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U.S.-Mexico Border Policy Report, BNHR BAN, 2008

Publication • March 8, 2016

Filed under: Immigration

U.S.-Mexico Border Policy Report, BNHR BAN, 2008 U.S.-Mexico Border Policy Report “Effective Border Policy: Security, Responsibility And Human Rights at the U.S.-Mexico Border” November 2008, Washington, D.C. Cover: A boy looks through the border fence from the Mexican side. The fence is one part of the securitization that has occurred …

News in Brief

Article • December 31, 2015 • from PLN January, 2016

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Former Dale County jail prisoner Trawick Redding, Jr. filed a federal lawsuit on July 28, 2015 claiming guards Zeneth Glenn and Ryan Mittlebach tortured and assaulted him, and inflicted cruel and unusual punishment, by using a large Burmese python to intimidate him during his jail …

Prison: America’s Most Vile Export?

Article • October 28, 2015

Filed under: Prison Reform, Statistics/Trends, Cost of Prison Systems, Conditions of Confinement, Lockdowns, Prisoners-International, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement

Prison: America’s Most Vile Export? by Baz Dreisinger Prison: America’s Most Vile Export? The U.S. incarceration problem is now the world’s to solve. by Baz Dreisinger Behind the bars of a prison in Brazil, the federal agent on duty sidled up to me. “You’re getting a good report, yes?” he …

British Banking Giant Fined for Laundering Mexican Drug Money Through U.S. Banks

Article • August 31, 2015 • from PLN September, 2015

Filed under: War on Drugs

British Banking Giant Fined for Laundering Mexican Drug Money Through U.S. Banks by Matthew Clarke British Banking Giant Fined for Laundering Mexican Drug Money Through U.S. Banks by Matt Clarke In December 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) fined major British bank HSBC almost $2 billion following an investigation …

News in Brief

Article • September 12, 2014 • from PLN September, 2014

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by News in Brief Brazil: Brazilian authorities announced on January 15, 2014 that an investigation would be initiated into atrocities at the infamous Pedrinhas penitentiary. Bloody battles between rival prison gangs resulted in complaints of mass rapes of women visitors and the posting of a video depicting …

Mexican Prison Guards Implicated in Deadly Riot

Article • August 15, 2013 • from PLN August, 2013

Filed under: Organizing, Prison Rebellion

Mexican Prison Guards Implicated in Deadly Riot by Investigators in Monterrey, Mexico believe that prison guards assisted members of a drug cartel in staging a riot – which killed 44 prisoners – as part of an escape plan. The riot occurred early in the morning on February 19, 2012 at …

Alaskan Private Prison Promoter Arrested in Mexico, Extradited to U.S. on Child Sexual Abuse Charges

Article • February 15, 2012 • from PLN February, 2012

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, Elections, Lobbying, Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution

Alaskan Private Prison Promoter Arrested in Mexico, Extradited to U.S. on Child Sexual Abuse Charges by In the 1980s, Bill Weimar became a rich man when his company, Allvest Corporation, owned and operated a chain of private halfway houses in Alaska. He heavily promoted building a private prison in Alaska, …

Mexican Prison Officials Arm and Release Prisoners for Hit Squad Duties

Article • May 15, 2011 • from PLN May, 2011

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct, Prison/Jail Murders, Conspiracy, Prisoners-International, Murder by Escapees

Mexican Prison Officials Arm and Release Prisoners for Hit Squad Duties by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke A Mexican prison director, Margarita Rojas Rodriguez, and three other prison employees were detained in August 2010 while their role in arming and releasing prisoners to kill rival gang members was investigated. [See: …

Jose Medellin Executed; Vienna Convention Controversy Lives On

Article • February 15, 2009 • from PLN February, 2009

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Criminal Prosecution, International Law, Death Penalty

Jose Medellin Executed; Vienna Convention Controversy Lives On by Matthew Clarke Jose Medellin Executed; Vienna Convention Controversy Lives On by Matt Clarke On August 5, 2008 at 9:48 p.m., the State of Texas began the lethal injection that ended the life of Jose E. Medellin. In doing so, it ignored …

No Remedy for Mexican Doctor Kidnapped, Tortured by DEA

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Federal Statutory Law, Federal Tort Claims Act, Prisoners-International, Alien Tort Statute (International), False Arrest

No Remedy for Mexican Doctor Kidnapped, Tortured by DEA by The plaintiff, a Mexican physician, was believed by Drug Enforcement Administration officials to have assisted in the interrogation and torture of a DEA agent in Mexico, and was indicted in California. The DEA hired Mexican nationals to seize him and …

