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Articles by David Reutter

Former Florida Prison Officials Sentenced to Federal Prison

by David M. Reutter

Former Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) Secretary James Crosby and his protégé, Allen Clark, have been sentenced to federal prison terms for accepting kickbacks from profits generated from prison visiting park canteens.

PLN has previously reported on how prison officials' greed, corruption and brutality ran rampant ...

Overcrowded Washington DOC’s Solution: Ship ’Em Out of State

Overcrowded Washington DOC's Solution: Ship ?Em Out of State

by David M. Reutter

Overcrowding is pinching the Washington Department of Corrections (WDOC). To alleviate that problem, the department ordered less than 100 community supervision violators released without a hearing -- but the resulting public outcry has the WDOC looking for ...

“Please Rip Us Off” Florida Officials Tell Private Prison Companies

"Please Rip Us Off" Florida Officials Tell Private Prison Companies

by David M. Reutter

Despite having ordered a criminal investigation into its private prison contractors, the Florida Legislature and Governor Charlie Crist have enacted legislation that specifies those same companies are the only ones that can bid on expanding current ...

Florida Supreme Court Enacts Rules Regulating “Super Sealing” of Court Records

Florida Supreme Court Enacts Rules Regulating "Super Sealing" of Court Records

by David M. Reutter

On April 5, 2007, the Florida Supreme Court implemented new rules that "provide a procedural vehicle for making circuit and county court records in non-criminal cases confidential." The rules were made to address "highly serious ...

$1.6 Million Settlements by PHS and Hillsborough County in Death of Baby Born in Florida Jail

by David M. Reutter

Inadequate medical care by Prison Health Services (PHS) has resulted in yet another death and $1.6 million in settlements for the mother of a baby boy who was born over a cell toilet at Florida's Hillsborough County Jail (HCJ).

Incarcerated for prostitution, Kimberly Grey was also ...

Florida Jails: State’s Largest Mental Health Providers

Florida Jails: State's Largest Mental Health Providers

by David M. Reutter

Florida's policy of allowing mentally ill citizens to languish without treatment until they have encounters with law enforcement has turned the state's county jails into the primary provider of mental health services. This has created fiscal and overcrowding problems, ...

20 Florida Prison Officials Fired or Suspended After Prisoner Beating, Party

by David M. Reutter

Continuing his quest to clean up the chronically corrupt Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC), Secretary James McDonough fired or suspended at least 20 officials at Hendry Correctional Institution (HCI) for actions related to a prisoner beating.

Prior to McDonough taking FDOC's helm in February 2006, abuse ...

Florida’s Civil Commitment Center Exhibits Little Change Despite New Contractor

Florida's Civil Commitment Center Exhibits Little Change Despite New Contractor

by David M. Reutter

Despite recent scandals and a new private contractor, the Florida Civil Commitment Center (FCCC) is still a facility with little direction other than as a confinement center to warehouse sex offenders who have completed their sentences. ...

Florida Homeless Sex Offender Ruling Reversed, FDOC Changes Policy Anyway

by David M. Reutter

Florida?s Fifth District Court of Appeals has reversed, on procedural grounds, an order by the Volusia County Circuit Court that enjoined the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) from engaging in the ?practice of automatically violating the probation of every sex offender who fails to give an ...

Fulton County Jail Consents to Improve Dismal Conditions

The Fulton County Jail (FCJ) has entered into an agreement to correct the “dismal environmental conditions and poor maintenance” at the facility. A Georgia federal district court approved a consent order on February 7, 2006 to solidify the badly needed changes.

The FCJ comprises three facilities, holding 2,250, 200 and ...