As President Barack Obama finalizes his proposals to increase federal funding for his priority programs, the White House is searching for ways to reduce spending elsewhere in the federal government.
At the Justice Department, officials are considering whether to shorten some federal prison terms and have already shut down a program that successfully encouraged fugitive criminals to turn themselves in.
The department—which saw years of rapid growth after the 2001 terrorist attacks—is just one of the federal agencies facing significant belt-tightening at a time of rising worries about the federal budget deficit. Read more...
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Patrick pushes probation takeover: Sees Parole Board merger, then cuts
Governor Deval Patrick, unable to resolve a power struggle with House and Senate leaders, pressed ahead yesterday with a plan to merge the troubled state Probation Department and the embattled Parole Board, put them under his control, and slash their budgets.
In doing so, Patrick was acting on his long-stated goal of combining the agencies and seizing control, which he said would lead to better monitoring of prisoners before and after their release. Read more...
In doing so, Patrick was acting on his long-stated goal of combining the agencies and seizing control, which he said would lead to better monitoring of prisoners before and after their release. Read more...
Sentence reform could save state money
A Texas lawmaker came to Tallahassee to give lawmakers advice about prison reform -- help those with addictions stay out of prison.
Both Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders have pledged to offset the state's nearly $4 billion budget shortfall with cuts to the prison system.
With that in mind, Florida lawmakers heard testimony Monday from Texas state Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano, who sponsored prison reform legislation in his home state.
The overriding message: Save money by keeping people out of prison with programs that address drug addiction, alcoholism and mental illness.
Madden said prisoners can largely be divided into three categories: Those who will never return, those who are guaranteed to return, and those who won't return if they are enrolled in the right programs. It's the third category that gives you the most bang for your buck, he said, so it's worth it to invest in drug and alcohol treatment programs. Read more...
Both Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders have pledged to offset the state's nearly $4 billion budget shortfall with cuts to the prison system.
With that in mind, Florida lawmakers heard testimony Monday from Texas state Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano, who sponsored prison reform legislation in his home state.
The overriding message: Save money by keeping people out of prison with programs that address drug addiction, alcoholism and mental illness.
Madden said prisoners can largely be divided into three categories: Those who will never return, those who are guaranteed to return, and those who won't return if they are enrolled in the right programs. It's the third category that gives you the most bang for your buck, he said, so it's worth it to invest in drug and alcohol treatment programs. Read more...
Supreme Court says state prisoners have no constitutional right to parole
In reversing the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for the third time in a week, the justices say the appeals court was wrong to second-guess the California parole board and the state courts for denying parole to a man convicted of attempted murder.
Reporting from Washington — Unanimously reversing the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for the third time in a week, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that state prisoners have no constitutional right to be paroled.
The decision rebuked the San Francisco-based appeals court for ordering the parole of several inmates who had been convicted of murder or attempted murder.
All three of the opinions overturned in the past week were written by veteran liberal Judge Stephen Reinhardt from Los Angeles. Read more...
Reporting from Washington — Unanimously reversing the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for the third time in a week, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that state prisoners have no constitutional right to be paroled.
The decision rebuked the San Francisco-based appeals court for ordering the parole of several inmates who had been convicted of murder or attempted murder.
All three of the opinions overturned in the past week were written by veteran liberal Judge Stephen Reinhardt from Los Angeles. Read more...
States Help Ex-Inmates Find Jobs
Faced with yawning budget gaps and high unemployment, California, Michigan, New York and several other states are attacking both problems with a surprising strategy: helping ex-convicts find jobs to keep them from ending up back in prison.
The approach is backed by prisoner advocates as well as liberal and conservative government officials, who say it pays off in cold, hard numbers. Michigan, for example, spends $35,000 a year to keep someone in prison — more than the cost of educating a University of Michigan student. Through vigorous job placement programs and prudent use of parole, state officials say they have cut the prison population by 7,500, or about 15 percent, over the last four years, yielding more than $200 million in annual savings. Michigan spends $56 million a year on various re-entry programs, including substance abuse treatment and job training. Read more...
The approach is backed by prisoner advocates as well as liberal and conservative government officials, who say it pays off in cold, hard numbers. Michigan, for example, spends $35,000 a year to keep someone in prison — more than the cost of educating a University of Michigan student. Through vigorous job placement programs and prudent use of parole, state officials say they have cut the prison population by 7,500, or about 15 percent, over the last four years, yielding more than $200 million in annual savings. Michigan spends $56 million a year on various re-entry programs, including substance abuse treatment and job training. Read more...
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sir David Latham questions life prisoner reoffending
Reoffending rates among life sentence prisoners may be higher than figures suggest, according to the chairman of the Parole Board of England and Wales.
Internal estimates indicate that, each year, between 1% and 2% of lifers freed on parole commit further crimes.
But Sir David Latham told BBC News the current statistics were not "robust" and it was hard to be sure if the right parole decisions were being made.
