Texas Parole Revocation Must be Challenged Via Habeas by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court's order dismissing a Texas prisoner's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging claims against the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole, its director, and the Governor for illegal detention of the prisoner. …
Trial In Jail Clothes Unconstitutional Only if Objection Raised by The U.S. Supreme Court held that although states are prohibited by the Fourteenth Amendment from compelling an accused person to stand trial before a jury attired in clearly identifiable jail issue clothes, an objection to the attire must be raised …
Texas Prisoner Denied Habeas Corpus Relief on Probation Violation by The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied habeas corpus relief, 28 U.S.C. §2254, to a Texas prisoner who claimed that his plea was not knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily made, because he was not told that to successfully complete probation …
Punishment for Distributing Buddhist Literature States Claim by The Supreme Court held that a prisoner who alleged that he was prevented from practicing his religious faith and punished for sharing Buddhist literature with other prisoners stated a claim under 42 U.S.C. $ 1983. Fred A. Cruz, a Texas prisoner, filed …
Texas Jail Director's Conviction Upheld by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions of two defendants charged with extortion and conspiracy to extort under the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C.§ 2 and 1951. The defendants were Jose Marcelino Rubio, Sr., the father of the District Attorney for Texas' Web …
Texas Sex Offender Counseling Provision Not Ex Post Facto by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a statute enacted after a prisoner was convicted and sentenced is not ex post facto if it is not punitive. Texas prisoner George W. Rieck, Jr., filed a habeas corpus petition challenging …
Publications Ban Unconstitutional by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a ban on publications by a Texas jail was unconstitutional. Stewart Mann was denied access to newspapers and magazines as he awaited trial in the Midland County, Texas, jail. The denial was part of a jail policy …
Limits On Medical Malpractice Damages Violates Texas Constitution by The Texas Supreme Court held that statutory limits placed on medical malpractice damages violated the Texas Constitution. Infant Christopher Lucas had a penicillin product injected directly into an artery; a blockage formed causing the blood-starvation of nerve cells. Christopher was permanently …
Jail's Access To Courts Program, Visitation Policies Unconstitutional by The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held, among other things, that the access to courts program and certain visitation policies of a Texas county jail were unconstitutional. In 1976, prisoners housed in McLennan County's "old jail" (built in the 1950's) …
Texas: Sexually Assaulted Boot Camp Prisoners Awarded $2,800,000 Against CSC by On December 12, 2001 three former female prisoners who claimed they were sexually assaulted while imprisoned in a privately operated boot camp in Mansfield, Texas were awarded a total of $2,800,000 against the camp's operator. Plaintiffs, Keri Echols Chattha, …
Texas: State Court Erred In Dismissing Prisoner's Federal Claims by The Texas Supreme Court held that it was error for a state district court to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction a prisoner's federal claim against prison guards. Dan Thomas, a Texas state prisoner, was allegedly injured during transfer to another …
Fifth Circuit Upholds Refusal to Modify Ruiz Consent Decree by The court of appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a district Court ruling denying Texas prison officials' motion to modify prison conditions consent decree. Citing an unexpected, sharp rise in prisoner admissions, to the Texas prison system the defendants in …
Most of Ruiz Relief Terminated Under PLRA by Under the PLRA, the district court terminated most of the previously-ordered prospective relief aimed at correcting unconstitutional conditions in Texas prisons. Relief was terminated in areas involving prison staffing, discipline, single-cell housing for prisoners in administrative segregation, access to courts, visitation, overcrowding, …
Termination of Prospective Relief Under PLRA Constitutional by The defendants in the 30-year class-action Ruiz prison reform suit moved under the PLRA for termination of prospective relief. The district court held a hearing on the motion and denied it, ruling that the termination provisions of the PLRA unconstitutionally violated the …
Texas Prison Officials Held in Contempt in Prison Conditions Case by A federal district court Texas held Texas prison officials in contempt for procrastinating in implementing court-ordered prison reforms. The district court held that prison officials had deliberately ignored the court's orders in the following areas of controversy: (1) the …
U.S. Supreme Court Defines Retroactivity by The United States Supreme Court held that a new statute must state its provisions apply retroactively when it would impair rights a party possessed when they acted, increases their liability for past conduct or imposes new duties with respect to transactions already completed. This …
Mandatory Supervision in Private Corrections Facility Allowed in Texas by On June 29, 2005, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that a prisoner released to mandatory supervision may be confined to a community corrections facility. James McCurry, a Texas prisoner, was placed on mandatory supervision pursuant to Texas Government …
Texas: Fifth Circuit Reinstates Epileptic Prisoner's Federal, State Claims by In this appeal by an epileptic individual who suffered a seizure in the Kerr County (Texas) Jail, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that fact issues precluded summary judgment of his federal claims and that he stated causes …
Notice of Rules Required Before Infraction by The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that two federal prisoners in Texas were denied due process when they were disciplined for violating a non existent prison rule. The court also required that the lowers court determine if the defendants had …
Texas Appeals Court Upholds Epileptic Prisoner's $60,000 Award by In this appeal by Harris County, Texas, and Sheriff Jack Heard (Appellants), the state Court of Appeals, 14th District, upheld a $60,000 jury verdict in favor of a former epileptic prisoner who was injured as a result of Appellants' negligence. On …
