Criminal Defense Blog

Christopher Zoukis, JD | December 20, 2013 | Prison Life

If a Texas state prisoner dies or is executed, relatives or friends can pick up the body. If they don’t, he or she is buried in the largest prison graveyard in the United States – the Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery in Huntsville, Texas. Such burials occur around 100 times each year. Named after an assistant […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | December 2, 2013 | Prison Life

WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) announced that in response to concerns that they raised over the last two months, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has now indicated that it has altered its plan to turn the only secure facility for women in the […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | November 7, 2013 | Educational Programs

There are few religious institutions the world over as renowned as the Moody Bible Institute.  Founded in 1901, Moody has educated some of the greatest religious scholars of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Moody Distance Learning offers two levels of study: Undergraduate and Fee-Based Bible Study.  Both of these are well respected in the industry. Undergraduate […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | November 4, 2013 | Educational Programs

Founded in 1890, Blackstone Career Institute is one of the oldest distance learning schools in the U.S.  Over 125,000 people have changed their lives by taking a course with Blackstone. We have a long history of providing convenient and affordable education for prison inmates. Education is the cornerstone of success and has proven benefits for […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | November 1, 2013 | Educational Programs

Prison College Program Welcome to the Adams State University Prison College Program. Here you will find information about what Adams State University can offer to incarcerated individuals. At Adams State University, we know how important education is to all individuals, especially those who happen to be incarcerated. Through correspondence courses, Adams State University provides an opportunity for incarcerated students to work for college […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | October 17, 2013 | Advocacy and Reform

In the past several weeks I have been researching the sex offender laws applicable to sex offenders living in Rhode Island and in South Carolina. While not surprising, the laws are anything but rational and they are certainly not empirically based. This goes across the board, not merely in Rhode Island or South Carolina but […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | October 7, 2013 | Prison Life

Christopher Zoukis, a 27-year-old federal prisoner, is the author of Education Behind Bars: A Win-Win Strategy for Maximum Security (Sunbury Press, 2012), a contributing writer for Prison Legal News, and a regular commentator on prison matters in the penal press. He has navigated the troublesome waters of incarceration for the past 8 years, in both […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | August 23, 2013 | Prison Life

Initial Designation at a Federal Bureau of Prisons Facility Federal prisoners are not given a choice in which prison they are first designated to. This designation is made by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Designation and Sentence Computation Center (DSCC) in Grand Prairie, Texas. Initial designation determinations are based upon a number of factors. These factors […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | August 14, 2013 | News

On April 26, 2013, David Lee Kemp, 43, turned himself into the Comanche County, Oklahoma Sheriff’s Office. He was actively being sought by the FBI, U.S. Marshals, and other law enforcement agencies for escaping from the Comanche County Jail 14 years earlier. “He said that he was just tired basically of running and it was […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | August 1, 2013 | Prison Life

Earlier this week, a loyal Prison Law Blog reader presented a situation to us and asked for our help. The reader said that his elderly family member, who’s currently incarcerated in the Federal Bureau of Prisons on a crack cocaine-related offense, had served 24 years in prison — has maintained a clean disciplinary record — […]