Two audits of Texas’ parole system, in 2008 and 2010, revealed a number of problems and inefficiencies.
According to the first audit, released in June 2008, approximately 1,250 Texas parole officers supervised 77,526 parolees during fiscal year 2007. Five counties – Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar and Travis – accounted for ...
Since 2003, Maryland’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Board has awarded about $1.8 million to claimants with criminal convictions. In Baltimore, over 120 people who received victims’ compensation had been arrested for selling or manufacturing drugs; more than seventy of those payments went to families to cover burial expenses.
Deandra M. Gaskins ...
For 14 years, Texas State Rep. Terri Hodge (D-Dallas) was a staunch defender of minorities and prisoners’ rights in the Texas legislature. On October 1, 2007, federal prosecutors indicted Hodge on 14 counts of corruption including bribery, fraud and conspiracy. The indictment created a firestorm of controversy.
The 31-count main ...
Several studies, highlighted by the Women’s Prison Association (WPA) in a recent report, have shown that allowing infants born in prison to remain with their incarcerated mothers enhances bonding and leads to decreased recidivism.
Prior to the 1950s, nurseries for prisoners who gave birth were fairly common. But by the ...
To settle a federal lawsuit, the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) agreed to pay $625,000 in damages to four youths who were grossly abused by the states’ corrupt juvenile justice system.
The largest payout of $345,000 went to plaintiff Joseph Galloway, who had filed suit alleging that the TYC failed to ...
Nevada prison officials recently had to come to grips with two stark realities. First, for decades their correctional facilities have been a haven for gang-related crime and brutality, and second, the state’s own corrupt prison guards played a role in perpetuating those dangerous and violent conditions.
A federal investigation into ...
Ronnie White’s death by strangulation will go unpunished. On June 2, 2009, almost a year after White died amid a flurry of controversy at the Prince George’s County Correctional Center in Maryland, state’s attorney Glenn F. Ivey announced there was not enough evidence to charge anyone with his death.
On ...
A 64-page report issued last year by Human Rights Watch (HRW), a non-profit watchdog organization, indicates that changes in U.S. deportation laws implemented by Congress in 1996 are mostly targeting immigrants who commit nonviolent crimes.
Statistical data accumulated from 1997 through mid-2007 show that approximately 897,000 immigrants, both legal and ...
Even the most diligent planning does not ensure success. However, it is a proven fact that education significantly enhances one’s chances to succeed. Back to School: A Guide to Continuing Your Education After Prison (the Guide) offers numerous helpful insights for entry or reentry into educational programs.
For many prisoners, ...
In April 2009, four Maryland prison guards were indicted for participating in a variety of illegal activities involving the Black Guerrilla Family (BGF) at the Metropolitan Transition Center (MTC) in Baltimore. Guards Asia Burrus, Musheerah Habeebullah, Takevia Smith and Terry Robe were accused of supplying incarcerated BGF members with contraband ...
