by Matt Clarke
A 2009 report by the National Academy of Sciences (“NAS”) criticizing the varying quality of crime labs throughout the nation and questioning the scientific basis of several forensic methods that were routinely used to convict criminal defendants led to the hope that enforceable standards would soon be ...
by Matt Clarke
Where can you face criminal prosecution for doing your job? The answer is New Orleans if you work for the Orleans Public Defenders (“OPD”).
Prosecutors in New Orleans have been threatening to criminally charge the public defenders and investigators who conscientiously do their jobs, in a tactic ...
by Matt Clarke
In May 2017, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ruled that civilly committed sex offenders have a right to vote by mail ballot. The ruling puts an end to the confusion surrounding the issue, which resulted in all the mail ballots belonging to residents of the Texas Civil ...
by Matt Clarke
In a 5-3 opinion handed down on March 28, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (“CCA”) violated the Eighth Amendment and Supreme Court precedent when it relied upon its own previous opinion and superseded medical standards to conclude that a ...
by Matt Clarke
On February 23, 2016, a Texas court of appeals upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit brought against a parole board member and two parole commissioners.
John Henry Boykin, a Texas state prisoner, filed a state lawsuit against parole board member Cynthia Tauss and parole commissioners Lynn Ruzika ...
by Matt Clarke
On September 1, 2015, a California court of appeal vacated the decision of the Board of Parole Hearings to deny parole to a prisoner who had been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison because the decision was impermissibly based upon the prisoner’s claim ...
by Matt Clarke
In an opinion handed down on November 6, 2015, the Supreme Court of North Carolina upheld a state law banning registered sex offenders from accessing commercial social media websites on the Internet.
Lester Gerard Packingham, a registered sex offender (RSO), was convicted of accessing commercial social media ...
by Matt Clarke
When California Governor Jerry Brown announced his intention of getting a voter initiative to reduce the length of time nonviolent prisoners would spend in prison onto the ballot, it engendered opposition ... and a sense of irony. Brown was the governor who ushered in California's "tough-on-crime" era ...
by Matt Clarke
On January 12, 2017, the Fifth Circuit court of appeals dismissed the interlocutory appeal of a deputy sheriff who was a bystander when a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officer conducted a roadside body-cavity search of two women.
DPS Officer Nathaniel Turner stopped Brandy Hamilton and ...
