Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook - Sentencing and Justice Reform ...

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House, 1511 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138 Prison Legal News. A monthly newsletter. Highly recommended. The best source of the latest prison-related legal news. A 6 month subscription is $9, sample newsletter available for $1. Send check and order to: 2400 NW 80 th Street #148, Seattle, WA 98117. Fortune News. Newsletter from the Fortune Society, specifically for prisoners. The majority of the writers are prisoners / ex-prisoners. Free. Write to: Fortune News, 39 W. 19 th Street, 7 th Floor, New York, NY 10011. Law Offices of Alan Ellis, PC. Attorney Alan Ellis has a number of publications available., including the Federal Prison Guidebook for $21.00. Write to him for a full list, or to order the Guidebook: Alan Ellis, P.C., PO Box 2178, Sausalito, CA, 94966. The Prisoners’ Assistance Directory is published by the American Civil Liberties Union Prison Project. It includes contact information and services descriptions for over 300 national, state, local and international organizations that provide assistance to prisoners, ex-offenders and families of prisoners. It also includes a bibliography of informative books, reports, manuals and newsletters of interest to prisoners and their advocates. Latest edition was published in Dec. 2001. Copies are available for $30, prepaid. Send a check or money order to National Prison Project Publications, 733 15th St., NW, Washington, DC 20005. Prisoners Self-Help Litigation Manual, 3 rd Edition. Includes an outline of Federal and State legal systems and relevant terminology, with expert research from John Boston and Daniel Manville. Send $32.95 and order to: Oceana Publications, 75 Main Street, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522. Introduction to the Legal System of the United States. This publication will help you understand the principles of the U.S. legal system. Required reading at many law schools. Send $29.50 and order to: Oceana Publications, 75 Main Street, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522. Brief Writing and Oral Argument, 8 th edition. Guidance on preparing effective oral and written arguments, especially relating to the Courts of Appeals. Send $35.00 and order to: Oceana Publications, 75 Main Street, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522. Also Available Upon Request from CCR or NLG: 1. Special Issues for Women in Prison APPENDIX F: Information for Non-citizens Some people assume that the U.S. Constitution and other U.S. laws only protect the rights of U.S. citizens. This is not true. Non-U.S. citizens share many of the same fundamental legal protections that U.S. citizens enjoy. This section will outline some of the legal rights that non-citizens possess, which include the Constitutional right to “due process,” under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment and the right under the Eighth Amendment to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. The second part of this section is a brief introduction to the current immigration laws that may subject noncitizen prisoners to deportation after serving their sentences if they have been convicted of certain kinds of crimes. Please keep in mind that this section is only a very brief introduction to this complex and changeable area of immigration law, and is not meant to be a complete source of information. For more detailed information on post-conviction removal or deportation, you may wish to read Chapters 29 & 30 of A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual, 5 th Edition (2000), produced by the Columbia Law School Human Rights Law Review. If you do not have access to one in your facility, you may be able to request a copy by writing to the Human Rights Law Review at 435 W. 116 th Street, New York, NY 10027. Or, you may want to contact an immigration attorney. A. THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF NON-CITIZEN PRISONERS Non-citizens may bring Section 1983 challenges against governmental authorities for violations of civil rights. As a non-citizen prisoner, you have many of the same rights as citizen prisoners. The Fourteenth Amendment is universal and applies to everyone within the territorial jurisdiction of the JAILHOUSE LAWYERS HANDBOOK - APPENDIX 85
United States “without regard to any differences of race, of color, or nationality.” Wong Wing v. United States, 163 U.S. 228 (1896); Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982). This means that all persons within the territory of the United States are entitled to the protection guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. In Chapter Two, Section C, Parts 3, 4, and 5 of this handbook, you learned that the Fourteenth Amendment protects your right to due process in disciplinary proceedings and administrative segregation, and your right to equal protection, which prohibits race, gender, and other forms of discrimination. Since non-citizens are also protected by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, you can raise violations of due process and equal protection in the same ways that citizens can, through Section 1983 actions. Non-citizens who are serving prison sentences are also protected by the Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. As you learned in Chapter Two, Section C, Parts 7, 8 and 9, the Eighth Amendment protects you from guard brutality in prison, as well as guaranteeing you safe prison conditions and some level of medical care. B. POTENTIAL FOR DEPORTATION OR REMOVAL One of the most important things to be aware of as a noncitizen prisoner is that if you have been convicted of a certain kind of crime (as defined by the relevant