Filed Date: Sept. 2, 2009
Closed Date: 2011
Clearinghouse coding complete
On September 2, 2009, the publisher of the Prison Legal News, a monthly magazine distributed to prisons and jails across the counrty, filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, Phoenix Division. The plaintiff, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, asked for declaratory, injunctive relief, and actual damages, claiming that the plaintiff's First and Fourteenth Amendment rights had been violated. Specifically, the plaintiff claimed that the refusal to distribute its publication to prisoners in defendant's facility violated their free speech, due process, and equal protection rights.
From December 2007 to February 2009, the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), operator of the Saguaro Prison in Arizona, censored and with-held from prisoners of that facility copies of the Prison Legal News.
On June 8, 2010, the Court (Judge Roslyn O. Silver) entered an Order of Dismissal because the parties had settled the case. The Settlement Agreement provided that the plaintiff would be added as an authorized retailer, and its publication would be permitted in the facility. It furthermore provided that CCA would provide notice to the plaintiff if outgoing communications were being prevented. CCA also agreed to pay the plaintiffs a lump sum of $70,000, to cover actual damages and attorney's fees.
The agreement terminated on December 5, 2011 without incident.
Summary Authors
Blase Kearney (5/20/2012)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4132768/parties/prison-legal-news-v-corrections-corporation-of-america/
Alloway, Nicole Wertz (Arizona)
Anderson, Lee D (Arizona)
Adams, Chad E. (Arizona)
Anderson, Tom (Arizona)
Ayers, Deanne Campbell (Arizona)
Alloway, Nicole Wertz (Arizona)
Berg, Randall Challen (Arizona)
Bodney, David Jeremy (Arizona)
Bogin-Farber, Gavriela M. (Arizona)
Bracken, Lawrence J. (Arizona)
Chamberlain, Katherine C (Arizona)
Decter, Nicole Horberg (Arizona)
DiGiacomo, Michael Anthony (Arizona)
FILIPOVITS, JEFFREY R (Arizona)
Fogel, Jeffrey Edward (Arizona)
Glickman, Joshua Aaron (Arizona)
Goldstein, Nathan P. (Arizona)
Harrington, James C. (Arizona)
Horrocks, Heather Elizabeth (Arizona)
Jackson, Caroline Elaine (Arizona)
Kiehl, Stephen William (Arizona)
Manville, Daniel E. (Michigan)
Marshall, Randall C. (Arizona)
Marshall, Daniel Lucas (Arizona)
McGiverin, Brian Rolland (Arizona)
Medlock, Scott Charles (Arizona)
Mehta, Leslie Chambers (Arizona)
Neelakanta, Sabarish P (Arizona)
Ozment, Harry Elliott (Arizona)
Rosen, Sanford Jay (California)
Rosenfield, Steven David (Arizona)
Sandler, Alyson Rose (Arizona)
Shapanka, Matthew S. (Arizona)
Shinn-Krantz, Marc J. (Arizona)
SPEARS, GEORGE BRIAN (Arizona)
Stone-Manista, Krista (Arizona)
Sugerman-Brozan, Alexander M. (Arizona)
Swanson, Peter Andrew (Arizona)
Topic, Matthew Vincent (Arizona)
Trevisani, Dante Pasquale (Arizona)
Ayers, Deanne Campbell (Arizona)
Babione, Byron Jeffords (Arizona)
Bojanowski, Timothy J. (Arizona)
Bolick, Clint Daniel (Arizona)
Brooks, Richard Leland (Arizona)
Buckner, Jonathan David (Arizona)
Chapman, Sean Christopher (Arizona)
Coleman, Stephen Barry (Arizona)
Cott, Courtney Christine (Arizona)
Daley, Catherine Anne (Arizona)
Dalton, Jonathan Caleb (Arizona)
Dixon, Cynthia Valenzuela (Arizona)
Edenfield, V. Sharon (Arizona)
Espiritu, Nicholas David (Arizona)
Firestone, Merrick Brian (Arizona)
Garczynski, Randall R (Arizona)
GilBride, Eileen Dennis (Arizona)
Gonser, Elizabeth O. (Arizona)
Hayden, Jefferson Richard (Arizona)
Lewis, Arthur Camden (Arizona)
Lonn, Christopher David (Arizona)
Matheson, Michelle Ray (Arizona)
Medzhibovsky, Leon Medzhibovsky (Arizona)
Morefield, Richard W. (Arizona)
Neagos, Horia Razvan (Arizona)
Neubauer, Elisabeth Jill (Arizona)
Norman, Dawn Elizabeth (Arizona)
Partridge, Brian Kenneth (Arizona)
Phillips, Jonathan LA (Arizona)
Prynkiewicz, Peter Christopher (Arizona)
Russell, Erin Kathryn (Arizona)
Schifino, John Allen (Arizona)
Shorb, John Christopher (Arizona)
Spruhan, Paul Wesley (Arizona)
Struck, Daniel Patrick (Arizona)
Tajmiri, Ghazal Tajmiri (Arizona)
Thomas, Mary Bonanno (Arizona)
Thomas, William Polk (Arizona)
Tumlin, Karen Cassandra (Arizona)
Vinik, Grant Raymond (Arizona)
Vondran, Steven Charles (Arizona)
Walls, Matthew Edward (Arizona)
Whitworth, Morgan E. (Arizona)
Wilenchik, Dennis Ira (Arizona)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4132768/prison-legal-news-v-corrections-corporation-of-america/
Last updated April 7, 2025, 11:29 a.m.
State / Territory: Arizona
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: Sept. 2, 2009
Closing Date: 2011
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Plaintiff Prison Legal News, a monthly prison law magazine which is distributed across the nation to prisoners, and Human Rights Defense Counsel, owner and publisher of PLN.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Attorney Organizations:
Rosen, Bien, Galvan & Grunfeld
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Corrections Corporation of America (Eloy), Private Entity/Person
Facility Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff
Nature of Relief:
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief:
Form of Settlement:
Court Approved Settlement or Consent Decree
Amount Defendant Pays: 70000
Order Duration: 2010 - 2011
Issues
General/Misc.:
Affected Sex/Gender(s):