striking his head on a metal toilet and in the Seventh Circuit. However, as stated while causing only a concussion, scalp lacera- suffering shattered facial bones. in the appellate court’s December 21, 2016 tion, and bruising with almost no permanent Unconscious and bleeding heavily, he opinion, although waiver did not apply, “the damage did not violate the Constitution.” was eventually examined by a prison nurse district court said that sovereign immunity Perhaps a “reasonable” officer in -to who ordered him transported to a hospital, did not shield the defendants because the day’s militarized police forces would think where he underwent emergency surgery jury, in ruling on the battery claim, neces- beating a handcuffed prisoner bloody was to repair the orbital bones around his eye. sarily determined that they acted outside reasonable if it didn’t result in significant Murphy claimed that in addition to the pain their authority ... Illinois courts hold that injuries; thankfully, however, the Eighth he experienced, he continues to suffer from the immunity statute does not apply to Circuit did not find that to be reasonable blurred and double vision. claims against the individual official.... at all, and reversed the district court. He filed a federal civil rights suit under [since Murphy] proved the factual elements The appellate court also reversed the 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the guards who of the Illinois criminal offense of aggravated denial of Davis’ assault and battery claims. beat him and also raised state law claims. battery.” The lower court had dismissed those claims Following a jury trial, he prevailed on four The Court of Appeals also noted that after finding that officers “acting within the of his claims and was awarded around the Prison Litigation Reform Act (42 October 2017 38 Prison Legal News U.S.C. § 1997e(d)(2)) requires successful ordered by the district court, the U.S. Su- with the UCLA School of Law’s Supreme prisoner-plaintiffs to pay a “portion of the preme Court granted cert on that issue on Court Clinic. judgment (not to exceed 25 percent).... August 25, 2017. Murphy is represented to satisfy the amount of attorney’s fees before the high court by Stuart Banner Additional source: www.courthousenews.com awarded against the defendant.” In this case, the district court ordered Murphy to contribute only 10 percent of his damages State Closes Kentucky Jail for Failure to award toward the attorney fees. After reviewing the facts, the Seventh Properly Maintain Facility Circuit remanded the case to the district by Derek Gilna court to “modify its judgment to require Murphy to pay from the judgment the sum fter numerous failed inspections According to Estill County Judge- of $76,933.46 toward satisfying the attorney Aand failures to perform necessary mainte- Executive Wallace Taylor, the county is able fee the court awarded” – that is, 25 percent nance, the jail in Estill County, Kentucky was to place prisoners at other jails, including of the total damages award as modified by forced to close by order of state correctional in Bourbon, Clay, Jackson, Lee and Powell the district court. See: Murphy v. Smith, 844 officials on March 31, 2017. Approximately counties, for $25 to $35 a day excluding F.3d 653 (7th Cir. 2016), cert. granted. two dozen prisoners were transferred to other transportation costs. Following remand and another appeal, facilities. This is the second time the county Morris was critical of the jail’s closure, on July 24, 2017 the appellate court held jail has been involuntarily closed; the first was saying, “I need my job. I’ve got bills to pay. that Murphy was not entitled to attorney for health code violations. But if he don’t want to give me what I need fees on appeal, as he had prevailed on only Approximately two weeks before the to do this and do it right, I’ll give him my one appellate claim which related to a state most recent closure, state correctional keys and walk out the door.” law claim and not a federal claim. See: Mur- officials said the jail had failed its final Judge Taylor indicated he had appealed phy v. Smith, 864 F.3d 583 (7th Cir. 2017). inspection, largely due to its inability to to the Kentucky Department of Corrections With respect to whether Murphy had make repairs to its sprinkler and smoke in an attempt to work out a solution that to pay 25 percent of his damages toward the evacuation systems. Jailer Bo Morris said will allow the jail to reopen. attorney fee award pursuant to the PLRA, the facility simply lacked the funds needed rather than a lesser percentage as initially to make those repairs. Source: www.wkyt.com

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Prison Legal News 39 October 2017 Louisiana Corrections Secretary: More Private Prisons Won’t Save Money

rivatizing more prisons will not the prison system’s budget. revenue and utilities,” said Mayor Wayland Psave Louisiana money now or in the A recent 10-month study focused on LaFargue. “People don’t realize the utilities long run, according to the state’s Public how Louisiana could reduce its highest-in- they use. The employees ... where are they Safety and Corrections Secretary, Jimmy the-nation incarceration rate. Privatization going to go? I’m guessing 200 some have LeBlanc. LeBlanc is opposed to House was not recommended. Rep. McFarland’s been there 20-plus years, that’s devastating Concurrent Resolution 30, proposed by bill did not pass during the last legislation to a family.” state Rep. Jack McFarland, which would session, though it may be reintroduced. GEO’s decision to walk away from require the prison system to report by Meanwhile, in June 2017 the GEO its contract to operate the Allen facility the end of 2017 whether turning over the Group abruptly announced that it was pull- illustrates how private prison companies management of five additional prisons to ing out of its contract to manage the Allen are quick to cut their losses when contracts for-profit companies would result in cost Correctional Center, citing “state budgetary are no longer profitable – something that savings. constraints.” The move caught local officials Rep. McFarland should keep in mind with Much of the assumed savings would by surprise. respect to his efforts to expand prison come from paying guards and other staff “GEO is probably the third largest privatization. lower wages, LeBlanc said, which would employer for Allen Parish and it’s going make it harder to recruit and retain good to affect our community dramatically with Sources: www.nola.com, www.kplctv.com employees. The state already struggles to retain staff due to low wages; the start- ing salary for a Louisiana prison guard Seattle Council Approves Protections for is $24,300 per year. A privately-operated prison would likely reduce wages even Renters with Criminal Records more, he noted. by Nathalie Graham, Seattle Weekly News of more privatization unnerved staff at some facilities. “It doesn’t help with ifteen months in prison. Three years Finally, after a year of collaboration and the morale of the prison system,” LeBlanc Fof probation. A $30,000 fine. Sue Ma- discussions, it has passed. said in a May 17, 2017 statement. Prison son paid her debt to society long ago – 14 As councilmember M. Lorena Gonza- guards already have the highest turnover years, to be exact – yet, it feels like she’s still lez put it, this is a second chance bill. rate among state employees. doing her time. “Once you pay your debt to society by Private companies operate two Loui- “I get reconvicted over and over,” Ma- virtue of spending time in prison or jail or siana state prisons: the Allen Correctional son said during public comment on August a conviction,” Gonzalez said, “at that point Center, run by GEO Group, and the Winn 14, 2017 at City Hall. “Even after I’ve had you deserve a second chance.” Correctional Center, managed by LaSalle housing, even after I’ve been employed for Many councilmembers echoed this Corrections. McFarland’s bill would add years and then to have somebody say, ‘no, sentiment. another five for-profit prisons. you don’t deserve housing, it hasn’t been Councilmember Lisa Herbold, who In mid-2016, Louisiana downgraded long enough.’ What we’re talking about is spearheaded the legislation, spoke to the its privatized prisons to “jail” status – an discrimination. Period.” importance of the people who came forward administrative maneuver that let state For Mason, and the other one-in-three to share their lived experiences. officials cut education and rehabilitation people in Seattle with a criminal record, it “The reality is that no matter how many programs. The move also reduced payments can be extremely difficult to find housing. facts and figures exist, what actually creates to the companies running the facilities from The Seattle City Council hopes that will structural change is our collective awareness $31.51 per prisoner per day to $24.39, and be changing soon with the unanimous pas- of these lived experiences. They are worth cut 100 jobs at each location. sage of the Fair Chance Housing Ordinance. more than all the studies combined,” she said. McFarland introduced his legislation The legislation will reduce barriers to Several people, including Mason, because he thought privatization would housing for people with a criminal record helped bring that awareness. relieve the state’s budget crisis, and the es- by barring landlords from turning away There was Zackary Tutwiler, a former timated savings would go toward education potential tenants simply because they have drug dealer who couldn’t hold a normal job and rehabilitative services at local jails. He past arrests or a criminal conviction. after suffering a traumatic brain injury. Af- is also seeking funds to restore services to The bill has a long history, beginning in ter serving a possession sentence, Tutwiler the downgraded private prisons, especially 2013 when councilmembers Mike O’Brien stopped dealing. But, he quickly found at Winn, which is in his district. and Nick Licata addressed the issue by re- himself on the streets, homeless. Corrections Secretary LeBlanc also moving barriers at publicly-funded housing. Thanks to employment with Real favors restoring the Winn and Allen facili- It then reappeared as a recommendation Change he was able to secure a job and ties to “prison” status, but that would require within Mayor Murray’s Housing Afford- find permanent housing. Others, he knows, more money and the state has already cut ability and Livability Agenda (HALA). aren’t so lucky. October 2017 40 Prison Legal News “If it wasn’t for my current housing I see it, you’ve paid your debt to society if can take off, it’s like I can just be me.” situation I would be homeless again be- you’ve served your time.” cause of my criminal past,” Tutwiler said. Sue Mason dabbed happy tears under This article was originally published by Seattle “I deserve housing. We all deserve housing.” glasses following the bill’s passage. Weekly (www.seattleweekly.com) on August Rusty Thomas, similarly, is formerly “It’s been 14 years dealing with this,” 14, 2017; it is reprinted with permission, with incarcerated. she said. “It’s like having a scarlet letter I minor edits. Despite going back to school, get- ting a bachelor’s degree in psychology and Family Files Wrongful Death Suit co-founding the Freedom Project, an organi- zation that provides programming for current Against County Jail in New York prisoners and recently incarcerated people, by Derek Gilna Thomas still gets turned down for housing. Within his community, he still is told he family of deceased prisoner call requests, stating, “I am Hurting so Bad I he doesn’t fit in and that he doesn’t belong. TJimmy Richardson filed a federal lawsuit need Help!” Jail records indicate that he did And he recognizes that, as a white man, he against the Schenectady County Jail in New not receive any pain medication other than has it relatively easy. York in April 2017, alleging that the facil- Tylenol until shortly before he died, when “Look, I say all this because I have the ity and its medical contractor, Correctional the lawsuit claims that he received excessive agency of a white male up here,” Thomas Medical Care, wrongfully withheld medica- doses of morphine. The suit also alleges that said. “So if I’m suffering I can’t even imagine tion that could have prevented his death. on the eve of his death, Richardson sought people of color trying to do the same thing The complaint alleges that the defen- medical care but instead was threatened I’m doing.” dants knew Richardson, 53, suffered from with disciplinary action by a jail guard. Before this legislation, councilmember heart disease, but initially denied him The suit was filed by attorney E. Robert Herbold said, landlords had the ability to his prescription medication when he was Keach on behalf of Richardson’s widow, reject potential tenants because they had booked into the jail, resulting in his death Bernita Richardson. See: Richardson v. Cor- simply been arrested in the last seven years. on January 17, 2016. rectional Medical Care, U.S.D.C. (N.D. NY), This is a relatively new development, with “While [Richardson] was obviously Case No. 9:17-cv-00420-MAD-ATB. the advancement of background checking not the healthiest person, he had been systems, Herbold said. An arrest, not even successfully managing his medical condi- Source: https://dailygazette.com a conviction, can stand in the way of people tions for several years. It was not until the having a home. defendants denied him his medication for “For a criminal justice system that several weeks ... that [he] died,” the com- disproportionately arrests people of color,” plaint states. It also alleges that jail medical Herbold said, “punishing someone who records purporting to show Richardson hasn’t been found guilty is a true injustice. received medication were falsified. For those who have been convicted, the way Richardson had submitted various sick

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Prison Legal News 41 October 2017 Court Decision Favoring BOP Whistleblower Critical of BOP and OIG by Derek Gilna

December 2, 2016 decision by the tory on that day, relaying to him that the Miller would have been reassigned anyway AFederal Circuit Court of Appeals, investigators did not want the factory staff persuaded the ALJ to enter a finding for the overturning a finding by the Merit Systems to feel uncomfortable or intimidated by government, but that decision was reversed Protection Board, has cast in doubt the having their supervisor ... present during by the Court of Appeals. operations of the chief internal investigative the OIG visit.” As noted by the appellate court, the body of the U.S. Department of Justice – the The day after the OIG investigation, “Government’s evidence is weak, particu- Office of the Inspector General (OIG) – as Miller advised Warden Upton that there larly when considered in light of the record well as the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). had been an act of “sabotage” on the UNI- evidence endorsing Mr. Miller’s character,” In its ruling, the appellate court sided COR assembly line. including from Warden Upton. “The record with Troy W. Miller, the former chief su- Shortly after the investigation began, further demonstrates that [he] was a valued pervisor of the BOP’s prison industries the “OIG told Warden Upton to reassign executive, whose expertise and attention to program at a federal facility in Texas, who Mr. Miller because he might interfere with detail made his product line one of the most claimed that his rights under the federal the investigation,” the appellate court noted, successful in the Agency.” Additionally, Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) had and shortly thereafter Miller was removed Miller, a former Marine, was “concerned been violated after he exposed alleged from his position and given assignments about the quality of the advanced combat wrongdoing in the handling of BOP that included custodial duties and a position helmets manufactured by the prison fac- funds and the manufacture of products by as night supervisor in the Special Housing tory.” prisoners. Unit. Although Miller eventually received a According to the Court of Appeals, Miller brought an action under the favorable ruling from the Federal Circuit, “Mr. Miller worked as the Superintendent WPA, 5 U.S.C. §§ 2301(b)(8) and 2302(a) a more serious question remains – which is of Industries, level GS-13, at the Federal (2)(A), and an Administrative Law Judge whether the OIG is in fact the independent Correctional Complex, Beaumont, Texas. (ALJ) found that he had made a protected investigative body that it claims to be, and In this capacity, Mr. Miller oversaw a prison disclosure and suffered adverse employment an agency capable of properly monitoring factory that produced ballistic helmets action. At that point, the burden shifted to the notoriously opaque and misconduct- primarily for military use.” While serv- the government to show that it would have prone federal Bureau of Prisons. See: ing in that capacity he received numerous reassigned him regardless of his whistle Miller v. Department of Justice, 842 F.3d accolades that highlighted his talent at blowing. Warden Upton’s testimony that 1252 (Fed. Cir. 2016). managing the use of prisoner labor. However, as previously reported by PLN, the federal prison industries program, Fourth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of also known as UNICOR, has been the subject of criticism over the years, includ- Prisoner’s Failure to Protect Claim ing with respect to shoddy manufacturing by Christopher Zoukis practices, dangerous prisoner working conditions and substandard products. For n March 2016, the Fourth Circuit Mullins, instead. example, PLN reported that the UNICOR Ireversed a district court’s dismissal of a Mullins did not take kindly to that program at FCC Beaumont was shut down prisoner’s Eighth Amendment failure to plan, and in front of Pugh allegedly told after inspectors found that substandard protect claim in a case that subsequently Raynor “it’s on,” and that they were both materials were being used in the manufac- settled. “going to seg.” According to Raynor, Pugh turing of ballistic helmets supplied to the The prisoner, James Herman Raynor, said he didn’t care what Mullins did and U.S. military. [See: PLN, May 2017, p.44; was held at the Sussex II State Prison in ordered the two men into a cell. Jan. 2011, p.20]. Virginia. In November 2012, Raynor, who Housing Manager Pugh then watched The Federal Circuit wrote that “On suffers from seizures, blackouts, heart issues as Mullins pummeled Raynor to the floor October 7, 2009, Mr. Miller disclosed to and breathing problems, asked to be moved and smashed his television. According to individuals at UNICOR and to [Beaumont] to a different cell with a “caretaker” who had Raynor’s complaint, Pugh didn’t call for Warden Upton what he perceived to be volunteered to help him with his various assistance or do anything until after the mismanagement of funds at the factory. medical needs. As is typical, his request attack was over. On December 15, 2009, OIG conducted was ignored. Raynor sued Pugh, alleging that he an on-site visit to the factory as part of an Raynor renewed his request on Janu- suffered severe and lifelong injuries from investigation into the factory’s operations ary 10, 2013 with G. Pugh, his Housing Mullins’ assault; he claimed that Pugh and purported misconduct. Warden Upton Manager. That same day Pugh told Raynor violated his Eighth Amendment right to be asked Mr. Miller to not report to the fac- that he was going to move his cellmate, K. free from cruel and unusual punishment by October 2017 42 Prison Legal News being deliberately indifferent to his safety. Pugh) that Pugh had actual knowledge of munication to the heads of all VA DOC Raynor provided evidence to support the risk to his safety yet did nothing. correctional facilities ... regarding record his claim, including a verified (signed under Those types of factual disputes, as retention, including the retention of video penalty of perjury) complaint, a corroborat- well as the outstanding discovery requests, surveillance evidence, and transparency of ing affidavit from a fellow prisoner who should have precluded the grant of sum- public records.” witnessed the attack and medical docu- mary judgment by the district court, leading The defendants agreed to pay $50,000 mentation of his injuries. He also submitted the Fourth Circuit to reverse and remand to the pro bono law firm that represented discovery requests. the case. See: Raynor v. Pugh, 817 F.3d 123 Raynor, McGuireWoods LLP, in lieu of Pugh denied everything other than the (4th Cir. 2016). attorney fees and costs. Of that amount, indisputable fact that Mullins had attacked Following remand and shortly before the firm will donate $42,325.64 to Greater Raynor. He contended he was somewhere trial, the case settled in November 2016. Richmond Stop Child Abuse Now and else at the time of the incident, that prison Pursuant to the settlement, the defendants $7,674.36 to the Central Virginia Legal policy would have prevented him from agreed to transfer Raynor to another facil- Aid Society. The defendants will also pay intervening even if he was there and that ity where he would be “housed in an ADA $18,501.39 to the U.S. District Court Raynor’s injuries were minor. compliant cell and provided access to an Clerk, to reimburse costs incurred by Mc- Pugh moved for summary judgment, ADA Coordinator to determine his ap- GuireWoods during the litigation, plus pay despite the existence of factual disputes propriate needs, including, but not limited an additional $11,000 to the law firm “to and the outstanding discovery requests. The to toilet access, durable medical equipment, satisfy any and all additional costs.” district court granted Pugh’s motion anyway and physical therapy.” Further, he would Finally, the Virginia DOC agreed to and dismissed the case. receive his prescribed medication for his waive “any required payments by Raynor The Fourth Circuit reversed, finding seizures and back pain, or substitute medi- for any and all future medical co-pays that several genuine issues of material fact cation would be agreed upon. for medical treatment visits, prescription precluded a grant of summary judgment The Virginia DOC also agreed to pro- medications, and/or medical devices of any to Pugh. From an objective standpoint, vide Raynor with a CPAP machine and to kind,” and to remove all prior debts from Raynor had provided evidence (which Pugh schedule appointments with an oral surgeon his prison trust account – including past disputed) that he suffered a serious physical and a board-certified gastroenterologist. In medical co-pays and legal charges. See: injury. From a subjective perspective, Raynor addition, the settlement provides that the Raynor v. Pugh, U.S.D.C. (E.D. Va.), Case submitted evidence (once again, disputed by DOC director shall “issue a written com- No. 1:15-cv-00842-LMB-TCB.

