by David Reutter
Two federal district courts, one in Florida and the other in Rhode Island, have held prison gerrymandering unconstitutional, though one of the orders was overturned on appeal. The rulings are the first of their kind.
“This is a big win for democracy,” said Adam Lioz of the ...
by David Reutter
In a preliminary consent order, Sentinel Offender Services, a private probation company, agreed to stop its practice of drug testing probationers without court approval. The order was entered in a class-action case challenging Sentinel’s practices in a Georgia county that uses the company to manage its probation ...
by David Reutter
In 2005, at the urging of then-Governor Mitch Daniels, the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) awarded a contract to privatize medical care for prisoners. The winning bidder, Prison Health Services, merged in 2011 with Correctional Medical Services to form Corizon Health, which later won renewal of a ...
by David Reutter
Virginia has more than 3,500 prisoners eligible for parole, representing over 9% of its prison population of 38,000 – a significant number considering that the state abolished parole over 20 years ago. Still, even for those long-serving prisoners who are still eligible, the odds of being granted ...
by David Reutter
In prison after prison across the state, over a period of two years, Florida state Representative David Richardson found that toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, pillows, sheets, shirts and soap were often withheld from prisoners, especially those in solitary confinement. Further, food had been denied as a form of ...
by David Reutter
New technology is giving law enforcement agencies the ability to identify people by taking a photo of their tattoos; it can also group people with others who have the same type of body art.
Federal researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have launched ...
by David M. Reutter
A federal investigation into the abuse of pretrial detainees at Louisiana’s Iberia Parish Jail resulted in guilty pleas by ten sheriff’s deputies. A trial is pending for an 11th deputy who did not plead guilty, Mark Frederick. Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal was also charged but ...
by David Reutter
The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County was found to be in willful noncompliance with the Tennessee Public Records Act. It was order to pay $56,884.55 in attorney fees and expenses as a result.
Plaintiff Bradley Jetmore filed suit against the two counties, claiming the police ...
by David Reutter
The Florida Supreme Court held a defendant may be found guilty of violating probation for failing to admit to engaging in sexually deviant behavior during a sex offender program.
Warren Staples entered a “best-interest” guilty plea to one count of traveling to meet a minor. As part ...
by David Reutter
The Vermont Supreme Court held that statutes and policies that do not retroactively after or limit the Vermont Department of Corrections (VDOC) discretion over a prisoner’s treatment programming and early release, their application did not result in a longer sentence than under the prior statutes and policies. ...
