Cook County, IL, Prisoners Duel Russian Prisoners in Online Chess

by Derek Gilna

County jail can be a pretty grim place, especially Cook County Jail, one of the largest and most dangerous in the country. However, at least in Division 11 in May 2013 there was something new to divert ...

Bipartisan Congressional Committee to Reduce Federal Criminal Code

by Derek Gilna

There’s nothing like a good financial crisis in the federal government to focus politicians’ minds on saving money wherever they can, especially for their own pet projects. According to Congress, there are now plans to set up a new ...

Report Says Compassionate Release Would Save Strapped BOP Money

by Derek Gilna

It apparently took the May 2013 issuance of an 85-page report by the non-partisan Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz, but that report and a well-publicized budget crunch led the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to consider expanding its compassionate ...

Guards Union Complaints Prompt Funds Transfer to Avoid Sequester Furloughs

by Derek Gilna

Tightening budgets due to the 2013 sequester cuts have forced U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to transfer $150 million from other agencies to allow the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to avoid guard furloughs from now until the ...

D.C. Area Federal Courts Reduce Staff because of Sequester Cuts

by Derek Gilna

The sequester represents only a 3% across the board cut of federal spending, but it will have a noticeable impact on the operation of U.S. district courts, in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. However, according ...

BOP Punishment of Prisoners for Suicide Attempts Continues Despite Director’s Memo           

by Derek Gilna

In July 2012, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), unnerved by the increasing number of suicides among federal prisoners, circulated a memo to all federal prisoners from the Director, Charles E. Samuels, Jr., urging them to seek ...

Prisoner Tax Refund Scam Thwarted at Arizona Prison

By Derek Gilna

Yavapai County Sheriff Scott Mascher announced in March 2013 that two men had been identified as carrying out a scheme to defraud the IRS by filing phony tax returns that directed fraudulent refunds to them and accomplices. Apparently, according ...

Prisoner Loses Habeas Suit Challenging Loss of BOP Good Time for “Constructive Possession” of a Weapon

by Derek Gilna

Federal prisoner Travis Denny was found in be in “constructive possession” of a pointed weapon found in the duct work of a vent adjoining his cell, accessible by other prisoners. Despite ...

When Halfway Houses Pose Full-Time Problems

by Derek Gilna

A recent interest among government officials in reducing prison populations as a way to cut costs, stemming from the 2008 Great Recession that resulted in significant budget deficits, has placed renewed emphasis on the importance of halfway houses. As more prisoners ...

Controversy, Criticism Plague Brooklyn Halfway House

by Derek Gilna

Community First Services, Inc., established by Jack A. Brown III in 2005 to provide transitional services for prisoners returning to New York City, has come under scrutiny following news reports that cast doubt not only on the organization’s halfway house but ...