Criminal Defense Blog

Christopher Zoukis, JD | August 14, 2017 | Prison Life

The Federal Bureau of Prisons has approximately 200 institutions, which consist of federal prisons, prison camps and contracted private prisons, each of which use similar orientation procedures for new arrivals. Referred to as Admission and Orientation (A&O), the process is designed to acquaint new arrivals with local rules and regulations, the procedures and protocols of an institution’s […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | July 26, 2017 | Prison Life

The Federal Bureau of Prisons operates 125 stand-alone prisons, 68 satellite prison camps, and has contracts with 13 private prisons. In total, the federal prison system houses 188,722 inmates within five different security levels: minimum, low, medium, high and administrative. BOP institutions are further divided into five regions, which span the United States: Mid-Atlantic Region, North Central Region, […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | July 7, 2017 | Prison Life

The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a massive entity with over 41,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $7 billion. It is responsible for the housing and management of approximately 188,000 federal inmates, each of which must be cataloged, inventoried, and processed into the prison system, and ultimately into each individual federal prison. […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | June 16, 2017 | Educational Programs

Former inmates face many obstacles in finding a job, but inmates who take educational programs have higher employment rates and better wages. Inmates are almost six times more likely to be unemployed than the general population before even going to prison. It can be worse after prison. Employment means prisoners are less likely to be re-incarcerated. Considering employment rates […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | June 15, 2017 | Reentry Programs

Jack Daniel McCullough, a 76-year-old veteran and former police officer, was convicted in 2012 of the 1957 abduction and murder of a young girl in perhaps the oldest cold case in the nation to go to trial. He was sentenced to life in prison and his murder conviction was affirmed on appeal. See: People v. […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | August 25, 2016 | Educational Programs

Young Tyler Fugett from Tennessee recently used his allowance money to buy books for local prisoners, scouring clearance sales at local book stores. The boy, 9, donated more than 100 books to the Montgomery Sheriff’s Office in hopes they would go to the local prison, and has been collecting more, along with toiletry items since […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | December 2, 2015 | Prison Life

Prison food service vendor Aramark was included among 132 businesses in 21 countries that were named the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2015 by Ethisphere Institute, a self-described “global leader” in defining standards for ethical corporate practices. According to the Institute’s website, the designation bestowed upon Aramark “recognizes companies that truly go beyond making statements […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | May 27, 2015 | Prison Life

Excerpt from original article published in The Huffington Post on May 27, 2015. NZ’s Newest Prison Permits Inmates to Use Cell Phones, Computers, and Tablets. In an era where American prison administrators are losing the battle against illicit cell phone usage in our nation’s prisons, and lawmakers are creating draconian criminal statutes to punish offenders, New […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | April 23, 2015 | Crime and Justice

The confessed leader of a powerful gang inside the Baltimore City Detention Center was the government’s star witness at the trial of eight remaining defendants in a widespread racketeering, drug smuggling, bribery, extortion, and money laundering operation that resulted in criminal charges against dozens of guards, prisoners, jail workers, and other defendants. Tavon “Bulldog” White, […]

Christopher Zoukis, JD | April 9, 2015 | Crime and Justice

In a rare public rebuke of a prosecutor found to have engaged in a “deliberate pattern of misconduct,” the Connecticut Appellate Court vacated a defendant’s murder conviction based on the prosecutor’s improper remarks during closing arguments. Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Terence D. Mariani, Jr. was chided in an opinion by Judge Michael R. Sheldon, writing […]