ACLU Nebraska Legal Program - Prisoner Rights
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Prisoners Ask for the Right to Marry in Lawsuit
Becky Rivero and Terry Lewis have been asking for permission to
get married for the last year--the only barrier is the fact they
are both currently incarcerated. Becky and Terry have a long
term, solid, loving relationship and in fact their families
believed they were married prior to their joint arrest in
connection with meth abuse. As first time, non-violent
offenders, they are very good candidates for parole, but they fear
they might not be allowed to live together on parole unless they
are married. Despite a US Supreme Court case that clearly
says inmates have the Constitutional right to marry, the Department
of Corrections has been refusing them permission to even just have
a ceremony over the phone. ACLU Nebraska has filed a lawsuit
that is currently pending. Read the press release
here.
(April 18, 2008)
Being HIV+ in prison can mean you get "extra" punishment. Lonnie Thomas was a
non-violent felon incarcerated for financial crimes. He is a young African-American
man who was HIV+ prior to being sent to the Nebraska State Penitentiary to serve his
sentence. For the first couple of years, Lonnie was a model prisoner: he had no
serious misconduct reports and he was taking college classes to obtain a degree to
ensure a future after prison. In 1998, he asked the prison officials’ help to protect
him from a violent felon who was housed with him. The prison’s response was to place
Lonnie in temporary solitary confinement pending new quarters—but they never moved
Lonnie back. He was in solitary confinement for over four years despite the fact
that he has not been accused of any wrongdoing. The prison did not provide mental
health counseling, college classes, support groups, recreation, or employment for
the solitary inmates. Because the prison was overcrowded, Lonnie—who never committed
a violent crime—was housed on Death Row. Lonnie’s lawsuit, seeking injunctive relief
for other inmates in solitary confinement to get rehabilitative services as well as
monetary damages, was dismissed by the trial court. In 2003, the Nebraska Court of
Appeals agreed, finding the prison officials had wide latitude to make decisions
about prisoner housing. Though Lonnie's lawsuit was unsuccessful, he was released
on parole while ACLU Nebraska represented him and he reports that other inmates he's
talked to indicate the policy of segregating HIV+ inmates seems to have changed since
his release. Top
Access to the courts can be hard for people who are incarcerated unless they have
an attorney. Some prisoners choose to represent themselves. Others only get to see
their attorneys infrequently and rely on correspondence to keep in touch. In 2003,
the Saline County Sheriff's office announced they were no longer going to allow jail
staff to act as notary publics to inmates. A notary public is a form of official
witness that's required on many legal documents. The Sheriff's office said the inmates'
attorneys would have to provide the notary service, yet many prisoners either did not
have an attorney or did not see their attorney often, since the Public Defender for Saline
County was responsible for covering three large rural counties simultaneously and simply
couldn't visit every week. ACLU Nebraska pledge to file suit, but the case was resolved
prior to legal action; the Saline County Sheriff restored notary public service to all
inmates. Top
Health care for prisoners with disabilities, medical conditions, or mental health problems
is sometimes very poor or nonexistent in Nebraska jails and prisons. ACLU Nebraska intervenes
several times a month on behalf of prisoners, jail inmates, and pre-trial detainees who need
basic life-saving medical attention or prescription medication. Sometimes the inmate needs
something as basic as their asthma inhaler or their insulin. Sometimes the inmate is in dire
need of access to mental health care and medication. Sometimes the need is to accommodate a
physical disability by repairing a wheelchair or allowing an inmate who is deaf to have their
hearing aids. We work constantly to bring these needs to the correctional facility's attention.
We issued a report in 2003 on the problems we've seen--click here to read more details. (Adobe PDF Format, requires free Adobe Reader Software) Top
