SCOTUS Criminal Justice Roundup; New PATTERN Scoring In Use in Some Prisons; Should You File a 2255? Case Updates
by Derek Gilna, Director of Research
The
US Supreme Court' s (SCOTUS) end of June deadline for issuing opinions at the
end of its term is fast approaching. We
eagerly await what we expect to be some positive, but in all likelihood,
divided (non-unanimous) opinions. Included on that
list:
COVID and isolated cases of Monkey Pox are in almost every prison (although numbers are hard to determine because DOJ policy is no longer testing), but that is not the reason that many prisons are going to Code Red, which means all education, programming, and most rec activities are discontinued. However, Unicor facilities still remain open. It is summer vacation season, and school is out, which mean officers get their vacation time, and facility operations are limited as a result of short staffing. Although COVID is still present, especially at Mariana, DOJ is not even attempting to keep an accurate count.
"We,
here in Victorville FCI-1, have gone back to, 'code red' and are required to
wear masks everywhere. Yard, chow hall,
Unicor are still open...this is the worse medical and dental that I've ever
seen. I've been waiting for lab work
(blood draw) for approx. six months.
Others can't get surgeries or transfers to facilities that would help
them. " At Code-Red Aliceville (and other places) suspicious growths or
lumps that could be pre-cancerous also go untested. "We are having an
outbreak of Covid at
The newest
COVID variants continue to infect people across the country. "Omicron
Covid-19 variants BA.4 and BA.5 are on the rise in the
" The
spread of the subvariants could at least prolong the time it takes to emerge
from the current wave fueled by other versions of Omicron, some
health experts said.
'BA.4 and 5 may end up becoming the dominant Omicron
lineages in the coming weeks or months,' said Nathan Grubaugh, an
associate professor of epidemiology at
|
As prisons staff totals continue to drop system-wide, supervisors, including the lame-duck director, have begun to test creative explanations to the media and Congress, such as, " seven of the bureau’s 121 locations accounted for 40% of the vacancies," and,"Last calendar year we hired over 3,000 staff and, at one point, advance hired 1,000 staff above our funding levels,” while ignoring that resignations and retirements in December set a record. According to Shane Fausey, national president of the Council of Prison Locals, there “has been in a staffing crisis for years, ... and eerily our numbers nationwide have continued to decline.” Fausey continued. “Our officers and employees are being pushed beyond the brink, and we cannot wait until the next director arrives to address this crisis.” www. government executive.com. The newest PATTERN scores are apparently in use in at least some of the prisons, which appear to widen eligibility for FSA sentence credits (you know, the ones you aren't getting), by converting some Medium scores to Low. Any improvement is welcome, but it is still annoying to hear staff in many places misleading prisons as to their eligibility and who is responsible for the non-action on the year of sentence credits. Have you come to prison recently, or recently had your direct appeal denied? Have you considered filing a 2255 habeas which concerns inadequate representation of counsel? If attorney errors prejudiced your chance for a fair trial or plea you may seek relief. Be not afraid, and let not your heart be troubled. Derek Gilna, Director of Research, JD, (De Paul Law School
, 1975), MARJ, ( |
