First Amendment

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An inmate at the Lebanon County jail claims the punishment for not cutting his hair violates his First Amendment rights

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February 27, 2020 | Fox 43 | Harri Leigh

WATCH TV NEWS REPORT HERE

LEBANON, Pa. —

Eric McGill is alone in a cell at the Lebanon County Correctional Facility. He’s been in solitary confinement for more than a year because he won’t cut his dreadlocks. On Feb. 20 McGill filed a civil action against Lebanon County and three administrators of the county jail, claiming they are violating his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

McGill, 27, who was arrested in January 2019 for his alleged role in a shooting that injured four people, wears dreadlocks as part of his Rastafarian religion.

Rastafarians do not cut their hair, following the “Nazarite vow” described in the Old Testament.

”He believes that his hair has spiritual significance. He believes that it connects him with his ancestors, he believes that it gives strength and purity that he needs for the afterlife,” said Matthew Feldman, a lawyer with the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project representing McGill.

The Lebanon County Correctional Facility allows long hair in ponytails, but not dreads. When McGill would not cut his off, he was placed in administrative segregation, also known as solitary confinement. McGill’s lawyers said this punishment is denying his First Amendment right to freedom of religion and Fourteenth Amendment right to due process of law.

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Lebanon Co. inmate spends 400 days in solitary confinement for length of his hair

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WATCH TV NEWS REPORT HERE

LEBANON COUNTY, Pa. — A Lebanon County inmate has spent more than 400 days in solitary confinement, not for bad behavior, but because of the length of his hair.Now, the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project has filed a motion on his behalf to have him released back into general population.“He is in his cell 23 hours a day or more, five days a week. He is allowed outside for up to an hour of recreation that can take place between midnight to 2 a.m.,” said Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz, managing attorney for the PA Institutional Law Project.This timeframe is the only time his attorney said he can make phone calls.

“So, it’s really led to a complete cut off between him and his family," Morgan-Kurtz said.

It is all because Eric McGill will not cut his hair.

A motion filed on February 19, 2020, said it is against his Rastafarian beliefs, and that he hasn’t cut his hair for several years.

Since he will not cut his hair, Lebanon County Correctional Facility has reportedly placed McGill in solitary confinement since January 19, 2019.

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Inmate seeks end to solitary over refusal to cut dreadlocks

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February 25, 2020 | Associated Press | Mark Scolforo

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — An inmate awaiting trial in a shooting case wants a federal judge to release him from solitary confinement in a central Pennsylvania county jail, where he has been for more than a year because he refuses to cut dreadlocks that hold religious significance for him.

The hand-written lawsuit filed in October by Eric S. McGill Jr. against three senior administrators at the Lebanon County Correctional Facility shifted gears last week, when a group of lawyers produced an amended complaint that warned McGill’s mental health is deteriorating.

It said McGill, 27, of Lebanon, an adherent of Rastafarianism, suffers anxiety attacks two or three times a week, and they are usually triggered by thoughts of his jail conditions and placement in solitary.

“By keeping Mr. McGill in solitary confinement because he refuses to cut off his dreadlocks, (the) defendants have inhibited his right to free exercise of religion for no legitimate penological purpose,” his lawyers with the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project told the court last week, seeking an order that he be placed in the jail’s general population, as well as damages.

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His hair is sacred. But to get out of solitary confinement, his jailers say he must cut it off.

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February 25, 2020 | PA Post | Joseph Darius Jafaari

A Rastafarian inmate has been in solitary confinement for a year. The jail’s warden said he can get out if he cuts his hair.

The Lebanon County Correctional Facility’s handbook says no inmate can have long hair unless it is worn in a ponytail or a bun. But for many Black inmates, that rule doesn’t apply. Instead, they are placed in solitary confinement if they refuse to cut their hair.

One inmate currently in segregated housing says that policy violates his religious rights. Eric McGill, who is Black, wears his hair in dreadlocks. A practicing Rastafarian, McGill has refused to cut his hair since he was taken into custody more than a year ago. (Rastafarians do not cut their hair, ascribing to a strict reading of the Old Testament that forbids it.)

