Another Prisoner’s Needless Death, Another Lawsuit at LaSalle-Run Texarkana Jail by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On September 16, 2020, the estate of a woman who died while incarcerated at the Bi-State Justice Center Jail in Texarkana filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Bowie County, Texas, LaSalle Corrections and …
Fifth Circuit Order Denies Texas Prisoners Hand Sanitizer and Cleaning Supplies by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of a Texas’ federal judge’s injunction compelling the Texas Department of Corrections (DOC) to provide hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies to prisoners at the …
News in Brief by Alabama: Chanting “not one more,” about 30 carloads of protesters from “Alabamians Who Care” caravanned to the governor’s mansion in Montgomery on August 1, 2020, protesting a plan by Gov. Kay Ivey (R) to build three new “mega-prisons.” According to a report by Montgomery TV station …
Researchers, Prison Officials to Study Effects of Prison Violence Comprehensively by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke A research team of internationally recognized prison experts from multiple academic institutions will be working with state prison officials from Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas to perform the most comprehensive study …
Fifth Circuit Reinstates Texas Jail Suicide Lawsuit by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On June 12, 2020, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a lawsuit against four Texas police department employees alleging they knew a prisoner was suicidal when they gave him a blanket, failed to remove the blanket …
News in Brief by Alabama: The Birmingham News reported that an Alabama prison guard had been arrested for drug trafficking after a search of his vehicle when he arrived for work at the St. Clair County prison turned up 138 grams of methamphetamine and 16 grams of heroin. Ivan Caldwell, …
Fifth Circuit Reinstates Lawsuit Over Texas Jail Prisoner’s Death by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The family of a Texas detainee who died of a suicidal overdose under jailers’ noses can continue its lawsuit against Young County, Texas. That decision was handed down on April 22, 2020, by the Fifth …
Texas: Prison Air Conditioning Needs Revisiting by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon In 1855, young General Philip H. Sheridan was a second lieutenant at Fort Clark, located in present-day Kinney County, Texas. When someone asked him how he liked the state, he replied “If I owned Texas and Hell, I …
Fifth Circuit Upholds Summary Dismissal of Texas Prisoner’s Challenge to Deduction of Medical Co-Pay From Account Receiving VA Payments by On July 9, 2020, the Fifth Circuit court of appeals upheld the summary dismissal of a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prisoner’s challenge to the department’s deduction of a …
Fifth Circuit Reinstates Lawsuit Over Texas Jail Prisoner’s Death by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The family of a Texas detainee who died of a suicidal overdose under jailers’ noses can continue its lawsuit against Young County, Texas. That decision was handed down on April 22, 2020, by the Fifth …
Fifth Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Texas Jail Suicide Lawsuit, Holds Discrimination Not Proven by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On April 15, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the summary dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the estate of a man who committed suicide at the …
Valentine et al. v. Collier, TX, hand sanitizer protection for geriatric prisoners during COVID, 2020 United States District Court Southern District of Texas ENTERED UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS HOUSTON DIVISION LADDY CURTIS VALENTINE, et al., Plaintiffs, VS. BRYAN COLLIER, et al., Defendants. September 29, 2020 David …
Fifth Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Prisoner's Lawsuit Over Guard's Failure to Protect Him From Another Prisoner's Attack by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On August 24, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the Rule 12(b)(6), F.R.Civ.P. dismissal of a prisoner’s civil rights lawsuit alleging a …
Does Increased Guard Violence Mean Texas Prisoners Are at Greater Risk? by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke Violence perpetrated against prisoners by staff of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has risen dramatically over the past decade, according to the prison system’s own statistics. From 6,624 use-of-force incidents by …
How Long Can You Hide a Dead Body in a Prison Cell? by Keri Blakinger Mental-health problems, short staffing plague a Texas lockup in COVID lockdown. by Keri Blakinger, The Marshall Project, originally published July 13, 2020 Source Materials If things were a little too quiet in a particular cell …
News in Brief by California:In June 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) commuted 21 state prisoners’ sentences, a dozen of them were for murder convictions, patch.com reported. Seven were committed when the prisoner was 22 or younger. Half of the prisoners are now 59 or older. One commutation went to …
Dallas County, Texas Jails Finally Enter the 21st Century on Phone Rates by Edward Lyon by Ed Lyon Until February 18, 2020, it cost pre- and post-trial detainees in the Dallas County, Texas jails .24¢ per minute to speak to their families on the phone. Urged by criminal justice reform …
Hurdsman v. Williamson County, TX, Settlement, Retaliation-Filing of Grievance, 2020 RELEASE OF ALL CLAIMS AND INDEMNITY AGREEMENT RECITALS: WHEREAS, Plaintiff/Appellee Rodney Hurdsman ("Hurdsman") was incarcerated in the Williamson County Jail ("WCJ") from April 28, 2015-July 7, 2017, and Hurdsman claimed that Williamson County Texas (the "County"), its officials, and current …
How to Fail at Running a Prison During a Pandemic by Anthony Accurso A firsthand account from FCI Seagoville in Texas, one of the epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic by Anthony W. Accurso [Editor’s note: As of July 22, the Bureau of Prisons website reported 1,220 prisoners had tested positive …
Prison Postcards: “I feel as though I was either in a car accident or beaten by a baseball bat.” by Ken Silverstein by Ken Silverstein We’re now nearly six months into the COVID-19 pandemic and geographically the coronavirus epicenter has shifted from its origins in the United States in New …
