On August 14, 2008, the Texas Board of Criminal Justice (TBCJ) awarded a phone service contract to two companies, Kansas-based Embarq Corp. and Dallas-based Securus Technologies, Inc. Prior to this historic event, the Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) was the only state prison system in the nation that did ...
by Matt Clarke
On May 24, 2007, Cole County, Missouri Circuit Court Judge Patricia S. Joyce ruled that a Missouri statute requiring certain registered sex offenders to move if they lived within 1,000 feet of a school (§ 566.147, R.S.Mo.) was unconstitutional as applied to offenders who had established residences ...
Allegations of Contraband Smuggling, Sex and Corruption at Texas Prison
by Matt Clarke
The Inspector General’s office of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has been investigating numerous cases of corruption at the 1,555-bed Terrell Unit near Rosharon, Texas. The allegations include sex between prisoners and guards, as well ...
Cold Case Hits Use Vastly Exaggerated DNA “Match” Statistics; Upheld by California Supreme Court
by Matt Clarke
A recent California murder trial has highlighted serious problems in the probability statistics used to determine the odds of DNA matches in cases that involve DNA database searches. However, the California Supreme Court ...
by Matt Clarke
On May 19, 2008, at approximately 12:30 p.m., a fight broke out between Native American and black prisoners at the Oklahoma State Reformatory (OSR) in Granite. When the skirmish ended five minutes later, two prisoners were dead and twelve others injured – three of them critically. No ...
Use of Questionable “Lie Detectors” by Law Enforcement Expands Nationwide
by Matt Clarke
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, law enforcement and other government agencies implemented new practices to obtain information from suspects during investigations and interrogations. The use of torture and torture-like techniques to extract ...
by Matt Clarke
On October 14, 2007, the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) issued a position paper in response to the abuse of prisoners. The NCCHC is an organization dedicated to improving professionalism and safety in the jails and prisons by establishing national standards, accreditation, litigation and public ...
by Matt Clarke
On December 20, 2007, an Illinois federal jury awarded a record amount in a civil rights case for false arrest – $15.5 million. The damage award was against the sheriff of Will County, Illinois and four of his deputies. Prior to trial, the former state attorney, forensic ...
by Matt Clarke
Regular readers of PLN are familiar with Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, who bills himself as “America’s Toughest Sheriff.” [See, e.g., PLN, March 2007, p.14]. Dennis Wilenchik, a private attorney known as “Arpaio’s Bulldog,” was hired as a special prosecutor by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew ...
Texas State Auditor States Some Prison Rehabilitation Programs Effective, Some Not
by Matt Clarke
In March, 2007, the Texas State Auditor’s Office (SAO) released a report on five rehabilitation programs used in the Texas state prison system (TDCJ). The report found that three of the programs resulted in reduced recidivism ...
