On July 17, 2017, the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC) filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. HRDC sued both the former and current commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Corrections (KDOC), as well as many agents of the KDOC, all under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. HRDC, a charitable organization and publisher of Prison Legal News, sought declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief as well as attorneys’ fees. The plaintiffs claimed that KDOC's policy of banning books sent to prisoners violated the free speech clause of the First Amendment and the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. More specifically, HRDC alleged that KDOC prohibited prisoners from receiving books that were not directly purchased by prisoners and also prohibited them if the sender was not on a pre-approved vendors list. The complaint alleged that dozens of books sent to prisoners were censored, and that on several occasions, HRDC received notices indicating the books were rejected for a variety of reasons.

On March 6 and July 17, 2018, HRDC filed a first and second amended complaint adding several defendants but making few substantive changes to the allegations or claims.

After several months of discovery, the parties reached a settlement agreement and HRDC moved for the approval of this agreement on January 28, 2019. The defendants agreed to deliver all HRDC publications sent to people incarcerated in their facilities, so long as the publications were consistent with legitimate penological interests. The defendants also agreed not to reject books simply because they were not on a list of approved senders or for because they were mailed in colored envelopes. Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove issued an order on March 26, 2019 approving the settlement agreement of injunctive claims; retaining jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the settlement; and dismissing the injunctive claims against the defendants with prejudice.

On July 15, 2019, the parties filed a joint motion to dismiss the case. The court issued an order on July 17, 2019 asserting its retained jurisdiction over the execution of the settlement agreement and adjudication of attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses. It dismissed with prejudice all other claims for damages and declaratory relief.

After the defendants opposed the plaintiff's motion for attorneys' fees and costs by arguing that it was unreasonable, Judge Van Tatenhove reduced the award slightly but largely granted the plaintiff's counsel their full requested fees and costs. 2020 WL 2513822. The final amounts awarded were $102,660 in attorneys' fees, and $2,051.37 in costs. The case is now closed.

Jake Parker - 06/07/2018
Alex Moody - 03/25/2021


compress summary