CCA-Run Immigrant Family Detention Center in Texas Violates Settlement Conditions by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On April 9, 2007, a federal district court in Texas held that the conditions of confinement at a privately-run facility used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold families detained due to immigration …
Bail Bond Businesses Getting Black Eye in Texas, California by Gary Hunter It's common knowledge that outside the federal Bureau of Prisons, California and Texas have the largest prison systems in the U.S. So it should come as no surprise that bail bonds are big business in both states. But …
Dallas, Texas, Jail Pays $950,000 for Neglecting Mentally Ill Prisoners by Michael Rigby On February 20, 2007, the Dallas County, Texas, Jail agreed to pay $950,000 for its negligent mistreatment of three mentally ill individuals, one of whom died, while imprisoned at the jail awaiting competency hearings. In 2004, James …
Texas GEO Prison Squalor Drives Idaho Prisoner to Suicide by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke Seven months after arriving at the Dickens County Correctional Center (DCCC), a private prison in Spur, Texas operated by the GEO Group, Idaho state prisoner Scot Noble Payne, 43, was dead by his own hand. …
Pregnant Woman’s Ingestion of Cocaine Not Delivery to Her Baby in Texas by Pregnant Woman's Ingestion of Cocaine Not Delivery to Her Baby in Texas by Matthew T. Clarke On February 14, 2007, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) held that a pregnant woman who ingested cocaine did not …
Texas Prisoners Have No Lawful Right To Their Own Records by Pro se Texas State prisoner Kenneth Hickman appealed a court's dismissal of his action to compel Warden David Moya to produce records regarding an alleged false prison report. The court affirmed judgment dismissing his action as frivolous. After his …
Texas Prisoners Have No Right to Record Requests by Texas State prisoner Larry Moore sought review of a 1996 dismissal of his writ of mandamus petition challenging limited access to his medical records by custodian Pamela Henry. Dismissal was affirmed because prisoners have no statutory right to request records in …
Lawfully Mandated Disclosure, Contract Stipulation Precludes Breech For Settlement Agreement Production by Texas former student of El Paso County Community College District (District) Constance Thomas, as well as the District, appealed a 2000 court ruling in a dispute awarding breech of contract to Thomas. The judgment was reversed because the …
Texas Prisoners Not Entitled To Records Request Under 2004 Act by Texas State prisoner Michael Cox appealed a 2006 Lubbock, Texas, court order denying his request for records concerning his 1992 conviction. The court interpreted his request as an attempt to appeal his case over a decade late and affirmed …
Texas Wrongful Death Jail Lawsuit Settles For $375,000 by In June 2006, Navarro County, Texas, agreed to pay $375,000 to the family of a juvenile prisoner who received no medical attention following his imprisonment in the county jail and died the following day. Jesus Martinez, a minor, was arrested on …
Prima Facie Showing of Actual Innocence Defeats Texas Successive Writ Rule by On April 4, 2007, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that a state prisoner may defeat the rule against filing a successive state application for a writ of habeas corpus, Article 11.07, Section 4, Texas Code of …
Texas Attorney General Determines Documents' Exemption After Use of Force Against Prisoner by The Office of the Attorney General (AG) for the State of Texas opined the legal parameters regarding the release of investigative records and polygraph procedures used for testing employees of the Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). This …
Texas DA's Closed Files Exempt From Disclosure Under Act by Harris County, Texas, District Attorney (DA) John Holmes appealed an appellate affirmation ordering the disclosure of "closed" investigative files. The order was reversed because internal records disclosure was not statutorily mandated. Holmes possessed active and closed files of past and …
Texas Grand Jury Information, Prisoners' Record Requests Statutorily Denied by Texas State pro se prisoner Alvin Harrison appealed the dismissal of his petition for a writ of mandamus regarding the 1997 denial of his request for grand jury documents involved in his conviction. Dismissal was affirmed because grand jury documents …
Op-Ed: TYC Facilities Need Independent Oversight by Michele Deitch Op-Ed: TYC Facilities Need Independent Oversight? Michele Deitch?3-22-07 The scandal engulfing the Texas Youth Commission has thus far provoked governmental responses that involve temporary investigative measures. We have heard calls for the appointment of a conservator, a new TYC board, a …
Texas: Late Affidavit of Indigence Satisfies Fee Payment Requirement; Case Dismissed on Remand by On May 26, 2006 the Supreme Court of Texas held that a state court of appeals erred when it dismissed a prisoner's appeal after he filed an affidavit of indigence in response to the court's instructing …
ADA Doesn’t Apply to Police Shooting Mentally Ill by ADA Doesn't Apply to Police Shooting Mentally Ill Claims of excessive force and of assault and battery by the police were precluded by the plaintiff's conviction for assault with a deadly weapon arising from the same events. A police shooting and …
Texas Prison Guard’s Convictions Upheld Again by Texas Prison Guard's Convictions Upheld Again The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) upheld the conviction and sentence of a Texas prison guard for sexual assault and impersonating a police officer. This was the second time the CCA reviewed this case. In 1997, …
Fifth Circuit: No FLSA Minimum Wage for Texas Prisoners by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) did not apply to Texas prisoners working in Texas state prisons. Douglas Loving, a Texas state prisoner, filed a civil rights suit under 42 U.S.C. § …
M.P. v. Texas Youth Commission, TX, Memo on Enforcement, Juvenile Pepper Spray, 2007 TEXAS YOUTH COMMISSION ED OWENS DIMITRIA D. POPE Acting Executive Director Conservator November 27, 2007 To: All TYC Staff From: Dimitria D. Pope Acting Executive Director Steve Foster General Counsel Re: TYC Rule 97.23 (Use of Force) …
