On September 30, 2013, two Wyandotte County Adult Detention Center inmates filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas against the Wyandotte County Sheriff, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU of Kansas and the Social Justice Law Collective, ...
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On September 30, 2013, two Wyandotte County Adult Detention Center inmates filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas against the Wyandotte County Sheriff, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU of Kansas and the Social Justice Law Collective, asked the court for declaratory and injunctive relief. The plaintiffs alleged that the jail's Postcard-Only Mail policy violated their first and fourteenth amendment rights. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that a policy restricting all outgoing and ingoing mail to two 5" by 7" postcards, with the text visible to all persons handling the postcard, violated their right to privacy and freedom of speech.
On November 25, 2013, the District Court (Judge Eric F. Melgren) granted the motion for class certification on behalf of all present and future inmates at the Wyandotte County Jail.
On June 26, 2014, the parties met with a private mediator. The resulting conversations between the parties lead to a settlement agreement. This was submitted to the District Court for approval on October 30, 2014. The settlement held that the plaintiffs were allowed to send and receive an unlimited number of letters in envelopes. The defendants also agreed to provide indigent inmates with sufficient writing materials to send two letters a week without cost.
On February 23, 2015, the District Court (Judge Eric F. Melgren) approved the settlement agreement and dismissed the case.
Kathryn DeLong - 11/07/2015
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