by Matt Clarke
A report describing a study by the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) shows that prisoners who receive regular visits while in prison are 13% less likely to commit new felonies and 25% less likely to be technical violators of their release conditions. The study involved 16,400 DOC ...
by Matt Clarke
In an opinion filed on November 18, 2011, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that it had no jurisdiction over a Louisiana deputy's appeal from the denial of his motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity in a civil rights suit involving denial of medical ...
by Matt Clarke
On October 4, 2010, the Third Circuit held that a prisoner who has not been charged with or convicted of a sex offense may not be compelled to participate in sex offender treatment unless the prison first provides due process.
Charles S. Renchenski was convicted of murdering ...
by Matt Clarke
The Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice has released a statistical report on prisoners under state and federal jurisdiction for the year ending on December 31, 2009. The report notes a slowing in the growth of prisoner populations with a 0.2% increase from ...
by Matt Clarke
On September 2, 2011, the Supreme Court of Alaska held that due process was violated when prison officials failed to record a prisoner's disciplinary hearing or allow him to call his accusers as witnesses.
Joseph James, an Alaskan state prisoner, was interviewed by grievance officer Carl Richey ...
by Matt Clarke
On November 22, 2010, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Oklahoma state prisoners had no clearly-established right to the funds in their trust fund accounts in 2007.
Herman T. Clark, an Oklahoma state prisoner, was sued by a woman he had been convicted of shooting. ...
by Matt Clarke
Recent reports filed in a long-standing federal lawsuit against Sheriff Joe Arpaio over deficiencies in the medical and mental health care of prisoners in the Maricopa County jail system have cited both improvements and persistent deficiencies. Meanwhile, a little-known section in the new federal health care laws ...
by Matt Clarke
In January 2013, A $45 million settlement was reached in a long-standing lawsuit that challenged the failure of prison phone service companies to provide rate information to people who accepted calls from prisoners in Washington State.
Previously, on February 23, 2012, a King County superior court had ...
by Matt Clarke
On June 13, 2012, a federal jury awarded over $2.6 million to a man who was brutally assaulted by another prisoner while being held in a detoxification cell in a West Hollywood, California jail.
Jonathon Michael Castro was arrested late one evening for public drunkenness by Los ...
by Matt Clarke
In March 2012, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a $659,300 jury award in favor of two men who were arrested for public intoxication in New Orleans two days before Hurricane Katrina struck, and were then incarcerated for a month – sometimes under deplorable living conditions. ...