Former Warden, Sheriff, Justice of the Peace Charged in Texas Corruption Scandal by Matthew Clarke Elberto Esquiel Bravo, 55, the former warden at the East Hidalgo County Detention Center, was arrested in January 2015 and charged with acting as an accessory after the fact in a conspiracy to bribe Hidalgo …
Father of Four Dies in Privately-operated Texas Jail; Civil Suit Expected by On October 5, 2016, the Huffington Post released disturbing video from inside a private prison in Texarkana, Texas that showed Michael Sabbie, a 35-year-old father of four, being violently flung to the ground by a group of six …
Prison Rodeos: A Bunch of Bull? by David Reutter Rarely does the public find anything entertaining about a person who has been convicted of a crime and sent to prison. That is not the case with prison rodeos, however, which draw people from all over the U.S. and even other …
Prominent Texas Capital Defense Attorney Suspended for a Year by David Dow has near-legendary status among death penalty attorneys in Texas. He works pro bono for clients whose lives literally depend on him; he takes their cases after they arrive on death row, often seeking to right the wrongs committed …
Private Prison in Texas Closes after Riot Renders it Uninhabitable by Matthew Clarke On February 20, 2015, an uprising occurred at the Willacy County Correctional Center (WCCC), a private prison located in Raymondville, Texas that was operated by Utah-based Management and Training Corporation (MTC). The facility primarily housed criminal immigrant …
Willacy V. Management & Training Corp., prison mismanagement complaint, 2016 Case 1:16-cv-00307 Document 1 Filed in TXSD on 12/07/16 Page 1 of 9 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS BROWNSVILLE DIVISION § § WILLACY COUNTY LOCAL GOVERNMENT CORPORATION § § Plaintiff, § § § …
Crappy criminal-justice reporting demonstrates journalism flaws exploited on national stage by Terry Hanning Crappy criminal-justice reporting demonstrates journalism flaws exploited on national stage “A lie ain’t a side of a story. It’s just a lie.” Terry Hanning, The Wire Since the presidential election, the national press has been struggling with the …
Grassroots Leadership Inc. v. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, TX, Judgment, Denying MSJ, 2016 ;::•cc-' in Th; District Court cf Travis County, Texas ('(j ·f?r DEC 2 2016 No. D-1-GN-15-004336 At M. Velva L. P ce, District Clerk GRASSROOTS LEADERSHIP, INC., et al., Plaintiffs, § § § § …
A Solitary Failure - The Waste, Cost and Harm of Solitary Confinement in Texas, ACLU TCRP, 2015 A Solitary Failure The Waste, Cost and Harm of Solitary Confinement in Texas February 2015 A Solitary Failure: The Waste, Cost and Harm of Solitary Confinement in Texas February 2015 American Civil Liberties …
The Department of Criminal Justice’s Oversight of Selected Providers That Deliver Residential Services and Substance Abuse Treatment Programs, TX SAO, 2010 John Keel, CPA State Auditor An Audit Report on The Department of Criminal Justice’s Oversight of Selected Providers That Deliver Residential Services and Substance Abuse Treatment Programs March 2010 …
Federal Judge Orders Texas Department of Criminal Justice to Provide Safe Water to Prisoners by Derek Gilna On June 21, 2016, U.S. District Court Judge Keith Ellison ordered the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to provide prisoners at the Wallace Pack Unit in Navasota with drinking water free of …
Video Visitation Companies Try to Stop In-Person Visitation at Texas Jails by Matthew Clarke In one of the latest attempts to squeeze money out of those least able to afford it, companies that specialize in providing phone and video visitation services to prisoners in Texas jails on a local monopolistic …
Texas Plans to Allow In-Prison Marriage Ceremonies for Prisoners by Texas prison officials have announced plans to permit what has long been prohibited in Texas prisons--weddings. The move was spurred by the elimination of proxy marriages for prisoners, the traditionally method used by Texas prisoners to marry. Proxy marriages allow …
Texas Parole Commissioner Indicted for Falsifying Parole Records by Matthew Clarke On October 1, 2014, a Walker County grand jury indicted Texas parole commissioner Pamela Freeman for making "a false entry in a government record, to-wit: Parole memorandum, said false entry being that an inmate 'refused to interview.'" Freeman, who …
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Upholds Conviction for Contacting Victim by Lonnie Burton On April 27, 2016, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the conviction of a Texas state prisoner for Improper Contact with a Victim. David Schlittler was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of his five-year-old stepdaughter. He …
Texas County has High Number of In-Custody Deaths by Between 2005 and October 2014, 91 prisoners from Lubbock County, Texas, died in custody. This included 61 who died while imprisoned in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), 16 in Lubbock Police Department custody, 12 in the custody of the …
Coats v. Harris County, TX, 7th Amended Petition, Wrongful Death Cocaine, 2016 10/28/2016 7:20:43 PM Chris Daniel - District Clerk Harris County Envelope No. 13515582 By: TERESA KIRBY Filed: 10/28/2016 7:20:43 PM CAUSE NO. 2012-55551 BARBARA COATS, Individually, as Personal Representative of the Estate of JAMAIL AMRON, Deceased, and as …
Mentally Ill Texas Jail Prisoner Celled in Fetid Squalor for Months by Matthew Clarke Almost a year after a surprise inspection of the Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) resulted in the discovery of a mentally ill prisoner who had been locked …
Former Prison Guard Escapes from Texas State Jail by Charlie Davis, Jr.--a former Texas prison guard--escaped from the Wheeler State Jail in Plainview, Texas, on October 27, 2014. Davis, 36, worked as a guard at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Clements Unit in Amarillo, a maximum-security prison, from April …
Fifth Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Suit over In-Custody Death by On February 10, 2016, the Fifth Circuit court of appeals upheld the dismissal of a suit brought over the in-custody death due to PCP toxicity. Marcus Dewayne Slade was arrested after Marshall, Texas police encountered him naked, agitated and having …
