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. ...
by Matt Clarke
Unique circumstances have combined to make northern Louisiana a prime location for private prisons, as Louisiana sheriffs can profit by letting a private company build and operate facilities that house both local prisoners and prisoners from other jurisdictions.
Meanwhile, other parish prisons – especially those in the ...
by Matt Clarke
In a 7-0 opinion with two judges not participating, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held on February 15, 2012 that a former prisoner who claimed exculpatory evidence was withheld in his case, and who raised a free-standing claim of actual innocence based on the recantation of ...
by Matt Clarke
On May 18, 2012, the Supreme Court of Texas held that a former prisoner whose murder conviction was reversed due to ineffective assistance of counsel after he proved that he was likely actually innocent was entitled to compensation.
Billy Frederick Allen was convicted of a double homicide ...
by Matt Clarke
In an 8-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that federal prisoners housed in privately-managed prisons may not file Bivens-style federal lawsuits against private prison employees alleging lack of medical care in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
Richard Lee Pollard was a federal prisoner incarcerated in ...
Jamie Lynn Russell (a.k.a. Jamie Fisher), 33, who was pregnant and experiencing severe abdominal pain, sought medical care at a hospital in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma on January 3, 2013. She was difficult and “not cooperating,” according to nurses, who summoned a nearby police officer to assist.
Medical staff decided to ...
by Matt Clarke
Globovisión is the last remaining Venezuelan television station that is openly critical of President Hugo Chávez. In May 2010, Globovisión president Guillermo Zuloaga was arrested for making offensive comments about Chávez while discussing a government crackdown on the Venezuelan media at an Inter-American Press Association conference.
That ...
by Matt Clarke
Over the course of the past few decades there has been a significant increase in the percentage of criminal cases being plea bargained and a corresponding decrease in cases that are taken to trial.
According to many legal experts, the driving force behind this change is an ...
by Matt Clarke
Faced with a $23 billion shortfall in its 2011-2012 budget, Texas officials nevertheless have refused to take advantage of a potential money-saver: paroling state prisoners who are elderly, infirm or terminally ill, who pose little threat to public safety.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), a conservative ...
by Matt Clarke
The smuggling of illicit items such as drugs, cigarettes and cell phones into prisons and jails continues to be a significant problem throughout the United States. Often the people doing the smuggling are guards or other corrections employees, who, motivated by greed, accept bribes from prisoners.
Prison ...