He also warned of the "danger" of an "over-reaction" to high-profile cases. Read more...
Internal estimates indicate that, each year, between 1% and 2% of lifers freed on parole commit further crimes.
But Sir David Latham told BBC News the current statistics were not "robust" and it was hard to be sure if the right parole decisions were being made.
He also warned of the "danger" of an "over-reaction" to high-profile cases. Read more...
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signs order to abolish state Parole Board
Topeka — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback announced Friday that a veteran warden will run a state corrections system beset by overcrowding and still facing questions about the past management of its women’s prison.
Brownback appointed Ray Roberts as his corrections secretary, saying Roberts emerged as the top candidate even after a nationwide search. Roberts has been the warden at the state’s maximum-security prison for men in El Dorado since 2003, and his career in corrections spans 35 years. Read more...
Brownback appointed Ray Roberts as his corrections secretary, saying Roberts emerged as the top candidate even after a nationwide search. Roberts has been the warden at the state’s maximum-security prison for men in El Dorado since 2003, and his career in corrections spans 35 years. Read more...
Monday, January 10, 2011
Parolees rarely kill again, study says
Until recently, Reginald Powell was free on parole, one of 936 convicted killers in New York state back on the street.
If he did kill Mamaroneck mom Jennifer Katz, as authorities suspect, he would be part of the distinct minority who went on to kill again.
Of 368 convicted murderers granted parole in New York between 1999 and 2003, six, or 1.6 percent,were returned to prisonwithin three years for a new felony conviction — none of them a violent offense, according to a study by the state Parole Board. Read more...
If he did kill Mamaroneck mom Jennifer Katz, as authorities suspect, he would be part of the distinct minority who went on to kill again.
Of 368 convicted murderers granted parole in New York between 1999 and 2003, six, or 1.6 percent,were returned to prisonwithin three years for a new felony conviction — none of them a violent offense, according to a study by the state Parole Board. Read more...
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Gov-elect Rick Scott's team bucks GOP ideology, urges easing prison policy to cut costs
TALLAHASSEE — Conservatives have been known to be tough on crime. Now they're saying they have to be tough on criminal justice spending as well.
Rick Scott's "law and order" team is telling Florida's incoming governor, who considers himself a conservative's conservative, to cut costs by diverting nonviolent offenders to drug treatment and requiring inmates to get an education and vocational training.
Those actions, which the transition team said could reduce the number of criminals returning to prison and allow the state to stop building new prisons, sound more like past Democratic suggestions than traditional conservative approaches to criminal justice. Read more...
Rick Scott's "law and order" team is telling Florida's incoming governor, who considers himself a conservative's conservative, to cut costs by diverting nonviolent offenders to drug treatment and requiring inmates to get an education and vocational training.
Those actions, which the transition team said could reduce the number of criminals returning to prison and allow the state to stop building new prisons, sound more like past Democratic suggestions than traditional conservative approaches to criminal justice. Read more...
Report recommends path to ease prison overcrowding
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas can reduce its prison population by 3,200 inmates over the next decade and save $875 million by holding offenders more accountable, reducing the number of low-risk drug offenders in prison and expanding medical parole for terminally ill convicts, according to a report released today.
If nothing is done, the report said, the state’s prison population will rise by as much as 43 percent, about 6,500 inmates by 2021.
Today, the state Department of Correction held 14,215 inmates in prison units built to house 13,114. Another 1,661 state prisoners were backed up in county jails awaiting bed space in the chronically overcrowded prison system. Read more...
If nothing is done, the report said, the state’s prison population will rise by as much as 43 percent, about 6,500 inmates by 2021.
Today, the state Department of Correction held 14,215 inmates in prison units built to house 13,114. Another 1,661 state prisoners were backed up in county jails awaiting bed space in the chronically overcrowded prison system. Read more...
Attorney General Eric Holder Convenes Inaugural Cabinet-Level Reentry Council
WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder today convened the inaugural meeting of the Cabinet-level "Reentry Council" in Washington to identify and to advance effective public safety and prisoner reentry strategies.
In addition to the Attorney General, the council includes Departments of Education Secretary Arne Duncan; Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius; Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack; Interior Secretary Ken Salazar; Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan; Labor Secretary Hilda Solis; and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. Members also include Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Michael Astrue; Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, R. Gil Kerlikowske; Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, Melody Barnes; Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Joshua DuBois; and Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Jacqueline Berrien. Read more...
In addition to the Attorney General, the council includes Departments of Education Secretary Arne Duncan; Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius; Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack; Interior Secretary Ken Salazar; Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan; Labor Secretary Hilda Solis; and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. Members also include Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Michael Astrue; Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, R. Gil Kerlikowske; Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, Melody Barnes; Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Joshua DuBois; and Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Jacqueline Berrien. Read more...
