by Matt Clarke
On November 16, 2016, a Texas court of appeals held that a legislative amendment that removed criminal penalties for violations of sex offender civil commitment supervision requirements applied to cases that were pending on appeal on the enactment date of the amendment.
Enrique Martinez, a Texas civilly ...
by Matt Clarke
On November 14, 1966, the Supreme Court of the United States held that demonstrators may be arrested for protesting on jail property.
A group of about 200 students were protesting on a nonpublic jail driveway and adjacent jail grounds, blocking access to the jail. The sheriff told ...
by Matt Clarke
A federal jury awarded an Oklahoma woman $6.5 million after she was sexually assaulted by a Hollis, Oklahoma assistant police chief while held at the Harmon County jail.
Tiffany Ann Glover, 33, filed a federal civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Harmon County ...
by Matt Clarke
Corizon Health is one of the nation's largest for-profit medical providers for prisons and jails. Recent lawsuits against the company, however, call into question the quality, and even the availability, of the healthcare services it is supposed to provide. Further, a former New Mexico prison employee has ...
by Matt Clarke
In a June 30, 2016 opinion, the Iowa Supreme Court held that all felonies were “infamous crimes” under the voter disqualification provision of the state’s constitution.
Kelli Jo Griffin was convicted of the class C felony of delivery of 100 grams or less of cocaine in 2008. ...
by Matt Clarke
On June 20, 2016, Rebecca Bond, chief of the Disability Rights Section of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), sent the Nevada Attorney General a letter calling out the state’s Department of Corrections (DOC) for unlawfully discriminating against prisoners with HIV, mobility devices and other disabilities – ...
by Matt Clarke
While crime may not pay, policing can be very profitable when law enforcement agencies are allowed to seize assets not only from criminals but also people merely suspected of breaking the law. No criminal convictions – or even charges – are needed before property or money can ...
by Matt Clarke
On July 10, 2015, Sandra Bland was stopped while driving in Prairie View, Texas. The 28-year-old Illinois native was in the process of moving to Waller County when she was stopped by Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia, allegedly for changing lanes without signaling.
A verbal altercation ensued ...
by Matt Clarke
On April 13, 2016, Gary Mohr, Director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC), announced plans to phase out farming operations at all ten of the state’s prison farms, and sell around 7,000 of the 12,300 acres of prison farmland.
Mohr’s announcement came just a ...
by Matt Clarke
When police were notified about the death of Terry Cameron, 58, in March 2016, they quickly arrested her husband, Melvin Stubbs, 65. Stubbs was a diabetic amputee who used a wheelchair. Nonetheless, police said there were signs of a struggle, Stubbs and Cameron both had defensive wounds, ...
