Prison Legal News (PLN) is a monthly American magazine and online periodical published since May 1990. It primarily reports on criminal justice issues and prison and jail-related civil litigation, mainly in the United States. It is a project of the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Prison Legal News is the longest running newspaper produced by and for current and former prisoners in U.S. history. PLN covers all aspects of the criminal justice system, including court access, prison conditions, privatization, disciplinary hearings, excessive force, mail censorship, jails, wrongful convictions, crime labs, visitation, prison phone services, immigration detention, religious freedom, free speech, prison rape, abuse of women prisoners, retaliation, the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), medical treatment, HIV and hepatitis C, prison slave labor, disenfranchisement, the death penalty and control units/supermax facilities. However, the mainstay of PLNs coverage from the beginning has been the issue of conditions of confinement. Origins and function Prison Legal News was inspired by the need for prisoners and their families to have a voice in criminal justice policy and to provide timely, accurate news about justice-related issues and progressive reform efforts. PLN has been admired and disliked for its strong advocacy of prisoner rights, including its extensive litigation involving jails and prison systems. As of February 2017, PLN had an average circulation of over 9,000 hardcopy issues per month. The Human Rights Defense Center estimates that about 70% of PLN's subscribers are state and federal prisoners, and PLN has incarcerated subscribers in all fifty states. Based on PLNs media pack, each subscriber's magazine is read by an average of almost 10 people, so monthly readership is around 90,000. As of February 2017, subscriptions were $30/year for prisoners, $35/year for non-incarcerated individuals and $90/year for attorneys, government agencies and corporations. The PLN website has over 18,000 news and law articles in its database. The publication section has more than 5,600 reports, audits and other documents related to criminal justice topics, and the brief bank contains over 7,500 assorted legal pleadings - including complaints, motions, appeal briefs, verdicts, judgments and settlements in prison and jail cases. The site receives over 150,000 visitors each month and also functions as a resource for media and community outreach as well as a platform for public education on criminal justice issues. A website subscription is $149.95/year and gives full access to all of PLNs online content. Prison Legal News