The Louisiana federal district court overseeing the consent decree related to conditions at the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) has denied a motion by the City of New Orleans to nullify a contract to provide prisoner health care at the facility. The motion was the latest skirmish between city officials and ...
Finding that no legitimate penological interest existed to support a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PDOC) policy that required a PDOC-issued control number be included on correspondence for it to qualify as legal mail, a Pennsylvania U.S. District Court issued an injunction prohibiting enforcement of the policy.
Prior to October 2002, ...
Since George W. Bush won the 2000 presidential election by prevailing in Florida by a razor-thin margin of 537 votes, intense scrutiny has been focused on Florida’s election laws and procedures. Civil rights activist have kept the focus on the disenfranchisement of felons, which it has been estimated to reach ...
The Virginia Supreme Court issued a ruling in death penalty public records case that could “become a license to withdraw records,” said Megan Rhyne, Executive Director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government.
The ruling reversed a Fairfax County Circuit Court’s order that ordered full disclosure of “the detailed floor ...
A new company, Tight Lines Y’all, has started operations thanks to the availability of prisoner labor to produce its signature items. When Terry Lewis became inspired to start a company he faced the usual obstacles of needing a location and employees.
Prison Industries, a division of the South Carolina Department ...
A new law is giving the hope of parole to aged Kentucky prisoner s. Amongst those is prisoner Willie Gaines Smith, who has served 54 years in prison.
Kentucky legislators approved a program that allows Kentucky Corrections Commissioner LaDonna Thompson to make a decision, which the parole board must follow, ...
Florida authorities have charged three people with stealing $1.5 million from the state prison system through a food procurement contract.
In 2008, the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) signed a contract with US Foods for the company to handle FDOC’s food vendor program. Thomas J. Tomblin Jr., 63, was named ...
An “irrational” and unaccountable system is preventing Wisconsin’s parole eligible prisoners from satisfying requirements to merit release on parole.
About 15% of Wisconsin’s more than 32,000 prisoners have sentences that allow them to be paroled. They are the remnant that lingers in the state’s prisons prior to the January 1, ...
Louisiana officials are resorting to unconventional tactics to combat the “international” problem of cellphones within its jails and prisons. Prisoner use of the contraband phones has become so widespread that rarely a day goes by that guards fail to find one.
Several factors drive the proliferation of cellphones in jails ...
A prerequisite for holding a judgeship is maintaining an impeccable reputation of upstanding and ethical conduct in all affairs. Along the eastern shores of Florida known as the Space and Gold Coasts, the spotlight has shone upon the wayward conduct of numerous judges.
In Broward County, scandals from the conduct ...