McGill, 27, reached out to PA Post in January this year, saying he was placed in segregated housing on Jan. 19, 2019, because of his refusal to cut his dreadlocks.

“I’ve haven’t cut them due to my beliefs and way of life,” he said in an online message to PA Post.

Inmates kept in solitary confinement are allowed just five to 20 minutes of time outside their cell per day. McGill is also limited to two hours a day to make phone calls to his family — between midnight and 2 a.m. Not uncommon for people who are in solitary for extended periods of time, McGill has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, severe depression and anxiety, according to court records.

In an affidavit filed with the court, Robert J. Karnes, the warden of the Lebanon County jail, said inmates who choose to cut off their dreadlocks are able to leave solitary confinement.

Though not mentioned in the handbook directly, dreadlocks and other long hair styles are forbidden, corrections officials say, because inmates can use the hair to hide weapons or contraband.

According to the affidavit Karnes signed, McGill hasn’t committed any other infractions to justify solitary confinement.

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Press Release: Man Held in Solitary Confinement for Refusing to Cut Off Dreadlocks Sues Lebanon County

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 19, 2020

Press contact:
Rebecca Susman, Communications Manager, Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project Email: rsusman@pailp.org
Phone: 412-254-4771

PHILADELPHIA, PA – The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) filed a motion for preliminary injunction today on behalf of Eric S. McGill, Jr., a pretrial detainee at Lebanon County Correctional Facility (LCCF) who has been held in solitary confinement for over a year solely because he refuses to cut off his dreadlocks. Lebanon County’s practice of punishing people who refuse to cut their dreadlocks, without allowing for religious exemptions, violates Mr. McGill’s rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).

In compliance with his Rastafarian faith, Mr. McGill does not cut his hair and has not for several years. Mr. McGill believes that his spirit lives through his dreadlocks and to cut them off would be to lose his strength and essence needed for the afterlife. Lebanon County’s own rules and regulations allow incarcerated people to have long hair if it is tied up or in a single ponytail. Despite Mr. McGill offering to tie his hair up in a ponytail, Lebanon County continues to detain him in solitary confinement.

“Mr. McGill has endured solitary confinement for over a year, conditions internationally recognized as torture, for adhering to his faith and refusing to cut his dreadlocks. This flies in the face of RLUIPA, passed by Congress to ensure that incarcerated people have the same religious liberty as all Americans,” stated Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project Managing Attorney Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz.

Mr. McGill has been in solitary confinement since January 19, 2019. He is only allowed out of his cell for at most one hour per day, five days per week, between midnight and 2:00AM. This is also the only time he is permitted to make calls to his family. These conditions have exacerbated his PTSD and caused him frequent panic attacks and additional psychological trauma. In today’s filing, the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project asked the Court to order Lebanon County to transfer Mr. McGill from solitary confinement to general population.

“Contrary to what Lebanon County prison staff have asserted, dreadlocks do not present a security or cleanliness concern. Dozens of jail and prison systems across the United States permit prisoners to have dreadlocks. Lebanon County’s placement of Mr. McGill in solitary confinement is purely punitive and serves no legitimate purpose,” said Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project staff attorney Matthew A. Feldman. “It is not lost on us or Mr. McGill that Lebanon County is singling out a Black hairstyle and a Black religion for this discriminatory, inhumane, and illegal treatment.”

The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project is representing Eric McGill, Jr. in the case Eric S. McGill, Jr. v. Clements, et al., Case No. 19-cv-01712, filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Read the press release pdf here

Case documents
Amended Complaint
Motion for Preliminary Injunction

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ATTORNEY INFORMATION re the new PA DOC Legal Mail protocols

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PA DOC LEGAL MAIL: ATTORNEY INFO

Beginning April 6, 2019, the DOC will not copy legal mail.

Attorneys should send all legal correspondence to the prison, NOT Smart Communications. That mail will be opened in their presence and they will be given the original.

If your client received legal mail while the DOC was copying and confiscating legal mail, the DOC will be contacting them to decide whether to immediately destroy or return that mail.

