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Entire Texas Prison System Locked Down to Search for Phones; Prison Cell Phone Problem is Pandemic
Loaded on March 15, 2009
by Matthew Clarke
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2009, page 29
by Matt Clarke
Filed under:
Misconduct/Corruption,
Guard Misconduct,
Prison/Common Area Searches,
Criminal Prosecution,
Lockdowns,
Telephone Access,
Death Row,
State Legislation.
Locations:
Afghanistan,
New Zealand,
Maryland,
South Carolina,
Texas.
On October 20, 2008, Texas Governor Rick Perry placed all 112 prisons and 155,000 prisoners in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) on lockdown to search for cell phones after a state senator received calls from a death row prisoner.
Richard Lee Tabler, 29, who is …
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More from this issue:
- Deconstructing Gus: A Former CCA Prisoner Takes On, and Takes Down, CCA’s Top Lawyer, by Paul Wright
- Online Postings Lead To Stiffer Sentences, by Brandon Sample
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- GEO Cancels Contract at Pennsylvania Jail, Looks Elsewhere for Business, by David Reutter
- $295,000 Award to Wisconsin Prisoner in Moldy Mattress Case Reduced by Court
- Torture at Angola Prison: President Obama promises to close Guantanamo, but a court proceeding in Louisiana exposes brutality closer to home, by Jordan Flaherty
- Widespread Corruption in Private Halfway Houses, by Derick Limberg
- Dead Bodies at “Bodies” Exhibit May Be Executed Chinese Prisoners, by Gary Hunter
- Florida’s Juvenile Death Camps: A Painful Past Revisited, by David Reutter
- Prisoners Can Sue Virginia DOC’s Contract Medical Provider for Breach of Contract
- District of Columbia Rehabilitation Program Contractor Liable in Juvenile’s Death; $1,000,000 Verdict Upheld, by Bob Williams
- California Jail Restraint and Tasering Death Settles for $3 Million
- Oregon Jailer Avoids Prosecution for Online Assault Boast; Jail Employees Lose Internet Access, by Mark Wilson
- Supreme Court Holds Prosecutors Immune from Using False Snitch Testimony to Gain Wrongful Conviction, by John Dannenberg
- Hawaii Prisoner Awarded $15,000.50 for Slip and Fall
- Entire Texas Prison System Locked Down to Search for Phones; Prison Cell Phone Problem is Pandemic, by Matthew Clarke
- Ohio Court Releases Prisoners from Private Jail to Protect Them
- CMS Contract Woes Persist in New Jersey, Arizona and Delaware, by David Reutter
- $2,925,000 in Recent Settlements Involving Maricopa County and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, by Matthew Clarke
- Audit Faults New York Prison Oversight, by Mark Wilson
- In the Shadow of San Quentin: An Interview with Prison Law Office Director Donald Specter, by Todd Matthews
- Prisoners’ Guerrilla Handbook to Correspondence Programs in the U.S. and Canada, 3rd Edition, by Jon Marc Taylor and Susan Schwartzkopf, by Paul Wright
- Federal Three-Judge Panel Issues Tentative Ruling To Reduce California’s Prison Population By Up To 57,000 In Three Years, by John Dannenberg
- $3.6 Million Settlement in Michigan Prisoner’s Segregation Cell Death
- Selling Segregation, by Josh Rushing
- California Appellate Court Grants Writ, Reverses Governor, Reinstates PLN Writer’s Grant of Parole, by Marvin Mentor
- Reverend Sues, Wins Right to Register Alabama Prisoners to Vote, by David Reutter
- Texas Parole Officials Caught Lying to Federal Court With Impunity
- Report Finds Increase in Michigan Prison Population Attributable to Political Policy Changes, Not Crime Increase, by David Reutter
- Georgia Judges, Other Officials Indicted on Corruption and Human Trafficking Charges, by David Reutter
- Maryland Prison Employees Strip Searched After False Alert by Drug Scanning Machine, by Derick Limberg
- News in Brief:
- Former Illinois Prison Director Convicted and Fined
- Washington Jury Awards $202,500 to Ex-Prisoner for Injuries from Top Bunk Fall
More from Matthew Clarke:
- Dissenter Excoriates SCOTUS for Denying Certiorari in Challenge to Constitutionality of Nitrogen Hypoxia Execution, Feb. 1, 2026
- D.C. Federal Court Holds Blocking Prison Reform Advocate’s Access to Federal Prisoners May Violate First Amendment and Due Process, Feb. 1, 2026
- Eleventh Circuit Holds Estate Cannot Sue Jailers Who Followed Medical Personnel Advice That Led to Detainee’s Death, Feb. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Reinstates Lawsuit Over Failure to Properly Classify Violent Prisoners at Kentucky Jail, Feb. 1, 2026
- Eleventh Circuit Holds Alabama County May Be Liable for Policy of Providing Inadequate Jail Medical Care, Feb. 1, 2026
- Tenth Circuit Reverses Summary Dismissal of Claim Over Prisoner’s Suicide in Oklahoma Jail, Feb. 1, 2026
- Deportation of Kenyan Priest Working as Texas Prison Guard Highlights TDCJ’s Dependence on Immigrant Staff, Feb. 1, 2026
- Ninth Circuit Reinstates Wheelchair-Bound Washington State Prisoner’s Suit Over Failure to Accommodate Disabilities During Transport, Feb. 1, 2026
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Adoption of Transferred Intent Self-Defense, Jan. 1, 2026
- Eleventh Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Six Female Alabama Jail Detainees’ Sexual Assault Suit, Jan. 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- FCC Releases Final Version of Order Gutting 2024 Phone Cap Regulations, Feb. 1, 2026. Misconduct/Corruption, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates.
- New Hampshire Prison System Struggles to Hire Guards, Feb. 1, 2026. Staffing, Lockdowns, Guards/Staff.
- Virginia Prisoners Stuck Waiting for Education Programs, Feb. 1, 2026. Staffing, Education, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, State Legislation.
- Federal Death Row Prisoners Granted Clemency by Biden Are Facing Retaliation by Trump, Feb. 1, 2026. Transfers, Pardons/Clemency, Death Row, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Confinement in Segregated Housing.
- Punished for Bleeding: How Periods in Prison Become a Trap, Feb. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Gender Discrimination -- Women, Strip Searches, Hygiene Supplies, Discrimination (Transgender).
- Differing Judicial Outcomes for the New York Guards Who Killed Robert Brooks, Feb. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Pending Appeal/Sentencing.
- California Oversight Agency Hasn’t Finished a Single Review of Jail Deaths, Feb. 1, 2026. Corrections Audits, Medical Records, Disclosure of Records, State Legislation.
- The New York Prison System’s Culture of Cruelty and Impunity, Feb. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Racial Discrimination, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death).
- Amnesty International Report Claims Torture and Enforced Disappearances at “Alligator Alcatraz”, Jan. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Totality of Conditions, Detention - Generally, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Confinement in Segregated Housing.
- Louisiana Detainee Captured After Two Previous Escapes, Dec. 1, 2025. Criminal Prosecution, Escapes, Jail Specific, Assaults on Staff, Prior Conviction/Sentence/Incarceration.

