On August 11, 2015, an Idaho federal court ordered sanctions against the State of Idaho and its prison system in a blistering ruling that found prison officials had intentionally misled a court-appointed special master regarding the quality of mental health services provided to prisoners. The sanctions were entered in a ...
On December 16, 2015, the State of New York and the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) announced a final settlement agreement that will change many aspects of the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision’s use of solitary confinement, commonly known as “the box.” Important changes include abolishing ...
On December 17, 2014, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that holding a prisoner in solitary confinement for almost 40 years implicated a liberty interest, and that prison officials could be liable for failing to provide adequate due process.
Louisiana state prisoner Albert Woodfox was convicted of killing prison ...
In a September 30, 2015 order, a federal district court held that the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) could deny prisoners the use of wheelchairs with electric motors because the Department’s use of prisoners assigned to push unmotorized wheelchairs, known as “mobility aides,” was a reasonable ...
On September 30, 2015, a U.S. district court certified a class of Indiana state prisoners who refused to admit their guilt as part of the Indiana Sex Offender Monitoring and Management Treatment Program, and who were subjected to disciplinary sanctions as a result.
In 2006, the Indiana Department of Correction ...
In one of the latest attempts to squeeze money out of those least able to afford it, companies that specialize in providing phone and video visitation services to prisoners in Texas jails on a local monopolistic basis are moving to limit or eliminate free and in-person visitation. This forces prisoners' ...
On October 1, 2014, a Walker County grand jury indicted Texas parole commissioner Pamela Freeman for making "a false entry in a government record, to-wit: Parole memorandum, said false entry being that an inmate 'refused to interview.'" Freeman, who was arrested and released on $3,500 bond, faces up to ten ...
It seemed like a great idea. The Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) would try a pilot program in a couple of 130-bed pods at Airway Heights Corrections Center with the aim of improving prisoner behavior using positive reinforcement and behavioral modification classes. The DOC trained guards to offer prisoners ...
The Peace Education Program is an international non-religious effort by The Prem Rawat Foundation to help prisoners throughout the world discover inner peace and translate the inner peace into outward expressions of peace. Prem Rawat started the foundation in 2001 to facilitate his life's purpose as an international ambassador of ...
On September 2, 2016, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that Arizona's sex offender registration law may be constitutionally applied to persons who committed their offense prior to passage of that law. The decision upheld the conviction of a Cochise County man for failing ...
