by Matt Clarke
A review conducted by a Houston newspaper concluded that a large quantity and variety of contraband is still being smuggled into Texas prisons by state prison guards, and those caught smuggling rarely receive harsh punishment.
Between 2003 and 2008, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) brought ...
by Matt Clarke
On February 27, 2009, a grand jury in Montague County, Texas returned a 106-count indictment against former Sheriff Bill Keating and ten jail guards, four prisoners and two other people in connection with drug-related offenses, contraband smuggling and sexual misconduct at the Montague County Jail.
Keating, 62, ...
by Matt Clarke
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a district court’s order granting summary judgment to prison officials in a prisoner’s environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) lawsuit.
Getzell Johnson Murrell, Sr., a federal prisoner incarcerated in Beaumont, Texas, filed a pro se complaint against prison officials pursuant to ...
by Matt Clarke
The Supreme Court of Ohio held that a state statute restricting sex offenders from residing within 1,000 feet of a school (R.C. 2950.031) did not apply to sex offenders whose home purchase and offense occurred before the statute’s enactment.
Gerry R. Porter was convicted of sexual imposition ...
by Matt Clarke
On February 6, 2009, Travis County District Judge Charlie Baird did what no other Texas judge had done before – he exonerated a dead man. Timothy Brian Cole, who died of asthma due to medical neglect while incarcerated in 1999, was declared innocent of the rape charges ...
by Matt Clarke
On June 14, 2007, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s denial of the government’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging abuse of pre-trial detainees at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) following the September 11, 2001 attacks. ...
by Matt Clarke
In January 2009, the Southwest Institute for Research on Women (SWIRW) and the Bacon Immigration Law and Policy Program of the University of Arizona published a report on women held in Arizona immigration prisons. It dealt with three locations: Central Arizona Detention Center (CADC) and Pinal County ...
by Matt Clarke
In February 2009, The Sentencing Project released a report on developments in sentencing policies and practices in 2008. The report notes that, with 2.3 million prisoners, 5 million citizens on parole or probation and a worldwide economic crisis, sentencing reforms to reduce the prison population have gained ...
by Matt Clarke
A number of counties in Arkansas have been sending their toxic electronics waste, including broken computers and televisions, to Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (UNICOR), the industry program for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
UNICOR uses prisoners at a federal facility in Texarkana, Texas to process the ...
by Matt Clarke
On June 4, 2008, a federal jury in Iowa awarded $750,000 to two political protesters who were arrested at the direction of the Secret Service, taken to jail and unlawfully strip-searched. After the court ordered another trial, a second jury awarded damages in the reduced amount of ...
