Jails seem to be private countries overseen by dictators.  Why doesn’t anyone force them to obey the Constitution and state laws?

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals just noticed that a local jail was throwing away ACLU mail clearly marked “legal mail” and throwing away issues of the Prison Legal News that inmates had paid for.  The jail’s response reflects the mentality of the staff:  “The county appealed, arguing the injunction was improper because “legal mail” does not include mail from an attorney if the mail “neither contains privileged content nor implicates an attorney-client relationship.”  So they opened it to see?  What?

But the court caught on:  “The appeals court disagreed, noting the ACLU letters were “precisely the type of communication that an attorney and an inmate would want kept confidential,” noting that they were addressed to a specific inmate, clearly marked “legal mail,” and included the name and bar number of a licensed Michigan attorney.”

Shame on Livingston County jail and its personnel.  Yea! for the 6th Circuit.

http://www.livingstondaily.com/story/news/local/community/howell/2015/08/12/court-says-deliver-aclu-letters/31541143/