by David M. Reutter
A report by Utah’s legislative Auditor General into the performance of the Drug Offender Reform Act (DORA) says that more time is needed to evaluate the program, and it makes several recommendations to assist in future evaluations.
DORA began as a three-year pilot program to identify ...
by David M. Reutter
A former Massachusetts prisoner has received $100,000 to settle a claim of wrongful and illegal confinement. PLN previously reported on this incident, which stems from the failure of the Massachusetts Department of Correction (MDOC) and Parole Board to implement a court ruling that required time served ...
by David M. Reutter
The Court of Common Pleas in Franklin County, Ohio has entered summary judgment finding the Ohio Adult Parole Authority (APA) denies “meaningful parole consideration when they assign an inmate to a proper guidelines category, but the lowest possible range in the guidelines chart is beyond the ...
by David M. Reutter
Michigan’s Auditor General has issued a report that criticizes the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) prison transport system as inefficient and wasteful of taxpayer money. The report notes that MDOC has failed to implement recommendations made in a 1996 report.
To transport its prisoners, the MDOC ...
by David M. Reutter
Florists in Colorado are crying out against a prison program that is competing against them, undercutting their prices due to the help of prisoner slave labor. What started as a prison program to keep prisoners busy has now turned into a business that florists in Canon ...
by David M. Reutter
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the convictions of two guards convicted in a sex-for-contraband scheme at the Women’s Federal Correctional Institute in Tallahassee, Florida. PLN previously reported the arrests and indictments in this case. [See: PLN, Aug. 2007, p.38; Oct. 2006, p.12].
Before ...
by David M. Reutter
“Regardless of my personal opinion about the death penalty, I do not have confidence in the criminal justice system as it currently operates to be the final arbiter when it comes to who lives and who dies for their crime,” said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, ...
by David M. Reutter
When 27-year-old Jonathan Magbie entered the District of Columbia Jail to serve a 10-day sentence, he was a quadriplegic confined to a mouth-operated wheelchair. Four days later he was dead.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith E. Retchin sentenced Magbie to jail after he pleaded guilty to ...
by David M. Reutter
Population: 52. That’s how many sex offenders have been forced to live under the Julia Tuttle Causeway in Miami, Florida as of March 2009. In late 2007, the population was only 19. [See: PLN, June 2008, p.1].
With city and county laws creating restricted residency zones, ...
by David M. Reutter
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that pepper spraying a prisoner, keeping him in a small cell for longer than necessary to gain his compliance, and not allowing him to decontaminate properly or receive medical care after being sprayed can constitute excessive force and deliberate ...
