$40.1 Million Verdict Against CSC in Texas Prisoner's Medical Neglect Death by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg A Tarrant County, Texas jury awarded $35 million for negligence in the death of a boot camp prisoner, plus $5.1 million in punitive damages, against Florida-based Correctional Services Corp. (CSC) and …
Feces Flinging Prisoners Receiving Lengthy Sentences by An emerging trend of sentences reveals that courts are imposing lengthy sentences on prisoners who throw bodily fluids on guards. In recent years, State Legislators have created new felony offenses that heavily penalize anyone who flings bodily fluids on guards. The philosophy behind …
Exceeding Doctor's Work Limit Order Actionable Under Eighth Amendment by The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that prison officials' forcing of a prisoner to work in excess of a four hour doctor-established daily limit, resulting in dangerous blood pressure elevation, was sufficient to state an Eighth Amendment civil …
Sentences Upheld for TransCor Driver Who Raped and Terrorized Prisoners by Sentences Upheld for TransCor Driver Who Raped and Terrorized Prisoners by Matthew T. Clarke A Texas court of appeals has upheld a TransCor driver's two-year sentence for having sex with a prisoner and ten-year sentence for sexual assault of …
Texas Prisoners May Challenge Loss of Good Time Class Via Habeas Corpus by Texas Prisoners May Challenge Loss of Good Time Class Via Habeas Corpus by Matthew T. Clarke The Fifth Circuit court of appeals has held that prisoners whose mandatory release dates are adversely affected by a change in …
DeLay/TRMPAC Indictments Include Cornell Contributions by by Matthew T. Clarke On September 21, 2004, a Travis County, Texas, grand jury handed down 33 felony indictments against people and corporations associated with Republican U. S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom Delay and the Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action …
Cornell Half Way House Employees Charged with Drug Trafficking by The Ben Reid Community Correctional Facility in northeast Houston is run by Houston-based Cornell Companies, Inc., under a $4.8 million contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In May, 2004, Roy Thomas, 50, Ben Reid's director of employee training, …
Non-Sex-Offender Parolee Entitled to Due Process Before Being Treated As Sex Offender by by Matthew T. Clarke The Fifth Circuit court of appeals held that a parolee who has never been convicted of a sex offense is entitled to a due process hearing prior to being required to register as …
Class Certification in Texas Jail Court Access Case by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas that refused to grant class certification of a suit brought by indigent prisoners of the Bexar County Jail in Texas regarding the inadequacy of …
Prison Writers Punished for Success in Connecticut and Texas by Gary Hunter Censorship has slithered like an unseen serpent into the crevices of the First Amendment and built its noxious nest in our nation's prisons. Prisons across the country, both state and federal, have singled out prison writers for persecution …
Pro Se Tips and Tactics: Magistrate Judges in Federal Courts by John Midgley If you are representing yourself in federal court, you should become familiar with how prison cases may be handled by magistrate judges. This column looks at magistrate judge authority in federal cases, and at a recent Supreme …
World Court Orders U.S. to Stop Executing Mexicans by by Matthew T. Clarke On January 5, 2003, Mexico applied for an injunction from the International Court of Justice, or World Court, to halt the execution of 54 of its citizens by the United States. Mexico claimed that none of them …
Texas Court Abused Discretion by Dismissing Prisoner's Retaliation Suit by by Matthew T. Clarke A Texas state court of appeals has held that the trial court abused its discretion when it dismissed a prisoner's suit that alleged retaliation for accessing federal courts. Angel Martinez Vacca, a Texas state prisoner, filed …
Texas Prisoner Gets 30-Day Grace Period to File Expert Affidavit by by Matthew T. Clarke A Texas state court of appeals has ruled that a prisoner claiming accident or mistake in failing to file an expert report within 180-days of filing his medical negligence suit is entitled to a 30-day …
Texas Doesn't Have to Pay Interest on Trust Fund Accounts by by Matthew T. Clarke The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) does not violate the Takings Clause by failing to pay prisoners the interest it earns on their trust fund …
Court Reporter Jailed for Botching VitaPro Trial Transcripts; Convicted Prison Chief Still Free by The latest development in the unsavory Texas VitaPro scandal is the jailing of a court reporter for botching the transcripts in the VitaPro trial. In 1995, George W. Bush was the governor of Texas and James …
Sexual Abuse at Haltom City Jail in Texas by by Matthew T. Clarke Allegations of sexual abuse have rocked the North Texas town of Haltom City. The allegations surfaced in March, 2001, when a Fort Worth woman filed a complaint with the Haltom City police stating that jailer Clint Wade …
Texas Courts Clarify Prisoners' Right to Civil Bench Warrant by by Matthew T. Clarke The mechanism for a Texas pro se prisoner to gain transport to court for a hearing is to file a motion for bench warrant or petition for a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum (WHCAT). Two …
Unauthenticated Evidence Does Not Support Summary Judgment by by Matthew T. Clarke A Texas state court of appeals held that the trial court's granting of TDCJ's motion for summary judgment was error because photocopies of prison rules attached to the motion were not authenticated. Richard Allen Kleven, II, a Texas …
Wackenhut's Legacy of Shame in Austin by by Matthew T. Clarke The price of attending the March 1997 South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, came very high for Dallas record producer David Prater. Busted for a minor drug possession, in 1998 Prater was sentenced to 250 days in …
