Louisiana officials are resorting to unconventional tactics to combat the “international” problem of cellphones within its jails and prisons. Prisoner use of the contraband phones has become so widespread that rarely a day goes by that guards fail to find one.
Several factors drive the proliferation of cellphones in jails ...
A prerequisite for holding a judgeship is maintaining an impeccable reputation of upstanding and ethical conduct in all affairs. Along the eastern shores of Florida known as the Space and Gold Coasts, the spotlight has shone upon the wayward conduct of numerous judges.
In Broward County, scandals from the conduct ...
A Virginia man who was sentenced to prison in several counties has avoided being sent to prison, and his skill set is being attributed to remaining in jail and release.
Lawrence “Junior” Wood faced 36 different counts in six different counties. The charges ranged from obtaining money by false pretenses ...
The Florida Legislature passed a bill in the closing minutes of its 2014 session that allows a man who served 21 years on a wrongful conviction to seek up to $2 million in compensation.
James Richardson was convicted in the 1967 poisoning deaths of his seven children. Richardson, a black ...
Amnesty International is investigating the deaths of two prisoners at Pennsylvania’s Burlington County Jail (BCJ). The Prosecutor’s Office took the unusual step of responding to a letter from Amnesty upon conclusion of its own investigation.
The two prisoners allegedly died within months of each other of natural causes while held ...
An Alabama federal district court sentenced a former guard to four years in prison for sexually abusing male prisoners at the Clay County Jail (CCJ)
Guard Jeffrey Cotney 48, ran the prisoner worker program at CCJ. He recommended who could participate and supervised the workers. In November 2013, a Federal ...
When Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives forced Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel to appear before them for the annual round of grandstanding about prison costs, Wetzel turned the tables and placed the blame where it belongs: on the legislature.
Wetzel and chairman of the Board of Probation and Parole Michael Potteiger ...
Absent a tip to the Associated Press, the death of a prisoner at Kentucky State Prison would have remained shrouded in darkness. The tip led to an investigation that uncovered lapses in medical care as the prisoner starved to death.
Prisoner James Kenneth Embry, 57, had mental health issues that ...
The second death in six months of a pre-trial detainee at Pennsylvania’s Buck County prison has raised questions about its detox procedures. The scrutiny of such procedures should be a focal point for jail administrators throughout the nation because such deaths are occurring with increasing frequency.
In October 2013, Valene ...
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a bill that would have expanded the powers of private probation companies and shrouded their activities in secrecy.
House Bill 837 was introduced shortly after lawsuits were filed in Richmond and counties to challenge the constitutionality of private companies carrying out judicial processes. It also ...
