Richards v. Cullen

Tim Cullen, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services, appeals from an order declaring one of the department's administrative rules unconstitutional. With some exceptions not relevant here, the rule allows prison officials to withhold fifteen percent of all money earned or acquired by inmates, up to a maximum of $500, and to deposit all such funds into a "Mandatory Release Account" for the individual inmate's use upon release from prison. Richards is serving a life sentence, and the issue is whether, because of his status as a "lifer," the rule violates his right to…