Word: futch
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...ever got around to it, though, he learned from another inmate--known as the "jailhouse lawyer," that he could get in trouble for distributing such a petition. So he abandoned the plan. But during a search of his cell in September, a guard found the aborted petition--and Futch was sentenced to 15 days in isolation under a rule that prohibits "participating in or encouraging a riot, work stoppage, hostage taking, or unauthorized group demonstration...
...Futch turned for help to a group of Harvard Law School students. This fall they succeeded in getting the charge changed and the isolation days dropped, and they hope ultimately to get the entire incident erased from Futch's record...
...Kevin Futch is one of about 800 Massachusetts prisoners who are helped annually by the Law School's Prison Legal Assistance Project. Generally, inmates hear about the project through the grapevine. One inmate, who is having difficulty getting visitation privileges because he has been charged with engaging in sexual activity in the visiting room, says he learned about PLAP when he first got to Walpole several years...
...Futch's situation is special because, unlike most PLAP cases, which are handled within the prison by law students, his may be brought to court. On November 13, PLAP filed on his behalf in Norfolk Superior Court, and the state Department of Corrections filed a response December 27. PLAP will now either go to court or file a motion to have the judge decide the case in a summary judgement...
...Futch's problem is going further than most because PLAP members believe it raises significant First Amendment issues about inmates' freedom of thought and expression. "My feeling is that prison administrators want total control. They're terrified of the written word," says Martin C. Gideons, PLAP's supervising attorney, who is the attorney of record for the Futch case...