Texas Religious Group Policies May Violate First Amendment and RLUIPA; TDCJ Changes Policy by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) policies that had the effect of prohibiting a prisoner from meeting with other members of his religion and possessing religious items may …
Swine Flu Widespread in Prisons and Jails, but Deaths are Few by David Reutter by David M. Reutter For hundreds of years the cramped, overcrowded and often filthy confines of dungeons, prisons, jails and other places of imprisonment have served as incubators for infectious diseases, which have killed more prisoners …
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 …
Federal Judge Holds Texas Parole Board Coleman Hearings Unconstitutional by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On August 6, 2009, a federal judge ruled that hearings held by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) to determine whether onerous sex offender conditions should be imposed on parolees not convicted of …
Denial of Medical Care Causes Two Riots at GEO Group Texas Prison by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On December 12, 2008, a riot erupted at the GEO Group-run Reeves County Detention Center (RCDC) in Pecos, Texas, which houses federal immigration detainees. The uprising was triggered by the death of …
Ineligible Texas Prisoners Receive Federal Stimulus Checks by Jimmy Franks Between May and June of last year, hundreds of federal economic stimulus checks began to arrive at various Texas prisons, addressed to prisoners who were thought to be eligible to receive them. Those payments were part of 1,700 stimulus checks …
Exposure to Freezing Cold More than De Minimis in Texas Retaliation Case by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a district court had erred when it dismissed a prisoner’s retaliation-based civil rights suit as de minimis when the prisoner’s alleged injury was exposure to freezing cold for four-and-a-half …
Unprovoked Texas Cattle Prod Shocking More Than De Minimis Injury, Case Settles for $20,000 by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On September 5, 2007, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a guard who used a cattle prod to shock a prisoner without any provocation caused more than a …
U.S. DOJ Calls Houston Jail Unconstitutional, Prisoner Death Rate Alarming by Gary Hunter As a follow-up to PLN’s October 2009 cover story, this article examines in greater detail findings by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) related to conditions at the Harris County jail in Houston, Texas. From 2001 through …
Federal Jury Awards $5 Million for Wrongful Conviction Involving Houston Crime Lab by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke A Texas federal jury awarded $5 million to a former prisoner who was wrongly convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault based in part on falsified evidence generated by the Houston Police Department’s …
PLN Sues Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice Over Censorship; Court Upholds Rights of Book Distributors by Alex Friedmann On November 4, 2009, Prison Legal News filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas against Brad Livingston, Executive Director of the Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), …
Sex with Former Jail Employee Lands Texas Sex Offender Back in Prison by On February 27, 2009, three days after his release from prison, Wydell J. Vaughn, 28, found himself back behind bars for having a romantic relationship with a former jail employee. Vaughn was convicted in 2002 on two …
Texas Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Ex-Prisoner’s Religious Halfway House by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On June 19, 2009, the Texas Supreme Court held that a city zoning ordinance which effectively banned a religious halfway house in the City of Sinton violated the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act …
Fifth Circuit Reinstates Texas Prisoner’s Failure-to-Protect Suit by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed in part a district court’s dismissal of a prisoner’s failure-to-protect suit, though the case lost at trial after remand. Ernesto R. Hinojosa, Sr., a Texas state prisoner, was housed in …
Escapees Retain No Privacy Right From Searches by Prison escapees enjoy no Fourth Amendment right to privacy, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decided February 26, 2009. Dan Ward was mistakenly released by state authorities after receiving a ten year sentence for being a felon-in-possession of a …
Rodriguez v. City of Houston, TX, Atty Fee Order, Wrongful Rape Conviction, 2009 Case 4:06-cv-02650 Document 384 Filed in TXSD on 12/22/09 Page 1 of 7 Case 4:06-cv-02650 Document 384 Filed in TXSD on 12/22/09 Page 2 of 7 Case 4:06-cv-02650 Document 384 Filed in TXSD on 12/22/09 Page 3 …
The Crisis of Juvenile Prison Rape: A New Report by by David Kaiser and Lovisa Stannow When Troy Erik Isaac was first imprisoned in California, his cellmate made the introductions for both of them. “He said to me, ‘Your name is gonna be Baby Romeo, and I’m Big Romeo.’ He …
Ex-Prisoners Acquitted for Insufficient Evidence May Not Sue Texas by On July 31, 2008, a Texas appeals court ruled that persons who were convicted of a crime, spent time in prison while awaiting appeal, but were acquitted due to insufficient evidence on appeal, were not entitled to sue the State …
TDCJ Pays $45,000 to Settle Discrimination Complaint by On June 30, 2005, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice entered into a settlement agreement with employee Gary Walls. The settlement is the result of discrimination complaints filed by Walls with the Texas Workforce Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. To …
TDCJ Pays $45,000 to Settle Sexual Harassment Claim by On March 3, 2005, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice agreed to pay $45,000 to Bethaney Clopp and her attorney, George Chandler, PC, to settle a civil action alleging a "sexually hostile work environment and retaliation." The case was brought under …
