by Matt Clarke
As repeatedly reported in Prison Legal News, for over a decade registered sex offenders have been targeted by vigilantes and assaulted, robbed and murdered due to their past crimes. And as noted in this issue’s cover story, that is part of the dark side of sex offender registries, which allow public access to offenders’ residential addresses and other personal information. Such information not only endangers registered sex offenders but also those who live with them and, in at least one case in Dallas, Texas, an innocent victim. That Dallas man, who was beaten with a baseball bat, had simply moved into an apartment recently vacated by a sex offender.
PLN believes these incidents are more widespread and occur with greater frequency than reported in the mainstream media. [See, e.g.: PLN, Sept. 2016, p.49; June 2015, p.63; Feb. 2013, p.50; April 2007, p.18].
In one of the earliest cases of registry vigilantism, two registered sex offenders who were living in the same home in Bellingham, Washington were murdered in 2005 by a man who gained access to their residence by claiming to be an FBI agent investigating threats made against sex offenders. Hank Eisses, 49, and Victor Vasquez, ...
by Matt Clarke
A $200,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed over the death of a mentally ill Oklahoma jail prisoner emphasizes what Oklahoma sheriffs have been saying for years: they are ill prepared to deal with the rapidly increasing number of mentally ill detainees in their jails.
Sheriffs in the ...
by Matt Clarke
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) added a rule to the April 2016 version of its Offender Handbook that bars prisoners from using any form of social media. Rule 111.N.4 states that “Offenders are prohibited from maintaining active social media accounts for the purpose of soliciting, updating, or engaging others, through a third party or otherwise.”
The policy change has sparked criticism among prisoner advocates who believe it violates the First Amendment freedom of speech rights of both prisoners and non-prisoners who wish to communicate with them.
Every U.S. prison system prohibits direct Internet access and cell phone use by prisoners. While a small number manage to post directly to their social media accounts using contraband cell phones, the majority of such accounts are maintained on behalf of prisoners by family members and friends. The TDCJ’s new rule effectively ends that practice.
“These regulations don’t just impact the inmate’s right to speech [but also] everyone else’s right to understand what’s going on in a prison,” said Dave Maass with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group dedicated to defending civil liberties on the Internet. “An inmate can put up information [online] about abuses going on or ...
by Matt Clarke
On February 18, 2014, a Texas state grand jury declined to indict El Paso police officer Jose Flores, 40, who fatally shot Daniel Rodrigo Saenz, 37, a handcuffed man in his custody, on March 8, 2013. That cleared the way for Flores, who had been on leave since the shooting, to return to work.
Saenz was a competitive bodybuilder and fitness trainer who formerly held the title of Mr. El Paso. The final events of his life began around 9:00 a.m. when the manager of an Albertsons supermarket called police to report a man who was "advising that he was feeling paranoid and began crying and asking for hugs." Police and paramedics responded.
Saenz admitted having used cocaine two days earlier, and then began twitching uncontrollably. A paramedic convinced Saenz to report to Del Sol Medical Center so his extremely high blood pressure could be treated.
After arriving at Del Sol, Saenz punched an elderly patient in the shoulder. A police officer arrived to check on him and was attacked by Saenz. The officer used his Taser on Saenz, cycling it five times with little effect. Police managed to take him into custody and handcuff him behind ...
by Matthew Clarke
In April 2016, the City of Arlington, Texas agreed to pay the estate of a man who died in the municipal jail $1.25 million to settle a wrongful death suit. Two jailers were indicted for negligent homicide, two others were initially fired and one was reprimanded.
Jonathan ...
by Matthew Clarke
On July 5, 2016, a California federal district court signed off on a consent judgment in a suit filed against Tulare County, California over censorship of Prison Legal News at the county’s jail. To settle the lawsuit, county officials agreed to change the jail’s mail rules to ...
by Matthew Clarke
The District of Columbia agreed to pay $16.65 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a former prisoner wrongfully convicted of rape and murder.
On September 16, 1982, Donald Eugene Gates, then 30, was convicted of raping and killing Catherine Schilling, whose body had been discovered in ...
by Matt Clarke
On September 19, 2014, a Washington State federal court signed off on the preliminary settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought against Spokane County for routinely jailing people with court-ordered fines or other legal financial obligations who were unable to pay them without first holding a hearing on ...
In a November 13, 2015 ruling, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held a district court may compel a lawyer to represent an indigent prisoner challenging prison conditions.
Mario Naranjo was incarcerated at the Reeves County Detention Center in Texas when he filed a lawsuit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § ...
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) reported a 40% increase in suicides between 2008 and 2014. As of September 2015, the average number of suicide attempts in Texas prisons each month had jumped 28% from 81.7 attempts per month in 2014 to 104.5 attempts per month during the first ...
