Texas Prisoners Get Second-Rate Doctors by Texas prisons have become a refuge for several doctors with troubled pasts. The Dallas Morning News identified eight physicians working in state prisons after having been disciplined by medical review boards. The state of Michigan in June 1990 revoked Dr. Robert A. Komer's medical …
Inadequate Jail Staffing Violates Due Process by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that a jail staffing practice that allowed a lone male guard to oversee female detainees could be held to violate due process after a woman detainee was raped by a guard. The court held …
Texas Lawyers Unhappy About Conscription by In 1995 Congress cut funding for some twenty-odd regional death penalty resource centers, pro bono legal aid clinics which specialized in death penalty appeals. The Texas legislature halved the $4 million in state funds budgeted to pay for counsel in state capital appeals cases …
Detainee Entitled to Ad-Seg Hearing by A federal district court in Texas held that a pretrial detainee was entitled to a hearing before being placed in segregation. Robert Poole was a pretrial detainee in the Jefferson County jail. This ruling concerns the denial of the defendant's motion for summary judgment …
PLRA Overrules FRAP 24(a) by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that the PLRA's filing fee provisions supersede Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure (FRAP) 24(a). Ira Jackson, a Texas state prisoner filed suit claiming prison officials were deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs. The district court …
5th Circuit: PLRA Doesn't Apply to Habeas by Joining the second, third and seventh circuits the court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that the filing fee provisions of the PLRA do not apply to habeas corpus actions. Ralph Cole, a federal prisoner, sought permission to appeal the denial …
Informant Testimony Must Be Reliable by A federal district court in Texas granted habeas relief to two Texas prisoners who had lost good time at a disciplinary hearing based on unconfirmed informant testimony. Morris Broussard and Gary Johnson filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action contesting the loss of good …
Texas Guard Cleared in Controversial Shooting by Last month PLN reported "In Harm's Way: Texas Prisoner Killed," about the fatal shooting of 21-year-old prisoner Daniel Miguel Avellaneda by 35-year-old French Robertson Unit prison guard Neal Harms. Six weeks and one day after the July 8 shooting, a Jones County grand …
Texas Taxes Spent on DCJ Luxuries by Cosmetic improvements were made on a state-owned house in Huntsville - home of a Texas prison official - at public expense. The house is one of the 870 prison houses that the state owns and provides for Texas Department of Criminal Justice executives …
In Harms' Way: Texas Prisoner Shot by On July 8, 1996, 21-year-old Texas prisoner Daniel Miguel Avellaneda was fatally shot by Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison guard Neal Harms. The TDCJ identified Harms as a 35-year-old guard who had no disciplinary infractions in his 14 months on the …
Texas Parole Rules on Litigants and Victim Statements Enjoined by A federal district court in Texas issued an extensive injunction prohibiting the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (TBPP) from taking into account either a prisoner's litigation history or unverified protest statements which oppose a prisoner's parole in making parole …
Prisoner Testimony Must Be Considered in Spears Hearing by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that a district court abused its discretion when it heard a prisoner's testimony during a Spears hearing and then disregarded it and dismissed the complaint. Danny Eason, a Texas state prisoner, filed …
Plaintiff Entitled to Respond to Qualified Immunity Defense by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held a district court improperly dismissed a prisoner's civil rights complaint when it did not allow the plaintiff to respond to the defendants' qualified immunity defense. Donald Todd, a federal prisoner, filed suit …
Parolee's Jail Rights Discussed by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit addressed, for the first time ever, the question of what rights are retained by a parolee who is charged with a crime and is also held on a detainer. Steven Hamilton was on parole for various sex …
Texas Shaving Rule Declared Illegal by A federal district court in Texas ruled that a prison rule requiring prisoners be clean shaven violated a Muslim prisoner's religious rights and enjoined the rule. Johnson Lewis, a Texas state prisoner and a Muslim, filed suit claiming that prison regulations requiring that all …
Texas Prisoners Build Their Own Cages by Texas increased its prison population over the past ten years from 37,000 to a soon-to-be 145,000. At one point, the lack of prison space kept a backlog of 35,000 state prisoners in county jails. All told, the state paid more than $650 million …
Phone Activist Seeks Info by In late 1994 I asked you to publish a request for information regarding prisoners whose friends and families have had to pay for collect calls which the prisoners didn't make. I received several replies, and ended up maintaining correspondence with one prisoner. With his help …
VitaPro Update by Over the past year PLN has published several articles about events revolving around a $33.7 million contract between the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and Canadian-based VitaPro Foods, Inc. Since our last report, several developments have come to light. The Austin American-Statesman reported that Montreal businessman …
5th Circuit Bars Ad Seg Claims by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit has held that in the wake of Sandin v. Connor, 115 S.Ct. 2293 (1995) administrative segregation does not constitute a deprivation of any constitutionally protected liberty interest. Rolando Pichardo is a Texas state prisoner. Prison …
Failure to Protect States Claim by The court of appeals for the fifth circuit held that a district court erred in dismissing as frivolous a suit by a prisoner claiming his eighth amendment rights were violated when they failed to protect him from attack by other prisoners. Billy Horton, a …
