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Criminal Law

The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

News, commentary and analysis on prisons: government proposals with the aim of stemming overcrowding and recidivism; inmate living conditions and changing demographics; sentencing issues.
By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

Post Frequency: 33.9/day

Last Entry: March 27, 2011 at 18:14:51

The New Debtors? Prisons

Posted on April 06, 2009
Editorial The New Debtors? Prisons NY Times Published: April 5, 2009 Here is a tale that sounds like it comes right from the pages of ?Little Dorrit,? Charles Dickens?s scathing indictment of Victorian England?s debtors? prisons. Unfortunately, it is happening...

TX: Phone system for prisoners begins - last state to bar routine phone access for prisoners

Posted on April 06, 2009
Texas inmate phone system begins By MICHAEL GRACZYK Associated Press Writer © 2009 The Associated Press April 3, 2009, 12:10PM AUSTIN, Texas ? Texas prison inmates are making routine phone calls for the first time. The Texas prison board was...

WA: Debt shouldn?t prevent restoration of voting rights

Posted on April 06, 2009
Debt shouldn?t prevent restoration of voting rights THE NEWS TRIBUNE Editorial Published: 03/24/09 Buying the right to vote is so contrary to the idea of democracy that many Washingtonians would be surprised to find out that it?s happening in their...

NY: Rockefeller Drug Laws: A Welcome Change But Not Far Enough Say NY Activists and Organizers

Posted on April 05, 2009
"The new law eliminates the mandatory minimum of a year in prison for first offenders charged with Class B felonies (sale of up to 1/2 ounce of cocaine or heroin, or possession with intent to sell) and first or second...

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IL: Guards and Police Want Prison Open: "Enough is Enough" "We already have the melons, now bring us the felons."

Posted on April 05, 2009
Organizer Kathy Newstrand even came up with a motto for their efforts: "We Thomson prison workers are saying 'enough is enough' Barb Ickes | Posted: Saturday, April 4, 2009 THOMSON, Ill. - Squad cars lined the shoulder of the highway...

California prepares to expand 3 prisons! They won't stop!

Posted on April 04, 2009
California prepares to expand 3 prisons By DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writer Published: Wednesday, Apr. 1, 2009 SACRAMENTO -- The head of California's prison system said Wednesday that he will soon ask state legislators to approve expanding three prisons to...

Immigrant Detainee Dies in a NJ jail, and a Life Is Buried, Too

Posted on April 04, 2009
Immigrant Detainee Dies, and a Life Is Buried, Too By NINA BERNSTEIN Published: April 2, 2009 NY Times The hand-scrawled letter from a New Jersey jail was urgent. An immigration detainee had died that day, Sept. 9, 2005, a fellow...

WA: Guards protest possible closing of prison.

Posted on April 03, 2009
Prison cuts would free hundreds of felons, critics contend March 31, 2009 By LEVI PULKKINEN SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF Proposed cuts to the Department of Corrections budget could see hundreds of felons released into the community early, corrections officers and victim advocates...

NJ: Guards protest closing of prison. Community wants it gone.

Posted on April 03, 2009
"The residents of this community believe in their hearts...they do not want the prison to be on that location," he said. "They view it as the way that their community can turn things around and they can't get it done...

MS: CCA Opening New Federal Prison: 2,500 cages---400 jobs

Posted on April 03, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009, 8:43am CDT Corrections Corp. opens Mississippi prison Nashville Business Journal Corrections Corporation of America is opening a new prison in Natchez, Miss., that will house more than 2,500 federal prisoners and create some 400 jobs...

Prisons, Drugs in America: A Turning Point?

Posted on April 03, 2009
Prisons, Drugs in America: A Turning Point? Neal Peirce / Apr 02 2009 For Release Sunday, April 5, 2009 © 2009 Washington Post Writers Group An historic turning point in criminal justice and drug policy in America? The fourth week...

FL: Bill would assess $3,300 fee for people using GPS monitors

Posted on April 02, 2009
Mar. 31, 2009 Fla. bill would make monitors pricey for offenders By JESSICA GRESKO Miami Herald Offenders sentenced to wear ankle bracelets would have to pay for their own monitoring, up to about $3,300 a year, under a bill Florida...

Lock 'Em Up Jailing kids is a proud American tradition.

Posted on April 01, 2009
Lock 'Em Up Jailing kids is a proud American tradition. By THOMAS FRANK Wall Street Journal On-line April 1, 2009 At first glance, the news from Luzerne County, in northeastern Pennsylvania, is not good. In what is known locally as...

Reversing Rockefeller: New York is set to repeal some of its harsh drug-offense-sentencing laws. But do the reforms go far enough?

Posted on April 01, 2009
"Prior to the just-passed modification, the Rockefeller Drug laws removed all judicial discretion from matters of sentencing. Possession of a certain amount of drugs automatically triggered a harsh sentence. Now, only those convicted of the sale of 2 ounces or...

16 States Report Declines in the Number Of Prisoners. 34 states report increases. Federal prisons and jails grow . Incarceration of women increases.

Posted on April 01, 2009
Growth in Prison and Jail Populations Slowing: 16 States Report Declines in the Number Of Prisoners WASHINGTON, March 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As of June 30, 2008, state and federal correctional authorities had jurisdiction or legal authority over 1,610,584 prisoners...