Prison Legal News 43 October 2017 Corizon Loses Indiana DOC Medical Contract Amid Lawsuits by David M. Reutter

n 2005, at the urging of then- as Corizon’s regional medical director in basketball on a 105-degree day in July 2012, IGovernor Mitch Daniels, the Indiana Indiana. He said his personal experiences a guard insisted he take a shower. The guard Department of Correction (IDOC) award- gave him a unique perspective. locked him in a small, unventilated stall, and ed a contract to privatize medical care “There’s nobody more empathetic to Gore passed out shortly after he showered for prisoners. The winning bidder, Prison the patient population we serve,” Mitcheff in hot water. When he came to, he called Health Services, merged in 2011 with stated. “Addiction is a disease, and who for a guard. He collapsed after the door Correctional Medical Services to form better to understand that?” was opened and was carried to a large fan; Corizon Health, which later won renewal of In 2014 he became the IDOC’s chief guards placed a cold rag on his head and a three-year, $300 million contract to pro- medical officer, overseeing Corizon’s con- called for medical help. vide medical, dental, vision, mental health tract. Responding to complaints, Mitcheff In his complaint, Gore said the re- and substance abuse treatment services to said he did not see medical staff “with- sponding Corizon nurse took his vital signs, IDOC’s 28,000 prisoners. holding care.” In fact, he added, “we watch pronounced him fine and walked away. “I In February 2017, however, state prison that carefully.” Defending the health care couldn’t move,” Gore claimed. “The officers officials declined to renew Corizon’s con- provided to IDOC prisoners, Mitcheff just looked at her.” tract, instead awarding it to Wexford Health proclaimed, “I am confident that our clini- Shortly thereafter, Gore said he began Sources. Consequently, Corizon announced cal metrics for chronic conditions are better vomiting, could not see or hear and turned the following month that it planned to lay than [in] the free world.” pale. Guards put him in a wheelchair and off almost 700 employees in 22 IDOC Yet the number of prisoner medical took him to the infirmary, which is when facilities. [See: PLN, Sept. 2017, p.32]. complaints to the IDOC’s ombudsman the nurse noted he had low oxygen levels. PLN has reported extensively on Co- jumped from 153 in 2010 to 509 in 2015. Three nurses were unsuccessful in starting rizon and the company’s business model, Prisoner deaths, including suicides, in- an IV. Finally, a Corizon doctor approved which appears to consist of delaying or creased to 86 in 2015. Gore’s transfer to a hospital, where he was denying medical care and reducing staffing Then there were the lawsuits. Indiana diagnosed with heatstroke. costs to increase profits; in turn, that has prisoners or their families have filed over In another case, the family of prisoner resulted in numerous prisoner deaths and 300 medical-related suits against Corizon Rachel Wood is seeking to uncover the injuries. [See, e.g.: PLN, Oct. 2015, p.20; and/or IDOC officials in federal court – 76 facts of what happened while she was in March 2014, p.1]. in 2016 alone. Corizon has settled nearly Corizon’s care. After her death, they learned Yet the IDOC’s watchdog over Cori- three dozen of the cases for more than $1.2 other prisoners had been helping her to the zon’s contractual performance was a former million, in amounts ranging from $300 bathroom, to eat and to fill out forms seek- Corizon employee. for a prisoner whose appeal related to his ing medical treatment. Dr. Michael Mitcheff was working cataracts was denied to over $300,000 in a Prior to her incarceration, Wood was as an emergency room physician at two wrongful death case. The settlements are successfully treated for lupus, a condition Indiana hospitals when, in 1994, he was not admissions of guilt, the state Attorney that causes blood clotting and other ail- investigated for buying illegal drugs. He General’s office emphasized, but “avoid the ments. Corizon, however, did not consult ultimately admitted that over a three-year uncertainties of further litigation where with or arrange for her to see a similar period he had bottles of a cough syrup taxpayer dollars would be at stake.” specialist during the two years she was in containing hydrocodone illegally delivered Indianapolis civil rights attorney Michael prison. A lawsuit filed by her family un- to his home. Mitcheff agreed to participate Sutherlin called Corizon’s philosophy of covered a series of errors by Corizon that in a treatment program and was ordered providing health care “a profit model” rather resulted in missed diagnoses, medications not to practice medicine during treatment. than “a medical model.” He said the failure to that were stopped and started, and tests that In 1998, Mitcheff ’s license was provide basic care in even obviously dire situ- were ordered but never performed. suspended for 90 days after he wrote ations demonstrated serious problems with Claude Wood made relentless phone prescriptions in other people’s names and the company’s provision of medical services. calls to determine his daughter’s location picked the drugs up from pharmacies. Dr. Mitcheff disagreed, saying, “The and condition. IDOC officials, however, Documents from the state medical board question is, ‘How do you make money in prevented medical staff from communicat- indicated Mitcheff had admitted to a state this industry and provide great service?’ ing with the family and prohibited them police officer that he picked up 57 pints of There is a way, and we did it in Indiana. That from seeing Rachel – even though her a drug that contained hydrocodone. isn’t by withholding care, because typically condition was dire. When his license was reinstated in withholding care down the road is going to An email dated April 11, 2012 from October 1999, records show Mitcheff was cost you more money.... The way to be cost- Rockville Correctional Facility superin- sober for a year – he passed 100 drug tests. effective and make money in this industry is tendent Julie Stout discussed a phone call The medical board agreed to let him work by providing great-quality preventive care.” from guards watching Rachel that morning, again, but “only in the Indiana state prison IDOC prisoner Jerry A. Gore, 33, “indicating that the offender has a short system” – which allowed Mitcheff to serve claimed in a lawsuit that after he played time to live. She is receiving blood but it October 2017 44 Prison Legal News isn’t staying with her. Her kidneys are fail- Terre Haute’s contract with Corizon did changed from its previous prescription, ing and her feet are changing color. She not include long term care, he added. causing further problems. There was evi- is also starting to swell. She has not been “I just wish someone would have had a dence that lab reports were ordered but no officially placed in imminent death status.... heart,” said Sue Williams, Rachel’s mother. indication the results had been reviewed. A Information from [a Corizon employee] “We tried so hard to get to her.” doctor found one report in his inbox which this morning doesn’t match the information Before he went to prison, Nicholas noted Glisson’s kidneys were failing. He was we received. The information the [ ] officers Glisson told his mother, “Mom, I won’t see sent to a hospital for a week, then died four received came from nursing staff.” you again.” Glisson, 50, survived laryngeal days after his return to prison; that was just Two days later, Janet Robertson, a cancer in 2003. The surgeries, however, left 37 days after he began serving his sentence. Corizon nurse who coordinated care with him without a larynx, part of his pharynx A coroner noted Glisson’s “extreme ema- outside hospitals, wrote an email to the and part of his left jaw bone. A tracheotomy ciation,” while a forensic pathologist found IDOC and her Corizon supervisor, stating, tube was inserted in his throat and he re- acute respiratory insufficiency/pneumonia, “This is to inform everybody that at the quired a voice prosthesis to speak. He also renal failure and dehydration. last minute, 2 of the MD’s [at the hospital] wore a brace to support his neck, which was The wrongful death suit filed by Glis- would not approve the discharge of Rachel weak from surgery and radiation. son’s family remains pending, after the Wood to Rockville. They would only ap- At home he was able to keep the tube district court’s grant of summary judgment prove a discharge to Kindred [Hospital].” and hole in his throat clean, but knew he to the defendants was reversed by the Sev- That hospital did not have an ER, nor would be unable to do so while serving a enth Circuit in March 2017. See: Glisson was it equipped to provide the type of chronic 10-year sentence for selling one of his Oxy- v. IDOC, U.S.D.C. (S.D. Ind.), Case No. care Rachel required. During the transfer, Ra- Contin pills to a police informant. 1:12-cv-01418-SEB-MJD. chel coded in the ambulance and died as she Once in prison, Glisson’s behavior “Money is not the issue whatsoever,” reached Kindred, still shackled and handcuffed. became erratic. A nurse concluded he had stated Nicholas’ mother, Alma Glisson. “The dispute there is who made the psychiatric issues, but she failed to look for “The issue is justice.” decision [to discharge Rachel from Terre physical causes or seek a psychiatrist’s input. Another prisoner said one of Cori- Haute Regional Hospital] and what was An expert witness in a lawsuit filed by his zon’s shortcomings was its refusal to listen. the decision based on,” noted Michael family testified that Glisson was suffering Luis Silveria warned prison officials that Sutherlin, the family’s attorney. “It appears OxyContin withdrawal. he would kill someone in 2006. In May Corizon wasn’t going to pay anymore.” His mental health medication was also 2009, he hoarded enough pills to nearly

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Prison Legal News 45 October 2017 Corizon Loses Contract (cont.) (S.D. Ind.), Case No. 1:13-cv-00241-JMS- Sources: South Bend Tribune, Washington DML. Times, Inside Indiana Business kill himself; he also said he would kill any other prisoner placed in his cell. Private Probation Company Agrees to During a “medication management” visit with a Corizon psychiatrist in June End Drug Testing Absent Court Order 2009, Silveria was quoted as saying he by David M. Reutter would kill other people. “I warned them ahead of time, so it’s not my fault,” he said. n a preliminary consent order, On March 31, 2016, the parties agreed Yet the psychiatrist declined to prescribe ISentinel Offender Services, a private pro- to a preliminary consent order which medication to Silveria, writing, “The patient bation company, agreed to stop its practice specified that Sentinel “shall not require does not express homicidal ideation.” of drug testing probationers without court probationers sentenced by the Probate In July 2009, IDOC team members noted approval. The order was entered in a class- Court of White County, Georgia to submit Silveria was “adjusting well with a cellmate.” action case challenging Sentinel’s practices to drug screening unless the screening is A month later, prisoner Patrick Whetstone, in a Georgia county that uses the company specifically authorized by a written order PLN 25, was found dead in Silveria’s cell. Just two to manage its probation services. [See: , of said Court.” months before his release, Silveria had tied May 2017, p.38; Jan. 2014, p.18]. The company argued in other plead- Whetstone’s hands behind his back, put a The Southern Center for Human ings that Luse and Ligocki had freely plastic bag over his head and strangled him. Rights (SCHR) filed the lawsuit on behalf agreed to undergo drug tests, and that the In an affidavit, Silveria said he had of two women in White County who were matter must be sent to a private arbitrator. warned the psychiatrist a week before placed on probation because they were The district court granted the plaintiffs’ Whetstone’s murder, stating: “‘Listen, I unable to pay fines imposed for traffic vio- motion to certify the suit as a class-action need to be back on my medication.’ Well, we lations – most of which are misdemeanor on January 13, 2017 and the case subse- went back and forth like this for a month. offenses in Georgia. quently settled. No medication. Well, I unfortunately killed Rita Sanders Luse, 62, was fined The court granted final approval of the Mr. Whetstone. Two days later, they show $775.75 for driving with a suspended settlement in August 2017, which provided up at my door. Guess what? ‘We think you license. As she was unable to pay the fine that Sentinel will pay $80,000 into a dam- need to be back on your medication.’” upon sentencing, she was ordered to pay ages fund plus $25,000 in attorney fees and Whetstone’s family received settle- $44 per month in probation supervision fees costs. Also, the company will abide by the ments totaling $1.1 million for his death for one year. Likewise, Marianne Ligocki, terms of a final consent order that prohibits in 2014, including $330,000 from Corizon. 45, pleaded guilty to the same charge and it from subjecting probationers to drug tests See: Eutsey v. Corizon, U.S.D.C. (N.D. was placed on probation and fined $313.02. unless such testing is ordered by a court. Ind.), Case No. 3:11-cv-00327-JTM-CAN. Neither woman was ordered to sub- There are 276 class members in the The family had hoped to achieve policy mit to drug testing, but both were told by case who will share in the damages; in to- changes with their lawsuit, and Silveria Sentinel probation officer Stacy McDowell- tal, they had received 964 drug tests from agreed reforms are needed. He added the Black that they had to take drug tests or Sentinel. See: Luse v. Sentinel Offender only positive thing that could happen with their probation could be revoked. Out of Services, LLC, U.S.D.C. (N.D. Ga.), Case Corizon is not a monetary settlement fear of going to jail, they signed a document No. 2:16-cv-00030-RWS. or punishing him for killing Whetstone. that purportedly allowed the company to This case demonstrates just one of sev- Rather, “It’s they gotta listen. That’s it.” test their urine for controlled substances; eral problems inherent in the profit-driven The Indiana legislature passed a mea- they were charged $15 for each test. privatization of criminal justice-related sure that helped boost Corizon’s profits At the time the suit was filed, Ligocki services: “If there is a legitimate government with a 2012 law that placed limits on what had paid $90 in drug testing fees. Of the interest in testing [a] probationer’s bodily hospitals can charge for providing medical $490 she paid in supervision fees over a six- fluids and charging them for it, an impartial care to prisoners. month period, only $131 went towards her judge, not a private company, should make “This arrangement isn’t working,” said court fine; Sentinel kept $210 for its own that determination applying constitutional attorney Kent Hull, who represented Jerry fees. Luse paid $60 in fees for drug tests. limitations,” noted SCHR attorney Sarah Gore in a lawsuit against Corizon and several The complaint also claimed that Geraghty. of the company’s employees. “Indiana has Sentinel forced Luse, who lives on a lim- The lawsuit was one of at least 15 fed- a legal responsibility to provide adequate ited income, to provide payment within a eral suits filed against Sentinel in Georgia, medical care, but it cannot simply walk away matter of hours or face immediate arrest. Florida and California, according to the and say, ‘we’ve delegated that to Corizon.’” That threat came after she reported for Augusta Chronicle, in addition to over a However, a federal district court en- a probation meeting without any money dozen cases filed in state court in several tered summary judgment in favor of the and said she would pay when she received Georgia counties. defendants in February 2017, dismissing her paycheck in a few days. To avoid being Gore’s claims related to Corizon’s deficient jailed, Luse rushed to obtain a loan from Sources: www.schr.org, http://chronicle. medical care. See: Gore v. Corizon, U.S.D.C. a relative. augusta.com October 2017 46 Prison Legal News Virginia Governor Grants Full Pardons to the “Norfolk Four” by Christopher Zoukis