Maquiladoras Expanding in Mexico; Global System of Prison Factories Envisioned

Article • June 15, 2006 • from PLN June, 2006

Filed under: Work, Prison Industries, Prison Labor

Maquiladoras Expanding in Mexico; Global System of Prison Factories Envisioned by Michael Rigby U.S. businessman Joe Robertson has a dream: A global system of foreign-owned factories employing prisoners and their families for low wages and with few benefits. But for now his sights are set on Mexico, where he hopes …

President Bush Orders Compliance With World Court Order, Withdraws From Optional Protocol

Article • January 15, 2006 • from PLN January, 2006

Filed under: International Law, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty

President Bush Orders Compliance With World Court Order, Withdraws From Optional Protocol by by Matthew T. Clarke President Bush has ordered the states to comply with a March 2004 decision of the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court. In that decision the World Court ruled that …

Mexican Prisons in Crisis: Cartels Murder Prisoners and Guards

Article • December 15, 2005 • from PLN December, 2005

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Government Misconduct, Prison/Jail Murders, Crime, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, International, Prisoners-International

Mexican Prisons in Crisis: Cartels Murder Prisoners and Guards by by Matthew T. Clarke One of the achievements of which Mexican President Vicente Fox is most proud is the record-breaking number of drug lords who have been arrested and thrown into federal prison during his tenure. He has a right …

California Prison Gang Linked to Guards and Mexican Drug Cartel

Article • November 15, 2005 • from PLN November, 2005

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct, Gang Policies, Escapes, Crime

California Prison Gang Linked to Guards and Mexican Drug Cartel by A barber shop in National City, California was allegedly the war room" connecting the statewide Mexican Mafia gang (Eme) to the underworld Arellano Felix drug cartel in nearby Mexico, according to investigators from the California Department of Corrections (CDC). …

World Court Rules Against U.S. for Consular Notification Failures

Article • September 15, 2004 • from PLN September, 2004

Filed under: International Law, Immigration, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty

World Court Rules Against U.S. for Consular Notification Failures by by Matthew T. Clarke On March 31, 2004, the International Court of Justice (also known as the World Court) held that the United States was in violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR). The case was brought by …

World Court Orders U.S. to Stop Executing Mexicans

Article • November 15, 2003 • from PLN November, 2003

Filed under: International Law, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty

World Court Orders U.S. to Stop Executing Mexicans by by Matthew T. Clarke On January 5, 2003, Mexico applied for an injunction from the International Court of Justice, or World Court, to halt the execution of 54 of its citizens by the United States. Mexico claimed that none of them …

Cheap Mexican Prison Labor Exploited by U.S. Firms

Article • October 15, 2003 • from PLN October, 2003

Filed under: Work, Prison Industries

Cheap Mexican Prison Labor Exploited by U.S. Firms by Even with U.S. laws prohibiting the importation of commodities produced with prison labor, prison officials in northern Mexico report that prisoners there are making furniture headed for Texas. Moreover, they're pursuing more contracts with American companies to produce a variety of …

Mexico Bars Extradition of Criminals Facing Life Sentences

Article • November 15, 2002 • from PLN November, 2002

Filed under: Crime, Sentencing, Detainers, International Law

Mexico Bars Extradition of Criminals Facing Life Sentences by A ruling by the supreme court of Mexico has blocked the extradition of more than 70 murderers, drug smugglers and organized crime figures who face life sentences in U.S. prisons. The high court's decision, handed down in October 2001 and published …

Mexican Sweatshops Go Behind Bars

Article • October 15, 2002 • from PLN October, 2002

Filed under: Work, Prison Industries, Prison Labor, Prisoners-International

Mexican Sweatshops Go Behind Bars by Michael Rigby For years U.S. citizens have screamed about losing jobs to cheap overseas labor. Now it seems that U.S. prisoners are in danger of losing jobs to even cheaper prison labor in Mexico. In an effort to stimulate its economy, Mexico is allowing …

World Court Upholds Foreigners' Right to Contact Their Embassies

Article • January 15, 2002 • from PLN January, 2002

Filed under: International Law, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty

World Court Upholds Foreigners' Right to Contact Their Embassies by Gerardo Valdez, a Mexican citizen who had been scheduled for execution this fall in Oklahoma, was granted an indefinite stay by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals in September due to a recent decision from the International Court of Justice, …