by Matt Clarke
Faced with a $23 billion biennial state budget deficit, the Texas legislature has radically cut education programs in state prisons. Such short-term savings will undoubtedly result in long-term expenses, as education has been proven to reduce recidivism.
Jorge Renaud, 55, is an example of a prison education ...
by Matt Clarke
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Christopher B. Epps, the Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), was entitled to qualified immunity after a prisoner was held beyond the date he was supposed to be released.
Will Terrance Porter, a former Mississippi state prisoner, ...
by Matt Clarke
On October 7, 2011, a U.S. District Court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (Board) from enforcing onerous sex offender conditions that had been imposed on a parolee who had not been convicted of a sex offense.
Buddy Jene Yeary, convicted ...
by Matt Clarke
A June 2011 report by the Justice Policy Institute (JPI) reveals how for-profit private prison companies use political campaign donations, lobbyists and relationships with government officials to increase their profits by promoting policies that result in more people being incarcerated.
Even in tight budgetary times when many ...
by Matt Clarke
In September 2011, the Texas State Auditor released a report on the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) used by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). The audit, which covered the period from September 2009 through November 2010, found inaccuracies ...
Texas served its final last meal to condemned prisoner Lawrence Russell Brewer, who, on September 21, 2011, was executed for the infamous racially-motivated 1998 dragging death of James Byrd, Jr. Brewer requested an extensive last meal and then didn’t eat any of it, which prompted state Senator John Whitmire, chairman ...
by Matt Clarke
In 2008, then-New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo heaped lavish praise on Alisha Smith, a prosecutor in Manhattan who helped secure a $5 billion settlement in a securities fraud case involving Bank of America and other financial firms. The demurely-dressed Assistant State Attorney General spent her workdays ...
by Matt Clarke
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) has challenged the findings of a state audit of the prisoner health care services it provides. The challenged audit reported that UTMB improperly charged the state for about $40 million in prison medical-related costs while reporting a $95.1 ...
by Matt Clarke
A succession of laws, cumulating in the most generous compensation package for wrongly convicted prisoners in the nation, has left Texas exonerees stuck at different levels of compensation depending on when they were proven innocent. Consequently, some earlier exonerees now claim they should receive compensation at the ...
by Matt Clarke
When Republican Texas State Representative Debbie Riddle scheduled her “Riddle Executive Leadership Summit” at the Lanier Theological Library in August 2011, the agenda mentioned several “esteemed discussion leaders,” a buffet reception and special gifts for large campaign donors. According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, those ...
