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Articles by Matthew Clarke

Secret Red Cross Report Reveals Medical Personnel Collusion in CIA Torture

by Matt Clarke

A leaked confidential report issued by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in February 2007, concerning the treatment of fourteen “high value detainees” in CIA custody, revealed torture and collusion by medical personnel in the prisoners’ mistreatment.

In September 2006, the CIA moved fourteen high ...

Rape Victim and Family of Exonerated Man Who Died in Prison Become Activists

by Matt Clarke

Tim Cole achieved widespread recognition when he was exonerated 24 years after his arrest for the rape of a university student in Amarillo, Texas. Another man confessed to the crime and DNA tests proved that Cole was innocent. Unfortunately that didn’t help him, as he had died ...

LULAC Returns CCA Donation

by Matt Clarke

As the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) prepared for a June 20, 2009 protest in Williamson County, Texas outside the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility, a secure immigration detention center run by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), it was revealed that LULAC had accepted ...

New Jersey DOC Report: Megan’s Law Costly and Ineffective

by Matt Clarke

In December 2008, the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC) submitted a research report on the practical and monetary effects of Megan’s Law to the U.S. Department of Justice. The report concluded that Megan’s Law, which requires registration of sex offenders and community notification of their presence, ...

$16.5 Million-Plus Settlement in Oklahoma City False Conviction Case

by Matt Clarke

On June 8, 2009, a federal district judge in Oklahoma City signed a judgment following the settlement of a suit awarding a man who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit over $16.5 million from the forensic chemist and district attorney involved ...

4,000 Kenyan Death Sentences Commuted to Life

by Matt Clarke

On August 3, 2009, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki announced that he had commuted the death sentences of all 4,000 prisoners on Kenya’s death row to life in prison. Explaining his rationale for this action, Kibaki said an “extended stay” on death row while awaiting execution caused “undue ...

Prison Radio Beams Love, Hope and News through the Bars

by Matt Clarke

Radio broadcasts aimed at prisoners are an uncommon media phenomenon in the United States. For prisoners incarcerated far from home with limited language skills and resources it can represent the only lifeline to family and the world outside the walls. Its importance is magnified for prisoners in ...

Justice Reinvestment Initiative Eliminates Texas Prison Overcrowding

by Matt Clarke

Despite a massive prison-building program in the 1990s, in 2007 the Texas legislature had to deal with an overcrowded prison system. Some lawmakers proposed including $523 million in the biennial budget for prison construction. Surprisingly, the legislature decided to reject that plan, instead appropriating $241 million for ...

$73,000 Settlement for Denial of Pain Medication to Wisconsin Prisoner

by Matt Clarke

On January 6, 2009, Wisconsin settled a lawsuit brought by a state prisoner who complained of guards preventing him from receiving his pain medication when he was in intense pain, then retaliating against him when he complained about it and filed a state court investigatory action.

Kenneth ...

Pennsylvania Private Juvenile Prison Scandal Results in Guilty Pleas

by Matt Clarke

On June 9, 2009, attorney Robert J. Powell of Hazeltown, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to charges related to an illegal scheme involving two for-profit juvenile facilities – PA Child Care in Luzerne County and Western PA Child Care in Butler County.

Powell was charged with one count of ...