our former U.S. Navy veterans doned Williams, Tice and Dick after they had “The registry essentially says that you Fwrongly convicted of the rape and served 11 years. Wilson, who had already been haven’t paid for this crime, you can never murder of an 18-year-old woman have been released, was not pardoned at that time. pay for this crime and will for the rest of granted full pardons by Virginia Governor The failure to pardon Wilson meant your life,” he stated. Terry McAuliffe. that he remained a registered sex offender Meanwhile, Ballard is now serving a Eric Wilson, Danial Williams, Derek despite having been wrongfully convicted. life sentence for the crimes that sent the Tice and Joseph Dick, Jr., known as the As a result he was blacklisted from his son’s Norfolk Four to prison. “Norfolk Four,” were arrested for raping and Boy Scout meetings and barred from all killing Michelle Moore-Bosko in 1997. Based school functions without an escort. Sources: www.cnn.com, www.usnews.com almost entirely on false confessions, Williams, “My wife, I made her stop reading Tice and Dick were convicted of both crimes comments on the Internet because she was and sentenced to life in prison. Wilson, con- getting death threats for being with a sex victed of rape, received eight-and-a-half years. offender,” Wilson said. After an investigation revealed that Governor McAuliffe’s full pardons, issued the confessions were coerced by detective on March 21, 2017, will help resolve such Glenn Ford – who is serving 12 years in problems; a federal district court had previously prison for lying to the FBI in unrelated vacated Dick’s and Williams’ convictions. cases – and that another man had confessed “These pardons close the final chapter on a to the crime, Virginia authorities took an- grave injustice that has plagued these four men other look at the Norfolk Four. for nearly 20 years,” McAuliffe said in a statement. Concluding that crime scene and forensic Wilson declared that he was “over evidence overwhelmingly pointed to the guilt of the moon” about receiving the pardon, but Omar Ballard, the suspect who had confessed, would like to see reforms made to the sex then-Governor Tim Kaine conditionally par- offender registry.

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Prison Legal News 47 October 2017 Profiting Off Mass Incarceration: Detroit Pistons Owner Buys Private Prison Phone Company by Brian Dolinar, Truthout

he election of Donald Trump has of making $114 million in profit in 2014, a of the attorneys representing the Wright Talready given an economic boost to 30 percent increase from the previous year. petitioners, who cited Pai’s role in undoing those profiting from mass incarceration. Securus is a modern-day carceral con- the regulations. The stock prices of the two biggest private glomerate, a company that is traded by big “The decision by Chairman Pai to prison builders – CoreCivic (formerly investment firms and owns a diversity of prohibit his attorneys to defend the Com- Corrections Corporation of America) and prison products and services. It is the sec- mission’s authority to regulate intrastate GEO Group – doubled after Trump took ond-largest prison phone company, behind rates was a devastating blow, and was office. Global Tel*Link (GTL), although Securus directly cited in the majority decision as Companies that charge for expensive is quickly moving into various new markets. a basis for overturning the FCC rules,” phone calls from prisons and jails also won As Securus describes itself in a recent press Petro said. big after Trump’s victory. One of the presi- release, it is “a leading provider of civil and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth in- dent’s first appointments placed Ajit Pai at criminal justice technology solutions for troduced a bill that would regulate video the helm of the Federal Communications public safety, investigation, corrections and calling systems and authorize the FCC to Commission (FCC), who promptly rolled monitoring.” rule on prison phones. Organizing behind back the agency’s 2015 decision to regulate The company is responsible for phone this legislation may be the next step for the prison phone industry. The companies calls for more than one million people those in the prison phone justice campaign. hailed it as a victory. incarcerated in the U.S., but this is not all. During Pai’s confirmation process, he Shortly after the FCC’s reversal, Securus is now installing Skype-style video revealed in a questionnaire that, during Securus, one of the largest prison phone calling systems that can cost $20-$40 per 2011 and 2012, Securus was one of his companies, announced it was being sold to session. Securus has also acquired two com- clients when he was working as an attorney Platinum Equity, a large investment firm panies in the growing market of electronic at the law firm of Jenner & Block. He was for a reported $1.5 billion. (To date the deal monitoring. confirmed as FCC chairman by the Senate has not been finalized.) Tom Gores, Plati- In 2015, Securus bought out JPay, an on Oct. 2, 2017. num’s founder and CEO, is an investment automated billing company that charges Not long after Pai’s appointment, Se- mogul who also owns the Detroit Pistons. families to send money to their loved ones curus announced that it was up for sale to In 2011, Gores purchased the basketball who are incarcerated. Securus, and its parent Platinum Equity. Its reported $1.5 billion team with the stated intent of improving company Abry Partners, paid $250 mil- price tag is more than double what was paid the struggling city. lion for JPay, a fast-growing business that for Securus five years ago. Prisons promise In the United States’ current economy, operates in 33 states and has 1.6 million to be profitable in the Trump era. prisons and basketball are growth indus- customers. How to Win tries. Both profit from the exploitation of Trump’s FCC black bodies, pulling in people from poor In 2011, the Detroit Pistons were neighborhoods in major cities like Detroit. The prison phone industry has come a struggling basketball team that had a Yusef Shakur grew up on these streets. He under intense public scrutiny after a 20-year losing record. By that time, Detroit had a ran in a gang at a young age and spent nine campaign waged by families of those incar- reputation as one of the most economically- years incarcerated. He is an activist today cerated, sympathetic attorneys and prison depressed urban centers in the U.S. Not long working in Detroit’s black community. In activists. Retired nurse Martha Wright first after, the city declared bankruptcy. When an interview with Truthout, he called Gores’ filed a lawsuit to cap phone rates, which in Platinum’s Tom Gores bought the Pistons, purchase of Securus another “capitalist 2001 was referred to the FCC. Commis- it was a risky venture. Gores purchased the adventure” taking advantage of the “most sioner Mignon Clyburn championed the team for $325 million, a bargain price that marginalized and most oppressed.” issue in front of the communications board. one commentator called “shocking.” The Securus, Leading Prison Profiteer In October 2015, the FCC passed sweeping same year, Platinum was listed as the 23rd regulations of these calls. largest private company by Forbes. Today, Securus has seen steady economic However, shortly after coming into Gores is worth an estimated $3.3 billion. growth in recent years, trading hands be- office, Trump promoted FCC Commis- Gores was raised in Genesee, Michigan, tween several large hedge funds. In 2011, sioner Ajit Pai to serve as chairman. Just a suburb of Flint, not far from Detroit. He Securus was purchased by the investment days into the position, Pai came out with moved to California where he established firm Castle Harlan for an estimated $440 news the FCC would no longer defend its Platinum Equity in 1995, with headquarters million. Two years later, the company was 2015 decision. In June 2017, a U.S. Court in Beverly Hills. Platinum has bought and bought out by another big investor, Abry of Appeals in Washington, D.C. ruled 2-1 sold more than 185 different companies in a Partners, which reportedly paid $640 mil- to strike down the FCC’s ruling. variety of industries, including information lion. In leaked documents, Securus boasted Truthout spoke with Lee Petro, one technology, manufacturing and transporta- October 2017 48 Prison Legal News tion. It owns the largest newspaper in San but he did not return a request for comment. Off the Field, who writes widely on race and Diego, the Union-Tribune. A global com- New Detroit sports, told Truthout that basketball has pany, Platinum also has offices in New York, often been sold as a “rebirth for communi- Boston, London and Singapore. Gores recently announced the Pistons ties.” What is lost in these narratives is how Growing up near Detroit, Gores pro- are coming back to the city in a move that “basketball franchises, and the league itself, fessed his desire to use the Pistons to help is being billed as key to building a “New are so often drivers of gentrification. While turn the city around. Detroit.” For years, the Pistons have played owners cash in on the benefits of tax breaks “If all I do is make a few bucks,” Gores at The Palace in the suburb of Auburn Hills. and their celebrity status resulting from wrote in Forbes, “that’s not good.” A win- A new stadium named Little Caesars Arena fandom, many inside these communalities ning team would bring people back to is expected to open before the end of the continue to suffer. Stadium construction and Detroit, he said, “so we have to figure out year in downtown Detroit and will host gentrification continues to destroy neighbor- how to win, how to compete. I know the games by the Pistons as well as the hockey hoods, displacing families and communities city needs that.” team, the Detroit Redwings (owned by that are overwhelmingly of color.” Also known for his philanthropy, Gores Christopher Ilitch, who made his fortune The new Detroit arena was built with pledged to raise $10 million for residents of from the pizza chain and acquired the nam- the help of $344 million in taxpayer-backed Flint after news broke of their toxic water ing rights to the arena). In an interview with city bonds. A public-private arrangement, supply. the New York Times about the team’s move it is technically owned by the city, but will However, activists who spoke to downtown, Gores described the Pistons as be run by Ilitch’s company. Truthout questioned Gores’ good inten- the missing “family member” in Detroit. Gentrification and prisons both desta- tions. Ronald Simpson-Bey is an alumni Yet not everyone in Detroit feels they bilize poor people. Mass incarceration is a associate at JustLeadershipUSA who cur- are part of one big happy family. The city’s “driving factor” behind poverty in Detroit, rently lives in Detroit. He did 27 years in downtown appears to be on a “comeback,” commented Dr. Amanda Alexander, As- Michigan state prisons before having his said Simpson-Bey, with investment down- sistant Professor of Afro-American Studies conviction overturned in 2012. Platinum’s town, cultural activities and a new rail and Postdoctoral Fellow in Law at the purchase of Securus “speaks volumes,” he system, “but just a mile away you see lots University of Michigan, and founder of said. “People like Gores need to invest of urban decay.” the Prison & Family Justice Project. money in people, not prisons.” Dr. David Leonard, author of Playing “In buying Securus, Gores and Truthout attempted to reach Gores, While White: Privilege and Power On and Platinum Equity are profiting off the -im

The American Prison Writing Archive Calling for Essays by Incarcerated Americans, Prison Workers, and Prison Volunteers

he American Prison Writing Archive (APWA) is an in- Tprogress, internet-based, non-profit archive of first-hand testimony to the living and working conditions experienced by incarcerated people, prison employees, and prison volunteers. Anyone who lives, works, or volunteers inside American prisons can contribute non-fiction essays, based on first-hand experi- ence: 5,000 word limit (15 double-spaced pages); a signed Real Lawyers. Real Results. APWA permission-questionnaire must be included in order to post work on the APWA. All posted work will be Criminal accessible to anyone in the world with Internet access. Hand- Appeals. Postconviction. Habeas. written contributions are welcome. There are no reading fees. Civil We will read all work submitted. For more information and Personal Injury. Civil Rights. to request the permissions-questionnaire, write to: APWA, c/o Hamilton College, 198 College Hill Road, Clinton, NY Handling cases throughout Wisconsin & Illinois 13323-1218; or go to http://www.dhinitiative.org/projects/ 1200 East Capitol Drive, Suite 360 Listed by Super Lawyers apwa/. Sincerely—The APWA Editors Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53211 Client reviews at avvo.com 414-963-6164 Better Business accredited

Prison Legal News 49 October 2017 Prion Profiteering in Detroit (cont.) investment strategy that monetizes suc- Families can rack up hefty monthly cessful athletes, as well as those who fail bills paying for regular phone communica- to assume their place in the postindustrial tion with a loved one locked up. Securus miseration of incarcerated people and their economy. It is reinforced by a powerful has the contract for Wayne County, where families,” Alexander told Truthout. “Two in ideological message. Detroit is located, and a 15-minute call three families have difficulty meeting their “We collectively celebrate Jordan, from the county jail costs $7.50. In nearby basic needs when a loved one is incarcer- Kobe, and LeBron, purportedly prov- Flint, where Securus is also the provider, a ated, in part because of the high costs of ing that we are beyond race and racism,” 15-minute call costs $17, one of the highest phone calls.” Leonard said. “At the same [time] we rates in the country. Detroit is the poorest major American spotlight their successes, their fulfillment To date, no local newspapers have picked city, with nearly 60 percent of children of the American Dream, we suggest that up the story of Gores’ purchase of Securus. living in poverty, she pointed out. A 2016 those locked behind bars are there because “They are all in cahoots,” said Simpson- study called “A Shared Sentence,” con- of bad choices.” Bey. “Newspapers are not going to make a ducted by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Throwing People Away peep about it.” found that one out of ten children in Michi- The redevelopment of the city also in- gan has a parent in prison. Detroit teachers Speaking from firsthand experience, volves plans for a new county jail, which has and social workers who have reached out to Ronald Simpson-Bey described phone been contested by grassroots organizations. Alexander for assistance estimate that half calls as an “umbilical cord” between those “Look at what’s being built in New of the children in their classrooms have had in prison and their families. Yet companies Detroit. What about the criminals?” ques- a parent or caregiver in jail or prison. like Securus are “exploiting” the downfall of tioned Yusef Shakur. “They are going to By building the new stadium, the others. “The people who can least afford it need somewhere to throw them away. That Pistons and Gores “claim they want to be are being charged the most,” he said. is what’s fueling the new county jail.” part of a thriving Detroit,” but this move Yusef Shakur also testified to the im- Race, class and economics are tied is “completely against the well-being of portance of phone calls, saying they were together in Detroit, according to Shakur. families struggling to make ends meet in a “lifeline” for those inside. Many people “It is a monopoly for the benefit of the the city,” Alexander stated. affected by mass incarceration, “inside and wealthy,” he said. African American families are bear- out,” Shakur noted, are functionally il- ing the greatest costs of mass incarceration literate, making letter writing uncommon. This article was originally published by in Michigan. According to a report by Visiting prisons often located in rural areas Truthout (www.truth-out.org) on Septem- the Prison Policy Initiative, although black is difficult. “Phones are the most realistic ber 25, 2017. Copyright, Truth-out.org. people make up 14 percent of the state option,” he said. Reprinted with permission, with minor edits. population, they are 49 percent of those in prisons and jails. Black residents are incar- cerated at a rate six times that of whites. IRS Audit Prompts New Mexico County to Detroit is also a black city, with a popu- lation that is 80 percent African American. Convert Bonds Used for ICE Facility On the court, the Pistons are dominated by Joe Watson by black players. The Pistons’ roster for the 2017-18 season includes 15 players, 10 of n Internal Revenue Service audit signed contracts with jails nationwide to whom are African American. Aof tax-free bonds used to develop house detainees in state and local bond- In the New Detroit, Gores has found an immigrant detention facility in New financed facilities, leading to tax disputes a way to make a profit from black bodies Mexico was closed once the bonds were between the bond issuers and the IRS. both on the court and in prison. This is an converted to taxable status. [See: PLN, Sept. 2015, p.18]. Otero County issued $62.3 million in According to the Bond Buyer, a trade tax-free revenue bonds in 2007 to finance publication, “the tax code classifies a bond If the mailing address on this the construction of an Immigration and as a private activity bond (PAB) if more Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing than 10% of the proceeds are used for a issue of PLN does not include center in Chaparral, New Mexico. The private party and more than 10% of debt a subscription expiration date facility is operated by a private company, service payments are made or secured by Utah-based Management & Training Corp. private parties. PABs are tax exempt only or a notation saying how many Over the past several years, the IRS if they fall into one of several categories, issues are left, then this is a has been conducting similar audits at lo- none of which include jails or correctional free sample issue. To continue cal jails that contract to house prisoners facilities.” for the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Janet White of the Otero County receiving PLN you have to or ICE. Under the tax code, the federal Board of County Commissioners signed a subscribe -- see page 70! government is considered a private party, notice that indicated the remaining $44.28 and private parties do not qualify for tax- million in outstanding bonds for the ICE free status. USMS and ICE officials have facility was converted to taxable status October 2017 50 Prison Legal News on August 1, 2017. The IRS’ Tax Exempt due to the conversion. saddled with taxable bonds. Bonds Field Office in Houston confirmed Investors who had purchased the bonds three days later that it had closed its audit based on their tax-free status are now Source: www.bondbuyer.com Georgia Teen’s Suicide from Neglect Results in $1.7 Million Settlement

