Top Official in Boston Mayor’s Office Charged With Money Laundering in Prison Drug Smuggling Scheme by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders Smuggling contraband into prison – like the synthetic cannabinoid known as K2 or “spice” – is a ubiquitous problem. There is an opportunity to quickly make significant money when …

News in Brief by Alabama: WBAM in Birmingham reported that a guard at the Blount County Jail was taken into custody and fired on January 31, 2023. Joseph Snow, 43, was charged with second-degree assault for injuring a detainee during an incident captured on surveillance video. Sheriff Mike Moon called …

Gun Safety Group Defeats Re-Election of “Constitutional Sheriff” in Massachusetts by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders In the November 2022 elections, voters elected a new sheriff in Bristol County, Massachusetts: Democrat Paul Heroux defeated his Republican opponent, Sheriff Tom Hodgson. The local race garnered national headlines, not just because Heroux, …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Jail Detainee’s Urine Not a ‘Noxious or Filthy Substance’ by David Reutter by David M. Reutter In an opinion issued on November 22, 2022, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that urine is not a “noxious or filthy substance.” Therefore, the Court affirmed dismissal of …

News in Brief by News in Brief Alabama: On January 9, 2023, the Montgomery Police Department (MPD) arrested a guard at the city jail for an alleged off-duty assault, the Birmingham News reported. It’s unclear who filed the misdemeanor complaint against Reba Foulks, 36; MPD didn’t begin its investigation until …

Massachusetts High Court: Lawmakers Haven’t Stopped Sheriffs From Taking Kickbacks from Jail Phone Calls, and Neither Will We by Benjamin Tschirhart by Benjamin Tschirhart On May 17, 2022, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that sheriffs may continue the decades-old practice of collecting commissions from charges for phone calls …

Larocque v. Turco, MA, Settlement, Denial of Right to Counsel, 2023 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE OF CLAIMS In settlement of the civil action filed in the Suffolk Superior Court entitled Carl LaRocque, et al. v. Thomas Turco, et al., 2084CV00295 ("the Litigation"), CARL LAROCQUE, ROBERT SILVA-PRENTICE, COMMITTEE FOR PUBLIC COUNSEL …

News in Brief by Alabama: WHNT in Huntsville reported on December 16, 2022, that a Morgan County Jail detainee was charged with assaulting a guard. Ashley Nicole Taymon, 36, had gotten into an altercation at the Community Corrections Office five days earlier and was taken to a hospital. There she …

Tibbs v. Morales, MA, Memo and Order, Transgender, 2022 �ll� cl, u/\f \,1� J: II COMMONWEALTH OF MASSAQWSETIS SUP�OR COURT CIVIL ACTION No.1984CV01506 SUFFOLK, ss. JEROME TIBBS a/k/a NINA TIBBS RICHARD L� MORALES & others1 �UPERIOR COURT CIVIL ACTION No.2184CV00384 SUFFOLK,-ss. JEROME TIBBS aJk!a NINA TIBBS & DARIUS GIBSON CAROL …

USA v. MDOC, MA, Settlement Agreement, Conditions of Confinement, Dec. 2022 AGREEMENT Dec. 20, 2022 BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 1 II. DEFINITIONS ........................................................................................................................ 2 III. SUBSTANTIVE PROVISIONS.............................................................................................. 3 Policies and Procedures .......................................................................................................... 3 Staffing Plan............................................................................................................................ 5 Training ................................................................................................................................... 6 …

Guards Nabbed for Worker’s Comp Fraud in Illinois and Connecticut by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott On November 15, 2022, a guard at Illinois’ McLean County Jail was arrested and charged with worker’s compensation fraud after he allegedly lied about a work-related injury to goose his payout from …

New Cape Cod Sheriff Will “Rip Up” Agreement to Assist ICE in Immigration Enforcement by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott Come January 2023, Massachusetts’ Barnstable County Jail (BCJ) will no longer participate in the federal immigration enforcement program. The move comes over 15 years after outgoing Sheriff James …

COVID-19 Injunction Lapses in Oregon, Another Fails in Massachusetts by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson On June 21, 2022, a preliminary injunction granted by the federal court for the District of Oregon expired, ending its mandate that state prison employees comply with the COVID-19 masking policy of the state Department …

News in Brief by Alabama: A convicted bank robber had 30 months added to his 17-year prison sentence on September 26, 2022, for bribing an Alabama jail guard to smuggle him a cellphone, K2 “spice” paper, and other contraband. According to a federal Department of Justice (DOJ) press release, while …

After Massachusetts Prisoner Beats Guard, GOP Lawmakers Push to Eliminate Prison Workout Equipment by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott On October 20, 2022, Massachusetts prisoner Roy L. Booth, Jr. 40, was formally charged with armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery causing serious bodily injury and …

Commonwealth v. Phenpimol, MA, Dft's Emergency Motion to Dismiss Indictments Counts on Second Amendment Grounds, Possession of Firearm, 2022 LAW OFFICE OF HECTOR E. Pll\fEIRO, P.C. 807 MAIN STREET WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS 01610 (508) 770-0600 FAX (508) 770--1300 HECTOR E. PINEIRO hector@pineirolegal.com NANCY CRUZ DE PINEIRO Business Manager nancy@pineirolegal.com October 17, …

SCOTUS Reinstates Boston Marathon Bomber’s Death Sentence by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson In a 6-3 decision authored by Justice Clarence Thomas on March 4, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death sentence of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, reversing a lower appellate court to conclude that the trial …

News in Brief by Alabama: On June 3, 2022, a guard was arrested for having sex with a prisoner at Alabama’s Pickens County Jail, according to a report by WTVA in Tupelo, Mississippi. The guard, Marquita Booker, 28, was fired after her arrest, which followed an investigation that earlier in …

Life Sentences Commuted for Two Massachusetts Prisoners Convicted of First-Degree Murder by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders On April 21, 2022, the Massachusetts Parole Board voted unanimously to grant parole to state prisoner William Allen, nine days after taking another unanimous vote to parole another Bay State prisoner, Thomas Koonce, …

Federal Courts Order Seizure of Canteen Funds for Restitution Owed by High-Profile Prisoners by David M. Reutter by David M. Reutter In two recent cases, federal courts have granted orders to seize funds from prisoners after sizable balances in their canteen accounts came to prosecutors’ attention. In federal court for …