Jerry Brown pitches a shift to local governments
Gov. Jerry Brown, beginning the "complex undertaking" of shifting responsibility for many state programs to local agencies, started pitching the plan Tuesday to local leaders.
Brown has said he will propose a realignment of services, possibly far-reaching, as part of a proposal to resolve a state budget deficit estimated to be at least $25 billion over 18 months. Read more...
Brown has said he will propose a realignment of services, possibly far-reaching, as part of a proposal to resolve a state budget deficit estimated to be at least $25 billion over 18 months. Read more...
Special court aids St. Louis veterans with drug trouble
ST. LOUIS • Nick wanted to kill himself with heroin.
He was already dealing with horrible images seared into his brain as an Army infantryman who was in the Pentagon during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Then two years later, he was almost killed in a car crash.
And nearly two years ago, his 2-year-old son was killed in an all-terrain vehicle accident. Nick was sitting with him on the vehicle when the boy apparently hit the throttle. Nick fell off the back, and the ATV struck a tree with the toddler still aboard. Read more...
He was already dealing with horrible images seared into his brain as an Army infantryman who was in the Pentagon during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Then two years later, he was almost killed in a car crash.
And nearly two years ago, his 2-year-old son was killed in an all-terrain vehicle accident. Nick was sitting with him on the vehicle when the boy apparently hit the throttle. Nick fell off the back, and the ATV struck a tree with the toddler still aboard. Read more...
Clemency of juvenile killer gives Yee hope
The last-minute sentence commutation of a woman serving life without parole for killing her pimp at age 16 has given a Peninsula state senator hope this is the year California abolishes the absolute term for all juvenile offenders.
As one of his final gubernatorial acts, Arnold Schwarzenegger granted clemency to convicted murderer Sara Kruzan by reducing her sentence to 25 years to life in prison. While the change doesn’t guarantee freedom to Kruzan, who fatally shot the man in 1994, it does offer the possibility.
State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco/San Mateo, has long argued that all juvenile offenders deserve the chance at rehabilitation and release rather than being incarcerated at a young age with no hope of parole. He initially proposed completely outlawing the sentence but it failed to pass. Last year, Yee successfully pushed a tweaked version known as the Fair Sentencing for Youth Act through the Senate with bipartisan support but it died in the Assembly during the final days of the session. He reintroduced the legislation, now known as Senate Bill 9, last month. Read more...
As one of his final gubernatorial acts, Arnold Schwarzenegger granted clemency to convicted murderer Sara Kruzan by reducing her sentence to 25 years to life in prison. While the change doesn’t guarantee freedom to Kruzan, who fatally shot the man in 1994, it does offer the possibility.
State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco/San Mateo, has long argued that all juvenile offenders deserve the chance at rehabilitation and release rather than being incarcerated at a young age with no hope of parole. He initially proposed completely outlawing the sentence but it failed to pass. Last year, Yee successfully pushed a tweaked version known as the Fair Sentencing for Youth Act through the Senate with bipartisan support but it died in the Assembly during the final days of the session. He reintroduced the legislation, now known as Senate Bill 9, last month. Read more...
Prisoners report beatings in retaliation for December protests
Inmate advocates and relatives said guards at one state institution have retaliated with violence against prisoners who staged a protest and refused to report to work details last month.
Marie Williams, whose son is at Smith State Prison in Tattnall County, said another inmate called her on her son’s behalf over the weekend to report what had happened.
“They said they [officers] were hitting inmates with hammers,” Williams told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday. “They [guards] said an inmate was trying to escape.” Read more...
Marie Williams, whose son is at Smith State Prison in Tattnall County, said another inmate called her on her son’s behalf over the weekend to report what had happened.
“They said they [officers] were hitting inmates with hammers,” Williams told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday. “They [guards] said an inmate was trying to escape.” Read more...
Michael Vick: Symbol of the second chance
President Obama's unofficial pardon of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick was a fleeting story highlighting a durable problem.
According to team owner Jeffrey Lurie, Obama phoned to praise the Eagles for giving Vick a "second chance." According to Lurie, Obama said "it's never a level playing field for prisoners when they get out of jail.'" Read more...
According to team owner Jeffrey Lurie, Obama phoned to praise the Eagles for giving Vick a "second chance." According to Lurie, Obama said "it's never a level playing field for prisoners when they get out of jail.'" Read more...
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Outrage, restraint on parole inquiry - Governor, speaker differ on response to officer’s slaying
Governor Deval Patrick, facing widespread anger from police chiefs and victims’ advocates, pleaded for patience yesterday as his administration completes a review of the state Parole Board’s decision to free a violent career criminal who shot and killed a Woburn police officer last week.
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, however, expressed outrage at the board’s decision and vowed to make it a “major focus’’ of legislative action in the new session. Read more...
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, however, expressed outrage at the board’s decision and vowed to make it a “major focus’’ of legislative action in the new session. Read more...
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