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Entire Texas Prison System Locked Down to Search for Phones; Prison Cell Phone Problem is Pandemic
Loaded on March 15, 2009
by Matthew Clarke
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2009, page 29
by Matt Clarke
Filed under:
Misconduct/Corruption,
Guard Misconduct,
Prison/Common Area Searches,
Criminal Prosecution,
Lockdowns,
Telephone Access,
Death Row,
State Legislation.
Locations:
Afghanistan,
New Zealand,
Maryland,
South Carolina,
Texas.
On October 20, 2008, Texas Governor Rick Perry placed all 112 prisons and 155,000 prisoners in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) on lockdown to search for cell phones after a state senator received calls from a death row prisoner.
Richard Lee Tabler, 29, who is …
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More from this issue:
- Deconstructing Gus: A Former CCA Prisoner Takes On, and Takes Down, CCA’s Top Lawyer, by Paul Wright
- Online Postings Lead To Stiffer Sentences, by Brandon Sample
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- GEO Cancels Contract at Pennsylvania Jail, Looks Elsewhere for Business, by David Reutter
- $295,000 Award to Wisconsin Prisoner in Moldy Mattress Case Reduced by Court
- Torture at Angola Prison: President Obama promises to close Guantanamo, but a court proceeding in Louisiana exposes brutality closer to home, by Jordan Flaherty
- Widespread Corruption in Private Halfway Houses, by Derick Limberg
- Dead Bodies at “Bodies” Exhibit May Be Executed Chinese Prisoners, by Gary Hunter
- Florida’s Juvenile Death Camps: A Painful Past Revisited, by David Reutter
- Prisoners Can Sue Virginia DOC’s Contract Medical Provider for Breach of Contract
- District of Columbia Rehabilitation Program Contractor Liable in Juvenile’s Death; $1,000,000 Verdict Upheld, by Bob Williams
- California Jail Restraint and Tasering Death Settles for $3 Million
- Oregon Jailer Avoids Prosecution for Online Assault Boast; Jail Employees Lose Internet Access, by Mark Wilson
- Supreme Court Holds Prosecutors Immune from Using False Snitch Testimony to Gain Wrongful Conviction, by John Dannenberg
- Hawaii Prisoner Awarded $15,000.50 for Slip and Fall
- Entire Texas Prison System Locked Down to Search for Phones; Prison Cell Phone Problem is Pandemic, by Matthew Clarke
- Ohio Court Releases Prisoners from Private Jail to Protect Them
- CMS Contract Woes Persist in New Jersey, Arizona and Delaware, by David Reutter
- $2,925,000 in Recent Settlements Involving Maricopa County and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, by Matthew Clarke
- Audit Faults New York Prison Oversight, by Mark Wilson
- In the Shadow of San Quentin: An Interview with Prison Law Office Director Donald Specter, by Todd Matthews
- Prisoners’ Guerrilla Handbook to Correspondence Programs in the U.S. and Canada, 3rd Edition, by Jon Marc Taylor and Susan Schwartzkopf, by Paul Wright
- Federal Three-Judge Panel Issues Tentative Ruling To Reduce California’s Prison Population By Up To 57,000 In Three Years, by John Dannenberg
- $3.6 Million Settlement in Michigan Prisoner’s Segregation Cell Death
- Selling Segregation, by Josh Rushing
- California Appellate Court Grants Writ, Reverses Governor, Reinstates PLN Writer’s Grant of Parole, by Marvin Mentor
- Reverend Sues, Wins Right to Register Alabama Prisoners to Vote, by David Reutter
- Texas Parole Officials Caught Lying to Federal Court With Impunity
- Report Finds Increase in Michigan Prison Population Attributable to Political Policy Changes, Not Crime Increase, by David Reutter
- Georgia Judges, Other Officials Indicted on Corruption and Human Trafficking Charges, by David Reutter
- Maryland Prison Employees Strip Searched After False Alert by Drug Scanning Machine, by Derick Limberg
- News in Brief:
- Former Illinois Prison Director Convicted and Fined
- Washington Jury Awards $202,500 to Ex-Prisoner for Injuries from Top Bunk Fall
More from Matthew Clarke:
- Eleventh Circuit Reinstates Alabama Prisoner’s Excessive Prison Violence Claim, Oct. 1, 2026
- Eleventh Circuit Upholds Most of Relief Ordered in Class-Action Lawsuit Challenging Unconstitutionally Inadequate Mental Health Care in Alabama Prisons, Oct. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Upholds Denial of Qualified Immunity to Jail Supervisors Who Ignored Detainee’s Cranial Abscesses, Oct. 1, 2026
- Eighth Circuit Reverses District Court’s Denial of Motion to Dismiss Some Defendants from Lawsuit Over Missouri Prisoner’s Suicide, Oct. 1, 2026
- Eighth Circuit Grants Summary Judgment to Sheriff and County of Nebraska Jail Where Guard Sexually Assaulted Female Prisoner, Oct. 1, 2026
- Federal Court Orders Texas to Admit Incompetent Jailed Defendants to Mental Health Facilities Within 21 Days, Oct. 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to Detectives Who Revealed Prisoner Was Informant, Denies Him Anonymity, Aug. 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Holds Federal Law Prohibits County Jail from Forcing Immigration Detainees to Perform Custodial Labor by Threatening Solitary Confinement, Aug. 1, 2026
- New Mexico Supreme Court Holds Corrections Department Regulations Do Not Exempt Use-Of-Force Documents from Public Records Disclosure, Aug. 1, 2026
- DOJ Issues Memorandum Over BOP Employees Abusing Their Law Enforcement Credentials to Illegally Purchase Personal Firearms, Aug. 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- Kentucky Department of Corrections Restricts Tablet Access, Oct. 1, 2026. Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, Video Visitation, Access to Computers.
- California Supreme Court Bail Ruling Cuts Some Jail Headcounts, Oct. 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, State Legislation, Bail/Pretrial Release, Reduction of Prison Population.
- Law Restoring Voting Rights to Some People with Felonies Takes Effect in Missouri, Oct. 1, 2026. State Legislation, Restrictions, discrimination, Voting Rights, Felon Disenfranchisement Statute.
- L.A. County Begins Making Nearly $5 Billion in Payouts to Survivors of Sex Abuse in Juvenile Detention, Sept. 1, 2026. Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Settlements, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders.
- Wave of Staff Arrests Exposes Persistent Misconduct at South Carolina Jail, Sept. 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Obstruction of Justice.
- North Carolina’s “Iryna’s Law” Leads to Jail Overcrowding, Sept. 1, 2026. Overcrowding, State Legislation, Pretrial Detention and Detainees, Bail/Pretrial Release.
- Washington DOC Barred from Putting Prisoners on Lockdown and Calling It “Programming”, Sept. 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Liberty Interests, Notice of Rules, Lockdowns, Statutory Construction/Interpretation.
- Four Massachusetts Guards Face Charges for Assault on Prisoners During Brawl, Sept. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings.
- Idaho Legislature Moves to Hide Execution Protocol from Judicial Scrutiny, Sept. 1, 2026. Disclosure of Records, Discovery, Public Records, State Legislation, Method of Execution.
- Mental Health Diversion from New York State Jails Varies Widely by County, Sept. 1, 2026. Criminal justice system reform, Alternative Sentencing, Mental Health, State Legislation.

