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Articles by Matthew Clarke

Texas Prisoners Serve Average of 58% of Their Sentences

by Matt Clarke

According to a recent report by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), during fiscal year (FY) 2010, Texas state prisoners served an average of 58% of their sentences before being released. That percentage is down from 60% in FY 2006. The average sentence length was 19.2 ...

$1 Million Settlement in Oklahoma Jail Prisoner Wrongful Death Suit

by Matt Clarke

In May 2011, Oklahoma County approved a $1 million settlement in a civil rights lawsuit involving a prisoner who was first denied his anti-seizure medication and then fatally beaten by guards after he had a seizure at the Oklahoma County jail. Correctional Health Care Management of Oklahoma, ...

Missouri Federal Court Enjoins Denial of Housing Assistance to Sex Offender

by Matt Clarke

On March 14, 2011, a federal court in Missouri temporarily enjoined the Housing Authority of St. Louis County (HASLC) from denying housing assistance to a seriously ill man who had been convicted of sex offenses and was required to register as a sex offender for life.

Alton ...

Nebraska Judge Dismisses Charges Against Omaha Jailers

by Matt Clarke

Douglas County, Nebraska District Court Judge Peter Bataillon has dismissed official misconduct charges against jailers who allegedly let a prisoner bleed to death while he begged for his life. Bataillon interpreted Jail Standards Board regulations as putting the burden of ensuring that prisoners receive medical care solely ...

Washington DOC Employee Faces Ethics Complaint for Running Non-Profits on State Time Using State Resources

by Matt Clarke

In 2005, Washington Department of Corrections Secretary Harold Clarke reprimanded DOC employee Belinda D. Stewart for selling Avon products to her co-workers at the Purdy women’s prison after she was ordered not to conduct private business with DOC staff.

Instead of learning a lesson about co-mingling her ...

Texas Towns Saddled with Empty, Expensive Privatized Prisons and Jails

by Matt Clarke

In July 2011, anyone with at least $5 million to spare was invited to bid on a 373-bed, state-of-the-art, turn-key minimum-security prison on 30 acres of land in the cotton-farming town of Littlefield, Texas.

The tiny town, with a population of 6,500, agreed to build what was ...

New Mexico Continues to Let Understaffed Private Prisons Slide on Most Contract Violations

by Matt Clarke

In September 2010, the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee calculated that over a four-year period, former Governor Bill Richardson (D) failed to collect $18.6 million in penalties from private prison companies that breached their contracts with the state by allowing their for-profit facilities to remain understaffed by ...

Study Reports on Undiagnosed HIV Infections in New York City Jails

by Matt Clarke

An article in the May 2011 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome reported that the HIV infection rate among people being booked into New York City jails was much higher than the average in the general population, but lower than the 1998 rate. In ...

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Rules Against Parole Board on Imposition of Sex Offender Restrictions on Non-Sex Offenders

by Matt Clarke

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles was required to provide due process in the form of a hearing similar to a parole revocation hearing before imposing onerous sex offender restrictions (Special Condition X) on prisoners who had been ...

Family of Prisoner Strangled in Oklahoma GEO Private Prison Awarded $6.5 Million

by Matt Clarke

In June 2011, the family members of an Oklahoma state prisoner who was murdered by his cellmate at a privately-operated GEO Group prison in Lawton, Oklahoma received a $6.5 million jury award.

On January 30, 2005, Lawton Correctional Facility prisoner Ronald L. Sites, 48, was strangled to ...