by Douglas Ankney
In August 2019, a half-dozen 10-year-old jail fees were eliminated by the county council in St. Louis, Missouri, wiping out nearly $3.4 million in debt for unpaid fees owed by former prisoners and current detainees at the county jail.
“Many of the individuals in custody already face ...
by Douglas Ankney
On July 3, 2009, the first day that Sheriff Bill Gore assumed operational control of San Diego County’s jail system, a prisoner killed himself. In October 2019, Don Jon Ralph became the 14th person held at one of the county’s seven jails to die during that ...
by Douglas Ankney
In November 2019, an employee of private food service provider Aramark Correctional Services at Indiana’s Correctional Industrial Facility in Pendleton was captured on surveillance video delivering a package and $300 in cash to a prisoner. Kevin Lake, 26, admitted to smuggling the contraband he had received from ...
by Douglas Ankney
The New Mexico Court of Appeals held that third-party settlement agreements, resulting from medical care provided by Corizon Health under a contract with the state, are public documents subject to disclosure under the Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA).
In 2016, the New Mexico Foundation for Open ...
by Douglas Ankney
On June 28, 2019, the Grayson County Circuit Court awarded $197.55 to state prisoner Gary Brown following a bench trial in which he proceeded pro se on a tort claim against the Commonwealth of Virginia (Commonwealth).
Brown’s complaint alleged that on July 22, 2016, he was speaking ...
by Douglas Ankney
On September 16, 2019, federal judge Roslyn O. Silver signed an order that denied, in part, a motion filed by the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADOC) to terminate monitoring of out-of-cell exercise time for prisoners housed in maximum-security units.
The ADOC moved to terminate its obligation to ...
by Douglas Ankney
For over 20 years, the Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) has run multiple bulk records collections. According to a report from the Inspector General (“IG”), the DEA targeted phone calls placed to “drug nexus” countries. (Almost anywhere in or out of the country is defined as a drug ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (“BJS”) released its data collection on capital punishment for 2017. The BJS obtained data relating to every person under sentence of death in the federal government (excluding military prisoners) and in the 34 states that authorize the death penalty.
Here are some ...
by Douglas Ankney
Connecticut man arrested for his unintentional failure to serve a 13-year-old federal prison sentence was released from custody in March 2019.
Philadelphia native Demetrius Anderson had not only remained free for those 13 years after completing his sentence at a Connecticut state prison in 2006, he also ...
“Will You Get Back Up?”
by Douglas Ankney
In November 2017, Piper Travis was arrested for failure to appear on two misdemeanor counts of stealing a TV and a $3.48 bag of Easter candy from a Walmart in Washington state. On November 20 the 34-year-old from Whidbey Island was booked ...
