Dismissal for Texas Prisoner's Failure to State Facts of Prior Suits by A Texas state court of appeals has held that a prisoner's lawsuit may be dismissed as frivolous because the prisoner failed to list the operative facts of his previous lawsuits, identify the parties involved, and state whether the …
Slave Labor Supplanting Welfare State by Ronald Young By Ronald Young Texas has a history rooted in the Southern antebellum traditions of religion and slavery. One of the cornerstones of Texas governor and presidential hopeful George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism" is what he calls faith-based social programs. Bush is of …
Texas Prisons Heat Up As Parole Hopes Fade by Ronald Young By Ronal Young The summer continued to heat up in the Texas prison system even before the season officially began. On May 5, 2000, guards at the Stiles prison near Beaumont overpowered an armed male prisoner after he briefly …
$100,000 Settlement in TX Restraint Chair/Pepper Spray Death by On February 22, 2000, Tarrant County, Texas agreed to pay a $100,000 settlement to the estate of James Livingston, 30, to settle a wrongful death suit. On July 6, 1999, Livingston was arrested on a trespassing warrant. He was allegedly abusive …
The Restraint Chair: Safe and Humane? by Anne-Marie Cusac Jail and prison employees call it the "strap-o-lounger," the "barcalounger," the "we care chair," and the "be sweet chair." Prisoners and their lawyers have other names for the device: "torture chair," "slave chair," and "devil's chair." They are not referring to …
Bush's Conservative Compassion: Allowing a Life Sentence for Three Bounced Checks by by Matthew T. Clarke Texas Governor George Bush has based his presidential aspirations on the questionable concept of compassionate conservatism, but how compassionate is the Texas criminal justice system in dealing with its citizens under the Bush regime. …
Guard's Intentional Destruction of Typewriter States §1983 and Texas Tort Claims by A Texas state court of appeals has held that a guard's intentional destruction of a prisoner's typewriter states a claim under 42 U.S.C. §1983 and Texas tort law. Robert Gordon, a Texas state prisoner, filed suit under 42 …
Wackenhut Wracked by Sexual Abuse Scandals by Ronald Young Wackenhut Wracked By Sexual Abuse Scandals by Ron Young After a decade as a leading operator of corporate-owned prisons, Wackenhut Corrections has become a prisoner of its own problems. In New Mexico, a 500-page legislative report written by five consultants calls …
Rockwall, TX Jailers Indicted in Sex-For-Contraband Case by Rockwall, TX Jailers Indicted In Sex-For-Contraband Case Three Rockwall County, Texas jailers were indicted and all plead guilty after allegations that jailers gave drugs and alcohol to female prisoners in exchange for sex. A jail captain also resigned in lieu of prosecution. …
One Dead, Thirty-one Hospitalized in TX Prison Riot by One Dead, Thirty-one Hospitalized In TX Prison Riot A riot in a west Texas state prison Tuesday, April 25, 2000, has left one prisoner dead and thirty-one injured severely enough to require hospitalization according to National Public Radio. The riot, which …
Texas Supreme Court Invalidates TDCJ-ID VitaPro Contract by The Texas Supreme Court reversed a lower appellate court's decision and held that the trial court had ruled correctly when it invalidated TDCJ-ID's contract with VitaPro Foods, Inc. of Montreal, Canada, for a soy-based meat substitute. The product was unpopular among prisoners …
Field 'Sleep Out' Without Adequate Toilet Facilities States An Eighth Amendment Violation by Ronald Young By Ronald Young The court of appeals for the Fifth circuit held that, for qualified immunity purposes, a prisoner who was forced to spend the night outdoors in a work field without adequate bathroom facilities …
Another Texas Prison System Lockdown-Politics as Usual? by by Matthew T. Clarke For the second time in two years, the entire Texas prison system was locked down in a delayed response to isolated incidents in two Texas prisons, once again raising the specter of political motivation for the lockdown. The …
Women in Prison: GAO Report by Julia Lutsky Reviewed by Julia Lutsky During the calendar years 1995 to 1998, approximately 31,400 women prisoners in the three largest U.S. jurisdictions made a total of 506 allegations of staff sexual misconduct; of these only 92, or 18 percent, were sustained. "Because many …
Defiant Texas Death Row Activist Executed by On March 15, 2000, the state of Texas killed Kamau (Ponchai) Wilkerson. He proved to be a fighter to the end. Kamau was among seven Texas death row prisoners who stunned the world with a bold escape attempt on Thanksgiving Day 1998 [See: …
My Statement in Response to the State by by Kamau "Ponchai" Wilkerson [The following is an excerpt from "My Statement in Response to the Setting of an Execution Date and the State of Texas' Plan to Murder Me," by Ponchai Kamau Wilkerson] The 13th Amendment abolished slavery "...except as punishment …
Four Texas Guards Nabbed in Bribery Sting by Four Texas state prison guards face felony bribery charges after agreeing to launder supposed drug money for prisoners, authorities told The Associated Press. The four were arrested January 24, 2000 after walking into an undercover sting orchestrated by the Texas Department of …
Texas Prison Dentist Settles Dentures Suit for $3,150 by Jon Michael Withrow In April, 2003, a state prison dentist settled for $3,150 a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit brought by a prisoner in the federal district court for the Eastern District of Texas, alleging that the dentist refused to provide …
Comatose Prisoners Expose the Limits of Mercy by Gary Hunter In Texas and California the hard line against crime has crashed against the bottom line of deficient state budgets. Short money and long sentences have politicians from both states purporting to search frantically for fiscal solutions. Texas legislators have proposed …
Texas Death Row Hunger Strike by Scores of death row prisoners in Texas kicked off the new millennium with a planned 21-day hunger strike over intolerable conditions of confinement. As many as 100 death row prisoners as well as hundreds of other ad-seg prisoners participated in the hunger strike, according …
