The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held it was a violation of due process for a district court to deny a criminal defendant the right to cross-examine a lab technician who tested a urine sample that showed positive for illegal drugs, when the sample was clearly adulterated ...
A federal grand jury has returned indictments against two Lucas County, Ohio jail guards in connection with the death of a prisoner. Additionally, Lucas County’s sheriff and another jail employee face charges of lying to investigators.
According to the indictment, guards John Gray and Jay Schmeltz beat and choked jail ...
A federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) warden does not have authority to reward a prisoner’s cooperation with prison officials with a reduced sentence under Fed.R.Crim.P. Rule 35(b), the First Circuit held on May 23, 2008.
Edward B. Ellis, a federal prisoner serving 20 years, provided assistance to the warden of ...
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PDOC) may lawfully ban the receipt and possession of materials related to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held on July 29, 2008. In a more recent ruling, however, the Sixth Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction barring the Michigan DOC ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has affirmed the denial of qualified immunity for a Bureau of Prisons (BOP) warden accused of denying a prisoner procedural due process in connection with the rejection of two packages.
While Vernon Bonner was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in ...
New York’s Correction Law § 24 Held Unconstitutional by US Supreme Court
by Brandon Sample
New York’s Correction Law § 24, which prevents prisoners from bringing 42 U.S.C. § 1983 actions for damages against prison officials in New York courts of general jurisdiction, violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. ...
DNA collection is expanding to individuals arrested or detained as state and federal law enforcement officials seek to solve more crimes.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) joined 15 states in April 2009 that collect DNA from individuals awaiting trial. In addition, the FBI will now collect DNA from detained ...
Beginning on April 9, 2009, The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) started providing kosher meals to state prisoners with religious dietary needs.
The decision to provide kosher food came after a meeting between the Secretary of the DPSCS and representatives of the Jewish community last summer. ...
On March 12, 2009, Chief U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan entered judgment in the amount of $65,000 against an Oklahoma state prison Health Services Administrator (HSA) accused of failing to provide a prisoner adequate medical treatment.
While incarcerated at the Northeast Oklahoma Correctional Center (NOCC), Richard Potts contracted Methillicin Resistant ...
In what one judge described as a “legal travesty,” on March 13, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit overturned a jury verdict in favor of a prisoner who had been sexually abused by a prison guard.
While incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, Michelle Ortiz ...
