by Derek Gilna
Following a two-day hearing, Colorado federal district court judge Richard P. Matsch approved a landmark settlement in December 2016 that ended a five-year class-action lawsuit over the horrendous mistreatment of mentally ill prisoners. As a result of the settlement, federal prison officials agreed to sweeping changes in ...
by Derek Gilna
Recent court filings make it clear that G. Michele Yezzo, an evidence technician for 33 years with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), had a long history of behavioral problems that put the credibility of her findings in criminal cases in doubt.
According ...
by Derek Gilna
After three years of research, the highly-respected, non-partisan Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s School of Law published an extensive report in December 2016 which concluded that while “mass incarceration has emerged as an urgent national issue to be addressed, the reforms currently offered are ...
by Derek Gilna
A new report from the federal government documents what many already know: that the problem of substance abuse addiction continues to expand, now affecting an estimated 20.8 million Americans. That’s more than the total number of people in the U.S. with cancer.
Prisoners at the local, state ...
by Derek Gilna
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), now known as CoreCivic, and GEO Group (GEO), the two largest private prison companies, are major profit-generators for six U.S. banks – Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, BNP Paribas, SunTrust, U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo – according to a report issued by ...
by Derek Gilna
A new report, "Gavel Gap: Who Sits in Judgment on State Courts?,” by Professors Tracey E. George and Albert H. Yoon, of Vanderbilt Law School and Toronto Law School, respectively, found that state court judges at both the local and appellate levels are less diverse than the ...
by Derek Gilna
Disability Rights New York (DRNY), the state’s Protection & Advocacy group, which has a federal mandate to advocate for people with disabilities, issued a lengthy report critical of the treatment of prisoners in a mental health program at the Sullivan Correctional Facility (SCF). In its report, the ...
by Derek Gilna
South Carolina state prisoner Fred Gatewood, who worked in a prison industries job, thought he was to be paid $4.00 per hour subject to various state-mandated deductions, but in fact received less. He filed wage-related grievances, arguing his pay was subject to incorrect deductions. An Administrative Law ...
by Derek Gilna
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) prisoner Jared M. Villery filed three administrative grievances in 2014 concerning the failure of prison staff to properly discharge their duties. He alleged that staff failed to respond to his written grievances within the required time period, then petitioned for ...
by Derek Gilna
The First Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a district court’s order barring the city of Cranston, Rhode Island from counting the 3,433 prisoners held at the Adult Correctional Institution (ACI), located in that city’s Ward Six, for census purposes.
The plaintiffs in the case, including four ...
