by Matt Clarke
On May 7, 2007, the Supreme Court of South Carolina ruled that the South Carolina Department of Corrections (DOC) must allow prisoners' dependents, as well as crime victims entitled to restitution access to the DOC's internal grievance procedure to address issues involving prisoners' wages for participation in ...
by Matt Clarke
On June 24, 2010, a Texas Court of Appeals held that suing employees of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) in both their official and individual capacities was not the same as suing both the governmental entity and the employees, and thus the employees did not ...
by Matt Clarke
In the middle of the night of October 18, 2007, Phoenix New Times founders Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin were arrested at their homes and charged with revealing grand jury information for publishing an article revealing that they had been subjected to a grand jury subpoena of ...
by Matthew T. Clarke
PLN has previously reported the abuse of prisoners in American military prisons in Iraq. [PLN June 2004, p. 1; Nov. 2004, p. 36; Dec. 2004, p. 26]. The most infamous location where prisoner torture took place is Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. The brigadier general over ...
by Matt Clarke
Prosecutors have a great deal of power and discretion. They choose whether to prosecute a case, what charges to file against a defendant and what plea bargain to offer. They can influence the court when imposing sentence and can even seek the death penalty. Prosecutors are also ...
by Matt Clarke
The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Economic Mobility Project and Public Safety Performance Project issued a collaborative report in September 2010 on the impact of incarceration on economic mobility. The report found a strong negative effect of incarceration on upward economic mobility not only for former prisoners but also ...
by Matt Clarke
On March 19, 2010, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a federal district court violated Rule 32.l(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure when the judge used videoconferencing technology to appear at a supervised release revocation hearing.
Christopher R. Thompson was convicted in federal ...
by Matt Clarke
The Fifth Circuit court of appeals reversed a Louisiana district court’s denial of qualified immunity for a prison doctor.
Anthony Gobert, a former Louisiana state prisoner, was incarcerated at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center (EHCC) and on work release when his leg was accidentally crushed below the ...
by Matt Clarke
A Texas court of appeals has conditionally granted a prisoner’s petition for a writ of mandamus, voiding a district court’s order garnishing funds from the prisoner’s trust fund to pay court costs in an old case.
Roger L. Keeling, a Texas state prisoner, was convicted in 1992 ...
by Matthew T. Clarke
A Texas court of appeals has reinstated the pro se, in forma pauperis negligence and premises defect tort suit brought by a Texas prisoner against Dallas County and the Sheriff of Dallas County after finding that the trial court abused its discretion in dismissing the suit. ...