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Better by Half - The New York City Story of Winning Large-Scale Decarceration while Increasing Public Safety, Greene & Schiraldi, 2016

Publication • December 29, 2016

Filed under: Prison Reform, Crime/Demographics, Crime, Statistics/Trends, Census, War on Drugs, Cost of Prison Systems, Overcrowding, Release and Reentry, Sentencing, Collateral consequences of prison, Alternative Sentencing

Better by Half - The New York City Story of Winning Large-Scale Decarceration while Increasing Public Safety, Greene & Schiraldi, 2016 Better by Half: The New York City Story of Winning Large-Scale Decarceration while Increasing Public Safety JUDITH A. GREENE* Director, Justice Strategies VINCENT SCHIRALDI Senior Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy …

Blank UF-250 Form - Stop, Question and Frisk Report Worksheet, NYPD, 2016

Publication • December 29, 2016

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Strip Searches, Pat Searches, Vehicle Searches, Police Searches, War on Terror, War on Drugs, Police, False Arrest, Racial Profiling

Blank UF-250 Form - Stop, Question and Frisk Report Worksheet, NYPD, 2016 Case 1:12-cv-02274-AT-HBP Document 105 Filed 02/14/13 Page 157 of 158 APPENDIX B Blank UF-250 Form 157

Violation of New York Disciplinary Witness Regulation Merits Rehearing

Article • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Witnesses (Disciplinary Hearings), Hearing Officers, Disciplinary Appeals, Presence at Hearing

Violation of New York Disciplinary Witness Regulation Merits Rehearing by On October 27, 2015, the New York Court of Appeals held a prisoner’s challenge to a disciplinary hearing determination required remand for determination of whether the facts warranted a rehearing or expungement. While at Attica Correctional Facility, prisoner George Texeira …

California County Settles Suits over Two Jail Prisoners’ Deaths for $1.6 Million

Article • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Contagious Disease -- Misc., Failure to Treat, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides

California County Settles Suits over Two Jail Prisoners’ Deaths for $1.6 Million by Matthew Clarke In mid-2014, Sutter County, California settled lawsuits brought by the families of two county jail prisoners who died. The family of Rodney Bock received $800,000 while the family of Nathan Prasad received $825,000. The jail …

For Profit Drug Test Company Wrongly Reported No Shows for Completed Tests

Article • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, Parole/Probation Searches, Drug Testing, Probation, Parole Conditions

For Profit Drug Test Company Wrongly Reported No Shows for Completed Tests by A multi-week computer glitch by private drug testing firm Jail Alternatives for Michigan Services (JAMS) wrongly accused hundreds of pre-trial defendants of failing to show for court ordered drug testing. When her office failed to receive notice …

New Federal Study Shows Half of Incarcerated Veterans Have Mental Disorder

Article • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Statistics/Trends, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Involuntary Treatment/Drugging, Veterans

New Federal Study Shows Half of Incarcerated Veterans Have Mental Disorder by Derek Gilna A new study released in December of 2015 by the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), for the period of 2011 to 2012, shows that although the percentage of veterans in the state and …

New Report Says ICE Inspection Problems Perpetuate Prisoner Abuse

Article • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Corrections Audits, Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Treat, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding, Eighth Amendment, Immigration, Failure to Protect (Juveniles), Transgender, Failure to Protect (Transgender)

New Report Says ICE Inspection Problems Perpetuate Prisoner Abuse by Derek Gilna The National Immigrant Justice Center and the Detention Watch Network recently released a joint report sharply critical of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency and its oversight methods, terming them "fundamentally unchanged and unreformed.  The ICE detention …

Report Finds Criminal Justice System Financially Overburdens Prisoners and Their Families

Article • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Prison Reform, Statistics/Trends, Cost of Prison Systems, Attorney Fees (PLRA), Filing Fees (PLRA), Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Release and Reentry, Indigent Defense, Filing Fees, Collateral consequences of prison, Bond Fees, Booking Fees, Commissary, Telephone Rates, Family, Racial Profiling

Report Finds Criminal Justice System Financially Overburdens Prisoners and Their Families by Christopher Zoukis The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a nonprofit focused on racial and economic policy, in conjunction with Forward Together and a dozen other community and civil rights organizations recently released a study which surveyed hardships …

Missouri Jail Detainee Becomes Comatose, Treated in Hospital for Three Weeks

Article • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Failure to Treat, Failure to Protect (General), Jail Specific, Bond Fees, Bail Bonds, Failure to Train/Supervise, Suicides

Missouri Jail Detainee Becomes Comatose, Treated in Hospital for Three Weeks by Christopher Zoukis In September 2015, Bernard Scott, 44, was arrested for various traffic violations and jailed at the Pine Lawn, Mo. jail in St. Louis County. He was held on a $360 bond. While in detention he called …

Ohio Prison Guards Use JPay System to Illegally Download Thousands of Copyrighted Songs

Article • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Corrections Audits, Failure to Train/Supervise, Tapes/Music, Staff Training

Ohio Prison Guards Use JPay System to Illegally Download Thousands of Copyrighted Songs by Joe Watson Ohio’s top watchdog has recommended that the use of state owned computers by employees of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) should be heavily restricted to prevent prison guards from again illegally …

