Change in Texas Parole Law May Be Ex Post Facto Violation by Matthew Clarke by Matthew T. Clarke The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a change in Texas parole laws requiring a two-thirds majority vote of the entire board for certain prisoners may violate the Ex Post …
Texas Prisoner’s State, Federal Work-Related Injury Claims Reinstated by A Texas appeals court held in this case that because a prisoner’s state and federal work-related injury claims against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) were based in law, dismissal as frivolous was improper. State prisoner Jumeau Onnette was painting …
Texas Warden Axed for Whistleblowing Awarded $300,150 by A Texas prison warden who was fired for reporting corruption was awarded $300,150. Terry Terrell was warden of the Beto I Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) in Tennessee Colony, Texas. In May 1991, he wrote the Chairman of …
Texas Juvenile Justice Whistleblower Settles for $175,000 by On the eve of trial Bowie County, Texas and Bowie County Juvenile Center (BCJC) employee Bruce Ballou agreed to pay former BCJC employee Karen Foster $175,000 to settle her whistleblower complaint in federal court. The action was filed by Karen Foster, a …
$40,000 Awarded Four Texas Probation Department Employees In Sexual Harassment Suit, by Nueces County (Texas) Community Supervision an Corrections Department (Department) probation officers Elana Rodriguez, Ida Aguilar, Carolina Balli-Kolpak and Sylvia Westrup filed § 1983 and Title VII civil rights action in 2007 against state officials. They claimed sexual harassment …
Texas Eliminates Next-Grand-Jury-Session Limitation On Indictments by by Matthew T. Clarke On December 6, 1006, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) held unconstitutional the provision of Article 28.061, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP), requiring dismissal of a prosecution with prejudice if an indictment is not brought against a …
Texas Juvenile Justice Whistleblower Settles for $175,000 by On the eve of trial Bowie County, Texas and Bowie County Juvenile Center (BCJC) employee Bruce Ballou agreed to pay former BCJC employee Karen Foster $175,000 to settle her whistleblower complaint in federal court. The action was filed by Karen Foster, a …
Texas Act Requires Compelling Reasoning for Nondisclosure of Requested Prisoner Information by The Office of the Attorney General (AG) of the State of Texas opined the legal parameters regarding the release of prisoner information by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). The opinion is in accordance with the State's …
Record Number of Disciplinary Actions Against Texas Prison Guards by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke As previously reported in PLN, a record number of Texas prison guards have been arrested in recent years [see: PLN, May 2007, p. 26]. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has now confirmed that …
Dallas County, Texas, Criticized for Offering Probation to Murder Defendants by Michael Rigby According to a Dallas Morning News article published on November 10, 2007, Dallas County, Texas, leads the state in the number of probation deals it hands out to murder defendants. The highly critical five-part series implies that …
Junk Bonds to Junk Science? Drug Treatment Program Questioned by Greg Dober by Gregory Dober What was worth approximately $554 million in 2007 and is valued at about $94 million today? The correct answer is the stock market value of a firm formerly known as Alaska Freightways Inc., a shell …
Texas Prisoner’s Hepatitis C Claim Not Frivolous, Fifth Circuit Holds by A Texas prisoner’s claim alleging that his civil rights were violated by the denial of hepatitis c treatment based on policy decisions rather than on medical factors was not frivolous, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held, in …
Shustring Productions Inc. v. Salinas, TX, Settlement, Freedom of the Press, 2008 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS LAREDO DIVISION § § § v. § § RAUL SALINAS and CITY OF LAREDO § SHUSTRING PRODUCTIONS, INC. d/b/a LareDOS PUBLISHING Civil Action No. 5:08-CV-00120 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT & RELEASE A. …
Denial of Food, Visits for Refusing to Shave Upheld by Allegations of the denial of one visit and seven or eight meals over a period of a month, without an allegation of denial of a minimally nutritious diet, was frivolous (The plaintiff was denied food and visits because he had …
Texas Prison Health Care: On the Brink of Unconstitutionality, Again by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke According to Texas prison healthcare officials, medical care in the state?s prison system is teetering on the brink of becoming unconstitutional. ?We?re toed up to the line. No doubt about it,? proclaimed Dr. Ben …
Texas Youth Commission Wants Increased Pepper Spray Use Despite Settlement by Michael Rigby by Michael Rigby Less than three months after agreeing to a court settlement limiting the use of pepper spray on juveniles, the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) has failed to curb its use and is actually planning to …
District Courts Can Suspend PLRA Injunction Stay Provisions by This appeal from the district court's decision striking down the automatic stay provision is not mooted by the court's having reached the merits of the termination motion, since the problem is one that is capable of repetition yet evading review It …
Texas Clemency Procedures Constitutional by The Texas clemency procedures did not deny due process. Only minimal procedural safeguards apply. Prisoners can submit whatever information they want and the Board members review whatever they think is material to the request. That is enough. See: Faulder v. Texas Bd. of Pardons & …
Court Decides Against Defendant's Discovery Abuses in Texas Police Shooting Case by The decedent was discovered naked in an automobile masturbating, and he refused to come out, so of course the police killed him. At 207: "This case is a prime example of a troubling trend in civil rights cases. …
Canadian Death Row Prisoners' International Law Claims Rejected by The plaintiff, a Canadian sentenced to death in the United States, alleged that he had been subjected to psychological torture in violation of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment because of his nine execution …
