Mississippi Court of Appeals Upholds Prisoner's Conviction for Assaulting Guard by On November 3, 2015, the Mississippi Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of state prisoner Tony Phillips for assaulting guard Mose Harmon at the Washington County Regional Correctional Facility. Phillips was prosecuted for simple assault and claimed self-defense. A …
Efforts to End “Scourge of Money Bail” Meeting with Success by David Reutter By David M. Reutter The initiative by Equal Justice Under Law to end the incarceration pending trial of persons too poor to post bail is reaping positive outcomes. Each day, there are about 500,00 human beings who …
Brown v. City of Corinth, Judge John C. Ross, MS, signed Complaint, 'debtors' prison,' 2017 IN THE MISSISSIPPI COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE IN THE MATTER OF HON. JOHN C. ROSS CAUSE NO. ________ PRIVATE COMPLAINT 1 I. 1. INTRODUCTION Corinth, Mississippi Municipal Court Judge John C. Ross operates a modern-day …
Brown v. City of Corinth, MS, Class Action Complaint, 'debtors' prison,' 2017 THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI ABERDEEN DIVISION FILED ~ SAMMY BROWN and BRIAN KEITH HOWELL, on behalf of themselves and all others simi larly situated. AVID . K pUfy Plaintiffs, Case No. …
Nelson v. Lauderdale County, MS, Complaint, Failure to Protect, 2017 Case 3:17-cv-00905-HSO-LRA Document 1 Filed 11/15/17 Page 1 of 22 ' "tR.'./ J Sm CT O=, ·.cs•cc,p,:, r------"-'[UQ IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI NORTHERN DIVISION JARRETT R. NELSON - ·-- ' WJV l : 2017 …
Blakeney v. State of Mississippi, MI, Death Penalty Appeal, Prosecutorial Misconduct, 2017 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF MISSISSIPPI NO. 2015-DP-00058-SCT JUSTIN BARRETT BLAKENEY a/k/a JUSTIN BLAKENEY v. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI DATE OF JUDGMENT: TRIAL JUDGE: TRIAL COURT ATTORNEYS: COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE: DISTRICT ATTORNEY: …
DOJ Audit Rips Privately-operated Federal Facility; Trump Administration Presses Forward by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna In December 2016, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), a watchdog agency within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), issued an audit of the federal Bureau of Prisons’ contract with private prisoner company …
Former Mississippi DOC Commissioner, Co-defendants Sentenced in Massive Bribery Scheme by In January 2017, U.S. District Court Judge Henry T. Wingate sentenced Sam Waggoner, 62, to five years in prison for his role in a bribery scheme involving Mississippi’s former corrections commissioner. The sentence also included two years of supervised …
Mississippi Closes Troubled Former Youth Prison by Citing budgetary cuts, the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) finally closed the troubled, privately-operated Walnut Grove Correctional Facility (WGCF) on September 15, 2016. As previously reported in PLN, Walnut Grove had been under a federal consent decree since 2012 over allegations of guards …
Extensive Contraband Found During Shakedowns at Mississippi Prisons by A surprise predawn shakedown on March 3, 2017 yielded an “excessive amount of contraband” at one of Mississippi’s three privately-operated prisons, according to Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) Interim Commissioner Pelicia Hall. The search at the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility was …
Mississippi Supreme Court Allows Challenge of Lethal Injection Protocol to Continue; Reverses Lower Court by Lonnie Burton by Lonnie Burton On December 15, 2016, a 5-4 ruling by the Mississippi Supreme Court revived a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 lawsuit brought by a death row prisoner who claimed he will suffer cruel …
Hood v. Global Tel Link, MS, Settlement, Bribery and Conspiracy, 2017 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE This Settlement Agreement and Release ("Agreement") is entered. into by and between Jim Hood, Attorney General of the State of Mississippi ex rel. The State of Mississippi (''the State"), and Global Tel*Link Corporation ("GTL") through …
Hood v. Keefe Commissary, MO, Complaint - Commissary Kickback Conspiracy, 2017 Case: 25CI1:17-cv-00081-WLK Document #: 1 Filed: 02/08/2017 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE FIRST JUDICIAL DIST OF HINDS COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI JIM HOOD, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, ex rei. THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, Plaintiff, Page 1 of …
Dismissal of Personal Injury Claim for Damages from Malfunctioning Jail Gate Upheld by The Mississippi Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of a visitor’s claim for damages that resulted from a malfunctioning gate at a county jail. The August 23, 2016 ruling upheld the dismissal of Ladonna Ware’s claim. …
Alexander v. GTL, MI, Class Action Complaint, RICO Act Claims, 2017 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI NORTHERN DIVISION ELIZABETH R. ALEXANDER, JOHN P. ALEXANDER, MARY SESSUMS, SANDRA GLASSMIRE, JAI GIBSON, SHARON JOSEPH, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated PLAINTIFFS V. …
Dismissal of Mississippi Prisoner’s Suit Over Grievance Retaliation Upheld by The dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Mississippi state prisoner Bobby Wilson, Jr., alleging violation of his free speech rights and retaliation by prison officials, was upheld by the Mississippi Court of Appeals on August 30, 2016. Wilson claimed that …
“Deal with the Devil” Turning on Mississippi Counties by David Reutter by David Reutter As mass incarceration in the United States grew between 1990 and 2005, many lawmakers decided to ride the wave of “tough on crime” rhetoric by building new correctional facilities to house the increasing number of people …
Gangs, Privatization Create “Chaotic” Conditions in Mississippi Prisons by David Reutter By David Reutter Mention prison and most people imagine dark thoughts. The reasons for those thoughts vary from a fear of losing personal freedom to the images from Hollywood that portray prison as a gladiator school where violence reigns …
Bonds Used to Finance Private Prisons, Jails Turn into Junk by Christopher Zoukis by Christopher Zoukis The promise of safe, humane and less costly prisons has been used for decades by the private prison industry to sell its products. As prison populations skyrocketed, local, state and federal governments became convinced …
