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“Tender Justice” North Dakota’s New Prison Practice Inspired During 2015 EPP Tour of Norwegian Prisons
Terry Pullins is on his second tour in the North Dakota prison system. He’s also done time in California. Since he never got farther than the fifth grade, the 40-year-old Pullins has spent nearly as much time behind bars as he did in school. But last December brought the most acute punishment he has ever suffered: Pullins lost his daughter in a car accident.
Most inmates in most prisons endure that sort of grief alone. But Pullins is at the Missouri River Correctional Center near Bismarck, N.D. This is a prison designed as much as possible to imitate life on the outside. The warden and staff rallied around him. “Every day I needed help,” Pullins says. “Those two weeks were rough, but they were there for me. I don’t always feel like I’m in prison. I feel like I’m somewhere bettering myself.” Full Story
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USA Today Story – PLO’s “European Prison Project” Has Positive Impact In U.S. Facilities
March 31, 2017 – USA Today highlights the positive influence PLO sponsored “European Prison Project” has on participants. States like North Dakota have already implemented a few Norwegian practices, as a result those facilities have seen a decrease in violence.
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PLO ANNOUNCEMENT: New Immigration Detention Project
The Prison Law Office is starting a new project to investigate and litigate conditions in California Immigration Detention Centers. The following five positions have been created to staff the project.
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Phoenix New Times Article Features Prison Law Office Lawsuit Against Arizona Department of Corrections
The May 19, 2016 cover story of the Phoenix New Times newspaper features the tragic experience of an Arizona woman who needlessly died due to ADC’s and Corizon’s failure to treat her cervical cancer, and details the problems uncovered by the Parsons v. Ryan lawsuit filed by our office, the ACLU, and other attorneys challenging the state’s broken health care system.
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Two Wardens Retire After Prison Law Office Investigation
SACRAMENTO–The wardens at California’s two major women’s prisons have retired amid allegations of pervasive problems at both institutions, including sexual abuse of female inmates at one prison and suicides at the other. Full Story
Follow-up:Prison Law Office Reports CCWF Investigation Findings
From the very top of its former management, CCWF has incubated an institutional culture that permits, condones, and covers up abuse; that allows staff to retaliate against prisoners seeking assistance; and that prevents prisoners from seeking help from entities outside the institution. This corrosive atmosphere of fear and violence stems from widespread failure of staff to perform the most basic requirements of their jobs. Full report.