by David M. Reutter
As budgets for nonprofit groups, schools, churches and state and city agencies have been squeezed, requests for Hawaii prison work crews to help with repair and maintenance projects have increased exponentially.
Prison officials said they were limited in their ability to meet the explosion in requests ...
by David M. Reutter
In January 2011, a federal district court granted summary judgment to the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) in a lawsuit challenging FDOC rule 33-210.101(9), Florida Administrative Code, which prohibits prisoners from advertising for pen pals or receiving correspondence from organizations that provide such services.
The suit ...
U.S. Supreme Court: State P&A Can Sue Another State Agency for Records
by David Reutter
The U.S. Supreme Court held on April 19, 2011 that sovereign immunity does not apply when one agency of a state sues another for violation of federal law. The ruling applies only to obtaining injunctive ...
Florida’s prison industry program is “making a few people very wealthy while operating ... in a manner entirely inconsistent with its mission,” according to advisors to Governor Rick Scott, in a transition report released in December 2010.
The mission of Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises (PRIDE) is to operate ...
What should be done with sex offenders who are not prison guards, cops or priests is an emotionally-charged issue. Most states have adopted some form of civil commitment, but others have adopted the more drastic option of chemical and surgical castration. An incarcerated Louisiana child molester recently volunteered for an ...
By David M. Reutter
The Michigan Supreme Court has held that the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) does not have authority to cancel a parole discharge once granted, and that courts have no authority to modify a sentence in response to an MDOC letter.
In 1999, Gregory L. Holder was ...
By David Reutter
Washington State’s Supreme Court has held the 2005 amendment to the state’s sexually violent predator act (SVPA) does not apply retroactively. The Court also held a trial court may not weigh evidence at a show of cause hearing when determining whether probable cause exists to hold a ...
Oklahoma County Jail Responsible for Initial Cost of Treating Prisoners’ Pre-Existing Conditions
by David Reutter
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has held that a county’s liability for prisoners’ medical care includes pre-arrest health conditions. The Court further held that a county must pay the initial cost of such treatment, but may ...
A Massachusetts federal jury has awarded $73,700 in damages to a woman who was repeatedly sexually assaulted while imprisoned at the South Middlesex Correctional Center (SMCC).
After being convicted of drug offenses in 2003, Christina Chao, 31, was sent to SMCC.
Shortly thereafter she began having sex with prison guard ...
On March 9, 2011, Florida’s executive clemency board unanimously voted to make it more difficult for ex-felons to have their civil rights restored – including the right to vote, sit on a jury and hold public office. Rather than automatic restoration upon completing their sentence, ex-felons convicted of non-violent offenses ...
