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BOP Fails and Prevails in Prison Guard Discrimination Complaint

Dec 30, 2017 No Comments

Robert T. Aranda, an “inmate systems officer” (prison guard), was a very litigious Bureau of Prisons employee. Between 1996 and 1998, while working at multiple BOP facilities in several capacities, Aranda filed at least six complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). He alleged variations of racial (Hispanic) and gender (male) discrimination against many

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Eighth Circuit: Prior Convictions Not Relevant to Escape

Dec 29, 2017 No Comments

Leonard Lester Slaughter III was serving a 115-month sentence at a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility when he escaped. After pleading guilty to the escape, the District Court concluded that two prior convictions were not “relevant conduct” and thus counted them as felony convictions when calculating Slaughter’s criminal history category. Slaughter objected and made the

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Sixth Circuit: Jail Guard’s Criticism of Sheriff was Protected Speech

Dec 29, 2017 No Comments

Joseph Boulton, a jail guard at the Genesee County, Michigan jail, lost his claim alleging unconstitutional retaliation for protected speech on July 29, 2015. During union arbitration proceedings, Boulton testified that Sheriff Christopher Swanson had misrepresented the amount of Taser, firearm, and CPR training that Sheriff’s Office employees received. He also shared his concerns about

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Cafe aims to help at-risk youth, reduce recidivism

Dec 28, 2017 No Comments

Grand St. Settlement is a social services organization in New York that focuses on empowerment, support, and advocacy. In operation since 1916, Grand St. serves thousands of New Yorkers through child and family centers, education, and skills-based programs. In November 2017, Grand St. Settlement announced a bold — and tasty — new venture: GrandLo Café.

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Foreign-Born Are 21% of DOJ Prisoners; 94% Are Here Illegally

Dec 28, 2017 No Comments

Mark Twain once famously maintained it could probably be shown through facts and statistics that there’s “no distinctly American criminal class – except Congress.” What then would that celebrated observer of Gilded Age corruption and criminality make of the facts and statistics recently released by the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) in

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California Appellate Court Remands Sex Offender Commitment Order

Dec 28, 2017 No Comments

The First Appellate District for the California Court of Appeals has remanded a lower court’s decision to civilly commit a prisoner as a sexually violent predator (SVP). The Alameda County District Attorney filed a petition to commit Joel Curlee as an SVP in December 2010. During the trial, Curlee was called as a witness during

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Seventh Circuit Rejects Demand for Recusal in Milwaukee Strip-Search Cases

Dec 28, 2017 No Comments

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently denied the City of Milwaukee’s attempt to force the removal of the judge presiding over several unconstitutional police strip-search cases on the basis of several allegedly improper statements. The City of Milwaukee contended that U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller refused to recuse himself, so

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Eighth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Excessive Force Case

Dec 28, 2017 No Comments

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a civil rights claim brought against the Jefferson County, Missouri Sheriff’s Department by a man beaten during a traffic stop. Edward C. Schoettle, an insulin-dependent diabetic, was driving his truck down a highway on November 6, 2010. When he became lightheaded,

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