Today we at the Prison Law Blog (PLB) are announcing a new kind of post. A new series, if you will. Up to this day, we at the PLB have presented articles in standard, third-person reporting fashion. We have not written about ourselves, per se. The reason for this is because the distant voice lends
By Matt Clarke In January 2013, a $45 million settlement was reached in a long-standing lawsuit that challenged the failure of prison phone service companies to provide rate information to people who accepted calls from prisoners in Washington State. Previously, on February 23, 2012, a King County superior court had certified the case as a class-action
By Christopher Zoukis Casandra Brawley, a prisoner at the Washington Correctional Center for Women, had been leaking amniotic fluid for three days when she was finally granted medical aid. Ms. Brawley was shackled and then transported to a local hospital. At the hospital, she was shackled to a hospital bed during labor, which was in
On February 23, 2013, The Economist published a very thought-provoking article entitled “Jobs in Jail: Remunerative Justice.” This article was about England’s system of putting the incarcerated to work in factory settings within their prisons. These factories are owned by private entities, not the British government. According to the article, this is a position supported by both
The State of Georgia, led by Republican Governor Nathan Deal, has for the past several years demonstrated understanding and progress when it comes to criminal justice reform. With Georgia being the 10th largest state population-wise, but ranked fourth in the size of its prison population, it’s about time someone stepped up to the plate and
In 2004, I was falsely accused of a crime. I did not foresee how this unfortunate situation was going to morph into changing many lives in a positive way. In 2006, I founded Full Circle Restorative Justice in Chaffee County Colorado, which is a 501 c 3 non-profit organization committed to facilitating victims and offenders to reconcile crimes and minimize involvement with the legal system. The goal of the process is to lower the recidivism rate. Image courtesy cartertoons.com
I was introduced to the Non-Violent Communication founded by Marshall B. Rosenberg Ph. D. in 2007. Patty La Taille, who is the current Executive Director of Full Circle Restorative Justice, and I initiated a bi-monthly Non-Violent Communication study group. We used Rosenberg’s Non-Violent Communication, A Language of Life 2nd edition and the companion workbook as our guide. We appropriately named our group meeting Compassionate Listening Study Group. I recognized the value of this innovative approach to mediation and communication skills and had a vision of incorporating it into the justice system.
Patty La Taille has taken Non-Violent Communication to a higher level in Chaffee County. She has attended two of Marshall Rosenberg’s (NVC) intensive workshops, and brought her newly acquired skills back to Salida, Colorado. La Taille facilitates NVC study groups at the Salida Middle School and Chaffee County Detention center. She, along with board member Karen, Latvala is educating students about new ways to resolve conflict with their peers.
The New York Times recently published an editorial piece in their Sunday Review entitled “Unfair Punishments: Denying ex-offenders food stamps and welfare encourages dangerous behavior like prostitution” (Sunday, March 17, 2013). The editorial discussed the link between restricting food stamps and welfare from felons and their engaging in high-risk behaviors like prostitution in an attempt
Prison can be a dangerous place, even in the best of circumstances. For inmates convicted of sex offenses, an ever-growing population within the Federal Bureau of Prisons, unique challenges and pitfalls exist beyond those experienced by the prison population as a whole. Introduction: Convict Stratification Prison is a society unto itself. Inside the walls, as
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
The three-judge federal court over a long-standing prison healthcare class-action suit against California took a slight turn on January 29, 2013, when the court gave the state a six-month extension to achieve the prison population reduction it had ordered previously. The court had required the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to reduce its
We have profiled every prison within the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Learn about each prison’s location, security level, educational and recreational offerings, and much more.
Elizabeth Franklin-Best P.C.
1501 Belle Isle Avenue, Suite 110
Mount Pleasant, SC 29464
This site may be considered attorney advertising in some jurisdictions. Each case is unique; past results do not guarantee future outcomes or success. This website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Elizabeth Franklin-Best P.C. is based in Columbia, South Carolina. Mentions of other locations do not imply offices or lawyers there. We collaborate with independent local counsel licensed in their respective jurisdictions.
Elizabeth Franklin-Best P.C. is a private law firm that is not affiliated with the federal government. We limit our practice to cases involving federal courts and agencies.
For specific legal advice, please contact our office directly.
