Signed bills to free some inmates faster

Gov. Bobby Jindal signed bills into law Tuesday that he said will make the criminal justice system run more efficiently.

One of the bills could result in first-time offenders serving less time in prison while another seeks to clarify the amount of time toward release that inmates are credited for good behavior.

The legislation stemmed from recommendations by judges, attorneys and law enforcement officials who serve on the Louisiana Sentencing Commission.  Read more...

Senate vote spares Parole Board

DOVER -- The Delaware Senate pardoned the Board of Parole from an immediate death sentence late Tuesday, even though the operating budget senators will consider today does not include direct funding for the panel.

House Bill 35 failed to get the minimum of eleven votes needed for passage, going down in defeat on a 9-10 vote. Sens. Harris McDowell and Liane Sorenson did not vote.  Read more...

Cuts in juvenile parole left teen in 'Tuba Man' case unsupervised

One of the three teens convicted of killing a popular Seattle street musician in 2008 continues to make headlines for his tangles with the law. Billy Chambers – who's now an adult – was most recently locked up for hit-and-run. It turns out he did not qualify for supervision by a juvenile parole officer because of state budget cuts.

Ed McMichael – aka "Tuba Man" – was a fixture outside Seattle's sports venues. He died in 2008 following a brutal attack by a group of teens.

Ultimately Chambers and two others pleaded guilty in the case. Chambers served one year behind bars.

Since then court records show he's racked up two theft convictions and faces multiple traffic offenses. Now he's accused of ramming his car into a woman who'd reported him to the police.  Read more...

Panel votes today on breaks in crack cases

WASHINGTON — One in every 20 federal prisoners could be eligible for early release under a potential sentencing change for inmates convicted of crack cocaine offenses that will be voted on Thursday.

Congress passed a law last year substantially lowering recommended sentences for people convicted of crack cocaine crimes, ranging from possession to trafficking. The idea was to fix a longstanding disparity in punishments for crack and powder cocaine crimes, but the new, lower recommended sentences for crack offenders didn’t automatically apply to people already in prison. Now it is up to the six-member U.S. Sentencing Commission to decide whether offenders locked up for crack offenses before the new law took effect should also benefit and get out earlier.  Read more...

New sentencing laws add costs for Hamilton County

Gov. John Kasich signed into law Wednesday criminal sentencing reforms that could release thousands of non-violent prisoners from the expensive prison system - and keep them out with drug rehabilitation and other programs.

But it may also bring a lot of headaches - and some resentment - to Hamilton County officials who believe the law means more mandated bureaucracy they will now have to pay for at a time when county government is struggling with a reduced budget and the possibility of additional layoffs among county workers.

"Today has been kind of a double whammy," Hamilton County Court Administrator Mike Walton said Wednesday.  Read more...

Audit adds to criticism of Michigan's parolee program

Lansing — Michigan's Prisoner Re-entry Initiative has won national acclaim for helping ex-convicts stay out of trouble, but critics say the state is undercounting lapsed parolees to make the program appear more successful than it is.

The criticism comes amid an audit of the 6-year-old Department of Corrections program that found other shortcomings, including overcharging vendors for services and allowing conflicts of interest between contractors and subcontractors.

Jim Chihak, a former parole and probation officer who was part of a panel that evaluated the program this spring, said the program's intent — to keep prisoners from returning to prison — is admirable, but "the way it's being handled is a disaster."  Read more...

Gov. Brownback starts faith-based program for parolees

Kansas needs 5,000 volunteer mentors a year for paroled criminals, Gov. Sam Brownback said this week.

He spoke Monday in Wichita at the launch of an effort to merge government resources, social services, churches, businesses and mentors to keep parolees from returning to prison.

He announced the Out4Life faith-based program at the start of three days of workshops in which service providers and others discussed re-entry approaches.

The Kansas Department of Corrections will work with Prison Fellowship, a Christian group that created Out4Life about two years ago.

Brownback said he wants a mentor for each released criminal.  Read more...