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Articles by Mark Wilson

State Awarded Statutory Attorney Fees, Costs for Dismissed Washington PRPs

The Washington State Court of Appeals has held that the state is entitled to statutory attorney fees following the dismissal of a personal restraint petition (PRP).

After pleading guilty to witness tampering and burglary, Gregory Scott Bailey filed a PRP challenging the voluntariness of his plea. The petition was dismissed ...

Third Circuit: § 2241 is Proper Vehicle for BOP IFRP Challenges

Third Circuit: § 2241 is Proper Vehicle for BOP IFRP Challenges

by Mark Wilson

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held on December 2, 2010 that a federal habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 is the proper vehicle to challenge the Bureau of Prison’s (BOP) Inmate Financial Responsibility ...

Rehabilitation Finding Eliminates 30-Year Minimum Sentence for Aggravated Murder, but Oregon Parole Board Balks

In Oregon, a rehabilitation finding under ORS 163.105(3) eliminates the 30-year mandatory minimum sentence for state prisoners convicted of aggravated murder and requires the Board of Parole (Board) to immediately set a parole release date, according to two unanimous en banc decisions by Oregon’s Supreme Court.

In 1977 the Oregon ...

Federal Halfway House Director Embezzles $213,787

A former Oregon halfway house director who embezzled more than $213,000 from the federally-funded facility was arrested in Rhode Island after failing to appear, fleeing and attempting suicide. She later pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.

As previously reported in PLN, Laura Marie Edwards, 39, served as executive director of the ...

California Prison Sexual Harassment Case Settles for $210,000

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has paid a former contract employee $210,000 to settle her claims of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

Lakesha Jones worked as a registry Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) for the CDCR from August 2006 to August 2007. During that time her supervisor, Dominque ...

Alaska Medical Care Reimbursement Statute Extends to Former Prisoners; State Refuses to Pay Part of Medical Malpractice Judgment

On June 24, 2011, the Alaska Supreme Court held that state law allows the Alaska Department of Corrections (ADOC) to seek reimbursement of medical costs from former prisoners.

Dewell Pearce was an ADOC prisoner from 1994 to 2008. He suffered from a number of medical conditions that required outside care ...

Rikers Island Guards File Suit Alleging Cancer-Causing Toxin Exposure

The Rikers Island jail in New York City was built atop a toxic landfill that is causing cancer, according to lawsuits filed by seven cancer-stricken Rikers employees.

“That island is toxic and it’s killing people,” said guard Vanessa Parks, 49, who was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2009. “I’ve spent ...

Texas Prisoner on Idaho Presidential Primary Ballot in 2008

During the 2008 Democratic primary election, Idaho voters had three choices for president: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Keith Russell Judd.

At the time, Judd was serving time at the Beaumont Federal Correctional Institution in Texas on a 1999 conviction for making threats on the University of New Mexico campus. ...

Videotaped Assault at Idaho CCA Prison Sparks FBI Investigation

Guards at a private prison in Idaho looked on, but did not intervene, as a prisoner was beaten into a coma. Video footage of the January 2010 incident has sparked an FBI investigation into civil rights violations at the facility.

Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation’s largest private prison ...

Federal Probation Officer Sexually Abused Clients, Sentenced to Ten Years

U.S. probation officer Mark John Walker, 52, supervised federal prisoners on parole, probation and other forms of supervised release in Eugene, Oregon from May 1987 until July 2009. Now, however, it will be Walker who is on supervised release after he completes a 10-year federal prison sentence for sexually assaulting ...