Fifth Circuit Upholds Correspondence Restrictions in Houston Jail by On August 9, 2000, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court's dismissal of a prisoner's challenge to correspondence restrictions at the Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas. Matthew James Leachman, a prisoner at the Harris County Jail, filed …
Cheney and Gonzales Indicted in Connection with Private Prison in Texas by Matthew Clarke Cheney and Gonzales Indicted in Connection with Private Prison in Texas by Matt Clarke On November 17, 2008, a Texas grand jury returned an indictment against then-Vice President Richard B. Cheney and former U.S. Attorney General …
Texas Court of Appeals Upholds $42.5 Million Award Against Wackenhut / GEO Group by Matthew Clarke Texas Court of Appeals Upholds $42.5 Million Award Against Wackenhut / GEO Group by Matt Clarke On April 2, 2009, a Texas Court of Appeals upheld a jury award of $22,000,000 in actual damages …
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: 
Concurrent Sentences Mean Concurrent Fines by Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: ?Concurrent Sentences Mean Concurrent Fines The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) ruled that fines imposed as part of a sentence for multiple counts of an offense committed during the course of a single …
Texas Lawmakers “Surprised” Over Hiring of Non-Citizen Prison Guards on Work Visas by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke Texas has 112 prisons and employs 23,700 guards – which is 2,600 shy of the number authorized by the state legislature. The shortage of prison staff is not new and neither is …
New Texas Prison Hospital Approved by On January 16, 2009, Texas lawmakers announced that the state will convert a dormant 59-year-old federal medical center into a prison hospital for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). The five-story, 100-bed Thomas T. Connally Veterans Affairs Medical Center has not been used …
Rodriguez-Grava & Cisneros de Jesus v. GEO Group, TX, Order, Failure to Provide Mental Health Services, 2009 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS SAN ANTONIO DIVISION MIROSLAVA RODRIGUEZ-GRAVA and ISAIAS VASQUEZ CISNEROS DE JESUS, § § § § Plaintiffs, § § vs. § § GEO GROUP, INC.; THE …
Sexual Abuse by Prison and Jail Staff Proves Persistent, Pandemic by Gary Hunter Sexual assault, rape, indecency, deviance. These terms represent reprehensible behavior in our society. They also represent recurring themes in our nation’s prisons – not only by prisoners, but also by guards and other staff members. PLN’s August …
State Auditor: Texas Prisoners Face Retaliation for Airing Grievances by Matthew Clarke State Auditor: Texas Prisoners Face Retaliation for Airing Grievances by Matt Clarke In September 2008, the Texas State Auditor released a report on the investigation and resolution of complaints in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). The …
TYC Leaders Straining Public Coffers; Agency Still Problematic by Gary Hunter Administrators at the already-troubled Texas Youth Commission (TYC) have succeeded in creating a new scandal. Only 18 months ago, Texas citizens and lawmakers were rocked by revelations that two senior TYC officials, Ray Brookins and John Paul Hernandez, had …
Texas: 40% of Criminal Jurisprudence Bills Boost Criminal Penalties by Scott Henson 40% of Criminal Jurisprudence bills boost criminal penalties As has probably been the case every legislative session in living memory, bills boosting criminal penalties account for a lion's share of legislation coming out of the Texas House Criminal …
Due Process Required Before Imposition of Sex Offender Parole Conditions by On June 20, 2008, a Texas federal court held that a parolee’s right to receive due process before onerous sex offender conditions were imposed was clearly established in the Fifth Circuit. Ray Curtis Graham, a Texas state parolee, was …
Texas Court of Appeals: No Relief Compelling Court to Rule Absent Evidence Motion Was Brought to Court's Attention by On June 5, 2008, a Texas court of appeals held that a prisoner was not entitled to mandamus relief compelling a trial court to rule on a motion because he failed …
Private Prison Company Cleans Up Texas Creek, Finally Gets Prisoners by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke In July 2008, Louisiana-based private prison company LCS Corrections Services agreed to remove junked cars, appliances and other debris inhibiting the flow of Petronila Creek, which runs close to LCS’s newly-built 1,100-bed Coastal Bend …
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: No Time Limit on Rehearing of State Habeas by On February 6, 2008, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) held that there was no temporal limitation on its rehearing on the court's own motion of previously-decided state habeas corpus applications. Jose Angel Moreno, a …
Duvall v. Dallas, County, TX, Judgment, Failure to Protect, Infection, Judgment, 2009 Case 3:07-cv-00929-L Document 85 Filed 04/21/09 Page 1 of 2 PageID 759 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS DALLAS DIVISION MARK DUVALL, Plaintiff, v. DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS, Defendant. § § § § § § …
Court Reverses Supervision Condition Prohibiting Cohabitation with Anyone Other than Family by On June 16, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed a supervised release condition prohibiting a defendant from living with anyone he was not married to or that was not a blood relative. Alex …
Fifth Circuit Rejects Petition for Writ of Mandamus Filed by Crime Victims by On May 7, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied a petition for a writ of mandamus filed by crime victims seeking to block the acceptance of a plea agreement. Family members of …
Fifth Circuit Upholds Denial of Exercise for Year, Rejects Due Process Challenge to Placement in Lockdown by On March 28, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a grant of summary judgment to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) in a suit alleging the denial …
Texas Prison Authority OK’s Illegal Use of Prison Labor, but PIE Contract Not Renewed by Gary Hunter Texas Prison Authority OK’s Illegal Use of Prison Labor, but PIE Contract Not Renewed by Gary Hunter Even though a Texas legislator found the practice illegal, and even though it cost sixty people …
