It`s no secret that an evidentiary hearing significantly increases your chances of habeas corpus relief. But what does seem to be a big secret is how a state prisoner can obtain that hearing in the federal habeas court. Basically, there are two main concepts at work: Developing the factual basis of the claim, and the…
The Tenth Circuit held in United States v. Adams, No. 21-3043 (10th Cir. July 20, 2022), that because Kansas includes injury to a fetus in its aggravated battery statute, a prior conviction for that offense could not be used to enhance a firearm sentence, even if the prior offense had nothing to do with a…
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has revised its abortion policy and removed the language in it that had required staff to adhere to state laws when arranging an abortion for a pregnant prisoner. Was this done in response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade last month? I`d say that`s a good assumption. In…
Just three days after the Federal Bureau of Prisons lifted its mask mandate at the Federal Medical Center at Devens, near Boston, COVID-19 cases exploded across the housing units. The medical isolation wing of the medical building is completely full and staff are stuffing prisoners with COVID into the Special Housing Unit (SHU), a jail…
The BOP announced July 14, 2022, that it opened a direct email link to the Central Office in Washington, DC, to allow transgender prisoners to voice their complaints and concerns to the Transgender Executive Council (TEC). The link became active on July 5, through the BOP`s TRULINCS internal email system for prisoners and staff members….
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has a new leader, and it`s someone who has a long history of being pro-prisoner. Will she be able to hold up under the deeply corrupt BOP? I hope so. Her name is Colette S. Peters, and she`s been the director of the Oregon Dept. of Corrections since 2012. She`s…
What do prisoner`s eat? Ask 100 people what they ate while in prison and you`ll get 100 different answers. But that`s probably not what you`re looking for. You likely want to know how eating in prison actually works, especially when someone`s on a special diet or has allergies. Let me give you an inside look…
There’s no more private area of our lives than what we do in the bathroom. It`s no surprise, then, that the most common question I`m asked about prison is how the bathrooms and showers work. Here`s 5 things you need to know about prison bathrooms and showers. 1. There`s No Such Thing as Privacy in…
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) held on June 8, 2022, that a federal court may not extend the remedy it created over 50 years ago, which allows lawsuits for excessive force by federal agents, to claims of excessive force by Border Patrol agents, and that it was up to Congress to create…