settlement was reached last year J.D. was received at Metro RYDC on Brandon Waters was made to inform him of Ain a lawsuit brought by the estate of a February 23, 2015 and labeled as a level 2 that situation. Neither Cooper nor Waters teenager who hanged himself at a Geor- suicide risk. Between March 10, 2015 and intervened. Other children screamed that gia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) April 5, 2015, he attempted to kill himself J.D. was hanging himself, yet it was not facility. The complaint described a chilling five times and threatened suicide another until 20 minutes later that Cooper went to account of neglect of a child known to be time. Each of the times prior to his suc- his cell. He made no effort to revive J.D. A a suicide risk. cessful suicide, staff intervened and acted nurse responded without an emergency bag The suit was brought by the parents to defuse the situation. and made a brief attempt at CPR. of 14-year-old J.D., who was “grossly mis- J.D. was seen by a staff member on An investigation by the DJJ deter- treated and kept in deplorable conditions” April 2 with a sheet tied around his neck, mined that Cooper had committed child at the Metro Regional Youth Detention standing on a sink in the process of at- neglect and nine other staff members were Center (Metro RYDC). taching the sheet to a sprinkler. Due to guilty of misconduct. Cooper and Nurse The DJJ reportedly had a long history that incident, he was placed in solitary Kawana Wires were fired and two other of “egregious conditions constituting con- confinement on April 3 and denied exercise, employees demoted. stitutional violations.” leisure time and even a shower in violation The federal lawsuit filed by J.D.’s On February 13, 1998, the U.S. De- of facility policies. The water in his cell parents alleged tampering of evidence; partment of Justice issued a report on its was turned off, so he did not even have a specifically, the falsified entry of a purported investigation into the DJJ. It found “in- functioning toilet. mental health visit with their son on April 3. adequate suicide prevention, inadequate Policy required J.D. to be removed Further, Clinical Director Lainey Richard- supervision, overcrowded conditions, unsafe from solitary within 24 hours and that he son was accused of altering DJJ policy in an conditions, failure to provide adequate receive an evaluation. As of April 5, 2015, effort to avoid responsibility for J.D.’s death, mental health care, abusive disciplinary neither had occurred. On that morning after it became apparent that she “was not practices, physical abuse by staff and nu- J.D. knew he should have been released familiar” with the policy regarding place- merous other violations.” As a result, the from confinement. Unable to “tolerate his ment of children in solitary confinement. agency entered into an agreement to end conditions” and believing “he may never The parties eventually reached a $1.7 the violations. be released,” J.D. told other children and million settlement to resolve the case. The As of February 2014, however, the DJJ guard Adrian Cooper that he planned to estate was represented by attorneys Mat- had not come into compliance; in fact, the hang himself. thew S. Harmon and Eric Fredrickson. See: details of J.D.’s death revealed that deficient Cooper learned that J.D. was tying Butler v. Niles, U.S.D.C. (N.D. Ga.), Case practices were still extant in 2015. his jumpsuit into a noose, and a call to Lt. No. 1:15-cv-04239-MHC.

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Prison Legal News 51 October 2017 South Carolina Prisoners’ Wage Grievances not Subject to 15-day Deadline

South Carolina appellate court plus other relief related to unsafe working “arbitrary and capricious.” Accordingly, the Aheld that prisoners’ grievances were conditions. Administrative Law Court’s order was re- not subject to a 15-day filing deadline The Court of Appeals agreed with versed and remanded to consider the merits because they did not concern an “incident” the prisoners that the 15-day deadline did of the prisoners’ claims. See: Ackerman v. but rather challenged the South Carolina not apply to their grievances. It found the South Carolina Department of Corrections, Department of Corrections’ (SCDC) poli- exceptions portion in Policy GA-01.12 415 S.C. 412, 782 S.E.2d 757 (S.C. Ct. cies or procedures. indicated that “incidents” do not encompass App. 2016), rehearing denied. The ruling was issued in a lawsuit “policies” and “procedures.” Due to the 1995 and 2001 statutes in brought by 196 current or former prisoners The appellate court held the challenge South Carolina, there has been ongoing who participated in a prison industry pro- to wages received under the WTI con- litigation over wages paid to prisoners em- gram involving Williams Technologies, Inc. tract related to the SCDC’s policies and ployed in prison industry programs. [See: (WTI) at the Lieber Correctional Institu- procedures, therefore applying the 15-day PLN, Aug. 2017, p.38; May 2011, p.47; June tion. They had filed grievances arguing they deadline to the prisoners’ grievances was 2005, p.35]. were entitled under state law to receive pre- vailing wages for the work they performed. Prison officials denied the grievances Two Federal Courts Find Prison on the merits and for failing to file them within 15 days as required by paragraph Gerrymandering Unconstitutional 12.1 of Policy GA-01.12. An order from by David M. Reutter the South Carolina Administrative Law Court upheld the denial, and the prisoners wo federal district courts, one in residents of the City of Cranston. appealed. TFlorida and the other in Rhode Island, In each case the issue was the inclu- The contract between WTI and the have held prison gerrymandering uncon- sion of prisoners as residents of the district SCDC required the company to pay prison stitutional, though one of the orders was where they were incarcerated when local officials $4.00 per hour per prisoner, with a overturned on appeal. The rulings are the governments drew districting maps follow- base wage of $0.35 per hour. Effective July first of their kind. ing the 2010 U.S. Census. Those maps set 1, 1995, South Carolina law required that “This is a big win for democracy,” said voting districts for school boards and the prisoners employed in industry programs Adam Lioz of the Washington, D.C.-based county or city boards of commissioners. receive no less than “the prevailing wage public policy group Demos, who assisted in The local government agencies argued they for work of [a] similar nature in the private representing the Rhode Island plaintiffs. had properly relied upon the census data sector.” “Prison gerrymandering distorts represen- to make districting determinations. Not so However, the legislature changed that tation and should no longer be tolerated. fast, said the district courts. law, effective July 1, 2001, to allow the This decision should pave the way for The census, the U.S. Supreme Court SCDC to pay prisoners less than prevail- other courts to address this long-standing has held, may be a starting point, but it does ing wages for “service work,” which fit the problem.” not necessarily produce constitutional out- type of job duties performed under WTI’s Both cases were brought alleging viola- comes in all cases. The one person, one vote contract. The plaintiffs sought prevailing tion of the U.S. Constitution’s requirement principle protects both representational wages for their work prior to July 1, 2001, of “one person, one vote.” They asserted that and electoral equality. “[T]o determine prison gerrymandering, in which prisoners whether one person one vote principles have

are counted as residents of the district where been violated, it is necessary to look at the THE COLOSSAL BOOK OF CRIMINAL CITATIONS they are incarcerated, watered down the population base that’s chosen because there 2017 Edition Two Book Set strength of residents’ political representa- is no way to directly measure vote dilution  4500+ Citations for tion by bolstering the power of residents or representational harm,” said the Florida Supreme, Circuit, District and New State Courts who lived in the same district as non-voting, district court.  120+ Topics unrepresented prisoners. [See: PLN, Dec. The court in Rhode Island concluded  Prosecution Strategies Revealed 2012, p.1]. that “the ACI’s inmates lack a ‘represen-  Voir Dire Questions The Florida case challenged the tational nexus’ with the Cranston City  Jury Trial Instructions  District Court & Innocence inclusion of 1,157 prisoners held at the Council and School Committee.” It noted Project Addresses Jackson Correctional Institution ( JCI), that “Cranston’s elected officials do not  450+ legal definitions By Richard Davis  PDF file set online for $21.95 which is in a rural county in Florida’s campaign or endeavor to represent their  8.5 x 11 Soft Cover 625+ pages panhandle. The Rhode Island case took ACI constituents,” and that the prisoners $79.95 Prisoner Price Send Check or M.O. to (s/h included) Barkan Research issue with 3,433 prisoners housed at the cannot vote; those that can must do so www.Barkanresearch.com P.O. Box 352 906-420-1380 Rapid River, MI 49878 Adult Correctional Institution (ACI), through absentee ballots from their pre- Credit Cards Accepted the state’s only prison, being counted as incarceration addresses. In sum, prisoners

October 2017 52 Prison Legal News are “unable to participate in, benefit from, The Florida court, in rejecting a slip- 1292 (N.D. Fla. 2016). or contribute to any other aspect of civic pery slope argument, noted the case dealt The plaintiffs in Rhode Island were life in Cranston.” with state, not county, prisoners. “In partic- represented by the ACLU, Demos, the The Florida court’s 86-page ruling held ular, the situation would be quite different Prison Policy Initiative and the ACLU likewise, finding JCI’s prisoners live in a if we were dealing with a state legislative of Rhode Island. See: Davidson v. City of “state run enclave” that requires them to “go district because state prisoners are obviously Cranston, 188 F.Supp.3d 146 (D. RI 2016). on with their lives mostly separated from affected by the policies put in place at the However, the district court’s May 2016 rul- the communities in which their facilities state level,” it wrote. While prisoners receive ing in that case was reversed by the First happen to be located.” Thus, they have no no representation from city or county of- Circuit on September 21, 2016. The appel- representation from county officials. ficials, “[t]he same would not be true of late court wrote that “The Constitution does The point the courts made about the state senator and representative whose not require Cranston to exclude the ACI political power and representation was ex- territory includes JCI.” inmates from its apportionment process, emplified by ACLU attorney Nancy Abudu. The court concluded by noting it and it gives the federal courts no power to “If I want to get a road fixed, if I want a law did not decide “that the JCI inmates lack interfere with Cranston’s decision to include changed, if I want more impact on a school political equality with their ‘neighbors’ in them.” Accordingly, summary judgment board member or county commissioner, I Jefferson County. The State of Florida “has was entered in favor of the defendants on have more power because my representative explicitly deprived them of their represen- remand. See: Davidson v. City of Cranston, has to deal with fewer people” due to prison tational rights, at least with respect to units 837 F.3d 135 (1st Cir. 2016). gerrymandering, she said. “It’s about access of local government.” Thus, more legal challenges are needed and the ability to influence, and making sure In both cases, the government agencies with respect to prison gerrymandering, to officials are responsive to their electorate.” were ordered to submit new redistricting build up a body of case law to establish On that point, the Florida court found plans that did not include prisoners as lo- that practice is improper and unconstitu- the voters in the district housing JCI had cal residents. tional. about 3.5 times the voting strength of vot- The Florida plaintiffs were repre- ers in other districts. In the Rhode Island sented by the ACLU and the Florida Dictionary of the Law case, 25% of the population in the district Justice Institute, and that case settled in Thousands of clear, concise definitions. that included Cranston was comprised of July 2016. See: Calvin v. Jefferson County See page 69 for ordering information. prisoners. Board of Commissioners, 172 F.Supp.3d

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Prison Legal News 53 October 2017 Seventh Circuit Reinstates Prisoner’s Lawsuit, Rejects District Court’s IFP Concerns by Derek Gilna

ahim McWilliams, an Illinois because McWilliams’s trust account did not court may dismiss a complaint if a plaintiff ’s Rstate prisoner, injured his hand in a show a deposit of $188 is unpersuasive; even allegation of poverty is untrue.” fall and filed a claim in federal court for if that amount was donated to McWilliams The Court of Appeals concluded that damages, claiming lack of proper medical and not to Brittany Smith.... More impor- on remand, “the district court must grant treatment and permanent disfigurement. tantly, we are not aware of any requirement IFP and move the case forward.... [and] He alleged he was indigent and sought a that all financial resources available to an should take up McWilliams’s request for waiver of the filing fee with an in forma inmate be deposited into his or her trust ac- counsel.” See: McWilliams v. Cook County, pauperis (IFP) form. The district court, count. What matters is disclosure; a district 845 F.3d 244 (7th Cir. 2017). citing the absence of some identifying information on the form, as well as contra- Prisoner Showed Good Cause dictory language as to funds McWilliams had received, denied the IFP request and for Extension of Time dismissed the case for failure to pay the filing fee. The Seventh Circuit reversed he Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals (10th Cir. 2016). and remanded. Theld a district court erred in denying a Following remand, the district court In a January 5, 2017 ruling, the appel- prisoner’s motion for extension of time to denied Rachel’s motion for default judg- late court noted that McWilliams had used respond to a dispositive motion. ment against one of the defendants. Then a court-provided IFP form which included Oklahoma state prisoner Archie Ra- on April 21, 2017, the court adopted a various boxes the applicant must check. It chel, 71, filed suit in federal court regarding magistrate judge’s report and recommenda- also required “prisoner applicants to provide his medical treatment at the James Crabtree tion related to motions to dismiss and for an inmate identification number, the name Correctional Center ( JCCC). According summary judgment, and entered judgment of the applicant’s institution, and records to the district court, he alleged that “(1) he for the defendants. from the applicant’s inmate trust account.” routinely had to wait outdoors in adverse “First,” the district court wrote, Ra- McWilliams had answered all the questions conditions to receive his medications, (2) he chel “failed to demonstrate that his delay but neglected to name his institution and received inadequate care from the prison’s in medical treatment led to any substan- identification number. medical staff, and (3) the prison’s grievance tial harm. Second, the record shows that He had also indicated on the IFP procedure was unfair.” any complaints he had with his medical form, in response to a query as to whether During the litigation, Rachel was given diagnosis and prescribed treatment and he or anyone living at the same residence only “21 days to seek discovery, obtain and medications were merely disagreements and had received in excess of $200 from other review responses that were not even due did not rise to the level of a constitutional sources not specifically listed on the form, within the 21-day period, and respond to violation. Third, he failed to demonstrate his that a “Brittany Smith” had received a “do- the defendants’ motion for dismissal or having to wait outside in the JCCC’s ‘pill- nation” of $188. summary judgment.” line’ to receive his medication qualified as After being advised by the district He moved for an extension of time, an easily recognizable risk that Defendants court that his IFP application was insuf- asserting that he only had a few hours in should have been aware. Fourth, because ficient, McWilliams submitted a second the law library each week. The district court the record shows that Mr. Rachel suffered application, this time including his prison did not rule on his motion so Rachel was no deliberate indifference at the hands of number and facility, and requesting ap- forced to respond without the benefit of the Defendants, his claims for supervisory li- pointment of counsel. However, instead requested discovery. The court dismissed his ability ... have no legs on which to stand.” of checking boxes reflecting his indigency, suit and he appealed. Rachel has again appealed the dis- he merely said he was not employed and The Tenth Circuit found the issue missal to the Tenth Circuit, and his appeal wrote “N/A” for all other questions. He also was whether Rachel showed good cause remains pending. See: Rachel v. Troutt, submitted data that showed he had $106.85 entitling him to the requested extension of 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62662 (W.D. Okla. in his prison account and received $73.73 time. It held good cause was shown pursu- 2017). per month over the previous four months. ant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 6(b)(1), and concluded The court denied his second IFP application the extension of time should have been and dismissed his complaint. granted because the district court’s denial Roget’s Thesaurus On appeal the Seventh Circuit wrote, was an abuse of discretion. The Court of Can’t think of the right word? “the information purportedly missing from Appeals upheld the lower court’s orders Let Roget’s help you! Over 11,000 [the] first IFP application was already in the denying appointment of counsel and a words listed alphabetically. court’s hands.... And the court’s conclusion medical expert. Rachel litigated the appeal See page 69 for more information. that the application was inaccurate simply pro se. See: Rachel v. Troutt, 820 F.3d 390 October 2017 54 Prison Legal News Eleventh Circuit: Procedural Dismissals do Not Count as Strikes Under the PLRA by David M. Reutter

