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Articles by Matthew Clarke

Court Certifies Class-Action in Lawsuit Over Washington State Prison Phones

On February 23, 2012, a Washington State court certified as a class action a challenge to the failure of the prisoner telephone service in some Washington State prisons to provide rate information.

Sandy Judd, Tara Herivel and Columbia Legal Services are class representatives for persons who received phone calls from ...

Residency Restrictions Cause Homelessness to Increase Among Registered Sex Offenders in Arizona

It is well known that restrictions on where registered sex offenders (RSOs) are permitted to reside in Miami resulted in the creation of an RSO camp under the Julia Tuttle Causeway. PLN recently reported that the RSOs who were removed from that camp and offered temporary housing leases were thrown ...

Texas Legislature Authorizes Doubling of Prisoners' Monthly Phone Minutes

In 2007, when Texas became the last state in the union to allow prisoner phone calls, the limit on phone usage was 120 minutes a month. In 2009, the Texas Board of Criminal Justice (TBCJ) responded to requests by prisoners' families and doubled the monthly phone minute allotment to 240. ...

Study Shows Private Prison Companies Use Influence to Increase Incarceration

A June 2011 report by the Justice Policy Institute entitled "Gaming the System: How the Political Strategies of Private Prison Companies Promote Ineffective Incarceration Policies reveals how private prison companies (PPCs) use political campaign donations, political lobbyists and relationships with government officials to increase their profits by promoting policies that ...

The Ultimate Humiliation: Guards Sexually Assault Prisoners Throughout the U.S.

Despite federal legislation aimed at preventing the rape of prisoners and the adoption of "zero-tolerance" policies toward sexual assault of prisoners by many jurisdictions, the sexual assault of prisoners by jail and prison employees continues to be prevalent throughout the United States. This is demonstrated by the multitude of media ...

Texas Court Holds Juvenile Capital Murder Adjudication Not Subject to Extraordinary Parole Review

On February 9, 2016, a Texas court held that a person adjudged delinquent for capital murder  as a juvenile and later transferred from the Texas Youth Commission to the adult prison system is not subject to the extraordinary parole review requirement set forth in §508.046, Texas Government Code (TGC).

Zahir ...

Blanket Enforcement of Sex Offender Residency Restrictions against San Diego Parolees Unconstitutional

On March 2, 2015, a California Court of Appeal held that the blanket enforcement of California’s residency restrictions against all registered sex offender parolees (RSOPs) in San Diego County was unconstitutional.

This case involves four RSOPs who are representative of the over 150 RSOPs in San Diego County who filed ...

Texas Man Exonerated By DNA Test He Didn't Request

A Texas man, Michael Phillips, 57, recently became the first person to be cleared of a crime by DNA testing he did not request.

Phillips was accused of raping a white teenage girl at a Dallas motel in 1990. The victim, who had partially removed her attacker’s face mask during ...

Guards Massacre Iraqi Prisoners as ISIS Forces Attack Tal Afar

According to prisoners who were incarcerated at the anti-terrorism detention facility in Tal Afar, Iraq, as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) forces closed on the prison, guards began slaughtering the prisoners in their cells.

"At about 2 a.m., three of the guards came into our cell ... and ...

Texas Guards and Prisoners Rarely Prosecuted for Contraband Cellphones

According to an investigation conducted by the Texas Tribune, guards and prisoners are rarely prosecuted for the contraband cell phones found within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). The investigation discovered that only 5% of the cellphone smuggling cases investigated by the TDCJ's Office of Inspector General from 2009 ...