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From: Human Rights Coalition:
News from the Inside
October 17th 2011
Dallas 6 defendant assaulted, deprived law library: Four affidavits from the Luzerne County Correctional Facility testified to the assault of Andre Jacobs, a jailhouse lawyer and human rights defender, by guards at the jail on October 6. Jacobs and three other state prisoners are currently being held in the jail in Luzerne pending trial on charges of riot. The four are part of a group of prisoners known as the Dallas 6 after they staged a non-violent protest against ongoing racism and brutality at the State Correctional Institution Dallas.
According to the affidavits, four guards approached Jacobs' cell door with a dog to escort him to the law library, with one speaking abusively when he asked why the dog was present, as this was the first time a dog had been brought to his cell. Guards told Jacobs to keep his mouth shut despite his acting calm and non-antagonistic. Another innocent question by Jacobs was used as a pretext to throw him in his cell and punch him in the head several times before exiting.
Other members of the Dallas 6 have reported being deprived of access to the law library, giving rise to speculation that employees of the jail are being permitted to obstruct their ability to defend themselves in court with the tacit permission of the warden and the prosecution.
The District Attorney of Luzerne County, Jackie Carrol Musto, has been named as a defendant in lawsuits filed by Jacobs and two other members of the Dallas 6, Carrington Keys and Derrick Stanley. Jacobs, Keys, and Stanley have all sought to halt the prosecutions based on DA's conflict of interest in prosecuting persons who are suing her for failure to investigate criminal complaints against SCI Dallas staff.
