$200,000 Settlement Over Oklahoma Jail Prisoner’s Death by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke A $200,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed over the death of a mentally ill Oklahoma jail prisoner emphasizes what Oklahoma sheriffs have been saying for years: they are ill prepared to deal with the rapidly increasing number …
Videos Show the Dark Side of Shadow Mountain Youth Psych Facility by Rosalind Adams by Rosalind Adams, BuzzFeed TULSA, Oklahoma — By the time police arrived at the psychiatric hospital, one of the adolescent units was out of control. The new manager had been attacked, a handful of its teenage patients …
Oklahoma DOC Chief Gets Bullet-Resistant SUV After Botched Execution, Threats by Joe Watson Oklahoma's Department of Corrections director Robert Patton has been provided with a team of bodyguards and a bullet-resistant SUV in the wake of purported death threats following the botched execution of a death row prisoner. Threatening emails …
Burke v. Glanz, OK, Jury Verdict, Broken Neck Wrongful Death, 2017 Case 4:11-cv-00720-JED-PJC Document 498 Filed in USDC ND/OK on 03/20/17 Page 1 of 2 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRJCT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA ROBBIE EMERY BURKE, as the Special Administratrix of the Estate of Elliott Earl …
Tenth Circuit Reverses Qualified Immunity for Prisoner’s Rape, Affirms for One Jailer by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit dismissed the interlocutory appeal of a sheriff and jailer who were denied qualified immunity for the rape of a mentally ill female prisoner. It also reversed the denial …
$1.5M Settlement in Oklahoma Jail Beating by Lonnie Burton Cherokee County, Oklahoma officials agreed to pay $1.5 million to the estate of a man who was brutally beaten by jail guards in 2011. The Cherokee County Governmental Building Authority approved the settlement in an executive session meeting on January 27, …
PLN v. Pottawatomie Co. Public Safety Center Trust, et al., OK, Consent Decree, censorship, 2017 Case 5:15-cv-01090-R Document 76-1 Filed 02/24/17 Page 1 of 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA PRISON LEGAL NEWS, a project of the HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE CENTER, a not–for–profit …
PLN v. Pottawatomie Co. Public Safety Center Trust, et al., OK, Consent Decree, censorship, 2017 Case 5:15-cv-01090-R Document 76-1 Filed 02/24/17 Page 1 of 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA PRISON LEGAL NEWS, a project of the HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE CENTER, a not–for–profit …
Constitutional Amendment Ensures Executions will Continue in Oklahoma by Christopher Zoukis Despite a number of botched executions in recent years – which drew widespread criticism for subjecting condemned prisoners to cruel lethal injection practices – Oklahomans have voted to add a provision to the state constitution enshrining and ensuring the …
Prison Rodeos: A Bunch of Bull? by David Reutter Rarely does the public find anything entertaining about a person who has been convicted of a crime and sent to prison. That is not the case with prison rodeos, however, which draw people from all over the U.S. and even other …
Tenth Circuit: No Summary Judgment on Official Capacity Claims by Mark Wilson The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s denial of summary judgment on individual capacity claims against an Oklahoma sheriff related to a prisoner’s suicide. The appellate court held it lacked jurisdiction to consider official capacity …
Few Oklahoma Exonerees Paid for Their Wrongful Incarceration by Matthew Clarke Despite Oklahoma having a wrongful-conviction compensation statute on the books since 2003, few exonerees in that state have received payment. One example of the battles exonerees face is the case of Greg Wilhoit, who was sentenced to death for …
Controversy over Oklahoma's Calculation of Prisoners' Release Dates by Matthew Clarke High-profile crimes allegedly committed by two former Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC) prisoners after they were released early from prison has generated controversy over how the DOC calculates release dates. Desmond La'don Campbell was convicted of attempted kidnapping and …
USA v. Barnes, OK, Indictment, Wrongful Death Diabetes, 2016 Case 5:16-cr-00185-F Document 1 Filed 10/04/16 Page 1 of 4 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FO WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA f^lLED OCT 0 4 2016 CARMELITA REEDER SHINN. CLERK -.DEPUTY UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, No. -vs- WAYNE BARNES, CR …
Federal Judge Clears Way for Civil Rights Suit in Oklahoma Jail Death by Medical Cell #1 became a “burial crypt” inside the David L. Moss Detention Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma when Elliot Williams, a mentally-ill 37-year-old veteran, lay paralyzed with a broken neck on the concrete floor, naked, cold and …
Oklahoma DOC Creates “Dream Team” for Botched Executions with Hires from Arizona by Joe Watson If Oklahoma was hoping to establish a tradition or trend of botched executions, it brought in the right people to carry them out. Just days after overseeing a disturbing execution at Arizona’s Florence prison complex …
Oklahoma DA: Pardons Board Violated State's Mandatory Sentencing Guidelines by If a clemency board chooses to sidestep mandatory sentencing guidelines and recommend a prisoner's early release, it possesses that maneuverability. And, as an Oklahoma D.A. recently illustrated, prosecutors hate being outmaneuvered. Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater accused the state's …
Oklahoma DPS Hires Former DOC Guard Dismissed for Excessive Force by Matthew Clarke On November 15, 2011, Oklahoma Department of Public Safety (DPS) Commissioner Michael Thompson 'created a high-rank, $60,000-per-year job and hired an old friend, who had been fired for beating prisoners while a guard captain in the Oklahoma …
Four Oklahoma State Penitentiary Staff Fired After Smoke Kills Prisoner by Matthew Clarke Four employees of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary (0SP) were fired and two resigned after a prisoner died of smoke inhalation while guards ignored smoke billowing from his cell and a sabotaged smoke alarm system failed to alert …
Avalon Correctional Services Settles Suit Over Alleged Corporate Irregularities by Matthew Clarke On November 16, 2012, Avalon Correctional Services, Donald Smith and Tiffinay Smith agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by Ravenswood Investment Company and Ravenswood Investments III (Ravenswood) over alleged corporate irregularities by the Smiths. The settlement calls for …