he Eleventh Circuit held last year frivolous.” of Corrections, 820 F.3d 1278 (11th Cir. Tthat a district court erred in finding the The Eleventh Circuit found the dis- 2016), cert. denied. dismissals of a prisoner’s prior civil rights missal orders in the six cases counted as Previously, the Georgia Supreme Court actions due to “lack of jurisdiction” and for strikes under the PLRA “gave no such had held that a trial court errored in deny- “want of prosecution” counted as strikes signal.” Three had been dismissed by a single ing Daker’s petition for mandamus seeking under the Prison Litigation Reform Act appellate judge for want of prosecution. access to the prison law library. [See: PLN, (PLRA). The Court of Appeals further held Separating itself from the D.C. and Tenth Jan. 2015, p.53]. the district court abused its discretion2.3. in de- Circuits,x 7.1which held a strike could be as- nying the prisoner in forma pauperis status. sessed where an appeal would have been That ruling came in an appeal brought found frivolous “but for” the dismissal, the by Georgia prisoner Waseem Daker, who Court of Appeals determined the PLRA alleged that prison officials were violating precludes such an interpretation. National his civil rights by denying him the use of a The appellate court acknowledged its law library and time for Muslim religious interpretation of the statute “means that a Federal Legal practices. The district court agreed with the prisoner can file unlimited frivolous appeals Georgia Department of Corrections that six and avoid getting strikes by declining to Services previous filings by Daker were frivolous and prosecute the appeals after his petitions to counted as strikes under the PLRA; on that proceed in forma pauparis are denied.” basis, and after finding he was not indigent, The plain text of the PLRA, however  Federal his case was dismissed. requires such an outcome. Appellate On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit Finally, the Eleventh Circuit held the acknowledged that Daker was “a serial district court had abused its discretion by Representation litigator” serving a life sentence who “has not considering Daker’s “arguments about all Circuits and submitted over a thousand pro se filings in his indigence” contained in his objections Supreme Court over a hundred actions and appeals in at to a magistrate’s report and recommenda-  Admitted to all Federal least nine different federal courts.” To de- tion, as his objections were timely filed Circuits and Supreme Court termine whether “Daker’s six dismissals for under the “prison mailbox rule.” The dis-  Over 150 Appeals Filed and lack of jurisdiction and want of prosecution trict court’s order was therefore vacated. represented qualify as strikes under the [PLRA],” the See: Daker v. Commissioner, Georgia Dept. appellate court said it had to apply a “three-  Federal 2255 part test: ‘(1) Read the statute; (2) read the statute; (3) read the statute.’” Habeas Petitions The PLRA considers the dismissal of a  Representation lawsuit or appeal a strike if it is “frivolous,”  Pro Se review and “malicious” or “fails to state a claim upon Assistance which relief may be granted.” The Court  Over 200 Habeas filed and of Appeals found that “[n]either ‘lack of Represented jurisdiction’, nor ‘want of prosecution’ are enumerated grounds, so a dismissal on We do not do prison law suits or either of those bases, without more, cannot state cases. . serve as a strike.” Both of those reasons for dismissal Helping you successfully navigate “mean [ ] only that the appellant failed to the federal criminal justice system in the United States for over 24 years. comply with our internal rules.” Neither addressed the merits of Daker’s claims, only www.federalappealslawyer.com procedural deficiencies. 2392 N. Decatur Rd, Decatur, GA Frivolous means the action “lacks an 30033 arguable basis either in law or fact.” While Voice: 404-633-3797 a “dismissing court does not need to invoke any magic words or even use the word ‘frivolous,’ ... [it] must give some signal in its order that the action or appeal was Prison Legal News 55 October 2017 Seventh Circuit Dissent: “A Dog Would Have Deserved Better Treatment” by Derek Gilna

illiam A. Miller, incarcerated serious health risk to Miller from being as- charged with or convicted of offenses Wat FCC Terre Haute, a Bureau of signed to an upper bunk is an open question against the United States....’ The Bureau Prisons (BOP) facility in Indiana, entered that needs to be addressed at a trial,” Judge failed in this case.” prison with a serious health problem – a Richard Posner stated, in dissent. “The In conclusion, Judge Posner – who thalamic brain tumor that required a lower record contains facts that support Miller’s recently announced his retirement from the bunk assignment, or “pass,” issued by prison claim that he had a serious medical need federal bench – wrote that “Both Rogers medical officials. He was initially given a and that the defendants knew it and did and Marberry were ... complicit in [Miller’s] lower-bunk pass, but for reasons unknown, nothing despite their responsibilities.” suffering and may have hastened his death. a year later was assigned an upper bunk. He added, “I note that the Bureau A dog would have deserved better treat- While in that bunk he fell and fractured of Prisons is required by law to ‘provide ment.” See: Estate of Miller v. Marberry, 847 his back. suitable quarters and provide for the safe- F.3d 425 (7th Cir. 2017), rehearing denied, Before BOP prisoners can obtain keeping, care, and subsistence of all persons rehearing en banc denied. judicial relief they must go through the administrative remedy process and file what Second Circuit: Ross Abrogates “Special are known as “BP’s.” After his complaints to lead guard Gary Rogers went unanswered, Circumstances” Exhaustion Exception Miller filed administrative remedies, which were all denied, then brought a Bivens ac- he Court of Appeals for the (DOCCS) employs a three-step grievance tion that named Rogers, Warden Helen TSecond Circuit reversed the non-ex- process. The Inmate Grievance Resolution Marberry and a nurse as defendants. haustion dismissal of a New York prisoner’s Committee answers the first grievance, Rogers and Marberry moved for excessive force suit. Applying Ross v. Blake, the facility superintendent responds to summary judgment, arguing that neither 136 S.Ct. 1850 (2016) [PLN, July 2016, the second and the Central Office Review was personally responsible for issuing the p.22], the appellate court held that no Committee answers the third. lower bunk pass that would have prevented administrative remedies were “available” A prisoner typically files a grievance Miller’s debilitating fall (nor was the nurse under the Prison Litigation Reform Act with the grievance clerk. Prisoners like Wil- responsible). The district court granted (PLRA) when prison officials failed to liams who are confined in the SHU must summary judgment to the defendants, dis- process a grievance. give their grievances to a guard for filing. missing the case, and Miller died in June During a search, New York prisoner On January 15, 2013, Williams gave 2016 while the litigation was pending. Mark Williams asked a guard to stop read- an SHU guard a grievance that alleged The Seventh Circuit affirmed the -dis ing his legal work. The guard told Williams excessive force by Gammone and Priatno. missal on January 30, 2017, but not without to sit down; he did so, but continued to When Superintendent Ada Perez was mak- controversy. According to the majority “admonish” her. ing rounds in the SHU a week later, she opinion, “Miller has not sued the people Two other guards grabbed Williams told Williams she had no knowledge of his responsible for bunk assignments. Miller and dragged him to another room out of grievance but would look into it. Williams supposes that it is enough to tell someone sight of video cameras and other prison- was transferred to a different prison shortly about a problem; anyone told must fix the ers. They then assaulted him, pushing his afterwards; he never received a response to problem, he insists.... To get anywhere, forehead against a wall and kicking and his grievance. Miller needed to establish that Rogers and stomping him. Williams filed suit against Priatno and Marberry violated his constitutional rights – One guard, Gammone, allegedly Gammone but the federal district court dis- which for a medical claim under the Eighth grabbed Williams and said “this is what missed his complaint for failure to exhaust Amendment means knowing of (or being running your mouth gets you” as he administrative remedies, concluding that deliberately indifferent to) a serious medi- punched him in the right eye. Williams fell he could have appealed the non-response cal condition, then not taking minimally to the ground and another guard, Priatno, to the grievance he attempted to file. competent steps to deal with that condition.” kicked his face and head. The Second Circuit reversed. The The dissent was not impressed with Williams was confined in the special Court of Appeals first found that Ross that argument, in a case where the BOP was housing unit (SHU) after being treated abrogated its earlier decisions in Giano apparently negligent and Warden Marberry for injuries to his head, knee, eye, elbow, v. Goord, 380 F.3d 670 (2d Cir. 2004) took no action even though she saw Miller lower back, jaw and nose. Since the assault and Hemphill v. New York, 380 F.3d 680 in his upper bunk wearing a neck brace, he has received medication for anxiety and (2d Cir. 2004), which held that “special and he repeatedly told her he needed a panic attacks. circumstances” may excuse exhaustion. lower-bunk pass. The New York State Department of In Ross, the Supreme Court stressed that “Whether Marberry was aware of the Corrections and Community Supervision PLRA exhaustion is mandatory, “noting October 2017 56 Prison Legal News that the text of the PLRA and its legisla- advantage of a grievance process through give no guidance whatsoever to an inmate tive history refute the existence of a special machination, misrepresentation, or in- whose grievance was never filed.” As such, circumstances exception to the statute’s timidation.” Moreover, the Second Circuit it concluded that Williams had exhausted exhaustion requirement.” wrote, “the three circumstances discussed in his available administrative remedies when Nevertheless, Ross held that only Ross do not appear to be exhaustive.” he gave his grievance to the guard. “available” remedies must be exhausted, Applying Ross, the appellate court “To avoid confusion going forward,” and that a remedy is not available when: concluded that “even if Williams techni- the Second Circuit recommended “that 1) “it operates as a simple dead end – with cally could have appealed his grievance, ... DOCCS revise its grievance procedure to officers unable or consistently unwilling to the regulatory scheme providing for that instruct how to appeal grievances that were provide any relief to aggrieved inmates”; appeal is ‘so opaque’ and ‘so confusing’” that not properly filed by prison staff, and how 2) the “administrative scheme might be no reasonable prisoner could use it. to appeal a grievance, to which the inmate so opaque that it becomes, practically Accepting as true that the SHU guard never received a response, after being trans- speaking, incapable of use”; and 3) “prison did not file Williams’ grievance, the Court ferred.” See: Williams v. Priatno, 829 F.3d administrators thwart inmates from taking of Appeals found that “the regulations 118 (2d Cir. 2016).

Louisiana Parish Jails Lack HIV Treatment and Services

IV-positive prisoners in Louisiana prisoners of their status and provide ser- any different with respect to HIV.” Hjails are not provided medication and vices if needed, only 5 of Louisiana’s 104 The 70-page report is available on basic services, which endangers both their parish jails, including the New Orleans PLN’s website. health and the communities they return to Parish Prison, regularly offer HIV tests to upon release. That was one of the findings all prisoners. The failure is purely budgetary. Sources: www.hrw.org, www.theadvocate. of “Paying the Price: Failure to Deliver “Why don’t we do routine HIV testing? com HIV Services in Louisiana Parish Jails,” a We cannot afford to treat someone who was report published by Human Rights Watch identified as HIV-positive,” said S. Wright, (HRW) in 2016. nursing director at the Caddo Parish Cor- Writing to Win HRW interviewed over 100 people, rectional Center. “It sounds cold, I know, Need to write better? Writing to Win will including representatives of organizations but that is the reality.” teach you the basics of how to compose involved in HIV and health services related The LDOC has decided that HIV is clear and convincing written and oral to the criminal justice system. It concluded not a reimbursable expense, which means legal arguments! 270 pages packed that “Louisiana is ‘ground zero’ for the dual jails that house state prisoners have to cover with solid, practical advice and tips. epidemics of HIV and incarceration.” HIV-related costs. In early 2016 there were $19.95 from PLN’s Book Store! Baton Rouge and New Orleans lead about 18,000 state prisoners held in parish See page 69 for more information. the country in new HIV infections each facilities; due to the lack of comprehensive year, and the death rate “from AIDS in testing, it is unknown how many are HIV- Louisiana is among the highest in the positive. U.S.,” the report found. “As of January 2016, As a result of the LDOC’s non-reim- the Louisiana Department of Corrections bursement policy and budgetary issues, jails [LDOC] housed 525 prisoners with HIV.” provide few HIV services. Even prisoners Louisiana also has the highest state in- who self-report having HIV are left in carceration rate in the nation. “At any given the lurch, which means their “treatment point in time, roughly 1 in 75 Louisiana is often delayed, interrupted, or denied adults are in jail or prison,” according to the altogether.” report. The intersection between HIV and An interruption in HIV medication incarceration occurs because “[o]ne out of can have serious consequences, including seven people living with HIV will enter a making the treatment regimen ineffective. jail or prison each year.” Parish jails not only fail to provide those The report added that “The same -so medications, they refuse to allow them to cioeconomic factors that place people at be retained upon booking if prisoners have risk for HIV – poverty, homelessness, drug them in their possession. Further, upon dependence, mental illness – also place release, prisoners are not connected with them at higher risk of incarceration.” community-based HIV service agencies. So what happens when people with In response to the HRW report, HIV land behind bars? Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards While the Centers for Disease Control stated, “I’m concerned about the access recommends that all correctional facilities to health care in our jails and our prisons, provide routine HIV testing to inform generally speaking,” and “It wouldn’t be Prison Legal News 57 October 2017 Prisoner Labor Focus of Controversy in Texas, Alabama by David M. Reutter

