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Articles by Matthew Clarke

Defense Investigator Jailed for Initially Refusing to Testify in Death Penalty Case

by Matt Clarke

Greta Lindercrantz, 67, was jailed for contempt of court by Arapahoe County, Colorado District Judge Michelle Amico on February 26, 2018.

Lindercrantz, a Mennonite defense investigator, had refused to testify in a hearing for Colorado death row prisoner Robert Keith Ray. Lindercrantz was part of Ray’s defense ...

Class-Action Status Granted in Civil Rights Suit Over Disenfranchised Indiana Jail Prisoners

by Matt Clarke

On May 17, 2018, a federal district court certified a class of Allen County, Indiana jail prisoners who were denied their right to vote in the November 2016 general election.

Ian Barnhart was held at the jail on misdemeanor charges from October 31, 2016 until December 15, ...

Polls Show People Favor Rehabilitation over Incarceration

by Matt Clarke

A recent poll found a majority of Americans – 67 percent overall – believe that building more prisons and jails does not reduce crime. Nearly as many – 62 percent – don’t believe that more prisons would improve the quality of life in their communities, either. The ...

Maricopa County, Phoenix Settle Lawsuit Over Mentally Ill Prisoner’s Death for $7.25 Million

by Matt Clarke

In April 2018, just weeks before a trial was scheduled to begin, the City of Phoenix, Arizona agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of a mentally ill prisoner who died at the Maricopa County jail after being mocked, beaten and Tasered ...

Alaska Supreme Court Reverses Disciplinary Case Where Prisoner Not Allowed to Call Witnesses

by Matt Clarke and David Reutter

On April 27, 2018, the Supreme Court of Alaska held that a prisoner had been improperly denied his right to call witnesses at a prison disciplinary hearing, and his failure to raise that issue during administrative appeals did not waive the issue.

Scott Walker, ...

Federal District Court Holds Ohio Prison Cannot Cut Rastafarian Prisoner’s Hair

by Matt Clarke

On May 14, 2018, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Patricia A. Gaughan ruled the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) could not enforce a grooming policy that required a Rastafarian prisoner to cut his dreadlocks.

The district court declared the grooming policy, as applied to the ...

Denver Pays $100,000 to Settle DOJ Suit Over Failure to Accommodate Diabetic Deputy

by Matt Clarke

On May 15, 2018, the City and County of Denver, Colorado agreed to pay $100,000 to an unidentified deputy sheriff who was fired from his position at the Denver County jail after the Sheriff’s Department refused to accommodate his Type 1 diabetes, causing him to twice experience ...

Vermont Cancels Contract with Pennsylvania to House State Prisoners

In February 2018, the Vermont Department of Corrections (VDC) gave six months’ notice to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) that it was canceling a contract under which around 260 Vermont prisoners were incarcerated in the DOC.

The cancellation follows the deaths of three Vermont prisoners who were incarcerated at ...

Low Pay, High Staff Turnover Drive Texas Prison Guard Shortage

by Matthew Clarke

Of the 26,000 guards who work in Texas’ 104 state prisons, 28 percent left their jobs in 2017 – an increase from the prior year’s 22.8 percent turnover rate and “the highest in recent memory,” according to Bryan Collier, executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal ...

Nebraska County, Jail Medical Provider Settle Suit Over Medication Denial for $10,000

by Matt Clarke

In April 2018, Saunders County, Nebraska and Advanced Correctional Healthcare, Inc. (ACH) agreed to pay $10,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a former jail prisoner who was denied medication for a brain tumor.

When John Gillock, 43, was arrested on a misdemeanor theft charge, he told ...