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TPLU COMMENTARY:
The production of Happenings was interrupted due to TPLU internal changes and D. Rawlinson being in a BAD car accident. We hope to continue now with No more delays.
Mandatory Supv./major court cases.
Raymond Gross: No. 04-10378 U S Court of Appeals for the 5th. Circuit. This has been around a few years now—most legal minded TDC inmates know about it. As far as we know, the case is still in the 5th. In Ohio, the Public Defenders office WON in the Supreme Court on a similar issue so there is HOPE. All must realize that the laws of Texas will not read the same as Ohio. The question seems to be: Do inmates have a right to parole, to earn it etc. As far as the TPLU knows, the laws of the State of Texas do not allow an inmate to earn parole etc. It is not something an inmate has a Right to. BPP can offer it or not. Texas has had a lot of Laws that apply to release—the 1/4th., the 1/3rd. etc. and inmates under each have differing circumstances. HB1433, a recent law, has made Mandatory Sup. something that BPP can deny if your entry law circumstance do not provide other wise. The process is termed: DMS or Denied Mandatory Sup. and as I understand it, that can occur more than once.
Norman Sirak/Ohio lawyer: Bill Wynne reports in the same letter that his court action to get his efforts certified as a Class Action has been Dismissed W/O prejudice. Basically, the court ruled (according to Bill’s report) that each inmate’s circumstance were different from each others, so a Class Action was not in order. Sirak’s action, as we understand it had MANY inmates signed up; each could re-file on his/her own using their individual specific issues. We believe that since Sirak charged a fee of around $400 for each inmate he signed up, the court may not allow them to file I F P.
All TDC inmates need to realize that should ANY lawyer/group or individual inmate win a case like Mandatory Sup.—Ever inmate that fits the case, could apply through the Office of Offender Services for relief under the win just like when HB 1649 went into effect on Street Time credits.
Billy Allen 366613/Ramsey had the MS case in court also. Allen went to Dallas Co. on other court issues and we have lost contact with him. Will try a letter to him soon.
Note: We have just produced a paper: 18 Holes of Golf/Practicing Law/Brain Surgery, it is a humorous work to inform the TDC inmates about going to court. Send an SASE and 1 donated stamp for a copy. We will be up dating our Order Form for all our productions in the 4th. Quarter, request that when you write us.
Update on Jewish religious work/Bill Wynne. In No. 9:05-cv-00197-TH-JKG/Max Moussazadeh/Eastham filed in the Eastern Div./Lufkin. The Aleph Organization in N Y, N Y took TDC to task over the Kosher food issue and TDC settled out of court; Hence the Stringfellow Unit as a Kosher food type unit with Jester 3 being a Medical one. Only about 50 TDC inmates have been certified. Many religions accept new members and the Jewish faith does also but there ARE stringent requirement for absolute Certification in order to be recognized as Jewish. In part this is the result of the Supreme upholding in 2000 the RLUIPA as being Constitutional.
Update on Native American religious work. An Apache inmate: Sundown, with assistance from White Eagle, has TDC in court on the N A Religious issue. That action was recently dismissed w/o prejudice as Sundown was paroled. Letters have come in here the 1st wk. in Sept. indicating that the issue is going to Appeal...
Ad. Seg. Court work by Joe Salazar/Hughes on Ad. Seg. Jail Bird Sings/Austin has advised that the issue is still underway.
From K. Neal up at Telford: a new case has come down from the Supreme that deals with Exhaustion of Admin. Remedies as required by the PLRA Act. Jones V Bock, 127 S. Ct. 910 (2007) A prisoner no longer must demonstrate exhaustion in the complaint, but rather, the defendant must affirmatively pled that himself. In the past, the whole complaint would be dismissed if it contained any unexhausted claims, now the courts are to go forward on the exhausted claims, rather than the complaint being dismissed. It makes things a little better BUT inmates must still Exhaust. This has always been a pretty GRAY/Fuzzy/mis-understood area of inmate work—Exhausting ALL the Admin. Remedies before going to court. How does one know what they ALL are??? The TPLU is looking into an advisory study Brief on this issue.
Robert Chase, a Ph. D. candidate at the U. of Maryland is doing his Thesis on TDC’s RUIZ era, which in time, will become a book, hopefully. That survey is completed, when the book comes out, we will advise of it. Oct. 22nd. call from Rob, the Oral History taken by Rob during his TDC inmate interviews is to go on deposit at Baylor Univ. soon.
Rob is to E-mail TPLU/Waco, the last revised production of: Steel on Steel—David R’s last poem. Copies can be requested, we need SASE’s.
TPLU update on commissary inquiries. New type writers are in by Clear Tech., the price looks to be $94.85 with regular ribbons ($3.40 set) and correctable ones 9$4.50 set).
On Oct. 1, 2005 Brd. Dir. 03.91 covering inmate correspondence goes in to effect—No more colored stationary can sent in through suppliers.
Many questions have come in about the law that allowed the County courts to collect court costs/fines etc. through ITF deductions. A court case has been won that has that on hold. The law is still OK on it but each inmate would have to be taken back to the court to be brought in front of a judge and such an order ruled on. For now—All on hold.
Credit for this work finally coming to fruition, goes to Frank Nunally over in Cuero. Frank is interested in every thing going on system wide and faithfully sends an SASE to get updates from the TPLU. We will now produce this: Happenings Around the System, to benefit all inside TDC with similar interests. We are requesting that folks send us an SASE and I donated stamp to receive the current issue.
Here at the Waco operation of the TPLU we are working towards stream lining our inmate legal Self Help productions; the Order Form will detail them.
A little advice. When writing to the TPLU or anyone out here, Do not put: To Whom It May Concern. When we see that, we say: WELL, it doesn’t concern us and pitch the letter. We DO NOT do that to all but to a lot. Doing this work is difficult and usually Thankless and we CANNOT Help everyone that requests our Help and at times, just the availability of postage keeps us from answering even letters from folks we have exchange with for years SOOooo! To Whom It May Concern letters get tossed soon.
Also—very few folks out here use or understand the term missive, consider not using it.
The TPLU is communicating now with maybe 15,000 of TDC’s 175,000 so we NEED SASE’s for response.
Here is some Self-Help data: Free to inmates. Jail House Lawyers Handbook, 4th Edition Rev. 2003. To order:Center for Constitutional Rights, 666 Broadway, 7th. Floor, NY, NY 10002 National Lawyers Guild, 143 Madison Av., 4th. Floor, NY, NY 10016
The TPLU plans to work on a paper listing GOOD C P L correspondence schools and their fees etc. WE have some date gathered now; any one want to work on that project? Advise. Robert Hart (inmate) has written a GREAT Self-Help manual for inmate use in Texas. Copy production (for sale by the Hart folks) is not ready as yet.
The Law is for Use by EVERY ONE!! Study it, Learn it—USE IT!!
IN SOLIDARITY,
T.P.L.U.
Happenings Around the System
TPLU Flier 4th. Quarter 2007
DWIGHT RAWLINSON
National Secretary
C/O: Dwight Rawlinson
2121 So. 4th
Waco, Texas 76706
Copyright © 2007-2009 TPNS