he use of prisoner labor and poor these profits don’t go back to the prisoners, cide rate of 232.4 per 100,000 prisoners in Tprison conditions are behind calls for they don’t go back to the prison system to contrast to a national prison homicide rate action in Texas and Alabama, and have led lower the burden on the taxpayers.” of 7 per 100,000 prisoners. to concerns over the use of prison labor TCI is overseen by the Texas Board The poor conditions at HCF spawned nationwide. of Criminal Justice, which has nine mem- a fight in early March 2016 that turned into Most people believe slavery was abol- bers – including former Texas Supreme a riot after guards and the warden started ished by the Thirteenth Amendment to Court Judge and attorney Dale Wainright. yelling and cursing at prisoners. One guard the U.S. Constitution, but that amendment Other board members include R. Terrell and the warden, Carter F. Davenport, were includes an exception clause which permits McCombs, nephew of billionaire Billy stabbed and received minor injuries. Prison- slavery “as a punishment for crime whereof Joe McCombs; corporate attorney Eric ers then took over “C” dorm and streamed the party shall have been duly convicted....” Gambrell with the law firm of Akin Gump, the chaos live using contraband cell phones. Prison Legal News has long advocated which has lobbied for private prison firm [See: PLN, May 2016, p.1]. against the use of prisoner slave labor, including CoreCivic (formerly known as Corrections Well before the riot and work strikes, in prison industry programs, where workers toil Corporation of America); former police Alabama prisoners and their outside sup- for scanty wages or none at all, often in unsafe employee Derrelynn Perryman, who also porters had formed the Free Alabama conditions. [See: PLN, Sept. 2017, p.60]. serves as the Victim Advocate Director Movement (FAM). Texas Correctional Industries (TCI), for the Tarrant County Criminal District “Our plan is to have a statewide strike which was created in 1963, is one of the Attorney’s Office; and former state judge which may in turn have a domino effect on most egregious offenders. TCI produces Thomas P. Wingate. other states,” said a prisoner activist iden- “mattresses, shoes, garments, brooms, li- With few exceptions, most of the board tified as Karma, who used a cell phone to cense plates, printed materials, janitorial members have no background or expertise communicate with the media. “Our goal is supplies, soaps, detergents, furniture, textile, in corrections or prison operations. And to eliminate slavery altogether. It shouldn’t and steel products,” according to its web- while the Texas Board of Criminal Justice exist just because someone committed a site. It provides prison-made products to a has the ability to establish “an incentive pay crime ... whether you have stolen a piece variety of government agencies. scale for work program participants,” it has of gum or killed someone, you should not Yet TCI pays most of its prisoner work- not done so. be made a slave.” ers nothing – unless they are employed in Prisoners in Alabama also went on “Slavery is only legal under the criminal industry programs that partner with private, strike, beginning May 1, 2016 – May Day justice system,” he added. “If we are gonna for-profit businesses. – to protest the prison system’s use of what continue to work for free, we continue to “Texas’s prisoners are the slaves of amounts to slave labor. The state’s prison give them power by which they can keep today, and that slavery affects our society industry program, Alabama Correctional the system going. We have to affect the economically, morally and political[ly],” Industries, produces a variety of products money. If we affect the money, then they’ll stated a letter posted on the website for the ranging from clothing and barbecue grills have to downsize.” Incarcerated Workers Organizing Commit- to janitorial supplies. Unlike in Texas, The average citizen may ask, “what do I tee (IWOC), an arm of the International prisoners are paid for their labor – at wages care about someone in prison who works for Workers of the World, a labor union. “Be- ranging from $.25 to $.75 per hour. little or no pay while serving a sentence for ginning April 4, 2016 all inmates around Leaders of the protest movement have committing a crime?” The IWOC provided Texas will stop all labor in order to get advocated for non-violence; prisoners are also an economics-based answer. the attention from politicians and Texas’s seeking better conditions of confinement. Five “Sixty percent of the 180,000 prison- community.” state prisons were placed on lockdown due to ers [in Texas] work. That’s about 100,000 By April 5, the Texas Department of the coordinated work strikes. jobs,” the IWOC stated. “Texans should Criminal Justice (TDCJ) confirmed it had The Alabama Department of Correc- be demanding that the state give those jobs placed at least seven prisons on lockdown tions (ADOC) incarcerates 29,605 people, to citizens. Those 100,000 new jobs would due to the work strike. In addition to de- which is 220 percent above its design capac- alleviate the unemployment rate.” manding meaningful credit for work time ity. To complicate matters state prisons are Meanwhile, prison officials continue to be used towards parole eligibility dates, chronically understaffed, maintaining only to silence activist prisoners. As the work Texas prisoners sought repeal of a $100 3,000 to 4,000 of 6,000 authorized guard stoppage involving the Free Alabama annual medical co-pay, better prison condi- positions over the past decade. Movement occurred in May 2016, the tions and effective oversight of the TDCJ. According to the wife of one ADOC ADOC reportedly began “bird feeding” “Yes the taxpayers do, ostensibly, fund lifer, conditions at the Holman Correctional prisoners by giving them 60% of normal prisons, but the fact of the matter is that Facility (HCF) were “deplorable,” citing meal servings. “They are trying to starve private corporations use prison labor to man- Grade-D meat fed to prisoners in boxes [us] into compliance,” one unidentified ufacture goods, which then make profits,” labeled “not for human consumption.” HCF prisoner stated. said Jim Del Ducca with the IWOC. “And is also a violent facility, with a 2014 homi- “We need new language to discuss October 2017 58 Prison Legal News this subject,” said Pastor Kenneth Glasgow, thousands of prisoners participated in a Sources: The Daily Beast, Alabama Politi- who directs The Ordinary People Society nationwide work strike on September 9, cal Reporter, www.al.com, Associated Press, (TOPS), an Alabama-based organization 2016 – the 45th anniversary of the Attica The Atlantic City Lab, The Hill Talk, www. that advocates for prisoners’ rights. “These prison uprising. [See: PLN, Jan. 2017, p.22]. rt.com, Austin Chronicle, www.corrections­ are people, not just prisoners. And what There is also growing public awareness of one.com, The Intercept, www.solitarywatch. these labor strikes can do is draw attention the issue of prisoner slave labor, spurred in com, www.incarceratedworkers.org, http:// to that fact.” part by the movie “13th,” released in October abcnews.go.com, www.freealabamamove- The hoped-for domino effect of prison 2016, which focuses on the exception clause ment.com, https://news.littlesis.org, www. protests may be coming true, as tens of of the Thirteenth Amendment. texasstandard.org Eleventh Circuit: Florida Prisoners Must be Provided Kosher Meals by David M. Reutter

he Florida Department of Correc- to provide kosher meals and prohibiting million annual cost of kosher meals in Ttions (FDOC) must provide prisoners enforcement of its waiting period, doctrinal its $54 million food budget – out of the with the option of receiving kosher meals, sincerity test, ten percent missed meal rule FDOC’s overall $2.2 billion budget – was the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and zero tolerance policy on violations. unsustainable, the Court of Appeals noted held in affirming a district court’s grant [See: PLN, March 2016, p.53]. the FDOC’s chief procurement officer had of summary judgment and a permanent As of March 2015, the FDOC had said the cost of kosher meals was “sustain- injunction. approved 9,543 prisoners to receive kosher able ... going forward.” As previously reported in PLN, the meals. Participation in the kosher meal pro- Objections to mere “costs,” without U.S. Department of Justice sued the gram declined over time, “in part because more, required the appellate court to “affirm FDOC in 2012 under the Religious prisoners without sincere religious beliefs the summary judgment” and permanent Land Use and Institutionalized Persons tired of the repetitive and cold meals.” injunction granted by the district court to Act (RLUIPA) to obtain declaratory and Initially, the FDOC used “nationally the Department of Justice. The FDOC had injunctive relief requiring state prison of- recognized, religiously certified prepack- also failed to prove that denial of kosher ficials to provide kosher meals. [See: PLN, aged processed foods.” It then steadily meals was the least restrictive means of May 2014, p.14]. reduced kosher meals to its current menu furthering a governmental interest when The FDOC put its full strength into of “peanut butter, cereal, bread, sardines, weighed against prisoners’ religious rights fighting the suit, costing taxpayers nearly cabbage, beans, carrots, crackers and an under RLUIPA. $500,000. In its July 14, 2016 ruling, the occasional piece of fruit; all served cold.” The district court’s order was affirmed. Eleventh Circuit began by noting the The Eleventh Circuit found the The case remains pending on remand, with FDOC’s flip-flopping on the provision of FDOC had failed to show “that the cost the FDOC submitting monthly reports to kosher meals since 2004, culminating in a of providing kosher meals is so high” that the court regarding its kosher meal pro- pilot program at the Union Correctional it constituted a compelling reason not to gram. See: United States v. Secretary, Florida Institution in 2011. provide that option. The prison system’s Department of Corrections, 828 F.3d 1341 “The only choice for prisoners outside regular meal menu, which is laden with (11th Cir. 2016). the pilot program with [orthodox] religious textured vegetable obligations was, in the words of one pris- protein, costs $1.89 ALL PAYMENTS ARE BY BRANLETTES BEAUTIES oner, to ‘[d]o what a hungry man does, and per prisoner per day. INSTITUTIONAL CHECKS/U.S.P.S. BRANLETTES pray [] for understanding,’” the Court of By contrast, kosher OR WESTERN UNION MONEY ORDERS P.O.BOX 5765 Appeals wrote. meals cost about HIGH QUALITY PRINTS ON BALTIMORE, MD 21282 4X6 GLOSSY PHOTO PAPER The district court’s December 2013 $3.55 per day. ALL SALES ARE FINAL! 1 - 4999 PHOTOS - $0.45 EACH preliminary injunction, which later be- While state 5000 + PHOTOS - 20% DICOUNT came a permanent injunction, changed the prison officials BRANLETTES BREATHLESS BEAUTIES BAG A RANDOM SELECTION legal landscape by ordering the FDOC contended the $12 OF 50 OF THE RARE AND EXOTIC BABES! ONLY $19.95 + SHIPPING COST 1-5 PIC- $1.00 / 6-15 PIC- $1.50 / 16-25 PIC- $2.00 PER ENVELOPE PLUS TWO OF OUR FINEST COLOUR CATALOGS PLEASE SPECIFY NUDE OR NON NUDE.  EĞĞĚ>ĂǁLJĞƌ͍ OUR REGULAR SHIPPING AND HANDLING POLICIES APPLY. ƌĞĂƚĞĂƉƌŽĨŝůĞŽŶ BRANLETTES BEAUTIES >ŽƐƚƐŽƵůƐĨŽƵŶĚĂƚŝŽŶ͘ĐŽŵ SELECT YOUR FAVORITE FREE CATALOG?  70 WHITE / 70 BLACK YOU READ IT RIGHT! >ŽƐƚ ^ŽƵůƐ &ŽƵŶĚĂƚŝŽŶ ŝƐ Ă ŶŽŶͲƉƌŽĨŝƚ ŽƌŐĂŶŝnjĂƚŝŽŶ ĚĞĚŝĐĂƚĞĚ ƚŽ 70 ASIAN & LATINO JUST SEND US 2 CATALOGS NUDE OR U.S. FOREVER STAMPS AND A ŚĞůƉŝŶŐ ĐŽƌƌĞĐƚ ŝŶũƵƐƚŝĐĞ ďŽƚŚ ĐƌŝŵŝŶĂů ĂŶĚ Đŝǀŝů͘ >͘^͘& ƐĞĞŬƐ ŽƵƚ NON NUDE POSES SASE AND WE WILL SEND TO YOU ONE COLOR NUDE OR BOP- ĂƚƚŽƌŶĞLJƐĂŶĚĚŽŶĂƚŝŽŶƐďŽƚŚƉƌŝǀĂƚĞĂŶĚƉƵďůŝĐƚŽďĞƵƐĞĚďLJLJŽƵ͘ 1-9 CATALOGS: FRIENDLY SAMPLE CATALOG $3.00 EACH PLUS SASE WITH &ŽƌĂŶĂƉƉůŝĐĂƚŝŽŶ͕ƉůĞĂƐĞƐĞŶĚĂ^ĞůĨͲĚĚƌĞƐƐĞĚ^ƚĂŵƉĞĚŶǀĞůŽƉĞƚŽ͗ 10 CATALOGS: 84 GORGEOUS GIRLS. ϯϰϱϬWĂůŵĞƌƌ͘^ƚĞϰ͘WDϭϰϵĂŵĞƌŽŶWĂƌŬ͕ϵϱϲϴϮ $25.00 PLUS 4 STAMPS  Prison Legal News 59 October 2017

Study Shows “Ban-the-Box” Policies May Result in Racial Bias by Employers by David M. Reutter

ncreasingly, criminal justice re- serving prison time, compared with 17% for ers are going to hold that against him.” Iformers are pushing for “ban-the-box” Hispanics and 6% for whites. Thus, employ- The ban-the-box movement, however, policies, ordinances and statutes, which are ers may be guessing as to a job applicant’s has been effective in other ways. intended to eliminate from job applications criminal history based upon those percent- “It clearly has benefits for people with the box that asks, “Have you been convicted ages, which translates into racial bias. records, and policy makers might decide that of a felony?” [See: PLN, March 2017, p.26; “There’s lots of research showing that those benefits are important enough to jus- Oct. 2014, p.46]. Many jurisdictions have Americans in general have implicit biases – tify the law,” Starr added. “But our [research] adopted such policies, but a new study draw assumptions that associate blackness results are very worrisome in terms of the found they may help those with felony with criminality,” said Prof. Starr. “And we effects for black male applicants, especially records while hurting people of color who think that assumption is meaning that when those without criminal records.” lack criminal histories. a black man with a criminal record isn’t able Twenty-three states have passed ban- to tell the employer that he doesn’t have a Sources: Mother Jones, www.brookings.edu, the-box laws for public government jobs; criminal record, that at least some employ- www.fusion.net nine apply the law to private employers, too. In November 2015, President Obama directed federal agencies to remove the Victim-centered Sexual Abuse felony question box from their job applica- tions. [See: PLN, Jan. 2016, p.41]. Investigations Abandon Concept of Neutrality Sonja Starr, a professor of law at the by David M. Reutter University of Michigan, and Amanda Agan, a professor of economics at Prince­ riminal justice reform advocates actively work to “anticipate” and “counter” ton, conducted a study to determine the Care pushing back against a new trend to defense strategies. effectiveness of ban-the-box policies. The “always believe the victim” in sexual assault The blueprint instructs officers on the study examined callback rates for 15,000 job cases, which has given rise to “victim-cen- types of defenses that students accused of applicants seeking actual low-skill, entry- tered and offender-focused” investigations. sexual abuse may use, and what kind of level positions in a variety of industries at The victim-centric trend has led to a evidence is required to counter them. 4,300 businesses. 20-point manifesto called the “You Have “An investigator who is trying to antici- The job positions were located in New Options” law enforcement program, which pate and counter defense strategies in the Jersey and New York, both before and after encourages a departure from traditional course of his/her investigation is not acting those states enacted ban-the-box laws in police investigative techniques. as a neutral fact-finder – that is, someone 2015. The fictitious applicants were 21-22 One of the points allows the “victim or who is trying to find out what actually hap- years old and randomly assigned race and other reporting party [to] remain anonymous” pened,” Harris stated. criminal records with similar educational – which makes it hard for the accused to ad- Even when an alleged victim changes backgrounds and employment histories. dress the claims of their unknown accuser. their story, the UT blueprint says they should They used real names suggestive of one Another allows victims to “report using an be believed, as “inconsistencies and vagueness race or another. online form or a victim may choose to have a can become the facts of the case that lend Before ban-the-box laws were enacted, sexual assault advocate report on their behalf.” support to the case as they can be a sign of 39 percent of employers asked about the job Disturbingly, another point requires trauma.” Investigators are also instructed that applicants’ criminal history. Of those, em- investigators to “collaborate with victims an accused suspect who “appears to make ployers called black applicants back at a rate during the investigative process and respect more sense” should not be seen as credible. of 10.5 percent and whites at 11.2 percent. a victim’s right to request certain investiga- University of Virginia student Victor After the laws went into effect, the study tive steps not be conducted.” For example, Zheng became the subject of a victim- found callback rates for blacks dropped but the alleged victim may ask that witnesses centered sexual abuse investigation. In July they rose for whites, widening the racial not be interviewed. 2013, his ex-girlfriend claimed he sexually callback gap from 7 percent to 45 percent. The University of Texas (UT) cre- assaulted her the year before while both Without criminal records as an initial ated a new blueprint to train campus law were in high school. She did not provide indicator of who is a more attractive job enforcement officers when conducting a date or month and denied they had a candidate under ban-the-box policies, sexual assault investigations. According to romantic relationship at the time. employers may be relying on demographic Samantha Harris of the Foundation for Three months later, Zheng was arrested characteristics such as race and gender. Individual Rights in Education, the most while in a history class. He proved that a The most recent statistics indicate black egregious directive in the blueprint is that romantic relationship existed and passed a men born after 2001 have a 32% chance of traditionally “neutral” investigators should lie detector test. A prosecutor dropped the October 2017 60 Prison Legal News rape and abduction charges, but Zheng tigations to rape cases involving black men sented by EVAWI (End Violence Against incurred $60,000 in attorney fees, spent six during the Jim Crow era, and the implications Women International) instructed prosecu- days in jail and lost a semester in school. have serious consequences for the accused. tors and law enforcement officials on “how The Center for Prosecutor Integrity As Zheng asked, “[I]s our society truly to incorporate a victim centered approach (CPI) has launched an initiative “to ad- safer when we have investigators who are throughout the life of a case.” dress the over-criminalization of sexual willing to put people behind bars on the If our criminal justice system is in fact conduct and to end wrongful convictions of flimsiest of evidence?” supposed to be fair and just, then victim- sexual assault.” It notes that in the 1980s, a Meanwhile, a number of groups centered investigations make no more sense child abuse panic swept the United States; continue to promote victim-centered than offender-centered investigations. abandoning the concept of “innocent until investigations. For example, one of the proven guilty” led to the tragic result of workshops at the May 2017 Conference Sources: Washington Examiner, www. more than “80 parents and child care pro- on Crimes Against Women, related to do- prosecutorintegrity.org, www.dailycaller.com, viders” being wrongfully convicted. Only mestic violence offenders, emphasized “the www.ovcttac.org, www.reportingoptions. recently have some of those cases unraveled. importance of a victim centered approach.” org, www.evawintl.org, www.conference CPI compared victim-centered inves- And a September 15, 2017 webinar pre- caw.org Eighth Circuit Vacates Supervised Release Order Barring Wife from Contact with Husband by Derek Gilna

