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Prison Law Announcement: Prison Disciplinary Book Update

Professor Daniel Manville is in the process of updating his Disciplinary Self-Help Litigation Manual, which was last published in 2007.  The Prison Law Blog views the 2007 edition of Professor Manville’s Disciplinary Self-Help Litigation Manual as extremely informative and useful in that the book provides vital information concerning prison disciplinary proceedings in every state prison

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Prison Law Blog Announces Prison Survival Reports Service; Reader Input Sought

By Christopher Zoukis

For the past several months we at the Prison Law Blog have been searching for ways to better answer your questions about the Federal Bureau of Prisons, prisoners’ rights, and prison survival.  We have been seeking ways to delve more comprehensively into the realm of prison life so that those soon-to-be-incarcerated, those already incarcerated, and  those who work with or know the incarcerated will have better information upon which to understand incarceration and the rights of prisoners. 

In our search for effective information dissemination methodologies, we have increased our publication volume on the Prison Law Blog by coming to content sharing agreements with Prison Legal News, Jean Trounstine’s Justice With Jean blog, and other media outlets (both online and in print).  We have invited guest bloggers — experts in the prison consulting and prison survival realms — to contribute their voices through interviews and articles.  We have even penned a book about prison survival — which is currently being reviewed by literary agents for representation consideration — and are currently working on another book which profiles every institution within the Federal Bureau of Prisons.  Long story short, we have strived to be innovative, unique, and active in all of our efforts.  We feel that we have succeeded on all three counts.

Now we’re back at it again with our Prison Survival Reports service.  The Prison Survival Reports service is a concept which we have been mentally toying with for quite some time and are now ready to start working on.  We plan on producing downloadable Prison Survival Reports which delve into all areas of the arrest, incarceration, and release arenas.  These reports will cover all manner of criminal justice topics which the Prison Law Blog readership will find of interest.  Several Prison Survival Report topics, which we are considering researching, are as follows:

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FAQs: The Impact of the Alleyne Decision

By Craig M. Coscarelli

INTRODUCTION:

On June 17, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court hand down a remarkable 5-4 decision in Alleyne v. United States,( No. 11-9335) (S. Ct. June 17, 2013) wherein the Court held that [a]ny fact that increases the mandatory minimum is an “element” that must be submitted to the jury and found beyond a reasonable doubt. The money quote from the majority opinion was ” because there is no basis in principle or logic to distinguish facts that raise the maximum from those that increase the minimum, Harris was inconsistent with Apprendi. It is, accordingly, Overruled.” Alleyne, slip opinion, at page 15.

While the students of the law here at U.S.P. Lewisburg  have not had time yet to fully study the Alleyne case, based on a much-to-quick first read, and first cut reaction, we have put together the below list of frequently asked questions addressing how we believe the Alleyne decision will impact your case.

1) Is Alleyne Retroactive?

Answer: Whether or not a new rule of law announced by the Supreme Court is to apply retroactively in criminal cases on habeas review for the first time depends largely on whether this rule is substantive or procedural.

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Tenth Circuit: Terrorism Prisoners Lack Liberty Interest in Transfer to ADX

By Derek Gilna

Omar Rezaq, Mohammed Saleh, El-Sayyid Nosair and Ibrahim Elgabrowny, convicted of terrorism-related offenses and confined at the federal supermax ADX facility in Florence, Colorado, filed suit contending they had a liberty interest in “avoiding transfer without due process to the high-security prison.” The district court denied relief, which was affirmed by the Tenth Circuit on April 20, 2012.

ADX, according to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), serves two primary penological interests: 1) “maintaining the safety of both staff and inmates, while eliminating the need to increase the security of other penitentiaries,” and 2) “confin[ing] prisoners under close controls while providing them opportunities to demonstrate progressively responsible behavior … and establish readiness for transfer to a less secure institution.”

In this case the plaintiffs were transferred to ADX from a U.S. Penitentiary, itself a high-security facility, but during the course of the litigation were moved from ADX to one of the BOP’s two Communications Management Units (CMUs). The CMUs are located in Marion, Illinois and Terre Haute, Indiana. [See: PLN, Sept. 2012, p.26]. While CMUs are also highly-controlled, they include the added feature of heavily-restricted communications with the outside world.

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Federal Prison Inmate Sues Taco Bell

By Dianne Frazee-Walker Everyone has said at least one time in their lives, “Wow, I wish I would have thought of that!’ Texas maximum security federal inmate Gary Cole claims he did think of that. Visualize inventing a snack that tastes “out of this world,” and it becomes the most popular food item of the

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Jailhouse Litigators: A New Name for a New Age

The term “jailhouse lawyer” has been a polarizing one for many years.  To some, these men and women are the saviors of those who lack funds or legal wherewithal to mount a collateral attack upon an unjust criminal conviction or sentence.  They are considered the champions of those behind bars whose rights are being unfairly

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Prisoners’ Access to the Courts

By Christopher Zoukis In Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817 (1977), the Supreme Court held that “the fundamental constitutional right of access to the courts requires prison authorities to assist inmates in the preparation and filing of meaningful legal papers by providing prisoners with adequate law libraries or adequate assistance from persons trained in the

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Prison Can Destroy Videotaped Evidence If Not Done In Bad Faith

The Seventh Circuit has ruled that when prison officials intentionally destroy videotaped evidence of an alleged instance of excessive force, a suing prisoner is not entitled to an “adverse inference” jury instruction unless he can show that the prison’s intentional destruction of the evidence was done in bad faith. Larry Bracey is an inmate confined

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