How to Write a Successful Grievance

by Mrs. Ge Ge

From PHN Issue 31, Winter 2017

Most of what I will be talking about is based on Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) policy. But this information might be useful in other states. Whenever you need to write a grievance, you should first review the policy in your facility regarding grievances. In Pennsylvania (PA), that policy is DC-ADM 804. Remember that not all grievances are winners, so it is important to find any case law that is similar to your situation to use in the grievance. Continue reading “How to Write a Successful Grievance” →

Getting Treatment for Hepatitis C

by Suzy Subways

From PHN Issue 30, Fall 2016

Hepatitis C attacks the liver and can be deadly, but new medications can cure it in almost all cases. Hep C is common in prison. But most prisons don’t even test people to find out if they have the disease, let alone provide medication to cure it. Drug companies have been allowed to set an extremely high price for the new drugs (also called “the cure”), because we live under a free-market economic system. Prisons are not willing to pay up. Continue reading “Getting Treatment for Hepatitis C” →

Read It First

By Robert Andrew Bartlett, Sr.

From PHN Issue 28, Spring 2016

An incarcerated person is not required to sign anything. When a person in prison seeks medical care, the same rules apply as in other situations involving important legal rights. Don’t sign any document without first reading it carefully. Then sign it only if it benefits you. Trust no one who works for the prison system. Continue reading “Read It First” →

Fight For Your Medical Rights!

By Brother W. (Uthman) Williams

From PHN Issue 28, Spring 2016

The New York State prison health care system has been broken for a long time now. In 1977, women incarcerated in New York brought civil rights claims challenging medical care. Chief Judge Kaufman responded: “The sad often desperate plight of many incarcerated in our nation’s prisons is most dramatically revealed by the all too frequent petitions of inmates who have been denied access to basic medical services.” Continue reading “Fight For Your Medical Rights!” →

Fatima’s Fight

by Fatima Malika Shabazz

From PHN Issue 27, Winter 2016

Peace and Love. I hope this letter finds all my brothers and sisters in the never-ending fight for our rights doing well. I have a great deal of faith in the strength and resilience of people like myself.

First steps of a lawsuit

For those who don’t know, I filed suit recently against the state of California’s Department of Corrections for denying me the chance to get genital sex reassignment surgery. It had already been denied by the prison’s medical department, and all appeals were denied at every level. I mailed the petition to the Central District of the California federal court, and it was received on August 13. Continue reading “Fatima’s Fight” →