Home      Login

Abstract: 

This issue reviews three legal proceedings. In the first, Van Den Bosch v. Raemisch and Jones-El v. Pollard, two cases concerning restrictions on the circulation of “The New Abolitionist” to prisoners within the Wisconsin prison system, were challenged in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 19031(7th Cir. Sept. 15, 2011)). The newsletter’s publisher and an inmate who was a recipient of the newsletter believed that restricting inmate access to the publication constituted violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The appellate court ruled against these claims, as the publication was ruled to be a threat to prison security and rehabilitative goals. In the second proceeding, concerning Davis v. Pallito, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114101 (D. Vt. June 16, 2011), inmate Richard Davis accused the Vermont Dept. of Corrections of dismissing him from a rehabilitation program because of his learning disability. The US District Court for the District of Vermont found this to be untrue, as Davis was not discriminated against because of his disability and did not fit the program requirements anyway. In the last case, Newman v. Beard 617 F.3d 775 (3d Cir. 2010), Clifford Newman, Jr. claimed that the requirement that he personally admit guilt to sexual offenses that he was convicted of in 1986 in order to gain admittance into an offender rehabilitation program necessary for his early release was a violation of his constitutional rights. His initial claim was dismissed, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals also rejected his claims, stating that although he maintained his innocence, Newman had been justly convicted of the charges against him and could no longer claim “innocent” status.

Keywords: Confiscation; learning disabilities; admission of guilt

Affiliations:  1: Pace University School of Law Library.