The Human Rights Defense Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit human rights organization that advocates, litigates and educates the public and policy makers about issues pertaining to the rights of people involved in the criminal justice system, from initial police-citizen encounters to post-incarceration release. |
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From the April 2021 edition of CLN: Seventh Circuit Affirms Vacatur of Death Sentence Based on Newly Discovered Evidence of Defendant’s Intellectual Disability |
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| The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana’s vacatur of Bruce Carneil Webster’s death sentence based on newly discovered evidence that Webster was intellectually disabled and ineligible for the death penalty. In 1998, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld Webster’s conviction and death sentence for his role in the kidnapping, rape, and death of a 16-year-old girl. In 2005, the same court affirmed the denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 petition. Then in 2009, Webster’s new attorneys from the firm of Dorsey & Whitney discovered records from the Social Security Administration (“SSA records”). The SSA records supported a claim that Webster was intellectually disabled and ineligible for the death sentence pursuant to Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002). Arguing the SSA records were “newly discovered evidence,” Webster sought relief in the district court under § 2255(h) (the “savings clause”), which allowed him to seek habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. (Per Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426 (2004), § 2241 required Webster to file his petition in the district court where he was confined – Terre Haute, Indiana.) The Government argued that Webster was barred from proceeding under § 2255(h). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that Webster could seek relief under the savings clause if the records were “newly discovered evidence” and remanded to the district court for that determination. Webster v. Daniels, 784 F.3d 1123 (7th Cir. 2015). And if the SSA records were newly discovered evidence, the district court was then to determine if Webster was ineligible for the death sentence based upon intellectual disability. Id. |
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| Ex-prison officer sentenced for taking bribes in California |
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VICTORVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A former federal prison corruption investigator was sentenced Wednesday to 15 months behind bars for taking $15,000 in bribes to smuggle methamphetamine, cellphones and other contraband into a California lockup. Paul James Hayes II, 52, of Victorville, was sentenced by a federal judge more than a year after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and accepting a bribe, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office. Hayes worked at the Federal Correctional Complex, Victorville, which is in the Mojave Desert. Before retiring in 2019, Hayes was a lieutenant with a federal prison unit that investigates illegal activity by correctional officers and inmates, according to the statement. |
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From the March 2021 edition of PLN: COVID-19 Pandemic Leads to Founding of Congressional BOP Reform Caucus |
| A Congressional caucus was announced on August 14, 2020 whose purpose is to shed light on management of the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and to bring accountability to decisions made by its executives. House Rep. Fred Keller (R-Pa.) announced the formation of the BOP Reform Caucus, a bipartisan group intended to increase oversight of the BOP. “We understand that good, transparent government is not a partisan issue,” said Keller. “With a $7 billion budget, more than 36,000 employees and 172,000 inmates the BOP is a massive agency with extremely limited oversight.” Other charter caucus members include Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.), Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y), and Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.). “As a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the [BOP], I’ve seen clearly that we need to fix this system,” said Cartwright. “And it’s going to take a coalition of Democrats and Republicans to do it.” It was only a matter of time until the BOP’s mismanagement made it a target for closer scrutiny. But it was the BOP’s decision to transfer inmates between institutions during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that really drew the attention of legislators. |
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| HRDC's Comments To The FCC Regarding Rates Being Charged By Securus and Global Tel*Link To Prisoners And Their Families HRDC started its Prison Phone Justice Project in 2012 to fight for lower phone rates for prisoners and their families. HRDC’s efforts have put hundreds of millions of dollars each year back into the pockets of prisoners and their families and led to significant reductions in the cost of prison phone calls. Today we continue this fight. On Friday HRDC filed with the attached letter urging the FCC to cap the cost of prison phone calls at no more than $.05 per minute for all calls and to eliminate ancillary fees. We believe that Global Tel*Link and Securus need to be held accountable for their exploitive practices. We have sued them and are currently looking for people that have paid $14.99 for a single phone call. If you know anyone this has happened to please have them contact us. |
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Man who spent years in prison sues over withheld evidence |
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Donald Outlaw had already spent 15 years in prison for murder when he found out the man he was convicted of killing had told police with his dying breath that someone else named “Shank” had shot him. Outlaw filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the city of Philadelphia and the two detectives who investigated the killing of Jamal Kelly in 2000. The lawsuit is just the latest example of justice now being sought over faulty or crooked police investigations and prosecutions in the city from decades before. Outlaw’s attorneys allege the city and its police department turned a blind eye to unconstitutional practices by homicide detectives — withholding evidence that indicated someone else’s guilt and intimidating and paying witnesses to provide false statements — that hampered Outlaw’s ability to get a fair trial and violated his civil and constitutional rights. |
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Allegations of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse rock Delco Juvenile Detention Center |
County President Judge Kevin Kelly ordered the Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center (DCJDC) to be vacated after the Public Defender’s Office sent an urgent letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services detailing allegations of “physical, sexual, and psychological abuse by staff.” The DCJDC is a youth detention facility in Lima, Pennsylvania for those ages 10 to 18 that is run by the county court system. WHYY News obtained a copy of the letter, which is a culmination of a monthlong investigation by the reinvented public defender’s office, along with four affidavits from both current and former staff members. |
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Human Rights Defense Center staff are available to provide expert commentary on all aspects of the U.S. criminal justice system. They are widely recognized as authorities on prison and jail issues, including litigation and prisoners' rights, prison privatization, prison labor, the First Amendment in the prison context, felon disenfranchisement and public records/Freedom of Information Act issues. HRDC staff members have been interviewed and quoted by news media across the nation and internationally and are available for phone, radio, television and in-person interviews. |
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| HRDC's monthly magazines are subscription publications. We have thousands of subscribers nationwide to our print publication, around 65-70% of these are incarcerated. Our online subscriptions provide full access to the content on our website and in the archives. |
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Please note that the content of our newsletter mainly consists of news reports from third-party sources. We are not responsible for the accuracy or content of third parties, nor do their statements or positions necessarily reflect those of HRDC/PLN/CLN. Our newsletter content is for informational purposes only. |
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