Judicial Review of Disciplinary Conviction Not Moot Upon Prisoner’s Release by On December 9, 2008, the Tennessee Court of Appeals at Nashville found that a former prisoner’s petition was not moot strictly because he had been released from custody. The appellate court remanded the case for a complete review of …
TDC Correspondence Rules Challenged (1971) by In 1971, Texas prisoner Guadalupe Guajardo filed a class-action lawsuit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 challenging the constitutionality of the correspondence rules and practices that were currently in effect in the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC). When the district court found many of …
Houston May Not Keep Traffic Light Camera Documents Secret by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On October 12, 2009, a Texas state district court held that the City of Houston had no right to keep secret over 250 government documents related to the deployment and use of traffic cameras at …
Magistrate’s Recommendations Accepted in Texas Mental Health Case by On May 19, 2009, A U.S. Magistrate Judge filed his recommendations in a complaint brought by Miroslava Rodriguez-Grava (Rodriguez) and Iaias Vasquez Cisneros De Jesus (De Jesus) for their treatment while they were detained at the South Texas Detention Complex (STDC). …
Money May Be Withdrawn From Texas Prisoner's Trust Fund without Prior Notice by On June 5, 2009, the Supreme Court of Texas held that funds may be removed from a state prisoner's trust fund account to satisfy a court order without prior notice to the prisoner. Walter E. Harrell, a …
Texas Prisoner Granted Conditional Mandamus Relief by In a 2-1 split decision filed on November 26, 2008, a Texas appellate court granted in part a prisoner’s petition for writ of mandamus filed after a district Judge refused to file a lawsuit filed by the prisoner, Gordon Simmonds. Citing Chapter 14 …
Bexar County, Texas Fails to Properly Evaluate Mentally Ill Jail Prisoners by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke In 2009 the Texas legislature amended a law, codified at Article 16.22 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, with the intent to require early identification of mentally ill jail prisoners so they can …
Texas State Auditor’s Reports Find Problems with Parole System by Gary Hunter Two audits of Texas’ parole system, in 2008 and 2010, revealed a number of problems and inefficiencies. According to the first audit, released in June 2008, approximately 1,250 Texas parole officers supervised 77,526 parolees during fiscal year 2007. …
Texas Legislator Who Helped Prisoners’ Families Indicted, Convicted, Sentenced by Gary Hunter For 14 years, Texas State Rep. Terri Hodge (D-Dallas) was a staunch defender of minorities and prisoners’ rights in the Texas legislature. On October 1, 2007, federal prosecutors indicted Hodge on 14 counts of corruption including bribery, fraud …
Disgraced Doctor Good Enough for Texas Prisoners by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke In 2006, Anita Goodman lost her 31-year-old son Aaron to an overdose of prescription medication as a wave of similar deaths rolled through Harris, Jefferson and Orange Counties in Southeast Texas. Aaron picked up a prescription drug …
Fifth Circuit Holds Texas Parole Revocation Witness Denial Violates Due Process by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) failed to comport with the due process requirements of Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 92 S.Ct. 2593 (1972) when it …
Texas Audits Private Prison and Substance Abuse Treatment Contract Monitoring by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke In March 2010, the Texas State Auditor’s Office released a report on a performance audit of the Private Facilities Contract Monitoring and Oversight Division (PFCMOD). The PFCMOD monitors private prisons and private substance abuse …
Texas Supreme Court Rules Typed Copy of Grievance Decision Satisfies Chapter 14 by The Supreme Court of Texas has held that a prisoner who submits a hand-typed copy of the prison grievance decision he received adequately meets the requirements of Chapter 14, Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code (TCPRC). Michael …
Is Operation Streamline a Billion Dollar Give-away to the Private Prison Industry? by Bob Libal A new “green paper” released on July 19, 2010, entitled Operation Streamline: Drowning Justice and Draining Dollars along the Rio Grande, takes a look at the impact of Operation Streamline on the private prison industry. …
Blind Texas Prisoner Dies after Confrontation with Guards by Thord “Catfish “ Dockray, 42, a blind Texas state prisoner with a history of mental illness, died on May 13, 2010 following a violent altercation with prison guards. Dockray was housed alone in a cell in the medical wing of the …
New Epidemic: Contraband Cell Phones in Prison Cells by Mark Wilson For decades, prison officials across the U.S. have lined their pockets with multi-million dollar kickbacks from telephone companies that are awarded lucrative prisoner phone service contracts. In doing so, they unwittingly created an “epidemic” that they are now desperately …
Fifth Circuit Holds Texas Parole Revocation Witness Denial Violated Due Process by The Fifth Circuit court of appeals held that the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) failed to comport with the due process requirements of Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972), …
Texas Pays for Geriatric Prisoners, Rarely Grants Medical Parole by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke In the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), geriatric prisoners – those over 55 years old – comprise only 7.3% of TDCJ’s population. However, they account for almost one-third of the prison system’s medical expenses. …
McGiverin SBT Grievance Form against Judge Keller, TX, judicial complaints, 2011 OFFICE OF THE CHIEF DISCIPLINARY COUNSEL STATE BAR OF TEXAS GRIEVANCE FORM I. GENERAL INFORMATION Before you fill out this paperwork, there may be a faster way to resolve the issue you are currently having with an attorney. If …
Medical Examiners Lack Qualifications, Competence, Oversight by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke Most people will only have direct contact with a medical examiner, also known as a forensic pathologist, after they are dead. Thus, medical examiners have a certain mystic quality and are perceived as both doctors and sleuths who …