ynthia Louis Hobbs was convicted, cuit reversed and remanded on December ther noted that the evidence did not support Calong with her husband, of aggravated 14, 2016, noting that although “A sentenc- such a sweeping restriction, and took the identity theft and conspiracy to commit ing judge is afforded wide discretion when unusual step of ordering a “closed record,” bank fraud, and sentenced to 56 months in imposing terms of supervised release.... preventing the government from augment- prison and five years of supervised release. [s]entencing discretion is cabined by statute. ing the record on remand and “limiting it to After she left prison in November 2014, her 18 U.S.C. § 3583(d) ... special supervised- one bite of the apple,” since the “legal issue supervised release was uneventful until her release conditions must reasonably relate to here was clear, and the government’s failure husband was released. In January 2016, fed- the nature and circumstances of the offense, of proof is inexcusable.” eral officials sought to revoke her supervised the defendant’s history and characteristics, The case was remanded to the district release for numerous violations. deterring criminal conduct, protecting the court with instructions to vacate the no- During the subsequent revocation public, and promoting the defendant’s contact condition and resentence Hobbs. proceedings, the government sought an correctional needs.” Additionally, “the con- See: United States v. Hobbs, 845 F.3d 365 order of “no contact” with Hobbs’ husband, ditions must not constrain the defendant’s (8th Cir. 2016). alleging that her violations were somehow liberty more than reasonably necessary to linked to her husband’s release. The district deter criminal conduct....” court judge agreed, noting that “My under- The appellate court found the no- standing from speaking with the probation contact condition imposed on Hobbs was officer and reviewing the record, is that Ms. too restrictive, especially when “this case Hobbs was doing very well on supervision involves another important constitutional when she was living independently and right – marriage.” The Court of Appeals fur- Mr. Hobbs was still incarcerated.... And then this contact occurs with her spouse, and those positive steps forward cease and, LOUISIANA BOOKS 2 PRISONERS in fact, she absconds from supervision. HAS A NEW MAILING ADDRESS! That time line seems to the court to be instructive.” Probation officials offered no proof, however, that Hobbs had had any contact with her husband after he left prison. Not- For book requests, please write to: withstanding that fact, the district court Louisiana Books 2 Prisoners modified the conditions of Hobbs’ super- 3157 Gentilly Blvd., #141 vised release, stating, “The defendant shall New Orleans LA 70122 have no direct, indirect, or electronic contact ~ with codefendant and husband, Jack Hobbs, We serve all prisoners in LA, AL, AR, & MS Please request books by genre, not title during her term of supervised release.” For more information, https://lab2p.org/ Hobbs appealed and the Eighth Cir- Prison Legal News 61 October 2017 Prison Education Guide $49.95 Christopher Zoukis ISBN: 978-0-9819385-3-0 • Paperback, 269 pages Prison Education Guide is the most comprehensive guide to correspondence programs for prisoners available today. This exceptional book provides the reader with step by step instructions to find the right educational program, enroll in courses, and complete classes to meet their academic goals. This book is an invaluable reentry tool for pris- oners who seek to further their education while incarcerated and to help them prepare for life and work following their release.

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Prison Legal News PO Box 1151 • Lake Worth, FL 33460 Dedicated to Protecting Human Rights Tel 561-360-2523 • www.prisonlegalnews.org October 2017 62 Prison Legal News News in Brief

Alabama: Kenyatta Ervin was ar- ecution. Groba was arrested after he “struck of communications facilities and possession rested in early March 2017 on a felony an inmate in the face without justification” of items prohibited for possession by in- fraud charge. She worked as a guard at the several months earlier, while Liddle was mates. She was initially held without bond. Calhoun County jail, and was accused of charged with secretly recording his super- Georgia: Dooly State Prison guard using a prisoner’s jail-issued debit card. visors to gain leverage against them. Both Tiffany King was arrested on March 19, According to investigators, Ervin failed were released on bond. Their arrests fol- 2017 and charged with attempting to to provide a card to an offender who was lowed months of tumult at the Santa Clara smuggle marijuana into the facility. The released on March 1; she subsequently used County jail, where three guards – Jereh Georgia Department of Corrections re- the card herself to withdraw $172 from an Lubrin, Matthew Farris and Rafael Rodri- ported that the distinct smell of marijuana ATM, and admitted to doing so. Calhoun guez – were convicted of beating to death a was emanating from King as she tried to County Sheriff Matthew Wade told the lo- mentally ill prisoner, Michael Tyree. [See: enter the prison. She was detained but cal news media, “If you break the law we will PLN, Aug. 2017, p.34; Jan. 2017, p.48]. refused to consent to a search; instead, she prosecute you, especially if you are in law Colorado: Former Boulder County demanded to meet with the deputy warden enforcement. We must ensure the citizens Sheriff ’s Deputy Tyler Paul Mason, 33, in private. At that meeting she revealed she [sic] trust by being honest and transparent.” pleaded guilty to misdemeanor official was carrying the drug. King was charged Ervin’s bond was set at $2,500. misconduct in a plea deal. In exchange with violating her oath and crossing guard Arizona: Edward Mendoza, a former for pleading guilty, prosecutors dropped lines with contraband. senior guard at a federal prison in Phoenix, two felony counts of conspiracy to intro- Germany: In 2016, prisoners in the was sentenced to 16 months on March duce contraband. Mason’s legal problems small western town of Bergisch Gladbach 22, 2017. Mendoza was responsible for began when he plotted to smuggle chew- were fed McDonald’s after the contract supervising the women’s camp at the facil- ing tobacco and marijuana edibles into between the local jail and its food service ity, where he had sex with one prisoner on the Boulder County jail for a childhood vendor abruptly fell through. Prisoners numerous occasions between February 1 friend who was incarcerated at the facility. were able to choose a hamburger, cheese- and April 2, 2015. He pleaded guilty to Undercover investigators witnessed Mason burger or veggie burger for lunch, while sexual abuse of a ward. take $160 from a confidential informant in for breakfast they received a McToast with Arkansas: An employee at the Pulaski connection with the smuggling scheme; he cheese, ham and bacon. “The location and County jail was arrested on March 6, 2017 was sentenced to 18 months of probation the round-the-clock availability made us on 66 counts of forgery, 66 counts of fraud on March 3, 2017. decide in favor of McDonalds [sic],” said and one count of theft of property, all Florida: During his closing argument a spokesperson for the police department. of which are felonies. Anna Story, 62, is in a client’s arson trial in March 2017, at- However, the Ministry of the Interior noted accused of stealing $18,228.12 from an ac- torney Stephen Gutierrez’s pants began that McDonald’s does not meet regulations count containing unclaimed prisoner funds. to smoke and burn. Although his client and was used as an “emergency solution.” She was booked into the same facility where was on trial for setting his car on fire and Illinois: Cook County detainee Dever- she had worked for over eight years and his defense was spontaneous combustion, ick Alex, who was being held at the Kendall released the following day after posting bail. Gutierrez denied the incident was staged County jail, faces additional charges for California: In 2015, Florin Blaj was for dramatic effect. Those who were pres- holding a fellow prisoner hostage using fired from his job as a Riverside County ent in the courtroom described the scene a homemade weapon and threatening to correctional deputy for sleeping on duty as “surreal” as the lawyer made a mad dash kill him if his demands weren’t met. The while collecting $60 an hour in overtime to the bathroom with his pants on fire. He incident occurred in early March 2017 pay. From 2013 through 2014, he took doused the blaze with water and returned and resulted in Alex being charged with home about $132,000 in overtime, which to the courtroom to finish his closing ar- armed violence, felony forcible detention, doubled his base salary. In fact, Blaj col- gument. A spokesperson with the Florida aggravated unlawful restraint, possession lected more overtime pay than any other State Attorney’s office said he could neither of contraband in a penal institution and jail guard in Riverside County during that confirm nor deny if there was an investiga- misdemeanor aggravated assault. At the time period. He was terminated by the tion into the incident. time of the incident he was being held on Riverside County Sheriff ’s Department Georgia: Alisha Morgan, who worked charges of abducting a 26-year-old woman for neglect, negligence and dishonesty, but as a nurse at the Douglas County jail, was and sexually assaulting her while he was successfully appealed his firing. As a result, arrested on March 14, 2017 on multiple on parole. in March 2017, attorneys for the Sheriff ’s counts related to inappropriate contact Illinois: Congressman Luis Gutierrez Department filed a lawsuit requesting that with a prisoner. At the time of her arrest was placed in plastic restraints and detained a county judge intervene so they were not she was working under contract for the on March 13, 2017 for refusing to leave forced to reinstate Blaj. Douglas County Sheriff ’s Office. Morgan an immigration office in Chicago. He was California: Santa Clara County jailers was charged with conspiracy to commit a meeting with the regional director for Leonel Groba and Sgt. Robert Liddle, who felony, participation in criminal gang ac- Immigration and Customs Enforcement were arrested on separate, unrelated charges tivity, attempt or conspiracy to violate the (ICE) over concerns that he and several in February 2017, are facing criminal pros- Georgia controlled substance act, illegal use protesters accompanying him had about the Prison Legal News 63 October 2017 News In Brief (cont.) attorneys representing prisoners in a lawsuit “Prison Ramen, Recipes and Stories from against the jail that resulted in a consent Behind Bars,” explained that the soups also decree said their clients told them it lasted convey status. Collins added that 20 soups fate of detainees facing deportation. After up to eight hours, and that “force [was indicate someone is well-to-do by prison ICE officials failed to provide answers to used] against the unarmed prisoners, in- standards, meaning the unidentified ramen Gutierrez’s questions, he and the protest- cluding possible deployment of pellet guns, hoarder was extremely wealthy. Ramen ers refused to leave and staged a sit-in. The striking prisoners with batons and other packs are available at the prison commissary group was released later that day. “We must devices, and physical force.” Rather than a for $.53 each. as Americans confront our government minor disturbance that was under control Missouri: An employee at the Texas when our government is wrong,” Gutierrez in a short time, the attorneys claimed the County jail, Sheena D. Bolerjack, 33, was subsequently told a CNN reporter. prisoners breached a control room, opened arrested on March 3, 2017 by Missouri Indiana: After spending nearly 25 computerized cell doors and started fires Highway Patrol troopers for smuggling years in prison for crimes he didn’t commit, that required the fire department to re- drugs to prisoners at the facility. She was William E. Barnhouse, 60, was released on spond. According to the Louisiana ACLU, charged with two counts of felony distribu- March 8, 2017. Sentenced in 1992 to 80 “It’s horrifying. Clearly, somebody wasn’t tion of a controlled substance. Bolerjack years in prison for rape and criminal deviate doing their job. There’s no other way that admitted to investigators that while on duty conduct, Barnhouse was convicted in large this could happen.” she distributed oxycodone, alprazolam and part on the basis of a single hair recovered Massachusetts: Marlon Juba, 30, a jailer tramadol to prisoners from September 9, from the victim that a so-called expert wit- at the South Bay House of Corrections, 2016 to February 28, 2017. Her bond was ness testified could be linked to him, but the was arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on set at $250,000 cash or surety. FBI has since concluded that such findings March 28, 2017 on charges of working with Montana: The Public Safety Officer are not reliable. Judge Kimberly Dowling a prisoner to smuggle contraband into the Standards and Training Council filed a granted a joint motion by the prosecution facility. According to prosecutors, Juba drove notice on February 28, 2017 of its intent to and Barnhouse’s attorneys with the Inno- to a nearby fast food restaurant, met the revoke Manuel Zuniga’s POST certificate. cence Project to set aside his conviction. In prisoner’s associates and took delivery of “‘K2’ Zuniga, a guard at the Montana Women’s May 2017, prosecutors moved to dismiss synthetic marijuana, cigarettes, cocaine, [a] Prison, was fired in 2013 for sexual miscon- the charges; DNA evidence in the case cell phone, chargers, and/or Suboxone strips.” duct with prisoners, who were referred to indicated someone else had committed He then returned to South Bay and provided by other prisoners as “Zuniga’s Princesses.” the crime. the contraband to his accomplice on the One of his so-called princesses told inves- Louisiana: On March 17, 2017, twelve inside, who distributed the items to fellow tigators that he took her and two other prisoners at the MacArthur Justice Center prisoners. Separately, Juba was charged last prisoners to a secluded area above the gym barricaded themselves inside a housing year for having a sexual relationship with a to engage in sexual activities. He gave those unit. An official statement released by the female offender. whom he favored unapproved items such Orleans Parish Sheriff ’s Office claimed the Mexico: A group of 29 prisoners es- as Bath & Body Works products, special disturbancePLN - FBTW lasted1-8th 5-12-17_Layoutabout an hour. 1However, 5/12/17 11:24 caped AM fromPage a1 facility in the northern state of sneakers and even undergarments from Tamaulipas on March 23, 2017 by digging Victoria’s Secret. A prisoner told investiga- a tunnel measuring about 5 yards deep and tors that Zuniga provided her with a razor I met my wife 40 yards long. One of the escapees shot and blade to plant in the cell of another prisoner on Friends Beyond The Wall killed a passing motorist during a carjack- who had allegedly snitched on one of his ing. A spokesperson for Tamaulipas state favorites. An investigation concluded that security said the tunnel was concealed in Zuniga exhibited favoritism towards certain a hut the prisoners had illegally built in a prisoners while punishing those he disliked. section of the facility that they effectively New Hampshire: Bryant Shipman, controlled. A dozen of the escapees were 25, was arrested on March 22, 2017 for captured within hours after breaking out. trying to smuggle heroin into the Straf- Mississippi: In March 2017, guards at ford County jail, where he was employed the East Mississippi Correctional Center as a guard. According to a statement from ...You can too! discovered that an unidentified prisoner was the sheriff ’s office, Shipman “was detained --Idris D. sitting on a jailhouse fortune – 400 packs before entering the housing area of the of ramen noodles. The unorthodox treasure facility.” Authorities had been investigating SPECIAL OFFER! trove was found in an unclaimed locker. 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Corrections spokesperson, “a large quantity Strafford County Sheriff ’s Office, Straf- Friends Beyond The Wall [of ramen] indicates the inmate is using ford County Department of Corrections, Attn: FREE Brochure / Dept PLN the items for personal gain or in bartering, U.S. Marshals Service, Immigration and 55 Mansion Street, #1030 gambling or extorting.” Clifton Collins, Jr., Customs Enforcement, Dover Police De- Poughkeepsie, NY 12602-1030 www.FriendsBeyondTheWall.com a former prisoner who wrote a cookbook partment and Rochester Police K-9 Unit. dedicated to the dried noodle delicacy titled Following his arrest, Shipman was held on October 2017 64 Prison Legal News $35,000 cash bail. balances are in place,” a spokesperson for into the facility for an offender; he had been New Jersey: Erick Melgar, a former Santa Fe County told a local reporter. working as a jail guard since 1998. senior guard at the Edna Mahan Correc- New York: Rockland County jail guard Ohio: Robert Seman, Jr. jumped to tional Facility, agreed in March 2017 to a Jacqueline Millien pleaded guilty on March his death from a fourth-floor courthouse consent judgment that required him to pay 17, 2017 in connection with falsifying a balcony on April 10, 2017, one day before $75,000 to six female prisoners who accused logbook about prisoners on suicide watch. he was to stand trial in a potential death him of physical and sexual abuse. In total, He had been fired the previous day by a penalty case. Seman was accused of raping over a dozen women at the facility said he hearing officer following a civil service a 10-year-old girl, then setting a fire that had engaged in varying types and degrees disciplinary hearing. Millien accepted a plea killed her and her grandparents. Mahoning of abuse. Although criminal charges have deal in which he pleaded guilty to disorderly County Sheriff Jerry Green said his office not been filed against Melgar, an internal conduct in exchange for agreeing not to would not change its prisoner transport investigation substantiated the victims’ ac- seek reinstatement. In his plea bargain, he procedures following the incident. Se- cusations that he hit, groped and sexually admitted to placing false entries in the jail’s man, 48, had been taken to court uncuffed abused them from 2009 to 2010. He was suicide watch logbook. and unshackled due to a court order that fired as a result of the investigation. The New York: On March 3, 2017, former sought to prevent jurors from seeing him attorney representing the six women who judge Paul M. Lamson entered a guilty in restraints. filed suit stressed that his clients had refused plea to a felony charge of receiving a bribe Ohio: On March 10, 2017, Kelly Wat- to accept any settlement that included a and one count of official misconduct. He kins, 51, a former employee at the Madison confidentiality agreement because they was accused of going easy on defendants in Correctional Institution, was sentenced wanted to alert the public about abuses exchange for sexual favors. Lamson admit- to one year in jail. She was employed as a taking place at the prison. ted to keeping a defendant out of prison secretary at the facility when she became New Mexico: On April Fools’ Day in exchange for a sexual relationship that romantically involved with a prisoner. The 2017, guards at the Santa Fe County De- lasted from July 2015 to November 2016; relationship reportedly began on Valentine’s tention Center were all-too-easily duped. additionally, he issued favorable rulings Day in 2015 when the prisoner asked Wat- Someone posted bond for an offender for the defendant during that time period. kins “what her man was doing for her” that named Andrea Quintana. After several According to a statement from State At- day. She admitted to smuggling cigarettes announcements were made for her to come torney General Eric Schneiderman, “Judges and Xanax into the facility. At her sentenc- forward for release, a prisoner appeared, who exploit their positions in exchange for ing hearing she tearfully told the judge, “I gathered her belongings, completed the sexual favors show blatant disregard for am not a threat to society. I will not com- paperwork and walked out of the facility. their victims, the trust of the general public, mit another crime.” While the judge was The only problem was the woman who and the judicial system as a whole.” convinced she would not reoffend, he noted breezed past multiple checkpoints on her Ohio: Kamara Austin was arrested by that handing down lenient sentences for such way to freedom wasn’t Quintana but an- federal agents on March 15, 2017 on several crimes “sends a message to the people at the other prisoner, Angelina Jinzo. Jinzo was drug charges. He was employed as a guard institution.” In addition to the one-year jail taken into custody within about an hour at the Cuyahoga County jail, and placed on term, Watkins was ordered to pay a $500 fine. after fellow prisoners advised guards of their unpaid leave following his arrest. According Oklahoma: Three prisoners at the error. “The facility is enhancing its release to authorities, Austin smuggled 16 grams Lincoln County jail escaped through the process to make sure multiple checks and of heroin and 32 unidentified yellow pills ventilation system on March 16, 2017.

