by Anthony W. Accurso
On the last day of 2021, the New York City Department of Correction (DOC) revealed a stunning privacy breach: Over 500 detainees in city jails had their calls to their attorneys recorded. Worse, the recordings were then turned over to prosecutors.
The Constitution guarantees the privacy ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
On April 21, 2022, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) signed H.B. 936, a new law creating “special care facilities” to house and provide healthcare for about 600 “medically frail” state prisoners eligible for parole whom the state Department of Corrections (DOC) refuses to release because they ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
On February 25th, 2022, winning turnedout to be losing for a federal prisoner when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a massive restitution order issued by a district court in Texas, saying the prisoner had provided jurisdiction with his own successful challenge ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the State of New York released a report on January 4, 2022, concluding its “Investigation of New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision [DOCCS] Incarcerated Individual Drug Testing Program,” following reports that DOCCS punished 1,600 prisoners ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
In an opinion reached on December 6, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld a district court’s ruling that a federal prisoner’s disciplinary sanctions were valid so long as there was “some evidence” to support the underlying violations. Importantly, where the evidence ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
Prison phone services provider Global*Tel Link (GTL) agreed to a settle a long-running class-action on December 20, 2021, with changes to company policies and up to $67 million to compensate customers for seizing funds in any account that remained inactive for 90 days. Though the amount ...
How Unchecked Power and No Oversight Gives Rise to Abuses
by Anthony W. Accurso
On December 15, 2000, Derwin Brown was returning from a party when he was gunned down. He was holding flowers he had purchased for his wife, Phyllis, when assailants opened fire, striking him at least 10 ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
Despite an urgent and growing need for maintenance in Minnesota’s prisons, the governor and legislature are proposing a token amount be spent while deferring the vast majority of the growing problem.
Traditionally, the state of Minnesota passes a bonding bill, which funds the state’s expenditures not ...
by Anthony Accurso
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced on February 9, 2021, that the state Department of Correction (DOC) would permanently close its Northern Correctional Institution (Northern) in Somers by July 1.
The announcement came just days after a lawsuit was filed on February 4, 2021, by Disability Rights Connecticut ...
by Anthony W. Accurso
A new study using data from the Houston, Texas area shows that the use of diversionary programs results in overall lower crime, including among high-risk demographic groups.
The study, “Diversion in the Criminal Justice System,” authored by Michael Mueller-Smith and Kevin T. Schnepel and published ...
