Texas Court of Appeals: No Law Library Access Right for Prisoner
Who Waives Appointed Counsel
By Matt Clarke
On April 30, 2008, a Texas court of appeals ruled that a prisoner who waived his right to counsel in a criminal case has no right of access to a law library. ...
by Matt Clarke
A Texas court of appeals has conditionally granted a prisoner’s petition for a writ of mandamus, voiding a district court’s order garnishing funds from the prisoner’s trust fund to pay court costs in an old case.
Roger L. Keeling, a Texas state prisoner, was convicted in 1992 ...
by Matthew T. Clarke
A Texas court of appeals has reinstated the pro se, in forma pauperis negligence and premises defect tort suit brought by a Texas prisoner against Dallas County and the Sheriff of Dallas County after finding that the trial court abused its discretion in dismissing the suit. ...
By Matt Clarke
On February 9, 2009, a Nevada state court restored the statutory good conduct time lost by a prisoner in a disciplinary proceeding in which the presiding official was biased.
Brian Eugene Lepley, a Nevada state prisoner, was charged with the disciplinary infraction of knowing he was infected ...
by Matt Clarke
On March 4, 2009, the Seventh Circuit court of appeals held that a prisoner who alleges retaliation for free speech was not required to show that the speech engaged in concerned a matter of public interest.
Jimmy D. Bridges, a Wisconsin state prisoner, filed a civil rights ...
By Matt Clarke
On November 7, 2007, the Fifth Circuit court of appeals ruled that the "mailbox rule" did not apply to Texas state habeas corpus actions.
Gene Edward Howland, a Texas state prisoner, delivered a state petition for a writ of habeas corpus to prison officials for mailing to ...
By Matt Clarke
On June 8, 2009, the Fifth Circuit court of appeals held that a Texas prisoner has no First Amendment right to use profanity in legal mail directed at opposing counsel and the Fourteenth Amendment did not protect his good time credits from forfeiture in disciplinary action resulting ...
By Matt Clarke
An Illinois court of appeals has held that the Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC) must pay the court costs and attorney fees for an indigent person committed under the Illinois Sexually Dangerous Persons Act (SDPA), 725 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 205/0.01 et seq., who applied for discharge. ...
By Matt Clarke
An Arizona court of appeals has reversed the denial of attorney fees and award of costs to defendants in a suit brought to compel Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph M. Arpaio to produce public records.
In 2004, the Phoenix New Times (PNT), made nine requests of the Maricopa ...
By Matt Clarke
The Fifth Circuit court of appeals held that the government may place a lien on property to collect restitution for up to twenty years after the judgment, even if the victim has waived collection of the restitution.
In 1992, David B. Ridgeway was convicted of 22 federal ...
