Christopher Zoukis, JD | May 21, 2013 | Prison News
Unique circumstances have combined to make northern Louisiana a prime location for private prisons, as Louisiana sheriffs can profit by letting a private company build and operate facilities that house both local prisoners and prisoners from other jurisdictions. Meanwhile, other parish prisons – especially those in the densely-populated southern part of the state – and […]
Read MoreChristopher Zoukis, JD | May 14, 2013 | Legal Rights
An increasing number of American citizens have been questioned, detained, and even deported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as a result of databases that incorrectly identify them as undocumented immigrants. According to the New York Times, “Detentions of citizens are part of the widening impact on […]
Read MoreChristopher Zoukis, JD | May 13, 2013 | Support Groups
Avoiding aggression in prison is not easy sometimes. In prison, there are two sets of informal social rules which inmates must follow. One set of informal rules is utilized when dealing with fellow inmates, and the other more formal set is used when dealing with the guards. At times — when the guards are being […]
Read MoreChristopher Zoukis, JD | May 13, 2013 | Prison Life
Prisons are political places. Nothing shows this more than how those in prisons choose to refer to themselves. Some prefer the term prisoner. Others prefer inmate. And still, others favor convict. Since prison is such a political environment, referring to those in the prison context pursuant to their chosen term, whether inmate, prisoner, or convict, is essential. But how to decide which term […]
Read MoreChristopher Zoukis, JD | May 8, 2013 | Prison Life
In another series of court rulings upholding the use of Special Administrative Measures (SAMs), a prisoner at the federal ADX supermax facility in Florence, Colorado was prohibited from receiving certain publications and communicating with his nieces and nephews. The federal Bureau of Prisons’ use of SAMs originated in a regulation promulgated in 1996 – 28 C.F.R. § 501.3 […]
Read MoreChristopher Zoukis, JD | May 7, 2013 | Crime and Justice
Paul Bebeu, Sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, and a former police officer, was a rising Republican star within the state in 2012 – crusading in support of the anti-immigrant legislation SB1070, co-chairing Arizona’s campaign for Mitt Romney’s presidential bid and espousing the so-called family values that appealed to his conservative base. However, his status as a […]
Read MoreChristopher Zoukis, JD | April 22, 2013 | Educational Programs
Prison education, inmate education, and correctional education are, depending on whom you ask, essentially the same concept. They comprise the field of educating those in prisons or jails. The difference in nomenclature has to do with which group a person belongs to, based on preference more than substance. Those incarcerated in a correctional setting tend […]
Read MoreChristopher Zoukis, JD | April 11, 2013 | Prison Life
The vast majority of inmates within the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will eventually find themselves the focus of a disciplinary proceeding. This is because BOP disciplinary policy includes everything from the seemingly inconsequential to the criminal. In fact, federal inmates are known to receive incident reports for actions that they weren’t even aware were prohibited. And, […]
Read MoreChristopher Zoukis, JD | January 3, 2013 | Prison Life
One day when I was teaching my Writing and Publishing Adult Continuing Education class here at FCI Petersburg, I had a student lie to me. It wasn’t a malicious lie, and it didn’t do any real damage. But it was a lie nonetheless, and, as such, I didn’t like it one bit. The Situation We were discussing […]
Read MoreChristopher Zoukis, JD | September 9, 2012 | Support Groups
Having a loved one, especially a husband, or partner in prison can be a devastating and lonely experience. Loss of financial help, parenting help and societal stigmas can be extremely difficult to deal with. Prisoners’ Wives, Girlfriends and Partners (PWGP) was founded in 2009 by Reesy-Floyd Thompson, a wife of an incarcerated prisoner. Her life was […]
Read More