Harsh Sentencing Laws in Washington State to Blame for Growing Lifer Population, Says University Study

Article • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Prison Reform, Statistics/Trends, Sentencing, Three Strikes, Collateral consequences of prison, Alternative Sentencing

Harsh Sentencing Laws in Washington State to Blame for Growing Lifer Population, Says University Study by Joe Watson Though its forward thinking, beanie-clad baristas façade would suggest otherwise, the State of Washington has a sobering history of abandoning rehabilitative incarceration in favor of some of the most draconian sentencing laws …

Reports Show Immigration Facility Inspectors Overlook Serious Rights Violations

Article • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Government Misconduct, Corrections Audits, Conditions of Confinement, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Eighth Amendment, Freedom of Information Act, Immigration

Reports Show Immigration Facility Inspectors Overlook Serious Rights Violations by Derek Gilna Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) inspectors are entrusted with ensuring that facilities used to house vulnerable detainees are following strict guidelines for their operation.  However, an October 2015 report by two independent prisoner-rights groups, "Lives in Peril – …

DC Lawyers' Report Slams Prisoner Conditions at District of Columbia Jails

Article • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Failure to Treat, Totality of Conditions, Failure to Protect (General), Overcrowding, Eighth Amendment, Staffing, Toilets, Plumbing, Sewage, Water, Sanitation, Jail Specific, Shelter, Failure to Train/Supervise, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Failure to Protect (Staff)

DC Lawyers' Report Slams Prisoner Conditions at District of Columbia Jails by Derek Gilna It has been an open secret for many years that the District of Columbia jail system is a human-rights disaster.  Our nation's capital's correctional system's faults have been compiled in a 73-page report prepared by the …

Cost of Incarceration Assessment Handcuff Poor Releasees

Article • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Cost of Prison Systems, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Release and Reentry, Sentencing, Collateral consequences of prison, Booking Fees

Cost of Incarceration Assessment Handcuff Poor Releasees by David Reutter The imposition of cost of incarceration fees upon released prisoners is a “permanent financial sentence” that overwhelms those trying to successfully integrate into society. Fees for room and board are authorized in at least 43 states.  “We’re seeing it all …

Office of Inspector General Chides DOJ and Navajo Nation for Wasteful Prison Project

Article • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Government Misconduct, Corrections Audits, Native American, Cost of Prison Systems, Conditions of Confinement, Staffing

Office of Inspector General Chides DOJ and Navajo Nation for Wasteful Prison Project by Derek Gilna The Department of Justice (DOJ) plan seemed straightforward: build two badly-needed correction facilities on the Navajo Nation to replace two obsolescent and overcrowded facilities. Over $70.5 million was allotted for this project, elaborate plans …

California Prison System Reluctantly Consents to Prison Worker Early Release

Article • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Prison Labor, Overcrowding, Release and Reentry, Fair Labor Standards Act

California Prison System Reluctantly Consents to Prison Worker Early Release by Derek Gilna The state of California, under pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice and singled out by the U.S. Supreme Court for endemic overcrowding in its prison system, still had to be compelled to do the right thing …

Tennessee Prisoner Escapes Privatized Medical Jail Care to Obtain Surgery

Article • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Private Prisons, Contractor Misconduct, Medical Misconduct, Medical, Systemic Medical Neglect, Private Contractors, Hernias, Failure to Treat, Escapes

Tennessee Prisoner Escapes Privatized Medical Jail Care to Obtain Surgery by To obtain needed surgery, a prisoner escaped from Tennessee’s Trousdale County Jail (TCJ). Prior to being booked into TCJ to serve a probation violation sentence, Don R. White, Jr. 31, was scheduled for hernia surgery. “When I walked in, …

Knowles v. Pfister, IL, Settlement, Wiccan Pentacle Medallion, 2016

Brief • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Gang Policies, RLUIPA, Religious Property

Knowles v. Pfister, IL, Settlement, Wiccan Pentacle Medallion, 2016 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS PEORIA DIVISION GILBERT KNOWLES, Plaintiff, No. 14- cv- 1129- JES vs- RANDY PFISTER, Defendant. SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND GENERAL RELEASE This Settlement Agreement by and between the plaintiff, and General …

Detroit Free Press v. Department of Justice, USA, Amicus Brief, FOIA Booking Photos, 2016

Brief • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Photographing, Arrest and Booking, Freedom of Information Act

Detroit Free Press v. Department of Justice, USA, Amicus Brief, FOIA Booking Photos, 2016 No. 16-706 IN THE Supreme Court of the United States DETROIT FREE PRESS, INC., Petitioner, V. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Respondent. On Petition For A Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the …

Exonerations 2013, Innocence Network, 2013

Publication • December 28, 2016

Filed under: Statistics/Trends, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment

Exonerations 2013, Innocence Network, 2013 INNOCENCE NETWORK EXONERATIONS 2013 CONTENTS I. LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT...................................................................3 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Erika Applebaum Innocence Project of Minnesota II. THE CASES .. .............................................................................................4 1. BENNIE STARKS................................................................................................... 4 2. KRISTINE BUNCH................................................................................................ 4 3. GEORGE ALLEN................................................................................................. 5 Shawn Armbrust Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project 4. RONALD ROSS .................................................................................................. …