statute, described below), you may be deportable after you have served your sentence. If you are determined to be deportable, you could be detained after you have finished serving your sentence and held for an uncertain period of time before you are deported from the country. Your rights in this area may depend on your immigration status at the time you were prosecuted, but both admitted and inadmissible non-citizens can still be removed for criminal convictions under certain circumstances. The category of crimes for which a convicted non-citizen may be removed differs depending on what law was in effect when your criminal proceeding began. There are currently three laws under which a noncitizen’s potential for removal can be evaluated. If your case began prior to 1996, it is governed by “old law.” If your case began between April 24, 1996 and April 1, 1997, it is governed by the Anti- Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, often referred to as “AEDPA.” If your case was began after April 1, 1997, it is governed by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, referred to as “IIRIRA.” These laws will almost certainly change in the future, so if you are researching this area, it is important to make sure you have the most up-to-date materials available. If you think that you might be deportable on criminal grounds, you may be able to challenge your deportation, so it is important to understand this area fully and figure out which law applies to your case. You should try to contact an immigration attorney to learn more about your status and your rights. Appendix G: Protection of Prisoners Under International Law Along with the U.S. Constitution, your state Constitution, and federal and state laws, another potential source of protection for prisoners is international law. However, using international law in United States courts is very difficult and controversial so you may not want to attempt it without a lawyer. This appendix will outline some basic facts about international law, and provide you with resources should you want to explore the area further. There are two main sources of international law: “customary international law” and treaties. Customary international law is unwritten law based on certain principles that are generally accepted worldwide. Treaties are written agreements between countries that set international legal standards. Customary and treaty-based international law are supposed to be enforceable in the United States, but sometimes it is difficult to get courts here to follow them. Customary international law prohibits several practices, such as slavery, state-sponsored murders and kidnappings, torture, arbitrary detention, systematic racial discrimination, and violation of generally accepted human rights standards. Restatement (Third) of Foreign Relations Law, JAILHOUSE LAWYERS HANDBOOK - APPENDIX 86
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Jailhouse Lawyer’s Handbook How t
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JAILHOUSE LAWYER’S HANDBOOK Table
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APPENDIX A: GLOSSARY OF TERMS......
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prisoners; and to have access to an
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5. Keeping Up to Date and Learning
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the public eye and had some positiv
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Chapter Two: Planning Your Section
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elief in the federal courts. While
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number is not on their list of ten
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violated the constitution when they
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your belief is both religious and s
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another law that protects prisoners
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courts use a less strict standard o
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U.S. 460 (1983), the most important
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deprived of a basic human need. Sub
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Courts generally agree that the tes
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(2) by showing that the regulation
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(3) The threat of harm that you fac
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to your own and see what the court
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Page 51 and 52: The courts have not yet determined
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Page 55 and 56: o does not sign your TRO. (The quot
Page 57 and 58: submit a Declaration for Entry of D
Page 59 and 60: If the judge does decide to dismiss
Page 61 and 62: major issue. Note: If you defeat t
Page 63 and 64: Center’s litigation guide for pri
Page 65 and 66: could possibly even include informa
Page 67 and 68: 6. Their Discovery of Your Informat
Page 69 and 70: For a few different takes on these
Page 71 and 72: as a lawyer. Gometz v. Henman, 807
Page 73 and 74: Chapter Six: The Legal System and L
Page 75 and 76: B. LEGAL CITATIONS - HOW TO FIND CO
Page 77 and 78: that what the writer has written is
Page 79 and 80: C. LEGAL WRITING Here is where you
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Page 83 and 84: Jury: A group of people called to h
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Page 87 and 88: APPENDIX C: Important Constitutiona
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Page 107 and 108: United States District Court for th
Page 113: How do I place an order? Complete a
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