Prison Legal News
Encyclopedia
Prison Legal News is a black-and-white monthly American
magazine
and on-line periodical published since May 1990. It is a non-profit 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and it reports on prison legal cases and prison conditions primarily in the United States. Specifically, Prison Legal News' coverage includes court access, disciplinary hearings, prison conditions, excessive force, mail censorship, jail litigation, visiting, telephones, religious freedom, free speech, prison rape, abuse of women prisoners, retaliation, the Prison Legal Reform Act (PLRA), medical treatment, AIDS, the death penalty and control units.
Prison Legal News was originally inspired by Vladimir Lenin
's State and Revolution
which advocates organizing activists around a newspaper. Prison Legal News has both been admired and disliked for its strong advocacy of prisoner rights and was referred to by one law enforcement publication as a "litigation juggernaut."
As of March 2010 PLN has a circulation of approximately 7,000 hardcopy issues per month. PLN also has subscribers in European and Asian countries. About 65% of PLN's subscribers are state and federal prisoners, and PLN has prisoner subscribers in all fifty states. Based on PLN's November 2009 reader survey each subscriber's magazine is read by an average of almost 10 people, so the monthly readership of PLN is around 70,000. As of August 2010, subscriptions are $24/yr for prisoners, $30/yr for non-incarcerated individuals, and $80/yr for lawyers, government agencies and corporations.
In 2010, Prison Legal News sued Galveston County Jail
and its current and former Sheriff
s for preventing the jail's inmates from receiving the publication.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
and on-line periodical published since May 1990. It is a non-profit 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and it reports on prison legal cases and prison conditions primarily in the United States. Specifically, Prison Legal News' coverage includes court access, disciplinary hearings, prison conditions, excessive force, mail censorship, jail litigation, visiting, telephones, religious freedom, free speech, prison rape, abuse of women prisoners, retaliation, the Prison Legal Reform Act (PLRA), medical treatment, AIDS, the death penalty and control units.
Prison Legal News was originally inspired by Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
's State and Revolution
State and Revolution
The State and Revolution , by Vladimir Lenin, describes the role of the State in society, the necessity of proletarian revolution, and the theoretic inadequacies of social democracy in achieving revolution to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat.Citing Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx, Lenin...
which advocates organizing activists around a newspaper. Prison Legal News has both been admired and disliked for its strong advocacy of prisoner rights and was referred to by one law enforcement publication as a "litigation juggernaut."
As of March 2010 PLN has a circulation of approximately 7,000 hardcopy issues per month. PLN also has subscribers in European and Asian countries. About 65% of PLN's subscribers are state and federal prisoners, and PLN has prisoner subscribers in all fifty states. Based on PLN's November 2009 reader survey each subscriber's magazine is read by an average of almost 10 people, so the monthly readership of PLN is around 70,000. As of August 2010, subscriptions are $24/yr for prisoners, $30/yr for non-incarcerated individuals, and $80/yr for lawyers, government agencies and corporations.
In 2010, Prison Legal News sued Galveston County Jail
Jail
A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...
and its current and former Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
s for preventing the jail's inmates from receiving the publication.