Prison Advocacy

[bluetrain]

I have a relative in prison in Northern California who has been reporting some things to me by mail done by the officers in charge which clearly sound illegal. Does anybody know someone I could get in touch with about this? Thanks.

[northernsoul]

1. there are civil rights lawyers who work with prisoners

try contacting an area bar association to see if they can make any recommendations (lawyers who specialize in section 1983 litigation for prisoners)

they are some pro-bono prisoners' rights / advocacy groups out there. Off the top of my head you might want to check prisonsucks.com for links

[liberalnurse]

2. Many of the inmates ruined it for those who

really need help. Lots of narcissistic, denial behaviors patterns. Most now tend to be viewed as crybabies because the real crybabies abused the system.

[northernsoul]

3. yeah, it's really tough now

I had to do some pretty extensive study on this in law school, and it's definitely an uphill battle - but not impossible

I hope this guy gets some help.

[iverglas]

4. ACLU Prison Project

http://archive.aclu.org/issues/prisons/npp_mission.html


Google is your friend! That was on the first page of results for a search for "prisoners' rights".

Even better, here's what "prisoners' rights" california found:

http://www.prisons.org/

"Welcome to the online home for California Prison Focus, its committees and the community of groups working to stop human rights violations, improve medical care and end long-term isolation in California's prisons."


Also in that list of results, a private law firm:

http://www.gdclaw.com/recruiting/whygibsondunn/probonowork/prisonersrights/

"Northern District of California Prisoners' Civil Rights Case Program: San Francisco partner Scott Fink supervises the Firm's participation in this program. In the court-assigned cases, Gibson Dunn attorneys represent prisoners who have filed civil rights cases pro se."


Asking google for "Northern District of California Prisoners' Civil Rights Case Program" (always include the quotation marks when looking for particular phrases) -- well, that site is the only one that shows up. Broadening it to california "prisoners' civil rights" program, more shows up. Here's one:

http://www.deathrowspeaks.info/prisoners_legal_resources.html

Prisoners Union
P.O. Box 1019
Sacramento, CA 95812-1019
"For California Prisoners. Sells inside/out legal self-help manuals. Write for free catalog. Great self-help manuals jailhouse lawyers in California can use. Grade: 9"


http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/probono/lawschools/13.html

"Prisoner Action Coalition – A collaborative student organization, with members from Boalt Hall and Hastings College of the Law, this group works to improve conditions in California's prisons and assists individual prisoners with legal matters. Students interview prisoners about civil rights and human rights abuse claims. They assist prisoners with legal research and referrals via correspondence and interviews. They work on projects with nonprofit organizations in the community, including Justice Network on Women and Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. The Prisoner Action Coalition has a website at www.boalt.org/PAC "
(the PAC does not provide representation itself)

One of those -- maybe particularly that last one, the law students -- might be what you're looking for. I hope so!

[Dear Maggie]

5. How do prisoners feel who clean with Simple Green?

Just wondering if they get 'fatigue' and grouchiness of CFS, CFIDS or 'gulf war syndrome' symptoms

BECAUSE Simple Green states "non toxic" based on an MSDS that dilutes it 30 times. But then, who does that?

It contains <6% 2-butoxyethanol (Dow chemical calls it by their trade name, butyl cellosolve which is a synonym for the same thing)

Just think it maybe shouldn't be the sole cleaning product for prisons across the USA and much used in the military, too. Something to keep an eye on at the very least

[thecai]

6. Check Out InmateWatchUSA

[e-mail] also investigates prison conditions. Visit "The Rock" link on my homepage in my profile for more info...