(Void in New York) Ridgeville, SC.)

Prison Legal News 65 October 2017 News In Brief (cont.) the Oregon Department of Corrections attorney-client jail visits. In an apparent reported that approximately 60 prisoners effort to garner sympathy, he also revealed were involved in the fracas. Guards de- that he had participated in sexual addic- Upon fleeing, they stole two pickup trucks, ployed chemical spray to quell the fights; tion counseling, frequented porn theaters one of which had a gun inside. Lincoln several participants were confined to restric- and watched porn “sometimes for hours on County Sheriff Charles Dougherty de- tive housing and the facility was placed on end.” The handsy attorney had his license scribed the weapon as a .40 Glock that modified lockdown. No serious injuries to suspended for three years; he was also was “loaded and ready to go to work.” either staff or prisoners were reported. convicted of misdemeanor harassment and Following the prison break, investigators Oregon: Former criminal defense received two years of probation. began interviewing 21 other prisoners who attorney Christian Day is being sued for Pennsylvania: On March 20, 2017, ap- shared a cell with the fugitives. According to $500,000 by a former female client whom proximately 25 members of the Allegheny authorities, the escapees climbed into an air he admitted groping during jailhouse visits. County Health Justice Project demonstrated conditioning vent, hopped down to a work The victim filed suit in March 2017, alleging outside the Allegheny County jail and Pitts- area and walked out a back door. All three that Day “used his status as an attorney to burgh Municipal Court Building. According were apprehended by March 29, 2017, with threaten and intimidate Plaintiff, including to a representative at the event, they were the last being caught by the U.S. Marshals the threat to Plaintiff that her failure to protesting the fact that prisoners held at the at a residence in Shawnee. cooperate with his demands would result in jail were not receiving proper medical care. Oregon: On April 3, 2017, the Oregon a negative outcome for her pending court However, a spokesperson for the Health State Penitentiary was placed on lockdown case.” In a letter to the Oregon State Bar, Justice Project reportedly told a local news after multiple brawls broke out in the vicin- Day admitted he had touched the woman’s reporter, “I cannot deny or confirm if anyone ity of the dining room. A spokesperson with breasts and fondled her vaginal area during from our group was a part of the protest, but

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October 2017 66 Prison Legal News we did not organize it.” Jail staff called 911, on broader allegations that he used his posi- ministrator David Jaywane McGee found describing the protesters as “rioters” who were tion as a judge to help people in exchange for, himself behind bars at the nearby Hopkins throwing rocks and sticks and launching among other things, sexual favors, travel and County jail after being charged on February fireworks outside the facility. Eleven people lodging. Moreland resigned from the bench 8, 2017 with two counts of tampering with were arrested on various charges ranging from effective April 4, 2017. A judge subsequently evidence during an investigation, as well as disorderly conduct to resisting arrest. ruled that he had to remain confined to his permit/facilitate escape from a correctional Tennessee: Nashville judge Casey Mo- home and wear an electronic monitor while facility and tampering with government reland was arrested by the FBI on March 28, awaiting trial. records. McGee was accused of having in- 2017 for attempting to bribe a woman with Tennessee: A former guard at the appropriate contact with Samantha Melvin, $6,000 to recant her accusation that they had Sullivan County jail turned himself in on a former prisoner at the Wood County jail, sex in his office, and for conspiring with a March 10, 2017 after being charged with and forging documents that facilitated her confidential informant to plant drugs in the two counts of assault. Edward Smith, Jr., 38, release. He was convicted of tampering woman’s residence in an effort to undermine was charged after surveillance video showed with a government record in June 2017 and her credibility. Moreland was charged with him forcing a prisoner to the ground on attempting to obstruct justice through brib- two separate occasions. He was released ery, witness tampering and retaliation against on $7,500 bond. Elite Paralegal & Prisoner Svcs. a witness. The federal investigation centered Texas: Former Wood County jail ad- Celebrating 7 years of providing superior services for 1,000’s of satisfied customers. Offering Typing Services Prepaid Virtual Calling Cards legal & other research, forms, Let My Fingers Do Your Typing Prisoner families: Sign up at erotic photos & stories, books, PO Box 4178 QuickCall.com for US/internat’l shopping svcs. & more. Send SASE Winter Park, FL 32793-4178 calls w/PIN card or local for brochures: EPS, PO Box 1717, Phone: 407-579-5563 virtual number. Great rates! Appleton, WI 54912

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Prison Legal News 67 October 2017 News In Brief (cont.) fake) into the facility. In addition, there received a tip that a guard was smuggling con- was a spike in prisoners testing positive traband. Investigators determined that he was for meth during his tenure. Bowden told in possession of marijuana and several packs sentenced to two years in prison. an undercover informant that he wasn’t of cigarettes while on duty. Cooper was ar- Washington: In March 2017, former concerned about losing his job due to his rested after admitting to a State Trooper that state prison guard Michael W. Bowden was smuggling activities because he was poorly he was in possession of Suboxone, a Schedule sentenced to 18 months in federal prison paid, earning about $40,000 a year in base III substance. A search of his wallet revealed for accepting bribes to smuggle contraband salary. Upon his release he will be under notes bearing names, prisoner numbers and into the Monroe Correctional Complex. community supervision for three years. dollar amounts. Also, upon checking his He pleaded guilty to extortion. According West Virginia: Two guards, Jared Mi- locker, “several ‘plugs’ prepared for conceal- to federal investigators who monitored chael Hutchinson and Timothy Lee Cooper, ment and delivery to inmates containing the Bowden’s activities, he was paid up to employed at the Southwestern Regional Jail, following: a green leafy substance believed to $1,000 to smuggle chewing tobacco, a SIM were arrested in March 2017 for bringing be marijuana, Suboxone..., loose leaf tobacco card and what he believed to be meth (but drugs into the facility. Hutchinson was busted and lighters” were discovered. Cooper’s bail was actually supplied by the FBI and was after the U.S. Route 119 Drug Task Force was set at $25,000.

Criminal Justice Resources Amnesty International Louisiana. Publishes The Abolitionist newsletter. Justice Denied Compiles information about prisoner torture, Contact: Critical Resistance, 1904 Franklin Street Although no longer publishing a print magazine, beatings, rape, etc. to include in reports about #504, Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 444-0484. www. Justice Denied continues to provide the most U.S. prison conditions; also works on death criticalresistance.org comprehensive coverage of wrongful convic- penalty issues. Contact: Amnesty International, 5 Family & Corrections Network tions and how and why they occur. Their content Penn Plaza, New York NY 10001 (212) 807-8400. is available online, which includes all back issues Primarily provides online resources for families www.amnestyusa.org of the Justice Denied magazine and a database of prisoners related to parenting, children of of more than 4,500 wrongfully convicted people. prisoners, prison visitation, mothers and fathers in Black and Pink Contact: Justice Denied, P.O. Box 66291, Seattle, prison, etc. Contact: F&CN, 93 Old York Road, Suite Black and Pink is an open family of lesbian, gay, WA 98166 (206) 335-4254. www.justicedenied.org bisexual, transgender and queer prisoners and 1 #510, Jenkintown, PA 19046 (215) 576-1110. “free world” allies who support each other. A www.fcnetwork.org National CURE national organization, Black and Pink reaches FAMM Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE) thousands of prisoners across the country and is a national organization with state and special FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums) provides a free monthly newspaper of prisoner- interest chapters (such as federal prisoners and advocates against mandatory minimum sentenc- generated content, a free (non-sexual) pen-pal sex offenders) that advocates for rehabilitative ing laws with an emphasis on federal laws, and program and connections with anti-prison opportunities for prisoners and less reliance on works to “shift resources from excessive incarcera- movement organizing. Contact: Black and Pink, incarceration. Publishes the CURE Newsletter, $2 tion to law enforcement and other programs 614 Columbia Rd., Dorchester, MA 02125 (617) annual membership for prisoners. Contact: CURE, proven to reduce crime and recidivism.” Contact: 519-4387. www.blackandpink.org P.O. Box 2310, Washington, DC 20013-2310 (202) FAMM, 1100 H Street, NW #1000, Washington, DC 789-2126. www.curenational.org Center for Health Justice 20005 (202) 822-6700). www.famm.org Formerly CorrectHELP. Provides information The Fortune Society November Coalition related to HIV in prison – contact them if you Provides post-release services and programs for Advocates against the war on drugs and previ- are not receiving proper HIV medication or are prisoners in the New York City area and occasion- ously published the Razor Wire, a bi-annual denied access to programs due to your HIV sta- ally publishes Fortune News, a free publication for newsletter on drug war-related issues, releasing tus. Contact: CHJ, 900 Avila Street, Suite 301, Los prisoners that deals with criminal justice issues, drug war prisoners and restoring civil rights. No Angeles, CA 90012 (213) 229-0985; HIV Hotline: primarily in New York. Contact: The Fortune longer regularly published, back issues are avail- (213) 229-0979 (collect calls from prisoners OK). Society, 29-76 Northern Blvd., Long Island City, NY able online. Contact: November Coalition, 282 www.centerforhealthjustice.org 11101 (212) 691-7554. www.fortunesociety.org West Astor, Colville, WA 99114 (509) 684-1550. www.november.org Centurion Ministries Innocence Project Prison Activist Resource Center Works to exonerate the wrongfully convicted, in Provides advocacy for wrongfully convicted both cases involving DNA evidence and those that prisoners whose cases involve DNA evidence and PARC is a prison abolitionist group committed to do not. Centurion only takes 1-2 new cases a year are at the post-conviction appeal stage. Maintains exposing and challenging all forms of institution- involving actual innocence. They do not consider an online list of state-by-state innocence projects. alized racism, sexism, able-ism, heterosexism and accidental death or self-defense murder cases, he Contact: Innocence Project, 40 Worth St., Suite classism, specifically within the Prison Industrial said/she said rape cases, or child abuse or child sex 701, New York, NY 10013 (212) 364-5340. www. Complex. PARC produces a free resource direc- abuse cases unless there is physical evidence. All innocenceproject.org tory for prisoners and supports activists working case inquiries must be from the prisoner involved, to expose and end the abuses of the Prison in writing. Contact: Centurion Ministries, 1000 Just Detention International Industrial Complex and mass incarceration. Herrontown Road, Princeton, NJ 08540 (609) 921- Formerly Stop Prisoner Rape, JDI seeks to end sex- Contact: PARC, P.O. Box 70447, Oakland, CA 94612 0334. www.centurionministries.org ual violence against prisoners. Provides resources (510) 893-4648. www.prisonactivist.org Critical Resistance for imprisoned and released rape survivors and activists for almost every state. Contact: JDI, 3325 Seeks to build an international movement to Wilshire Blvd. #340, Los Angeles, CA 90010 (213) abolish the Prison Industrial Complex, with of- 384-1400. www.justdetention.org fices in Florida, California, New York, Texas and

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* ALL BOOKS SOLD BY PLN ARE SOFTCOVER / PAPERBACK * Prison Legal News 69 October 2017 Hepatitis and Liver Disease: What You Need to Know, by Melissa Palmer, Federal Prison Handbook, by Christopher Zoukis, 493 pages. $49.95. MD, 471 pages. $19.99. Describes symptoms & treatments of hepatitis B & C and This leading survival guide to the federal Bureau of Prisons teaches current other liver diseases. Discusses medications to avoid, diets to follow and soon-to-be federal prisoners everything they need to and exercises to perform, plus includes a bibliography. 1031 know about BOP life, policies and operations. 2022 Criminal Procedure: Constitutional Limitations, 8th ed., by Jerold H. Federal Rules of Evidence in a Nutshell, 6th ed., by Paul F. Rothstein, Israel and Wayne R. LaFave, 557 pages. $45.95. This book is intended for Myrna S. Raeder and David Crump, 816 pages. $45.95. This succinct over- view presents accurate law, policy, analysis and insights into use by law students of constitutional criminal procedure, and examines constitutional standards in criminal cases. 1085 the evidentiary process in federal courts. 1093 Prisoners’ Self-Help Litigation Manual, updated 4th ed. (2010), by John Civil Procedure in a Nutshell, 7th edition, by Mary Kay Kane, 334 pages. . This comprehensive guide provides a succinct over- Boston and Daniel Manville, Oxford Univ. Press, 928 pages. $39.95. The $45.95 premiere, must-have “Bible” of prison litigation for current and aspiring view of procedural rules in civil cases. 1094 jail-house lawyers. If you plan to litigate a prison or jail civil suit, this book Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary, by Gerald N. Hill and Kathleen is a must-have. Includes detailed instructions and thousands T. Hill, 477 pages. $29.99. Find terms you can use to understand and access of case citations. Highly recommended! 1077 the law. Contains 3,800 easy-to-read definitions for common How to Win Your Personal Injury Claim, by Atty. Joseph Matthews, 7th (and not so common) legal terms. 3001 edition, NOLO Press, 285 pages. . While not specifically for prison- $34.99 Win Your Case, by Gerry Spence, 287 pages. $21.95. Relying on the suc- related personal injury cases, this book provides comprehensive informa- cessful methods he has developed over more than 50 years, Spence, an tion on how to handle personal injury and property damage attorney who has never lost a criminal case, describes how to claims arising from accidents. 1075 win through a step-by-step process 1092 Sue the Doctor and Win! Victim’s Guide to Secrets of Malpractice Disciplinary Self-Help Litigation Manual, by Daniel Manville, 355 Lawsuits, by Lewis Laska, 336 pages. $39.95. Written for victims of medi- pages. $49.95. By the co-author of the Prisoners’ Self-Help Litigation Manual, cal malpractice/neglect, to prepare for litigation. Note that this book ad- this book provides detailed information about prisoners’ rights in discipli- dresses medical malpractice claims and issues in general, not nary hearings and how to enforce those rights in court. Includes state-by- specifically related to prisoners. 1079 state case law on prison disciplinary issues. This is the third book published by PLN Publishing. 2017 Advanced Criminal Procedure in a Nutshell, by Mark E. Cammack and

Norman M. Garland, 3rd edition, 572 pages. $45.95. This text is designed for supplemental reading in an advanced criminal procedure course on the post-investigation processing of a criminal case, including More new books coming soon! prosecution and adjudication. 1090a

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