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 …
Texas Capital Defendants with Hired Attorneys Rarely Receive Death Sentences by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke In February 2010, the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) published an issue brief on the relationship between hired defense counsel and the death penalty. The brief concluded that defendants charged with …
Budget Deficits Lead to Fewer Supermax Beds by Mark Wilson Throughout the 1990s, “Supermax” prisons and control units – commonly called Security Housing Units (SHUs) or Intensive Management Units (IMUs) – sprang up across the nation. Between 1995 and 2000 the general prison population increased by 28 percent, but according …
$389,548.55 Total Award in Texas Jail Strip Search Suit by On February 5, 2009, a former jail prisoner in Wood County, Texas was awarded $60,000 by a federal jury after being subjected to an unlawful strip search. She had previously settled claims against the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) for …
Former Texas Youth Commission Official Gets Ten Years in Prison by On April 22, 2010, a former Texas Youth Commission (TYC) official convicted of sexually abusing a young offender was sentenced to ten years in prison. Ray Edwards Brookins, formerly the assistant superintendent of TYC’s West Texas State School, was …
Prison Legal News v. Livingston et al., TX, Order, TDCJ censorship, 2011 Case 2:09-cv-00296 Document 96 Filed in TXSD on 01/04/11 Page 1 of 32 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS CORPUS CHRISTI DIVISION PRISON LEGAL NEWS, Plaintiff, VS. BRAD LIVINGSTON, et al, Defendants. § § § § …
How to Subpoena a Government Agent, Compliance with Touhy Regulations, Federal Public Defenders Office-Western District Texas, 2011 How To Subpoena A Government Agent: Compliance With Touhy Regulations for ICE, CBP, DEA and FBI Elizabeth A. O’Connell, Research and Writing Specialist, Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Western District of Texas …
The Graying of America’s Prisons by James Ridgeway Frank Soffen, now 70 years old, has lived more than half his life in prison, and will likely die there. Sentenced to life for second-degree murder, Soffen has suffered four heart attacks and is confined to a wheelchair. He has lately been …
Texas Sues Former Prisoner Over Unauthorized Practice of Law by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On May 12, 2010, the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee (UPLC), a nine-member body appointed by the Texas Supreme Court that is responsible for enforcing statutes prohibiting the unauthorized practice of law, filed suit against …
Over $26 Million Owed for Forfeited Bail Bonds in Harris County, Texas by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke If you are arrested in Harris County (Houston), Texas, you can usually pay a bondsman 10% of the bail amount to get out of jail. The bondsman pledges the full amount and …
