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Articles by Joe Watson

3 Murders in 10 Months at Oklahoma Prison Run by CCA

by Joe Watson

Three prisoners were murdered in a span of 10 months at an Oklahoma facility run by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the largest for-profit prison operator in the country.

The trio of homicides occurred at the Davis Correctional Facility in Holdenville--one of four Oklahoma state prisons operated ...

Missouri’s Release of Pot Dealer Doing LWOP Gives Hope to Nonviolent Drug Offenders Incarcerated Nationwide

By Joe Watson

Jeff Mizanskey, a 62-year-old Missouri state prisoner serving life without parole (LWOP) on a nonviolent drug conviction, was released on Sept, 2, 2015, eliciting cautious optimism that thousands like him will someday also be set free.

Mizanskey had served more than 20 years for conspiring to sell ...

Former Sheriff Arpaio Guilty of Criminal Contempt, Receives Presidential Pardon

by Joe Watson

Former Maricopa County, Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio’s words, rather than his misdeeds, finally landed him on the verge of going to prison – but he was pulled back from the brink after receiving a presidential pardon.

The self-proclaimed “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” who was ousted by voters in ...

IRS Audit Prompts New Mexico County to Convert Bonds Used for ICE Facility

by Joe Watson

An Internal Revenue Service audit of tax-free bonds used to develop an immigrant detention facility in New Mexico was closed once the bonds were converted to taxable status.

Otero County issued $62.3 million in tax-free revenue bonds in 2007 to finance the construction of an Immigration and ...

TN Prison Counselor Suspended for Posting Insults on Facebook

by Joe Watson

A counselor at the Turney Center Industrial Complex (TCIX), a close-security prison located in southwestern Tennessee, was suspended for three days after she posted profanity-laced insults on the Facebook page for the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) in April 2017, in the wake of an assault on ...

Wiccan Prisoner Settles with NV DOC Over Denial of Hardbound Religious Books

by Joe Watson

Donald Towne, a Nevada state prisoner and practicing Wiccan, reached a settlement of unspecified remedies in July 2008 in his pro se lawsuit against the state’s Department of Corrections (NDOC).

Towne alleged that his constitutional rights were violated during his incarceration at Lovelock Correctional Center by Warden ...

Settlement for IN Man Deprived of Critical Meds While Incarcerated in County Jail

by Joe Watson

Gary L. Marshall, a former Hancock County, Ind. jail prisoner, settled for unspecified damages in June 2008 after he suffered multiple seizures while incarcerated, which he attributed to the jail’s alleged refusal to give him several psychotropic drugs he was prescribed for anxiety and insomnia.

Marshall was ...

NV Prisoner with Hand Injury Settles for Used TV, Medical Evaluation and $40.70 in Copying Fees

by Joe Watson

Robert Finley, a Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC) prisoner, settled in August 2008 for a used television, $40.70 in legal copying fees and a medical evaluation with follow-up treatment for the hand he injured when a prison guard allegedly slammed it in a cell door.

Finley said ...

IN Woman Settles Wrongful Arrest Lawsuit

by Joe Watson

Anna Michelle Young, who was wrongfully arrested and incarcerated two days after Christmas in 2003 in Hancock County, Ind., agreed to settle her suit against Sheriff Nicholas Gulling, et al, in August 2008 for unspecified damages.

The Hancock Superior Court allegedly ordered the clerk of the court ...

$7,500,000 Class-Action Settlement for Illegal Strip-Searches in Camden, NJ

by Joe Watson

A class-action, Fourth Amendment lawsuit originally filed by Laverne Hicks and Michael Velez, two New Jersey men who had each been stopped by state police for alleged traffic violations and subsequently strip-searched and jailed by Camden County, was settled in June 2008 for $7,500,000.

Charles J. DeLuca, ...