Mexico announces 'super-max' prisons

Posted on March 31, 2009
Mexico announces 'super-max' prisons 3-31-09 MEXICO CITY (AP) ? Mexican and U.S. military commanders on Monday were analyzing how to combat drug trafficking amid related violence that has claimed nearly 9,000 lives in Mexico since 2006, at a meeting near...

"How PersonhoodUSA Will Hurt All Pregnant Women" and Do People Who Support "Traditional Values" Value Pregnant Women? by Lynn Paltrow of Nationa Advocates for Pregnant Women

Posted on March 31, 2009
Please read Lynn's articles on Personhood and watch Dr. Deborah Frank debunk the mythology of "crack babies" "How PersonhoodUSA Will Hurt All Pregnant Women" by Lynn Paltrow http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lynn-m-paltrow/how-personhoodusa-and-the_b_176530...

Jail a Child, Get a Job: America Hates Kids

Posted on March 31, 2009
Jail a Child, Get a Job: America Hates Kids Chris Norwood Huffington Post, March 30, 2009 Two judges in Western Pennsylvania, recently sentenced to seven years in prison for purposely inflating the sentences of juvenile offenders to benefit the income...

NY budget deal calls for closing 3 prison camps

Posted on March 31, 2009
NY budget deal calls for closing 3 prison camps By MICHAEL VIRTANEN | Associated Press Writer March 30, 2009 Newsday ALBANY, N.Y. - The state budget negotiated by New York's Democratic leaders would close three minimum-security prison camps upstate and...

MT: Stimulus funds to build juvenile jail

Posted on March 30, 2009
"Freudenthal recently toured the existing juvenile facility. He said in a news conference Friday that using stimulus funding to build a juvenile center would be justified because it's a clearly identifiable need and would put people to work." Published on...

Getting the Juvenile-Justice System to Grow Up

Posted on March 30, 2009
Tuesday, Mar. 24, 2009 Getting the Juvenile-Justice System to Grow Up By Ken Stier Time Magazine If it's not the biggest scandal in American legal history, many are calling it at least the darkest day for the country's troubled juvenile-justice...

NH To Create Department-Level Agency For Parolees

Posted on March 30, 2009
NH To Create Department-Level Agency For Parolees March 29th, 2009 New Hampshire Corrections Commissioner William Wrenn, with the support of Gov. John Lynch, is creating a new state division to help keep parolees free even after they have violated their...

Real Cost of Prisons Comix wins National Council on Crime and Delinquency PASS Award

Posted on March 30, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The National Council on Crime and Delinquency Announces The 2008 PASS Award Winners Oakland, CA, March 20, 2009 The National Council on Crime and Delinquency is pleased to announce the 2008 Winners of its respected PASS Awards...

MA: Freedom watch: Jailhouse bloc The real reason law-and-order types love mandatory-minimum sentencing? It's money in their pockets.

Posted on March 29, 2009
News Features, The Boston Phoenix Freedom watch: Jailhouse bloc The real reason law-and-order types love mandatory-minimum sentencing? It's money in their pockets. By HARVEY SILVERGLATE AND KYLE SMEALLIE | December 9, 2008 With aromatic puffs of change, Bay State stoners...

"Jim Webb's courage v. the "pragmatism" excuse for politicians" by Glenn Greenwald

Posted on March 29, 2009
Glenn Greenwald Saturday March 28, 2009 Jim Webb's courage v. the "pragmatism" excuse for politicians Salon.com There are few things rarer than a major politician doing something that is genuinely courageous and principled, but Jim Webb's impassioned commitment to fundamental...

Amnesty International: USA: Conditions must be improved at Tamms Correctional Center in Illinois

Posted on March 28, 2009
Document - USA: Conditions must be improved at Tamms Correctional Center in Illinois AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT AI index: AMR 51/042/2009 25 March 2009 USA: Conditions must be improved at Tamms Correctional Center in Illinois According to Amnesty International?s information,...

MO: System Treats Juvenile Offenders With Lighter Hand

Posted on March 28, 2009
Missouri System Treats Juvenile Offenders With Lighter Hand By SOLOMON MOORE Published: March 26, 2009 NY Times ST. LOUIS, Mo. ? VonErrick celebrated his 14th birthday last year by committing a daylight carjacking, beating the driver to the ground. With...

PA: Despite Red Flags, Judges? Kickback Scheme Thrived and PA Supreme CT Orders Records Of Youth Fraudulently Sentenced to be Expunged

Posted on March 28, 2009
Clean Slates for Youths Sentenced Fraudulently By JOHN SCHWARTZ March 26, 2009- NY Times The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on Thursday ordered the slate cleaned for hundreds of youths who had been sentenced by a corrupt judge. The young people...

FL:Woman joins sex-offender group living under Julia Tuttle Causeway

Posted on March 28, 2009
Mar. 23, 2009 Woman joins sex-offender group living under Julia Tuttle Causeway By FRED GRIMM. Miami Herald It's as if Voncel Johnson has been thrust into a bizarre social experiment. Forcing so many men to live like post-apocalyptic trolls beneath...

SF: EVENT TO SHED LIGHT ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS IN CALIFORNIA'S PRISONS

Posted on March 28, 2009
SF: EVENT TO SHED LIGHT ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS IN CALIFORNIA'S PRISONS March 27, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) A group of formerly incarcerated battered women will gather Saturday in San Francisco to call for more survivors of domestic violence to...

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