Texas Prisoner Held in Prison 35 Years after Conviction Vacated
by Matt Clarke
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas denied a bid to halt the retrial of a mentally challenged prisoner whose original conviction was overturned but who remained incarcerated almost 35 years later. In ruling ...
Terrorism Suspect Moves to Suppress Statements Made to FBI due to Torture Threats
by Matt Clarke
A former British citizen with ties to the U.S.-designated terrorist group al-Shabaab asked a court to suppress statements he gave to FBI agents on the grounds that he was illegally pressured into making them ...
Controversy Surrounds Shackling of Dying and Comatose Prisoners in UK
by Matt Clarke
Authorities at Great Britain’s HM Prison Frankland pledged to change the way ill and dying prisoners are shackled in the aftermath of a scathing report by the UK’s prison ombudsman concerning a prisoner who died while chained ...
Two Names Added to Monument Memorializing Slain Prosecutors
by Matt Clarke
Two more names will be added to the National Prosecutor Memorial in Columbia, South Carolina to mark the deaths of two Texas prosecutors, murdered within months of each other by a former Justice of the Peace who sought vengeance ...
Nebraska Returns Ex-Offenders to Prison after Sentence Miscalculation Scandal
by Matt Clarke
Nebraska authorities have re-incarcerated nearly two dozen state prisoners who were released early because officials miscalculated their release dates. The state decided not to pursue hundreds of other offenders who had also been released prematurely.
Two Nebraska Department ...
On September 2013, a proposed settlement was filed in a lawsuit over forcibly seating prisoners “nuts-to-butts” for hours at a time at a New Mexico state prison – a practice also known as “controlled seating.” The settlement provides $750,000 to be divided among the class members after incentive payments to ...
West Virginia City Settles Suit over Jail Prisoner’s Death for $460,000
by Matt Clarke
On June 10, 2013, following a $460,000 settlement, a West Virginia federal court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the estate of a prisoner who died at the Bluefield City Jail.
According to the complaint in the ...
Texas Prisoners Face Annual Shortage of Hygiene Items in Prison Commissaries
by Matt Clarke
It’s a regular routine for Texas state prisoners – commissaries running out of hygiene supplies and other items as purchasing contracts are renewed.
The contracts for Texas prison commissaries expire at the end of August, when ...
$400,000 Settlement in Suit Over Minnesota Prisoner’s Death Due to Medical Neglect
by Matt Clarke
On May 1, 2013, the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) agreed to pay a $400,000 settlement in a federal lawsuit after a prisoner suffered multiple seizures and died, having received virtually no medical care.
Xavius ...
Prosecutors Deny Defense Attorneys Access to National DNA Database, Leaving Innocent in Prison
By Matt Clarke
DNA testing has become a well-recognized and powerful method for freeing prisoners wrongly convicted of crimes they did not commit. But its full potential is not being realized because some prosecutors resist giving defense ...
