Bickerton and Bickerton Attorneys at Law

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Allegheny County Jail has taped attorney-client telephone calls and released some of those tapes to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Jail officials contend that the taping was likely the inadvertent result of a change in the jail’s phone system.

For more information, go to:

In a move that will save Butler County, Pennsylvania over $20,000 per year, inmates in the Butler County Jail will receive access to LexisNexis. The computerized legal research system will allow the county meet its legal obligation to provide access to legal research to prisoners.

For more information, go to:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09063/953113-100.stm?cmpid=latest.xml

Luzerne County, PA Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan pleaded guilty to federal charges of “honest services fraud” and tax fraud. Both judges were removed from the bench in January.

The guilty pleas were the result of Ciavarella and Conahan accepting $2.6 million dollars in payouts by PA Child Care, LLC and a sister-company. These companies owned and operated juvenile detention centers to which Judge Ciavarella is accused of sending many juveniles. many of those juveniles were sentenced without a fair hearing or without an attorney present. Judge Conahan is accused of shuttering Luzerne County’s juvenile detention center in favor of the center run by PA Child Care.

For more information, go to:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29164855/

Alabama Sheriff Greg Bartlett, who was previously placed in his own jail for failing to adequately feed his inmates, has agreed to spend all money designated for inmate meals on actually feeding the inmates. Sheriff Bartlett has also agreed to follow USDA guidelines and give inmates fresh milk and fruit.

Under the current policy, Alabama sheriffs are permitted to keep the difference between the amount of money provided to feed inmates and the actual cost of feeding the inmates. Previously, Sheriff Bartlett retained approximately $212,000 in profit while inmates were under-fed.

For more information, go to:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28582711/

A federal judge has confined Alabama Sheriff Greg Barlett to his own prison after finding him in contempt of court for under-feeding prisoners. In a widely criticized practice, many Alabama sheriffs are permitted to keep the profit they make from feeding inmates. Sheriff Barlett was accused of under-feeding prisoners in order to maximize his profits. In the last three years, Sheriff Bartlett has received approximately $212,000 from this practice. Many critics argue that the policy essentially rewards sheriffs for failing to adequately feed inmates.

For more information, go to:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28546669/