by Matthew T. Clarke
PLN has reported extensively on some of the issues surrounding the treatment of prisoners in the American military prisons which were set up to hold people suspected of committing or supporting terrorism. This ranges from the murder, torture and abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan …
by Matt Clarke
On June 24, 2010, a Texas Court of Appeals held that suing employees of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) in both their official and individual capacities was not the same as suing both the governmental entity and the employees, and thus the employees did not …
by Matthew T. Clarke
PLN has previously reported the abuse of prisoners in American military prisons in Iraq. [PLN June 2004, p. 1; Nov. 2004, p. 36; Dec. 2004, p. 26]. The most infamous location where prisoner torture took place is Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. The brigadier general over …
by Matt Clarke
In the middle of the night of October 18, 2007, Phoenix New Times founders Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin were arrested at their homes and charged with revealing grand jury information for publishing an article revealing that they had been subjected to a grand jury subpoena of …
by Matt Clarke
Prosecutors have a great deal of power and discretion. They choose whether to prosecute a case, what charges to file against a defendant and what plea bargain to offer. They can influence the court when imposing sentence and can even seek the death penalty. Prosecutors are also …
by Matt Clarke
The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Economic Mobility Project and Public Safety Performance Project issued a collaborative report in September 2010 on the impact of incarceration on economic mobility. The report found a strong negative effect of incarceration on upward economic mobility not only for former prisoners but also …
by Matt Clarke
On March 19, 2010, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a federal district court violated Rule 32.l(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure when the judge used videoconferencing technology to appear at a supervised release revocation hearing.
Christopher R. Thompson was convicted in federal …
by Matt Clarke
The Fifth Circuit court of appeals reversed a Louisiana district court’s denial of qualified immunity for a prison doctor.
Anthony Gobert, a former Louisiana state prisoner, was incarcerated at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center (EHCC) and on work release when his leg was accidentally crushed below the …
By Matt Clarke
On July 23, 2007, a federal district court in California issued an opinion declining to dissolve the injunction issued in Orantes-Hernandez v. Meese, 685 F.Supp. 1488 (C.D.CA 1988), 919 F.2d 549 (9th Cir. 1990), which established immigration processing standards for Salvadoran nationals.
The class-action civil rights …
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 …