Visit the DOC’s website (www.cor.pa.gov) and sign up for a new attorney control number. Include a valid email address as the DOC will be emailing you a WEEKLY code in addition to your control number.

When sending mail:
1. Place the attorney control number on a removable sticker on the outside of the envelope.
2. Place a second removable sticker on the outside of the envelope with the current weekly code.

ALL LEGAL MAIL WITHOUT A VALID ATTORNEY CONTROL NUMBER WILL BE RETURNED TO SENDER. If the mail has a valid control number, but not a valid weekly code, the DOC will contact you via phone and/or email to verify that you sent the mail before delivering.

Under the new policy, attorneys can no longer send any documents that were not printed/copied in their offices. This means attorneys cannot return original documents (grievances, etc) to people in DOC custody. Attorneys have until July 7, 2019, to return any originals currently in their possession. After that, if there are extenuating circumstances, attorneys can contact the business office of the prison, or the Office of Chief Counsel to make arrangements.

If you experience any issues or have any concerns with your legal mail under this new policy, please contact Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz, staff attorney in the Pittsburgh office of PILP via email (amorgan-kurtz@pailp.org).

Please click HERE for a printable version of this document.

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FAQ: Your rights re the new Legal Mail protocol. Beginning April 6, 2019, the DOC will NOT copy legal mail!

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PA DOC Legal Mail: Info Sheet 

Beginning April 6, 2019, the DOC will not copy legal mail.

Attorneys should send all legal correspondence to you at the prison where you are located.  That mail will be opened in your presence and you will be given the original. 

If you received legal mail while the DOC was copying and confiscating legal mail, the DOC should be contacting you.  You will be allowed to choose whether your original mail is immediately destroyed, or returned to sender (at no cost to you).

IMPORTANT CHANGE TO LEGAL MAIL: Under the new policy, attorneys can no longer send you any documents that were not printed/copied in their offices.  This means attorneys cannot return original documents you send them. 

You have a choice:

·  Keep your originals and mail your attorneys a copy OR

·  Mail your originals to your attorney and have them send you copies.

In light of this change, the DOC will be increasing the amount of money available to indigent individuals for copying.  You will also no longer be required to submit original documents in grievance or misconduct appeals. 

You should tell your attorneys that under the DOC’s new policy, they must sign up for a new attorney control number.  Your attorney must provide an accurate email address, as the DOC will be emailing a weekly code that must also be placed on the outside of legal mail.  Attorneys can request a new control number by visiting the DOC’s website, www.cor.pa.gov.  For more information on how these changes affect attorneys, they can also visit PILP’s website, www.pailp.org.

If your legal mail…

·  is copied after April 6, 2019

·  is returned to your attorney

·  is significantly delayed

·  or there are any other issues 

File a grievance immediately.

Write to the Pittsburgh office of PILP: 100 Fifth Ave, Ste 900, Pittsburgh, Pa 15222.

Click HERE for a printable version of this information

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BREAKING: Civil Rights Groups and PA Department of Corrections Near Settlement of Lawsuit Over Legal Mail

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February 22, 2019

HARRISBURG – Lawyers for four civil rights organizations and one person who is currently incarcerated announced today that they are finalizing the details of a settlement of their lawsuits challenging the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections’ policy of copying and storing legal mail. The four organizations challenging the policy issued the following statement in response to the developments in the case:

“We appreciate that the department has agreed that, beginning April 6, they will stop copying and storing prisoners’ legal mail. The revised screening procedures will respect the rights of prisoners to confidential and privileged attorney-client communications without compromising the department's efforts to prohibit drug use in the prisons.”

The organizational plaintiffs, Pennsylvania’s four largest prisoners’ rights groups, are the Abolitionist Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Amistad Law Project, and the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP). Volunteer attorneys from the law firm Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, led by partner Keith Whitson, are also representing the plaintiffs. PILP, et al. v. Wetzel was combined with another challenge, Hayes v. Wetzel, which was brought by Davon Hayes, who is a prisoner at SCI-Smithfield in Huntingdon.

More information is available at aclupa.org/PILP.