Washington Appellate Court: Personal Restraint Petition Proper Vehicle to Challenge Community Supervision by David Reutter On December 17, 2024, the Court of Appeals of the State of Washington, Division II, held that a trial court lacked personal jurisdiction over the state Department of Corrections (DOC) and dismissed a motion to …

California Slowed, But Not Barred from “Dumping” Sick, Indigent Parolees on Public Hospitals by On May 26, 2023, California’s Fifth Appellate District Court of Appeals largely agreed with a lower court’s ruling that barred the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and its healthcare arm, California Correctional Health Care …

Illinois Supreme Court Orders State DOC to Fund Required Treatment and Housing for Sex Offender’s Conditional Release by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On September 22, 2022, the Supreme Court of Illinois agreed with a former state prisoner that when the state sets conditions for release that he can’t …

His Execution Stayed, Texas Prisoner Still Hopes to Donate His Rare Kidney Type as Atonement by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott On July 11, 2022, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution to Ramiro Gonzalez, 40, who had been scheduled to die just two …

Census Bureau Report Finds Risk of Death Nearly Triples for Prisoners After Release by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke In February 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau published what may be the first multi-state report on the mortality of released prisoners. After their incarceration, “former prisoners have higher mortality rates than …

New York Lifts Blanket Internet Ban on Sex Offenders by Jayson Hawkins by Jayson Hawkins A settlement was finalized on January 19, 2022, in a lawsuit challenging a New York law barring those on the state sex offender registry from accessing the internet. The settlement allows some registered sex offenders …

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rules on Medical Parole Despite Death of Prisoners Who Sought Judicial Review by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On May 19, 2021, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled on three questions relating to medical parole despite the two prisoners who filed for judicial review having …

Women Advocate for the Release of COVID-19 At-Risk Prisoners in Indiana by Kevin Bliss by Kevin Bliss A prisoner advocacy group in April began urging residents to call Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb and the state Department of Corrections (DOC) Commissioner Robert Carter to demand the release of nonviolent prisoners, the …