Ineffective Attempts to Protect Texas Prisoner Were Sufficient by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s denial of summary judgment to prison officials who had failed to safeguard a Texas state prisoner, saying their ineffective attempts to protect him were sufficient. Gregory Moore was incarcerated at the …
$25,000 Federal Jury Award For Racial/Sex Discrimination by TDCJ by On October 9, 2003, a federal jury awarded a former employee of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) $25,000 in compensation for damages caused by discrimination against her due to her race and gender. Latrice M. Sellers was a …
TDCJ Pays $10,000 to Settle Sexual Harassment Suit by On April 28, 2004, Texas Prison guard Patricia Jane Eads signed a settlement agreement with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) in connection with a Title VII claim filed by her attorney, Clinton E. Wells, Jr., with McDowell & Colmer, …
TDCJ Pays $43,000 in Settlement of Traffic Accident Liability by On August 30, 2007, Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) agreed to pay $43,749 for damages incurred in a traffic accident on March 21, 2006 in Snyder, Texas. Although TDCJ contends it is not liable, the vehicle that caused the …
TDCJ Pays $50,000 to Settle Racial Discrimination Suit by Upon receiving notice of right to sue from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on July 1, 2002, Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) employee Freestone James filed a racial discrimination suit against TDCJ and his immediate supervisor, Michael Traylor. Under the …
TDCJ Pays $1500 to Settle Prison Rape Case by On December 27, 2005, Texas prisoner Jose Jiminez filed a lawsuit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against two Texas prison guards alleging their deliberate indifference to his safety resulted in his being assaulted and raped by another prisoner. The attack …
TDCJ Settles Racial Discrimination Case for $10,000 by In March 2004, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) settled a racial discrimination suit for $10,000. John Spears was employed as a Food Service Manager III at the Lopez State Jail when he allegedly suffered racial discrimination from his supervisor. He …
Texas Parolee Challenges His Designation as Sex Offender by On September 3, 2002, Texas parolee Miller Branch, Jr., filed an amended civil rights complaint in federal district court pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 challenging his designation as a "sex offender" by parole officials and the requirement that he register …
5th Circuit Affirms Judgment against Guard in Texas Excessive Force Case by On July 29, 2004, Texas prison Guard Juan Martinez was found guilty in district court of inflicting cruel and unusual punishment upon prisoner Avniel Awan Anthony. The finding was the result of a jury trial in the § …
Excessive Force Suit Filed Against Texas Prison Officials by On October 20, 2000, John C. Luke, a Texas state prisoner incarcerated at the Clements Unit, filed a civil rights suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in federal district court alleging that excessive use of force by a prison guard …
Texas Tech and TDCJ Settle Prisoner Suicide Suit for $85,000 by On April 2, 2009, Texas Tech University Health Science Center (TTUHSC) and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) settled for $85,000 a lawsuit involving a prisoner who committed suicide at the Clements Unit. Theodore Schmerber was a Texas …
Texas Court of Appeals Reverses Dismissal of Prisoner’s Retaliation Suit; Second Dismissal Affirmed After Remand by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke A Texas Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of a prisoner’s lawsuit alleging that he suffered retaliation for litigation activities. However, after the case was again dismissed following remand, …
Davis v. McDuffie, TX, Verdict, Failure to Protect, 2010 Case 9:07-cv-00019-RC-ZJH Document 192 Filed 04/14/10 Page 1 of 2 PageID #: 1055 FI LEp IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS GfR IL / ~ 20L9 LUFKIN DIVISION DAVID J. MALAND, CLERK PM DARYLL.DAVIS, U.S. …
A Tight Leash: Judges Micromanage Federal Offenders After Release by Brandon Sample The number of people serving terms of supervised release after leaving federal prison is creeping ever closer to 100,000. As judges and probation officers attempt to manage their growing caseloads, more and more judges are imposing supervised release …
Texas Counties Give Up on Probationer Restitution Centers by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke In the 1980s, faced with overcrowded prisons and probationers who often failed to pay their court-ordered fees and fines, some Texas counties came up with what sounded like a good idea: the Probationer Restitution Center (PRC). …
Call Your Attorney from Jail, Go to Prison by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg Jail prisoners in California, Florida, Michigan and Texas have unknowingly had their phone calls to defense attorneys secretly recorded and handed over to prosecutors. The recordings surfaced before trial, when prosecutors were required to divulge …
Texas to Eliminate Centralized Release of Prisoners by By September 1, 2010, a long-standing Texas prison tradition will come to an end--the centralized release of prisoners. The vast majority of Texas prisoners released each year--more than 42,000 in 2008--are processed out through a red-brick walled prison built in 1842 designated …
Texas Youth Commission Causes Consternation, Conflict in State Legislature by Gary Hunter Last year, honoring the request of state Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, the Office of the Independent Ombudsman (OIO) of the Texas Youth Commission investigated the reason for the “alarming trend regarding adult certifications” of youthful offenders in Texas. …
GEO Group Prison Squalor Drives Idaho Prisoner to Suicide: $100,000 Settlement by On September 13, 2009, the Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) reached a settlement with the parents of an Idaho state prisoner who was driven to suicide by squalid conditions at a GEO Group-run private prison in Texas, where …
Texas Prison Guard Gets 24 Months in Federal Prison by In August 2009, a former Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) guard was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison in connection with a vicious assault on a handcuffed prisoner. Eugene Morris, Jr., a TDCJ sergeant at the Ferguson Unit, …
